SLOVENIA MANAGED TO DISENTANGLE ITSELF FROM THE BALKAN WEB
10th Anniversary of the inaguration of the Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia

Ljubljana, 11 May 2000



Ten years have passed since the Presidency of the Republic was sworn-in in the then Slovenian Assembly with its President, Dr Bucar, elected at the first democratic elections. The Presidency was a collective body, and expression of the sovereignty of the Slovenian nation, competent for representing the state, for its defence and security. With the election of the Presidency and the election of the Slovenian Government, formed by the previously established Slovenian parliament, Slovenia got a comprehensive infrastructure and was prepared for the trials it was to face in terms of statehood, as well as organisationally and politically.

It is right to remember this moment, for it is an opportunity to remember the times and circumstances in which the Presidency found itself as part of Slovenia's leadership, to remember the tasks it had to face and how it worked to fulfil those tasks responsibly.

It was a time of great confrontation and of great change in the Yugoslavia of the time and in the Europe of the time. With these changes the Slovenian nation was seeking its place and a way to provide for a safe future. Those of us elected at the democratic and direct elections understood this as confidence in our responsible fulfilment of the tasks of securing such a future for Slovenia. It was a time full of demanding decisions, a time lacking transparency and a time carrying great risk. The direct election, the people's confidence, gave the Presidency its moral legitimacy, whereas its legal basis lay in the constitutional amendments adopted in 1989, the result of the common will and effort of the highly developed Slovenian civil society of the time, fledgling political organisations, parties and the of government of the time. This was the legal basis for the demanding reforms that were to follow, some of which are still under way today, as well as the constitutional basis for Slovenia's international recognition.

Throughout its time in office, the Presidency and the Slovenian republic, later to become a state, faced the dilemma of whether Slovenia will be able to find allies in reforming and democratising Yugoslavia in order to be able to become a partner of the modern, at that time emerging yet already clearly definable new Europe; or whether it will have to seek a future in a more risky manner, without those allies and that power, opting for an independent state. It also had to seek allies internationally, in a world which at that time was filled with doubts as to what could happen in Europe and a world that did not look on the dilemma we had to face with great sympathy or confidence.

We have had to face very demanding tasks from the very beginning. As soon as the solemn ceremony was over in the Assembly we were faced with the imminence of our decisions responding to the attempt of the federal government and the federal army of the time to disarm the Slovenian Territorial Defence. This was the first step through which the Presidency of the Republic then enforced Slovenia's sovereignty over its own defence and security. Later on it took over the Republic Staff of the Territorial Defence and participated in the preparatory actions for securing the subsequent plebiscite decision militarily.

We seeked ways of cooperation and allies all over Yugoslavia, we cooperated closely with Croatia, which aspired to the same objectives but its circumstances were similar only to a certain point; later they turned out to be great differences that last until this day.

The Presidency, aware of the need for unity among Slovenes, prepared a conciliatory ceremony in Rog jointly with the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

We prepared the points of departure for the plebiscite, the foundations for legally regulating this very important referendum for the determination of the will of the people on what was truly the historic interest of the Slovenian people, once that decision had to be made. We worked jointly with the Assembly and the Government in drafting the Letter of Good Intent, we coordinated the work in preparing the plans for independence following the plebiscite, in drafting the Fundamental Charter. The work of the Assembly was then led by Dr Bucar.

Later on, after the war, we worked very hard on convincing the world that our demands for international recognition were justified, taking reference to the natural right of the Slovenian people to self-determination, based also on international law.

The Presidency was the body that made the decision on war or peace. This, I believe, was the most difficult decision for all of us. We were prepared to accept the consequences of this decision at a time when the outcome was completely uncertain.

Later on we took part in peace negotiations, particularly those in Brioni concerning either peace or a continuation of the war. To my mind these negotiations were very important. Not only because of the peace that Slovenia got at that time. We departed for Brioni with quite some uncertainty. Dr Bucar and myself were there. In simple terms, we went there as a part of Yugoslavia occupied by the Yugoslav army at that time. A temporary cease-fire was achieved. We returned home as an independent, international state for the first time, bringing with us the announcement that Yugoslavia was over, that the Yugoslav Army will have to withdraw. This was followed by a series of meetings under the so-called peace conference on Yugoslavia. The positions I presented there have all been discussed in the Presidency, the Government, also at the ministry, and the fundamental decisions were also verified by the Slovenian Assembly.

The Presidency also drafted the points of departure for amending the Slovenian Constitution or indeed for the drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which were submitted to the Assembly. Then the new constitution was adopted. On that basis new parliamentary elections of the President of the Republic were held and our joint term in office was over.

I find it particularly important to underline the way in which we worked at that time. We were a collective body, all of us directly elected. We were a team of quite different people. We came in with different political experiences, with different political beliefs, ideas and views of a possible future for Slovenia. There was also a substantial lack of confidence among us at the beginning, a result of us not knowing each other. However, our working together and the burden of responsibility generated a level of trust that allowed us to work together, to find common ground with the Assembly headed by Dr Bucar, to find more or less of an understanding with certain line ministries and to also be able to work with the Government. We always tried and, if memory serves me right, also always did find a consensual decision, a consensus on was the best that we could do, to the benefit of the Slovenian people and to the benefit of creating a Slovenian state. All of our work was in fact one big dialogue, possible only due to the fact that we were aware of the responsibility entrusted to us. We endeavoured all the time to influence decisions in a peaceful, legal, democratic and unprovocative manner. Perhaps we were a sort of counterpoint to an excessive radicalisation of demands, or excessive vigour exhibited by others and which perhaps wouldn't have led to the same positive consequences if we were to accept that.

This gave us a result of which it is said abroad that we found enough wisdom to cleverly disentangle ourselves from the Balkan web and with a considerable amount of luck. It is true, that also the objective circumstances were different. They weren't so in Croatia, not to speak of other parts of Yugoslavia.

Now is a time of 10th anniversaries. Everyone will be remembering the events of the time, in one way or another. The National Assembly has already done so, we have done so today. I know that Slovenia's diplomacy and the Slovenian Army also intend to remember. Understandably, everyone will include their own subjective memory in this reminiscence, their own views of the situation of the time, of their own role and ideas on what the dilemmas were and how they acted on them. I believe that two things are important: to be aware of the fact that all of us together, the Presidency, the Government, the Assembly, ensured what is called a successful and happy ending of the Slovenian story of the time, and secondly, that this was possible because our actions were based on the beliefs, the confidence and the stance of the people of Slovenia, even in the two most decisive moments, the plebiscite and the war, which we had to face when a violent attempt was made to prevent the fruition of the plebiscite decision. The people of Slovenia are the true heroes of this story. Understandably, each of us did his duty at that time, to the best of their ability. Any appropriation of this story seems unfair particularly due to the fundamental hero – the people of Slovenia, in whose interest all of what happened indeed happened.

After the elections held on the basis of the newly adopted Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, all of you actually left politics. Your interests today are different and you spend your well-deserved free time in different ways. Only I remained in politics and I must say that I often miss the attitude, the dialogue, the willingness to think and make decisions together, as we were able to do then. There was great unity among us. There was also great unity in the Slovenian political and state leadership of the time, and there was great political unity among the Slovenian people. That is not the case today, and perhaps it cannot be. Nevertheless, some of this unity or moderation concerning vital national interests would be beneficial. Perhaps it is the very work of our Presidency and our cooperation with the erstwhile institutions of the Slovenian state that could serve as a useful example.

I thank you for coming here. I would particularly like to take this opportunity to thank your spouses who sacrificed you and your families in order for you to be able to serve the Slovenian nation and state in those fateful moments.