NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS 2001 OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
(video in slovenian language)

Ljubljana, 31 December 2000




Dear citizens, Fellow Slovenes
Dear compatriots at home and around the world.

Tonight is a festive night.

It is a night we give to ourselves and to our friends, our acquaintances, As well as all those to whom this year was less generous than they expected. This is a moment of good wishes. They are a part of our lives, Just as hope is. Let the future be generous to them . And this evening a beautiful one.

These are demanding times, They are also tough, uncertain for many. Yet they are also encouraging. One can succeed through knowledge, diligence, perseverance, and with good will, be it in school, at work, making a decent income and having a happy family. A pinch of luck is still very welcome, though.

I wish all this for young people in particular. This new world demands knowledge and ideas. Let them succeed in this world. Their success will be a validation for us older generations.

In this open and competitive world I wish for them to carry with them the conscience that they are a part of a self-confident nation that possesses sufficient creative strength for its own state as well. That is our homeland, the safe haven of us all. Such as it is, its goodness and beauty, As well as its weaknesses and problems. We are capable of correcting them faster, to make life kinder for all.

All of us are bound by this, especially those who are managing this country. Government is here for the people. I trust that we will be successful, as we have been. Thus we shall be able to celebrate the ten years of our own state with positive sentiments.

Each one of us is entering the New Year with his own expectations. Let them all come true. Let us also have common wishes. Let us be tolerant, respectful, towards nature and towards each other, Compassionate for the wishes of all generations, young and old. Let us respect the fact that every person is a world of his own. Let us lend a hand to those in distress. Also tonight. Let us be with those seeking work, Those who are at the brink of subsistence, those who are overcome by illness, Those who are grieved by the blows of life, those who are alone.

Let us be a Slovenia of good people. We know how to be such people. We are such in the tragedy under Mangart. Let us be compassionate with those who were driven among us by the distress in their own homelands. Let us give our thoughts to all the victims of human mindlessness, war, famine and lawlessness.

Let us carry tonight's kindness into the hard everydays to come. I wish all of you a good, successful, peaceful and kind New Year.

I wish you happiness and understanding.