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THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE
Press conference with the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Milan Kucan
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, 23 June 1997
Introductory remarks by the President of the Republic
- SLOVENIA'S POLITICAL PROGRAMME
Slovenia has now completed six years as an independent country. This country was conceived through the Independence Programme in the plebiscite of December 1990. The Programme remains the fundamental national political programme. It was adopted with enormous national consensus, and it is precisely because of this consensus that every democratically elected leadership in Slovenia is tied to the Programme.
The anniversary of independence provides an opportunity for a critical look at how far Slovenia has come, and how it should proceed. The situation at home and internationally demands a serious assessment, not simply as part of a routine, but as a careful self-reflection on our own position.
There is no doubt that in these six years Slovenia has come a very long way. Life in this country and its international position cannot be compared with that prior to 1990. Overall development can be given a POSITIVE ASSESSMENT. Great efforts from all the Slovene governments and administrators of the state have been invested in it. For this reason I would maintain the assessment from last year. It has paid off for us to opt for this Programme. But not because Slovenia had no alternative; indeed, because it was a good alternative.
- SOME SELF-CRITICAL REMARKS
Alongside this positive assessment we also need to take a self-critical view, for which we can indeed find sufficient reasons. We need such a view in order to find common answers to certain key questions which have arisen quite objectively in the current circumstances. Above all we need to consider whether we are still creating the future in Slovenia; whether we are still planning and fulfilling a bold vision of the future for Slovenia and for humankind in general. I am thinking of the kind of vision for which Slovenia won attention from the world from the middle of the eighties, gaining the reputation of:
- an island of freedom in the then communist world of Eastern Europe,
- a country which was capable of peaceful transition by consensus,
- a country which had intelligently extricated itself from the Yugoslav violence and had arrived at international recognition, and at the threshold of the EU and NATO,
- a country which in view of its achievements in internal development represented a success story.
I am thinking of those development visions that gave people a self-confidence and a stimulus in facing up to the enormous challenges of political, legal, economic, social and domestic transition, and in facing the equally great challenges of economic, technological, ecological, informational and political globalisation.
The other question for which we need to find a common answer is whether in place of producing the future our society has entered into a period of stagnation and returning to the past. Have we exhausted our developmental momentum, which was fired by the vision of the Independence Programme. Has it started to be replaced by small-mindedness, uncertainty and restlessness, fear for one's own existence and for a secure future, as a result of the slowing down of economic growth and development power, unemployment, poverty and marginalisation (13.6%), lack of prospects for young people, fragile legal security and violations of human rights, a crisis in the justice system, insufficient responsibility for the country and for our national interests.
It is quite clear that there are various different answers to these questions. Yet it is essential that we arrive at common answers. It is essential for us to sharpen our view of what kind of society we wish to live in over the coming century. We therefore need a vision and a view of our own future. And not a view of just any future, but of a future within the already recognised future of Europe and the world. This is marked by globalisation, multipolarity and the end of Eurocentrism, by competitiveness and cooperation and by the development of the capability to preserve one's own identity. I am convinced that a country without a clear common view of its future cannot be successful. Such visions are the signposts for what we actually do in practice. They are a check to complacency, arbitrariness and to the hijacking of the state. They represent a strategy and a covenant for the operations of the state administrators. This is what separates countries from utopias and from bare pragmatism. I should just remind us of the energy which throughout our history has been unleashed by the vision of an independent Slovenia.
- FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES FOR SLOVENIA
When I speak about the necessity for joint consideration, I am speaking about the joint and common consideration of the administrators of the state, the National Assembly and the National Council, the government and opposition, the state president and political parties, and possibility the civil society. There is too little of this at present. A partial kind of joint consideration is prevalent at the moment. Alongside this, Slovenia has not resolved certain fundamental issues. Irrespective of its internal development, irrespective of its recognisable position in the international community. And these are all issues that require the greatest possible national consensus.
- THE TASKS OF THE POLITICAL ELITE
Time is running. The world is changing very fast. And nobody is going to wait for Slovenia, burdened with internal disputes, generally about the past and not the future, and infatuated with its own version of the truth about itself. Others are already overtaking us - the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. We no longer have the alibi or excuse that we are a young state. All this dictates that our political elite should again take up the reins of urgent changes. It should step away from being held in the past and move into the future. It should bridge the dogmatic divisions that have emerged following independence, and over which now it cannot find cooperation and consensus on what will be to the benefit of all of us and the future of our Slovene identity.
- THE GREAT GLOBAL COMPETITION
A great global competition and cooperation has been set in motion around the world. And those who are ready and able to deal with it will stay in the race. They will secure a position on the markets, access to new knowledge and technologies and to prosperity. And we Slovenes are among those who have the ability to stay in the race. I am convinced that we can do what we need in order for Slovenia to be full of momentum, competitiveness and contentment, and for it to become a modern country of tolerance, solidarity and commitment.
- THE HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY FOR EUROPE AND SLOVENIA
This is also true of Slovenia's position in the world. I am firmly convinced that Slovenia still has one single choice that will provide a secure future for us. This is the Europeanisation of our internal life, and inclusion in the EU and NATO. Europe now has a historic opportunity to emerge from being a continent of disputes, conflicts, aggression and divisions and to become a continent of peace, cooperation and fusion. Within this opportunity for Europe also lies the opportunity for Slovenia. We cannot idealise the European process of association. We have to understand it as the coexistence of different nations, as well as a part of our cultural, spiritual and political identity. And we must be able to preserve and consolidate this. Association in Europe must also be understood as more than just the pragmatic relations between those who give and those who receive, and in fact as a community that is bound together by the fundamental values of European civilisation, in which each one gives in order to receive peace, cooperation, security and prosperity.
- SLOVENIA, THE EU AND NATO
I should stress that the result of Slovenia's struggle for full membership of the EU and NATO, despite many factors that must be taken into account, is in our hands. If we lose this struggle, we will lose it at home. For we will not have done enough at home to Europeanise all the areas of our life, and because we will not have done enough for those who decide on membership to recognise this and acknowledge our achievements. This is a matter of our internal changes, our ability and readiness to change our way of thinking. It is also a matter of the calibre of our foreign policy and diplomatic effort, and of our credibility in the international community.
I must say that Slovenia has invested a great deal in the preparations for full membership of the EU and NATO. We expect this to be recognised. And there can be no doubt about the pro-European stance of the Slovene public, nor about the great hopes which we are investing in the emerging Europe. We expect a fair, objective assessment of whether we fulfil the conditions.
It is important, however, that if the assessments are negative or if we are not admitted to further negotiations, we accept this reality with fortitude. Without any pretence or any attempt to make unconvincing excuses. Without any of the former Yugoslav logic, which was incapable of self-criticism, and rather found continuous justifications in external conspiracies and hostile actions. If this happens, at that time we should think very seriously what has happened in the world and at home, and what we should do now to make these goals, this single good choice for ourselves, attainable. The precondition for this, particularly for the EU, is that in their entirety we harmonise our Constitution and legal order with the legal order of the EU, and that the National Assembly ratifies the Association Agreement. In this way we will enter into a European dialogue about Europe and our future. Other people will not decide for us.
On this sixth anniversary of the independent Slovene state, these would appear to me the key considerations and tasks. We have lost a great deal of valuable time with the elections and with the forming of the government coalition. And yet not so much time that we would have to call this year a year of lost opportunities; on the condition that we demonstrate a serious approach to fulfilling the Independence Programme, and that we work together towards finding answers to these dilemmas and questions, and that we show a unity as we decide on and fulfil our national interests.
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