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Speech by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, at the Memorial Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia

Ljubljana, 25.2.2008  |  speech


Respected members of the family of Dr Janez Drnovšek,
Mr President of the National Assembly,
Honourable Deputies of the National Assembly,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Slovenia is today in mourning. We are mourning one of the greatest sons of our nation, Dr Janez Drnovšek, a politician and statesman, economist and strategist of social change. Few people have had such a decisive impact on our development in the course of the last two decades. There are even fewer who were able to find the new routes and good solutions needed during a turbulent period of transition such as ours.

Klikni za povečavoSince entering the political arena, Dr Janez Drnovšek has also been a challenge to the world of politics. His path cannot possibly be described with words such as political account or political compromise, even if, in his everyday political life, he was skilled in both. Nor can his path possibly be described even as a “career”. We should rather have to describe it with completely different words – creativity, innovation, ingenuity and, in particular, a complete awareness of the fact that, in politics, results count.

His emergence into the political arena two decades ago was a twofold surprise. In the atmosphere of that time a need for great changes could be felt; at the same time, however, a leader who might introduce changes was nowhere in sight. The expectation, therefore, was that most things would just continue in the same old way. However, the desire for change was stronger than inertia. People’s readiness to take up the challenges of political pluralism and genuine elections came to fruition. The election of Dr Janez Drnovšek as a representative to the then Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia demonstrated the determination of people in Slovenia to pave the way for political changes and European normality.

The second surprise was Janez Drnovšek himself. The fact that the then rather reserved Slovenian representative, specialising in economics, was prepared to enter the competition which opened the door to major changes was definitely surprising. It turned out, however, that he was a man of discreet political talent, even though he did not flaunt it at every step, and that readiness to take on great challenges is not demonstrated by ideologising and bloated nationalism. It was his very calm, reserved and cool political attitude and his ability to insist – without rhetoric or exaggeration – on what is right that, in those difficult times, proved to be valuable qualities that furthered the process of great change.

Klikni za povečavoAll this was not understood fully and analytically in the politics of the time. At some deeper level of political instinct, however, people could well appreciate these paradoxes. And the latter understanding was shared by many. I remember a stroll along the Ljubljanica River with my daughter, then ten years old, before the elections to the Federal Presidency. My daughter pointed out Janez Drnovšek, who was walking towards us, and stated that he would win the elections. I asked her how she could be so sure about that as there were still two weeks left to run before the elections. She told me that every one at school already knew and discussed it and that therefore it would happen. And indeed he did win. I realised then that Janez Drnovšek was exactly the kind of person that people in Slovenia wished to have as their politicians. They wished to have representatives who would show them the route leading to change and whom they could trust during the difficult times we all perceived ahead.

The following years brought much that was new, and so new ways of responding had to be invented. The neurotic and histrionic nature of the federal politics of that time called for a composed, self-confident and restrained reply. The rituals that upheld the illusion of the old system had to be challenged by inventive decisions and iconoclastic actions: the proper answer to demagoguery concerning the necessary unity of the failed federation was solidarity with the amendments to the Slovenian constitution in 1989. The proper answer to the empty talk of meetings that were only superficially important was apology for absence and non-participation. Such acts by Dr Janez Drnovšek seemed shocking at the time, even more so because they came from a man whom many still underestimated as a very reserved and almost shy politician. Particularly surprising was his determined refusal to attend the meetings held by the leadership of the then league of communists. He considered the State and the Party to be entirely separate institutions.

Essentially, the appearance of Dr Janez Drnovšek on the political scene of those times brought something new and different. He confronted the political forum of the time with non-politics, the negation of what had gone before and warnings that a new time was coming which would eventually call for entirely new answers and a new type of politics. This message that was taking shape in those years remained a constant in Drnovšek’s political activities until the end of his life. The activities of his last years display this ability to call attention – in a radical way, using methods that initially seem shocking – to serious problems or social issues which the world of politics, with its conventional means, is not up to coping with and which call for something totally new.

Basically, this characterised all the phases of his life and all the important issues which Janez Drnovšek was involved in resolving.

During the war for independence, he had a particularly sensitive task as a member of the Presidency of the former Yugoslavia: to help independence through well-considered actions performed within the collective leadership of the – then still existing – former federal state which was fiercely opposed to Slovenia’s independence. This task was indispensable to ensuring that the transition to independence was as fast and painless as possible. His agreements expediting the decision on the departure of the Yugoslav People’s Army will remain in the history as an example of successful discreet negotiations, which spared Slovenia a great deal of political difficulties, material damage and probably also human lives. The fact that these negotiations and subsequent activities required him to persevere within the former Federal Presidency, where he remained, subject to agreement with the Slovenian leadership, was not always properly understood. Today, however, the historical perspective shows that there is no doubt whatsoever that his perseverance was properly applied and that it helped the complicated process of Slovenia’s gaining independence. One might even make so bold as to say that Slovenia managed to cast the roles of its leading political figures successfully during the process of independence.

The paradoxical situation in which Janez Drnovšek found himself at that time was even more pronounced after his return from Belgrade when, for some time, it was not quite clear what role was he supposed to assume in an independent Slovenia. That this role would be an important one and that the rules of the game would be determined largely by himself was evident from the very beginning. Thus, people were somewhat, yet not overly, surprised by the way he positioned himself in relation to Slovenian political parties. His subsequent assumption of leadership of the Slovenian Government already seemed to be nothing other than natural. This was the beginning of the longest consecutive period of the most important role played by Dr Janez Drnovšek in the history of Slovenia, the role of the Prime Minister of the Slovenian Government.

He remained in this role – as the leader of several coalition governments – for a full decade. At one point in time, he was the longest-serving Prime Minister in Europe. This brought Slovenia some prestige and was a convincing demonstration of Slovenia’s success story. The feeling of stability imparted by the Prime Minister through his steady and systematic activities was perceived not only in Slovenia but also by the international community. Slovenia gained a reputation as a country which was not given to extreme political fluctuations or crises; it was, rather, a State which had deliberately chosen its route, realising its vision systematically, consistently and continently. We like to denote these characteristics as European, although they are intrinsically typical of all good governance.

On this route, Drnovšek began from the very beginning – reforming the economy, eliminating inflation and securing macro-economic stability. Initial results were observed and recognised internationally in just over a year. I well remember the instructions he gave to Slovenian diplomats in 1993: “Just keep pointing out that we have achieved macro-economic stability and secured a basis for economic restructuring and development. We don’t need shock therapy. Development will be assured gradually, and social stability will be preserved.”

At the time, this approach was rather unusual. It was something the other post-socialist European countries were not familiar with. For the European countries in transition, these were years of regression and turbulent change. Slovenia, however, was gradually, stubbornly and steadily making progress, and practically without any foreign assistance or advice. Slovenia’s policy was clearly stamped by the personality of the then Prime Minister, but also, one might say, the typical character of an average Slovenian citizen. Throughout history, we have not been accustomed to being presented with solutions. We have had to fight for them ourselves. Fortunately, the struggle for independence was effective and our striving for international recognition successful. The stage of economic normalisation, therefore, soon followed. However, even during this stage, we had to rely on our own resources, to forge ahead with stubborn endurance, to separate the wheat from the chaff and to prove our ability to provide for ourselves and also to contribute something to the future of Europe as a whole. And we had to succeed. In the mid-nineties, Janez Drnovšek was already able to announce to the international public that Slovenia had long since survived surgery and left intensive care, and that we were now in a fitness studio and, in a while, would be ready to compete with athletes.

The metaphor was no coincidence. In those years, Janez Drnovšek liked to keep fit – and to set an example – by the jogging for which he was known even outside Slovenia. His message to the public was clear and consistent: the new and successful state has, quite appropriately, a sports-conscious and active Prime Minister. It can take care of itself, is not nervous and is not afraid of the future.

In those years, social development and ensuring that restructuring was as painless as possible were projects that also needed taking care of. These were the needs to which a great deal of the then Prime Minister’s energy was devoted. Of all the comparable cases in the world, Slovenia’s transition has been the most socially responsible: it has preserved most of its social justice and its services in the field of education, public health, care for the disabled and for the elderly. The pension reform of 1997 was an example of how a lengthy process of reaching agreement, characterised by well-considered meticulousness and a feeling for the limits of what is possible, can result in agreement on one of the most sensitive social issues, possibly even the most sensitive in an ageing society such as ours. This example and the experience of everyone involved in these efforts remain among the achievements to be remembered whenever we intervene in the social sphere. Economic conditions and needs change, but human sensibilities and political character do not, and we must be aware that intervening in social problems is never without political consequences. A route has to be found that will not take away the people’s feeling of security. Only this will make economic measures truly sustainable and successful.

Janez Drnovšek was well aware of all this; he was skilled at finding the route to enabling progress in all fields, economic and social, in both domestic and international politics.

In domestic politics, he soon proved himself a strong democrat, a skilful negotiator and a deft coalition-maker. The proportional election system we have in Slovenia requires coalition governance. We do not have the solace offered by the majority election system. Drnovšek understood that it was precisely our proportional system which guaranteed democracy in our situation, and he proved that the system worked. Thanks to him we have no experience of the instability caused, in some countries with proportional representation, by insufficiently skilled politicians. The art of making and leading coalitions was one of the major strengths possessed by Janez Drnovšek. He had the ability to observe lucidly and weigh up the strengths and interests of coalition partners; he was extremely patient in listening to arguments and extremely cogent in putting forward his own positions and proposals. All these and other political skills enabled him to work successfully in coalitions and to successfully overcome difficulties both within government coalitions and in the interrelations of the governments and the opposition.

It was not simply a question of managing the coalition and the parliamentary dynamics between the coalition and the opposition. Successfully managing these relations had a beneficial effect on political awareness in Slovenia, giving people the feeling that the pluralistic policy, which was rather new to Slovenia, could also provide the feeling of stability and safety which people needed. It is not surprising, therefore, that Dr Drnovšek won all the elections he contested and that he earned the affection of people.

His reserved demeanour, his sparing way with words and completely rational attitude are not characteristics that produce a leader capable of rousing the enthusiasm of mass meetings. That kind of political business was alien to Dr Drnovšek. Nonetheless, the people of Slovenian recognised his sincerity, his dedicated efforts and they valued his calm appearance. These characteristics afforded him the special affection and support of a very wide circle of people, and this is how the authority of the Prime Minister has been established, an achievement which goes beyond what can be measured by tangible results. The feeling was created that the Prime Minister led the Government in a responsible fashion and could at any given moment count on the support of people.

This is precisely what gave him a solid foundation for action in the area of foreign affairs. Foreign representatives were aware that Janez Drnovšek was a counterpart with considerable authority in Slovenia and with whom it was possible to discuss and agree. This quality is invaluable in international relations and lends credibility to a country’s foreign policy. In this way, Dr Drnovšek tackled Slovenia’s most difficult foreign policy projects – relations with neighbours, Slovenia’s candidacy of EU and NATO membership, and more. As regards relations with our neighbours, he achieved major improvements and tangible progress. Even in the area where the project was not conclusively resolved, notably the border agreement between Slovenia and Croatia, his enduring legacy remains. He showed what could be achieved through honest negotiation which took account of the interests of all the negotiating parties. The fact that the agreement failed to be ratified speaks volumes about the lack of political will in favour of the agreement, and is no indication of the lack of quality of the agreement itself. I truly believe that even the most experienced international negotiators would assess this agreement as an example of balanced consideration of the interests of the contractual parties and a solution that could help Slovenia and Croatia to a greater stability in international relations and to closer coordination in the international arena.

Janez Drnovšek also supported Slovenia’s candidature for the UN Security Council seat and for the OSCE Presidency. In making these decisions there were some who did not understand why it was important for Slovenia to establish itself as a responsible actor in multilateral relations and to show its ability to coordinate international interests on global issues. In this respect too, his route proved to be the right one. Our success in the UN Security Council, particularly at the beginning, showed that Slovenia was capable of taking stern tests and contributing through its work to wider international efforts.

Dr Drnovšek focused the utmost skill and conscientiousness on the negotiations for Slovenia’s accession to the European Union and to NATO. The two projects had been at the centre of Slovenia’s foreign policy for a decade. Joining the European Union is also a guarantee of our long-term development and establishment within the international community. The effort devoted to this objective was massive and demanded a maximum of meticulous professional and political work and, particularly importantly, simultaneous amendments and improvements to our legal and economic arrangements. Accession to the European Union in 2004, when Janez Drnovšek had left his position as Prime Ministers but had assumed the office of President of the Republic, represents his crowning achievement and the peak of his political career. The route which led there had been the route of sophisticated pragmatism, an itinerary of consciously set priorities, which enabled success and attainment of one goal after another; it allowed a new reality to be established and opened up new opportunities for the Republic of Slovenia.

A few things may have been given up along the way. The transition to a market economy could have been more comprehensive, more socially and ecologically sustainable and characterised by less injustice. Internationally, Slovenia could have striven to achieve a more comprehensive spectrum of objectives, could have avoided some mistakes and could have acted more consistently on issues such as nuclear disarmament. But no political effort can be perfect and totally free of error. What counts is that there are not too many serious mistakes and, more especially, that the fear of failure does not diminish the will to advance. Janez Drnovšek demonstrated the ability to take a risk and to crack the hardest political nuts. This courage and the preponderance of unquestionable achievements over potential shortcomings ensure him a lasting and significant place in our history.

We will also remember him for another – perhaps even more important – characteristic: the breadth of his horizons, his understanding of global issues and his ability to grasp exactly what, in these issues, is of crucial importance for Slovenia.

However, his pragmatic perception was by no means the result of a failure to understand the most complex problems of the world. Quite the contrary, it was the result of a conscious choice of priorities with a view to enabling us to offer help in resolving the fundamental problems of the world. It is only by becoming known for its ability to resolve its own problems that Slovenia can make convincing statements and take useful action on global issues. This is the kind of country we have today, and Dr Drnovšek made an exceptional contribution to the creation of a Slovenia of this kind.

He also, at the same time, took a lively interest in international political affairs, ecological and humanitarian issues and, especially, in ways of improving the quality of politics in the interests of ensuring a safe and decent future for humankind. I remember our discussion in New York, ten or more years ago, about issues then on the UN agenda and how surprisingly well he was acquainted with those issues, which he had obviously been following closely. He also had a clear impression that the time when Slovenia would be able to take an active part in resolving such problems had not yet arrived but was only approaching. At that time, ten years ago, he gave the warning that our country needed more time to prepare itself to become involved properly. He later assessed that the time had come and it is not, therefore, surprising that, in his capacity as President of the Republic of Slovenia, he became involved in international activities to address the Darfur crisis and to alleviate the humanitarian problems in that part of the world. His interest in Palestine, Sri Lanka and other – only seemingly distant – international crises, is not surprising. His impression of the great importance of the moment of the presidential inauguration of the current President of Bolivia, the first member of the indigenous population of that country to come to power, is not surprising. Nor is his presence at that historic presidential inauguration.

This all seemed rather foreign and remote to some people in Slovenia. However, the majority in Slovenia believed that Drnovšek’s initiatives were well-considered and carried some weight, and they were not mistaken. The geographical remoteness of the place in Darfur where the genocide took place does not mean that we are any less threatened by it. The threat to us is from the evil itself, not its geographical position. Janez Drnovšek understood this clearly.

Hannah Arendt wrote, in her time, of the banality of evil, its everyday nature, and maintained that the greatest peril of all was becoming reconciled to the ordinariness of evil. Drnovšek understood that. However, he also understood that we face a whole range of evil banalities in our time and that it is necessary to make a stand against them whenever the need and possibility present themselves. That was the reason for his energetic – though not always entirely successful – efforts on behalf of Darfur.

Janez Drnovšek also understood the limits of politics, of both pragmatic politics, which he himself practised over a long period, and ideological politics, which were alien to him. What he also understood was that neither of the two prevailing types of modern politics ensure the realisation of the best that humanity can do and that they may not even ensure our survival. Hence his engagement in justice and development, in assistance to victims of violations of human rights, and hence his contribution to a much-needed critical view of modern politics and, indirectly, to the search for new paradigms and new modes of political engagement.

There were some who thought that these activities were connected with his illness. I doubt, personally, that this was the case. He wanted to perform his duties as President in a way that would make it possible for debate and, if possible, also practice to change politics and make it a more efficient and powerful tool for humanity. It is in these efforts that Janez Drnovšek’s humanistic nature is reflected. Long years of deliberate pragmatism did not leave him bereft of the will to seek for new and better solutions in politics.

Janez Drnovšek was aware that present-day approaches to politics and global issues are no longer appropriate, that all too often they leave people feeling helpless and, at the same time, do not truly resolve the crucial problems. Seeking new solutions is therefore an urgent necessity. Janez Drnovšek showed us one possible route. There are probably others. We have to search for them ourselves and, in this search, we will be inspired by his example. We will be grateful for his great and measurable achievements in the development of our country. We will be grateful, too, for his warnings, which will continue to remind us of just how much we need to do if we want the world to survive and our successors to have a worthwhile future.

For all this, Mr President, thank you once again.
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