In a response to Wednesday's report by the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek said that he supports the report's findings, as they mostly overlap with those of the Slovenian Ombudsman's Office.

Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles highlighted the problem of the Romany community, which has been repeatedly pointed to by the Slovenian ombudsman, Hanzek told STA on Thursday.

Gil-Robles also goes to great lengths to present the issue of the erased (over 18,000 former Yugoslav citizens erased from Slovenia's population registry in 1992) and to call for a solution in line with a relevant Constitutional Court ruling, he added.

What is interesting, is that the commissioner's report also mentions unacceptable incidents of hate speech recorded among politicians, Hanzek added. This is another issue Hanzek has often brought up.

The report on the human rights situation in Slovenia was presented to the Council of Ministers yesterday, pointing to the need to improve certain aspects of human rights protection (especially minority protection and the situation of the Romany community) and tackle homophobia.

On the other hand, the report notes considerable progress in tackling discrimination, reforming the police, fighting human trafficking and securing equal access to employment.