Slovenia Times

Slovenia,
our country,
our homeland,
is celebrating.
Borut Pahor,
President of the Republic of Slovenia
We are celebrating our Silver Jubilee, a quarter of the century
of our autonomy and independence. We admire the unity of our
nation that brought about the establishment of our own state.
Slovenia became an independent country because that is what we
wanted. What a great of the people's will! What determination of
a united nation! We know that we can. Therefore, we look into the
future not with fear but with hope.
Slovenians appreciate the national and people's unity from a quarter of a century
ago. But the unity did not happen overnight. It was a result of dialogue,
cooperation and trust.
The virtue of independence was in the fact that people were involved and not
excluded. We have to remember that. This is essential and also applies to our
continuing aspirations. We will be able to achive the social reforms that will
benefit all of us, only if we work together and we do not exclude each other.
This is the most valuable lesson from those times for our current and future
challenges.
We have our own country and we are involved in the most connected part of
the European Union and the western world. We are in the right place at the right
time. There is no reason to regret any groundbreaking decisions that have brought
us here, including our accession to the EU, NATO, the eurozone and the Schengen
area. This does not mean we are all satisfied. But what we have created together
puts us in the drving seat when shaping our future.
This year we celebrate the first 25 years of the Slovenian state and we plan for
the next 25 years. We celebrate with a proud look to the past and a brave look into
the future.
We cannot predict the future nor will it solely depend on us. But it is a matter
of our will to strengthen what unites us and tolerate what differentiates us.
There are more things that connect us than divide us.
This awareness has preserved us as a nation and enabled us to establish our
own country. This confidence has enabled us to join the European family of
nations and states. We need to continue the dialogue, cooperation and trust.
Amongst ourselves and with other nations. We will succeed.