Today in Logatec, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, attended the opening of the Centre of War Veterans of Slovenia. In his speech he congratulated all veterans on their will and determination with which they have realised the project. "Let this be a place that symbolically proves that Slovenia needs the Union of Veterans of the War for Slovenia and the Sever Police Veterans Association – not just because of the past, but because of the present and the future," said the PM.

(Photo: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000)

PM Janša stressed that being a veteran is not merely about cherishing the memories and socialising, but above all preserving the tradition of the Slovenian resistance, which is as old as the Slovenian nation itself, and without which the Slovenian state would not exist. "During the Slovenian War you fought and achieved by far the biggest and cleanest victory in Slovenia's history, which brought us an independent country, and the future that we want and which we can expect to be the same or grow even better," said the PM in his address.

 

PM Janša also emphasised that the situation in Slovenia is as good as it ever was, not least because of the timely decisions, courage and persistence of the veterans, and their faith in Slovenia's independence. We are the fastest developing country in the EU, so we can compare to the most developed. We have achieved outstanding results, while the economic and political freedom has unleashed the creative potential of the Slovenian people.

 

"It pays to be courageous and take risks," said the PM, adding that good results cannot be achieved unless goals are set high. In his opinion, Slovenes set ourselves a high goal when we opted for independence, which is a great example of taking risks and the responsibility for attaining goals. We also knew how to stand together and be nearly unanimous when it came to key decisions about our future. "You, the war veterans are among the most deserving for this, because in the face of the great challenges you knew precisely what to do," said Mr Janša who later took a tour of the Centre.