Janša: “This Is A Day Worth Remembering – By Those Of Us Who Experienced It, Those Who Were Born After It, And All Future Generations”

On Monday, a ceremony to mark the Independence and Unity Day was held in Tolmin, Slovenia, organised by the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence (VSO). In his speech, the keynote speaker, Janez Janša, emphasised that this is a day worth remembering by those who lived through it, those who were born afterwards, and all future generations.

“I will tell you what happened. Janez Janša will tell you what happened. But you will decide how things will be in the future,” said Alojz Peterle, President of the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence, in his welcoming address.

We managed to win our own country

In his speech, Janša recalled the famous words of Dr Jože Pučnik: “Yugoslavia no longer exists. This is about Slovenia!” He also pointed out that there are many nations in the world today, including in Europe, that are bigger than Slovenia, but do not have their own state. “But we did it! And the final decision leading to this success was the independence referendum that happened on this day, the 23^rd of December, in 1990. It is a day worth remembering by those of us who experienced it, those who were born afterwards, and all future generations,” he pointed out.

He then explained why Slovenia is not yet the country we voted for on the 23^rd of December 1990. In the 2004-2008 mandate, we came close to Italy, and in the next mandate, we could have overtaken it. “But unfortunately, it didn’t work, we got stuck here, and the key reason is that we were not breathing with both wings of our lungs, there was a lot of excluding. Instead of synergies, internal enemies were sought to be purged, and the price was paid in the figures you see on the bills and what we are hearing now about new taxes, the right to disconnect, and so on,” he was clear.

The event was also the premiere of Igor Pirkovič‘s musical narrative performance about Slovenia, entitled Home and Homeland, which featured performances by Tomaž Hribar, accordionist and leader of the Gašperji ensemble, and Danilo Lukan, singer of the ensemble.

Ž. N.