Citizens and legal entities of candidate countries for membership of the European Union require a positive decision on the establishment of reciprocity in order to acquire the right of ownership of immovable property.

In 2022, three new countries were granted the status of candidate countries for membership of the European Union. Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova became candidate countries for EU membership in June 2022, and Bosnia and Herzegovina became a candidate country on 15 December 2022. Citizens and legal entities established in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina thus have a formal right to acquire ownership rights to immovable property in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, subject to reciprocity, as from the date of recognition of the status of candidate country for membership of the European Union, and may initiate the procedure for establishing reciprocity with the Ministry of Justice. They can acquire the right of ownership of immovable property in the Republic of Slovenia by deed, inheritance or by a decision of a state authority.

The Ministry of Justice will conduct procedures of establishing reciprocity on the basis of applications from citizens and legal entities of the new candidate countries for membership of the European Union. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Reciprocity Act, reciprocity exists in the event that a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia or a legal entity established in the Republic of Slovenia may acquire the right to own immovable property in the country of a foreign person under the same or similar conditions as those under which foreign persons may acquire the right to own immovable property in the Republic of Slovenia – and that the requirements for a Slovenian citizen or a legal entity established in the Republic of Slovenia to meet these conditions are not substantially more demanding than the requirements applicable to foreign persons under the law of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Ministry of Justice maintains on its website a country-by-country record of the existence of reciprocity, which will be established for the new candidate countries for accession to the European Union on the basis of the procedures being conducted before the Ministry, and which will show whether reciprocity exists or has already been established in the acquisition of the right of ownership, by means of a specific legal transaction, over a specific immovable property located in a specific area.