The programme will be carried out by the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts and financed by the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

The lectureship in Sarajevo was introduced in 1955 but discontinued in 1992 following the outbreak of the Bosnian War. It will now be based at the Sarajevo Faculty of Arts.

The opening ceremony was held on Wednesday featuring Minister for Slovenians Abroad Gorazd Žmavc, Stojan Sorčan of the Higher Education Directorate and Slovenian Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Iztok Grmek.

Kalenić Ramšak said that the lectureship would help link different cultures, while the head of the programme Pavel Ocepek said he expected great interest in the Slovenian language from students in Sarajevo.

University of Sarajevo Chancellor Muharem Avdispahić thanked Slovenia for assistance and cooperation in the process of his country's entry into the European higher education and research space, the Education Ministry said in a press release.

In the 2015/2016 academic year Slovenian language lectureships will be held in 26 countries, mostly in Europe, but also in Argentina, Japan, China and the US.