Mlinar told the press in Ljubljana on Monday that she had applied for Slovenian citizenship last week even though she was yet to learn whether Austria would allow her to hold dual citizenship or strip her of Austrian citizenship.

She has made it clear in the past weeks that she does not intend to give up her Austrian citizenship. "I'm Carinthian Slovenian, I'm Austrian, I used to be an Austrian politician. I can't just erase this. I have a family here, a life," she told the Austrian broadcaster ORF in November.

She believes it is almost impossible for Austria to strip her of her citizenship, saying that this would also violate EU law. She also expressed criticism of Austria's restrictive dual citizenship policy.

She moreover apologised to the Slovenian public for the complication and said that being nominated minister in Slovenia was not only a great honour for her personally but also a step by Slovenia toward its ethnic community in Austria, adding that the nomination was a big deal for her entire home town.

SAB leader Alenka Bratušek meanwhile expressed expectation that the citizenship issue would be resolved as soon as possible. She believes that Mlinar could be appointed by 7 January, the deadline by which a new minister must be appointed, although the National Assembly will break for the holidays.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, asked to comment on the SAB's Mlinar nomination while visiting Slovenian troops in Kosovo, reiterated he trusted Bratušek's choice.

He hopes the citizenship issue will be resolved, which should happen swiftly since he would like the new minister for development, strategic projects and cohesion to be appointed already at the December session of parliament to avoid time pressure.