"It is high time that resigned," Rudi Vouk of the National National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS) told the Austrian Press Agency (APA) in response to several offensive statements made by Dobernig in Saturday.

The view is shared by Marjan Sturm of the Association of Slovenian Organisations, who labelled Dobernig absurd.

"There is nothing to add. He needs to resign," he said about Dobernig, who is a member of the Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK) and is a kind of finance minister in the Carinthian government.

Strong criticism moreover came from the head of the Community of Carinthian Slovenians Bernard Sadovnik, who said the statements "are not in the spirit in which we reached agreement on bilingual town signs last year". "There is no room for such statements today anymore," he added.

Speaking at a nationalistic gathering ahead of an anniversary of the 10 October 1920 referendum that left Carinthia with a sizeable Slovenian-speaking community, Dobernig also said that the fight against Slovenian in the province should become stronger and that Carinthia is not bilingual.

He described the bilingual town signs solution as an entry drug, saying the Slovenian side had many more demands. "But now this should end," he said.

According to the APA, Dobernig's statements have been met with strong criticism, also from politicians at national level. He has been told to learn some history and show respect for the Constitution.