LET US STEP INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH NEW HOPE AND WITH A STRONG RESOLVE
New Year’s Missive
(Video in Slovenian Language)

Ljubljana, 31 December 2001



Fellow Slovenes, dear citizens at home and abroad,

A year ago the world was looking forward to the new Millennium with high hopes. The burdens of the past century were to be left behind. It was to be the end of erstwhile divisions. Although the glamour was not able to conceal the great social and political gaps and profound differences in the lives of rich and poor countries, hope and faith in a better world did get stronger. It did so for us, too, as the last decade of turbulent twentieth century Europe gave us our own independent state.

On that black September Tuesday the ruthless violence of international terrorism unyieldingly showed the entire world that the voyage toward a global civilisation of peace, security and social justice to regulate human life and protect life on this planet would prove to be a long and arduous one. More than ever before our world is interdependent and interconnected. For better and for worse. There cannot be prosperity, development, peace and security only for some. It is now a matter of our common responsibility and common thought to find out how wisdom and clear action can bring us to a new ethic of the modern world, to solidarity, mutual understanding and cooperation between people, nations and states.

Europe, too, carries great responsibility for new relations in our world. This world now requires global governance and global responsibility. Ever closer and in principle freely accessible cooperation and integration on European soil can be grounds for encouragement. EU enlargement to new states, including Slovenia, professes a Europe of cooperation and security, a continent of one single civilisation respecting the dignity of individuals and protecting their rights and liberties. A stable and internally integrated Europe will have a different impact on world affairs. But first we Europeans must stand our own test to our south-east where hot spots are still smouldering and where war violence can still break out. Europe must take the burden of the Balkans off the global community's shoulders in order for more energy to be available for appeasing the situation in the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere.

Also in this past year that is coming to a close, Slovenia remained peaceful and safe. In this decade of our own independent state we have created a Slovenia that counts in the world, a state that is a credible and desirable partner to large countries as well. Numerous eminent visitors from friendly countries and invitations from these countries substantiate this. We can be confident, we can show more self-respect and pride for what we have achieved. Our expectations, too, can now be greater.

Our life could be more amicable were it not for all the energy expended on settling old scores and reviving them. I do believe that also in the future our creativity and responsibility to protect the legacy of the generations before us will remain greater than divisive cravings, intolerance and rejection. I therefore believe that reconciliation with ourselves and our past will soon close the tragic chapter of our recent past. We shall thus be able to unite our strength and face the great challenges of our world today and in the future with greater confidence. We are already living that future and we have a responsibility toward that future.

Next year will be a year of important decisions. Let us therefore step into the New Year with new hope and with a strong resolve to create a reliable foundation for a life good to all of us living in Slovenia. Our country needs strong economic and social development, which the current global economic situation is not inclined to. We need a clear horizon for new knowledge and ideas, employment opportunities for new generations, an atmosphere of democratic approval of the legal and ethical rules of coexistence. We need more tolerance, mutual trust and cooperation, respect for difference, also in expressing our own truths on the past, the present and the future. Everyone has the right to an opportunity, an opportunity that is to our common avail. It is well worth working together for this common good and finding the right path to reach others, both at home and anywhere that Slovenes around the world live. We must not run out of good will for this.

I wish the happiest of holidays and a happy, amiable and successful New Year 2002 to everyone in Slovenia, to all Slovenes at home and around the world.