"We are not the Balkans, we are Europe," former head of the Slovenian Communist Party, Milan Kucan, said in 1989, responding to then rising Serbian strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, and his aggressive nationalist policies aimed at taking control of the disintegrating federation. "Our future lies in Europe, not Milosevic's Yugoslavia," Kucan had said, which propelled sweeping democratization and liberalization reform programs. Milosevic answered with a call for a boycott of all Slovenian products in Serbia - at the time Slovenia's largest market.

Slovenia seen as a bridge between the European Union and the Balkans

In 1990, Kucan became president in the first democratic election in Slovenia, while the communists lost their parliamentary majority. The result meant a crack in the door to Europe, though the shadow of war was becoming increasingly dense over the entire Yugoslavia.

Slovenia declared independence in late June 1991. To make the declaration official, it first had to fight the large, but crumbling and inefficient Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Unlike Croatia and Bosnia, which were devastated in fighting and a horrible bloodletting through 1995, Slovenia secured independence from Belgrade in just 10 days. When JNA soldiers pulled out, the door to Europe opened to a path that would eventually lead 2 million Slovenes to the European Union.

The country next had to fight an economic crisis spurred by the transition and loss of the Yugoslav market. Slovenian was forced to practice discipline while implementing reforms. In 1993 the country had already managed to curb inflation and set the economy on an upward course. The country's growth was based on its unique, often disputed but obviously effective version of transition. The "Slovenian model" was sometimes described as "economic nationalism," due to broad protectionism, subsidies and a high degree of state interests in the economy. In the privatization of what was once "socially-owned " capital in firms and banks, insider sales were preferred to outside investors, enabling consensual, Slovenian parties to implement economic reform without massive lay-offs.

European Affairs Minister Janez Potocnik

On March 23, 2003, Slovenia held a double referendum on its membership in the EU and NATO. A whopping 89.6 percent supported the EU, and 66 percent favored the military alliance. Today, Slovenia is regarded as the best prepared of the EU accession states. Its GDP per capita is 70 percent of the EU average and higher than in Greece and Portugal.

Slovenia was the only future member state which escaped serious warnings last March, when the EU pointed to shortcomings in preparations for accession by numerous acceding states. Yet Slovenia continues to improve its outlook, capitalizing on its position as a link between the EU and southeast Europe. A potential mark against Slovenia, however, may be nationalism, which expresses itself in administrative obstacles to thousands of non-Slovenes - mostly ex-Yugoslavs living in the country - regardless of their wish to become citizens or remain guest workers.

Slovenia’s blooming business interests in the Balkans have helped it overcome the economic slump that hit Western Europe. European Affairs Minister Janez Potocnik indicated that Slovenia would continue working with the countries it once shared a union with and help them share its experience.

" We are a bridge to these countries, with whom we share history, a similar language and also many family and friendship ties," Potocnik said.

The impact of the political statement is already highly visible even in Serbia, where Slovenia faced most of its hostility a decade earlier, and subsequently lost vast investments with the disintegration of Yugoslavia. In late 2001, ahead of the opening of the Slovenian brand name super-store Mercator in Belgrade, some testy voices appealed on Serbs to "remember" and continue the boycott that marked the eve of the war a decade earlier. This time the appeal no longer worked, as thousands of people flocked on opening day to the new market - built just a few blocks from the "old Mercator," which the company was forced to abandon during disintegration of the former Yugoslavia - to inhale the first whiff of Europe in their own city, even if it was packaged and shipped from about 600 kilometers to the northwest.

FACTS
Slovenia, the northwestern part of the former Yugoslavia, lies on 20,273 square kilometers of alpine southern slopes and the northeastern Adriatic coast. It shares borders with Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy. The country has about 1.96 million inhabitants, 83 percent Slovene ,and 3 percent Croat and Serb. There are also Hungarian (6,243) and Italian (2,252) minorities.

Per capita GDP in 2002 was EUR 11,177. Unemployment was 6.6 percent in the final quarter of last year and 2003 inflation was at 4.6 percent . The national currency is the tolar (SIT), going at a rate of roughly 1,000 for EUR 4.3

The country has a powerful services sector, as well as car and motorcycle, textile, chemical and timber industries.