(Non-)Notification of Succession to the Austrian State Treaty and Slovenian (Foreign) Policy

The article examines why the Republic of Slovenia, despite material succession, did not formally notify its succession to the FPRY/SFRY’s accession to the Austrian State Treaty (AST). Drawing on a doctrinal analysis of international and constitutional law, as well as a qualitative analysis of parliamentary documents and debates (2011–2026), the author reconstructs the positions of the Government, civil-society initiatives, and the normative consolidation of succession in the 2025 Declaration of the National Assembly. The article finds that succession was consistently defined as legally indisputable, while notification was characterised as a declaratory and politically discretionary act. The article concludes that non-notification reflects a strategy of political self-restraint, prioritising bilateral pragmatism over the formal affirmation of legal continuity.