NEWS

Prime Minister Janez Janša congratulates the people of Prekmurje on the day celebrating their incorporation into the mother nation

Dear people of Prekmurje,

 

This hot summer day does not differ much from other days of this summer. Leaving trails of anguish on people's faces, the blazing sun furrows parched and tired soil. Today's worries, however, are different than the ones 93 years ago when over 20,000 people attended a mass gathering in Beltinci, supporting Prekmurje's unification with the mother nation and living to see the day when they became part of a common homeland.

Only about six years ago when we have started to celebrate this day as a national holiday, we have finally attached proper significance to this event and at least partly repaid our moral debt to Prekmurje, a debt we should feel incumbent on us.  Indeed, much too often, also due to specific historical circumstances, was Prekmurje pushed to the side.
Over centuries, you, the people of Prekmurje, have preserved all those elements which are capable of binding people together as a nation: the wish and desire to write and speak in your own language, the creation of a rich cultural and artistic treasury and an unshakeable loyalty to the Slovenian identity and the idea of a united Slovenia. In this way, you have demonstrated that the existence and the identity of a nation do not depend on the international situation but on national awareness which is inherent in every member of a national community. You have developed and cultivated this awareness and proven that it is possible to coexist with people speaking different languages and having different religious belief, thus setting an example for everyone else.
Your national awareness and active support were also clearly reflected in the enthusiasm of the country's struggle for independence, when we jointly searched for the right path and lived our dreams; when we strongly believed that our country can compete with any place in the world and that it is just as beautiful and just as good – because it is ours. Because we are living for it with all our heart and because we are willing to make sacrifices for it and invest all our thoughts and efforts in the country's prosperity.

 

You, people of Prekmurje, know that. Although you quite often experienced injustice, particularly in connection with the delays in the completion of infrastructure projects, economic setbacks, the delays in the construction of transport connections, you have nevertheless remained people who know how to show real human warmth and people who, despite blows of life, are capable of offering an honest word and a kind smile.

 

It is the European projects and the opportunities in the tourism that will, alongside industrious people and measures to boost the economy, facilitate a renewed development and prevent young, skilled and ambitious young people from having to search for their opportunities abroad. We must do our best to this end. Because we need them. Someone wrote: "The world bestows all the opportunities on those who are capable of making use of them."

 

On the occasion of today's national holiday, the day of the unification of the Prekmurje Slovenes with the mother nation, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the people of Prekmurje, including the ethnic communities who live in this region!

 

It is my wish that you would continue to make the most of every opportunity and deserve everything that has made today's celebration to be not only a reason for joy but also for looking ahead and designing bold projects for the future.