Slovenia

**Slovenia**, officially the **Republic of Slovenia**, is a nation in Central Europe located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy, Hungary, Austria and Croatia.

## History

### Post-Yugoslavia and Independence

In September 1989, numerous constitutional amendments were passed to introduce parliamentary democracy to Slovenia. The same year Action North united both the opposition and democratized communist establishment in Slovenia as the first defense action against attacks by Slobodan Milošević's supporters, leading to Slovenian independence. On 7 March 1990, the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the "Republic of Slovenia". In April 1990, the first democratic election in Slovenia took place, and the united opposition movement DEMOS led by Jože Pučnik emerged victorious.

On 25 June 1991, Slovenia became independent through the passage of appropriate legal documents. On 27 June in the early morning, the Yugoslav People's Army dispatched its forces to prevent further measures for the establishment of a new country, which led to the Ten-Day War. On 7 July, the Brijuni Agreement was signed, implementing a truce and a three-month halt of the enforcement of Slovenia's independence. In the end of the month, the last soldiers of the Yugoslav Army left Slovenia.

In December 1991, a new constitution was adopted, followed in 1992 by the laws on denationalisation and privatization. The members of the European Union recognised Slovenia as an independent state on 15 January 1992, and the United Nations accepted it as a member on 22 May 1992. The disillusionment with domestic socio-economic elites at municipal and national levels was expressed at the 2012–2013 Slovenian protests on a wider scale than in the smaller 15 October 2011 protests.

### Second Yugoslav War

*See Full Article: Second Yugoslav War*

On 9 October 2021, Slovenia began troop mobilisation as was broke out in the Balkan Peninsula On 17 October, Slovenia declared war on Serbia and Albania in support of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Second Siege of Sarajevo, Slovenian forces attempted to assist Bosnian troops in dislodge Serbian artillery positions, but most attempts failed. The Vienna Accords were signed on 2 September, ending the war.

## Government and Politics

The head of state is the president, who is elected by popular vote and has an important integrative role. They are elected for five years and at maximum for two consecutive terms. He has mainly a representative role and is the commander-in-chief of the Slovenian military forces.

The executive and administrative authority in Slovenia is held by the Government of Slovenia headed by the Prime Minister and the council of ministers or cabinet, who are elected by the National Assembly. The legislative authority is held by the bicameral Parliament of Slovenia, characterised by an asymmetric duality. The bulk of power is concentrated in the National Assembly, which consists of ninety members. Of those, 88 are elected by all the citizens in a system of proportional representation, whereas two are elected by the registered members of the autochthonous Hungarian and Italian minorities. Election takes place every four years. The National Council, consisting of forty members, appointed to represent social, economic, professional and local interest groups, has a limited advisory and control power.

### Administrative Regions

Slovenia can be divided into 5 traditional regions or twelve statistical regions. The traditional regions are:

* Slovene Littoral
* Carniola
* Carinthia
* Styria
* Prekmurje

The Carniola region can be divided into three subregions: Upper, Inner and Lower. Officially, Slovenia is subdivided into 211 municipalities. The municipalities are the only bodies of local autonomy in Slovenia.

### Foreign Relations

Slovenia is a member of the European Union, NATO and United Nations. Together with Hungary and Italy, Slovenia formed a Multinational Land Force (the so-called Trilateral Brigade) in April 1998 with regional peacekeeping ability. Slovenia is a member of Central European Nations Cooperation on Peacekeeping (CENCOOP), together with Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Within this organization, a combined infantry peacekeeping unit was formed March 1998.