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Slovensko

Chronology of
Events 1991-2006
1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
1998, 1999
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

1991
25 June The Assembly of the
Republic of Slovenia adopts
the Basic Constitutional
Charter on the Independence
and Sovereignty of the
Republic of Slovenia, the
Constitutional Act
Implementing the Basic
Constitutional Charter, and
the Declaration of
Independence.
26 June Solemn
proclamation of Slovenia's
independence and
sovereignty. Croatia
recognises Slovenia.

27 June Yugoslav People's

Army invades Slovenia. The
Presidency of the Republic of
Slovenia makes the decision
that Slovenia will defend its
independence and
sovereignty with all available
resources.

7 July Following intervention

from the European
Community, the Brioni
Agreement is adopted, which
stipulates that Slovenia and
Croatia implement a three-
month moratorium on all their
independence activities.
24 July An administrative rule
on the release of all
Slovenian soldiers from the
Yugoslav Army is issued.

30 July Lithuania recognises

Slovenia.
26 June 1991
13 August On behalf of the
Slovenian leadership, foreign
minister Dimitrij Rupel sends
a 'memorandum' containing
proposals for resolving the
crisis in Slovenia to all CSCE
and EC member states.

7 October The moratorium

stipulated by the Brioni
Agreement expires, and 26 June 1991
Slovenia starts enforcing its
independence legislation.
The Assembly approves the
tolar as the national currency.
Slovenia takes control of her
borders.

25 October The last soldier of

the Yugoslav Army leaves
Slovenian territory.

16 December The foreign

ministers of the EC adopt the
decision that the EC would
recognise the independence
of all Yugoslav republics
which sought to do so, and
meet certain criteria.

19 December Iceland
recognises Slovenia.
Germany and Sweden do the
same, but pass an
amendment stipulating that
their resolutions would be
effective as of 15 January.
23 December The Assembly
of the Republic of Slovenia
passes a new constitution,
which becomes the first
constitution of independent 23 December
Slovenia. 1991
1992
13 January The Vatican
recognises Slovenia.
15 January Slovenia is
recognised by France,
Belgium, the UK, Denmark,
Austria, Switzerland, Malta,
Hungary, Norway, Bulgaria,
Poland, Australia, Canada
and the European
Community.
17 January Italian president
Francesco Cossiga visits
Ljubljana and personally
presents the documents of
recognition.
24 March The CSCE Council
of Ministers accept Slovenia
as a full member.
11 April Solemn oath of
allegiance of the first
generation Slovenian
soldiers.
14 May At a joint session of
the Assembly of the Republic
of Slovenia, the MPs elect in
a secret ballot a new
government headed by the
Prime Minister Dr Janez
Drnovšek, and this ends the
two-year tenure of the
government headed by Lojze
Peterle.

22 May Slovenia is accepted

to the UN as its 176th
member.

10 September All chambers

of the Assembly of the
Republic of Slovenia pass
the National Assembly 14 May 1992
Elections Act, and the
National Council Act.

30 September The Bank of

Slovenia issues and puts in
circulation the newly created
tolar banknotes and coins.

6 December The Demos

coalition parties win the first
parliamentary elections, while
Milan Kučan wins the
presidency elections..
1993
12 January The National
Assembly elects Janez
Drnovšek Prime Minister,
while the cabinet is appointed
on 25 January.

15 January Slovenia
becomes a member of the
International Monetary Fund.

25 February Slovenia
becomes a full member of the
World Bank.

5 April The Prime Minister

Janez Drnovšek and the
foreign minister Lojze Peterle
sign an Agreement on
Cooperation with the 12 January 1993
representatives of the
European Union.

14 May Slovenia officially

becomes the 28th full
member of the Council of
Europe.

29 September The Prime

Minister Janez Drnovšek
delivers a speech at the 48th
UN General Assembly.
1994
30 March At a meeting of the
NATO Council, the Prime
Minister Janez Drnovšek
signs a framework document
on Partnership for Peace.
8 July The Croatian Prime
Minister Nikica Valentić visits
Slovenia and signs three
interstate agreements with
the Slovenian the Prime
Minister Janez Drnovšek at
Brdo pri Kranju.
29 September Ivan Bizjak is
elected the first ombudsman.

3 October The National

Assembly passes the
Establishment of
Municipalities and Municipal
Boundaries Act.

15 November The National

Assembly passes a
declaration on the relations
between Slovenia, Italy and
the EU. 29 September
1994
18 November At a meeting of
the North-Atlantic Assembly
in Washington, Slovenia
becomes an associate
partner of NATO.
1995
6 March At an EU ministerial in Brussels, Italy
withdraws its objections to Slovenia's
accession to the EU.

31 March Representatives of unions and

employers sign the first social agreement in
Ljubljana.

30 July Slovenia becomes the 105th full and

founding member of the World Trade
Organization.

1 September Slovenia introduces external

convertibility of the tolar.

25 November A document on the accession

to the CEFTA is signed in Ljubljana.
1996
1 January Slovenia becomes
a full member of the Central
European Free Trade
Agreement (CEFTA).
14 March The Prime Minister
Janez Drnovšek presents
Jean-Claude Paye, Secretary
General of the OECD, with
Slovenia's membership
application.
17 May Pope John Paul II
visits Slovenia.

10 June Slovenia and the EU

sign an association
agreement, and Slovenia
submits request for full 17 May 1996
membership in the EU.

10 November Parliamentary
elections take place.
10. november
1996
1997
9 January At its first
extraordinary session, the
National Assembly re-elects
Janez Drnovšek as Prime
Minister. The cabinet is
appointed on 27 February.
5 March Pope John Paul II
appoints Franc Rode new
Archbishop and Metropolitan
Bishop of Slovenia.

17 April Presidents of all

parliamentary parties and the
representatives of the
Hungarian and Italian
minorities sign the
Declaration on NATO
Membership, in which they
express 'unwavering support'
to Slovenia's integration in
NATO.

17 April The government

approves a draft act on the
ratification of the EU
association agreement.

6 and 7 June Presidents of

eight member states of the
Central European Initiative
meet in Piran.

24 June At an extraordinary
session, the National
Assembly passes a
resolution to initiate the
procedure for amending the
Article 68 of Slovenia's
Constitution pertaining to
ownership rights to real
estate of foreigners, with the
required two-third majority of
all present MPs. The National
Assembly instructs the
parliamentary Constitutional 5 March 1997
Committee to prepare a draft
act amending the
Constitution.

15 July The National

Assembly ratifies the
association agreement
between Slovenia and the
EU.

12 and 13 September Prime

ministers of CEFTA member
states meet in Portorož.

23 November Milan Kučan is

re-elected President of
Slovenia.

3 December The foreign

minister Boris Frlec signs the
Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, and
announces the foundation of
the International Trust Fund
for Demining and Mine
Victims Assistance in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.

13 December At the EU
Summit in Luxembourg, a
decision is taken on a 5+1
EU enlargement formula.
Slovenia is one of the
candidates.
1998
1 January Slovenia becomes a non-
permanent member of the UN Security
Council.

26 February The government approves the

National Strategy for the Integration of the
Republic of Slovenia into NATO.
31 March Slovenia officially enters
negotiations for full membership in the EU.

23 May Slovenia presents itself at the

EXPOž98 in Lisbon.

1 August Slovenia assumes one-month

presidency of the UN Security Council.

8 August The Act Amending the

Establishment of Municipalities and Municipal
Boundaries Act comes into force, which
stipulates additional 45 municipalities to the
existing 147.

4 December The Prime Minister Janez

Drnovšek meets American President Bill
Clinton in the White House.
11 November Slovenia becomes the first EU
candidate country to sign the Joint
Assessment of Medium-Term Economic
Policy of Slovenia.
1999
1 February The Association
Agreement with the EU
comes into effect, and
Slovenia officially becomes
an associate member of the
EU.
22 February First meeting of
the EU-Slovenia Association
Council.
7 May Slovenia, France and
Romania sign the European
Social Charter, one of the
most important documents
regulating the protection of
human rights.
21 and 22 June American
President Bill Clinton visits
Slovenia.

19 September Pope John

Paul II visits Slovenia and
beatifies the Bishop Anton
Martin Slomšek.

1 November As a two-year
non-permanent member, 21 June 1999
Slovenia assumes one-
month presidency of the UN
Security Council for the
second time (the first was in
August 1998).
2000
1 January After just over
three years of preparations,
the reform of the pension and
disability insurance system
enters implementation phase.
6 January UN's Secretary-
General Kofi Annan appoints
Danilo Türk, incumbent
Ambassador of the Republic
of Slovenia to the UN, UN
Assistant Secretary-General
for Political Affairs.
3 May In the third round the
National Assembly elects
Andrej Bajuk Prime Minister.
The cabinet is appointed on 7
June.

25 July With the required

two-third majority, the
National Assembly amends
Article 80 of the Constitution,
and thus modifies the
proportional representation
system by stipulating a four
per cent threshold.

4 October The President of

the Slovenian Academy of
Sciences and Arts (SASA), 3 May 2000
France Bernik, the education
minister Lovro Šturm, the
Rector of the University of
Ljubljana, Jože Mencinger,
and the Rector of the
University of Maribor, Ludvik
Toplak, sign a letter of intent
to establish the University of
Primorska.

15 October Third
parliamentary elections in
Slovenia take place.

16 November The National

Assembly elects Janez

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Drnovšek Prime Minister. The
cabinet is appointed on 30
November. 16 November
2000
2001
12 February Slovenia
officially assumes six-month
co-chairmanship of the
Working Table for
Democratisation and Human
Rights of the Stability Pact
for South Eastern Europe.
14 February The Italian
Senate ratifies an act on the
protection of Slovenian
minority in Italy.
9 May In his address on the
occasion of Europe Day,
can be proud of its
achievements in approaching
the EU.
14 June The participants of
the EU Summit in Göteborg
agree that the negotiations
with candidate countries
should be concluded by the
end of 2002, and that the first
accessions would take place
in 2004.
16 June The first meeting
between the American and
Russian presidents, George
W. Bush and Vladimir Putin,
takes place at Brdo pri
Kranju.
10 October Following an
invitation by Slovenia's
president, Milan Kučan, 16 June 2001
Queen Margrethe II of
Denmark and her spouse
arrive on a three-day visit to
Slovenia.
13 November The European
Commission issues the 10 October 2001
Fourth Annual Progress
Report which positively
assesses Slovenia's progress
in the preparations for EU
membership.
2002
16 January A public opinion
debate on Slovenia's
accession to NATO is held in
the Parliament. The state
leadership expresses strong
determination to join the
Alliance.
15 February At the end of
their visit to Slovenia,
NATO's group of experts
assesses that Slovenia has
achieved significant progress
in all areas in the
preparations for membership.
1 April The Statistical Office
of the Republic of Slovenia
conducts the first census of
population, households and
housing in independent
Slovenia. The data shows
that Slovenia has 1,948,250
inhabitants, 688,733
households, and 775,131
dwellings.
17 May The Prime Minister
Janez Drnovšek meets the
American President George
W. Bush in Washington.
3 July Following an invitation
by Slovenia's president,
Milan Kučan, King Juan
Carlos I of Spain and his
spouse, Queen Sophia, pay
their first official visit to
Slovenia.

25 October At an EU summit,
the EU leaders nominate ten
candidate countries to join
the EU on 1 May 2004. One 3 July 2002
of them is Slovenia.

21 November At the NATO

Summit Meeting in Prague
Slovenia is invited to join the
Alliance.
1 December In the second
round of presidential
elections, Janez Drnovšek is
elected President of Slovenia
ahead of Barbara Brezigar.

11 December The National

Assembly elects Anton Rop
Prime Minister. The cabinet is
appointed on 19 December. 1 December
2002
13 December Slovenia
concludes accession
negotiations with the EU. The
country is to join the EU on 1
May 2004.
2003
23 March Referenda on
Slovenia's accession to the
EU and NATO take place.
89.64 per cent of voters opt
for joining the EU. 66.08 per
cent opt for joining NATO.
Electorate turnout is 60.4 per
cent.

9 April The European

Parliament approves
accession of Slovenia and
the other nine candidate
countries as of 1 May 2004.

16 April The President Janez

Drnovšek, the Prime Minister
Anton Rop, and the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Dimitrij
Rupel, sign the Accession
Treaty in Athens.

9 May On the occasion of

Europe Day, Pat Cox,
President of the European
Parliament, Erwan Fouere,
Head of the European
Commission Representation
to Slovenia, and George 23 March 2003
Nikolaidis, Ambassador of
the Hellenic Republic
(presiding country of the EU)
to Slovenia, present letters of
address to Slovenia, a future
member of the EU. The
European Parliament opens
its information office in
Ljubljana.

25 June Slovenia celebrates

twelve years of
independence. A number of
celebrations are held across
the country. The main
celebration in the Trg
republike Square in Ljubljana
focuses on the young.

5 November The European

Commission releases the
final report on Slovenia's
preparedness to enter the
EU.
7 November Government
representatives of the Central
European Free Trade
Agreement signatory
countries meet at a CEFTA
summit in Brdo pri Kranju.

13 November The 7 November

government adopts a 2003
Programme of ERM II Entry
and Adoption of the Euro.
2004
28 January The National
Assembly ratifies the
Accession Treaty and an
agreement between Slovenia
and the Vatican regarding
legal matters.
30 January Quadrilaterale -
meeting of Prime Ministers of
Croatia (Ivo Sanader),
Hungary (Péter Medgyessy),
Italy (Silvio Berlusconi) and
Slovenia (Anton Rop) at Brdo
pri Kranju.

24 February With sixty-eight

votes in favour and three
against, the National
Assembly ratifies the North
Atlantic Treaty, which
established NATO in 1949.
2 March The foreign minister
Dimitrij Rupel receives an
invitation from Secretary 30 January 2004
General of NATO, Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, to accede to
the North Atlantic Treaty by
depositing its protocol of
accession. The European
Parliament ratifies the final
report on the preparedness of
Slovenia and other candidate
countries to enter the EU on
1 May 2004.

29 March Slovenia joins

NATO.
30 April On the occasion of
Slovenia's accession to the
EU the main ceremony is
held in Nova Gorica - key-
note speakers are Prime
Minister Anton Rop, and
President of the European
Commission, Romano Prodi.
Ceremonies marking the
occasion of Slovenia's
accession are held across
the country.

1 May Slovenia becomes an

EU member, ceremonies 30 April 2004
marking the occasion of
Slovenia's accession are
held across the country.

13 May The government

adopts the Convergence
Programme, which provides
the basis for Slovenia's entry
into ERM II and the
Eurozone.
13 June The first elections to
the European Parliament are
held in Slovenia.

15 June King Carl XVI Gustaf

of Sweden and Queen Silvia
arrive on a three-day visit to
Slovenia.

28 June Slovenia enters the 13 June 2004

Exchange Rate Mechanism
Exchange Rate Mechanism
(ERM II) in preparation for
joining the Eurozone. At the
Oath of Office ceremony at
the Court of Justice of the
European Communities,
European Commissioners 15 June 2004
from then new member
states are sworn in. One of
them is Slovene, Janez
Potočnik.
3 October Parliamentary
elections are held in
Slovenia.

29 October In Rome, the

heads of 25 EU countries
sign the Treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe.
Member states are given two
years in which to ratify it.

9 November The National

Assembly elects the
president of the largest
parliamentary party
(Slovenian Democratic Party
- SDS), Janez Janša, Prime
Minister. New coalition
parties: SDS, New Slovenia
(NSi), Slovene People's Party
(SLS), and Democratic Party
of Slovenian Pensioners
(DeSUS) sign a coalition
agreement. The government
is appointed on 3 December. 3 October 2004

22 November A new
European Commission
headed by the former
Portuguese Prime Minister,
José Manuel Barroso
assumes a five-year office.
Member of the Barroso
Commission, Janez Potočnik,
becomes Commissioner for
Science and Research.

25 November Slovenia, as
the presiding country, hosts a
two-day Central European
Initiative Summit attended by
the Prime Ministers of
seventeen member states in
Portorož.
2005
6 January At a regular
session, the government
adopts a bill for the
ratification of the European
constitutional treaty, and
establishes a core working
group responsible for the
preparations for Slovenia's
presidency of the EU in the
first half of 2008.
13 January At the permanent
council meeting of the OSCE,
the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Dimitrij Rupel, OSCE
chairman-in-office outlines
OSCE's priorities in 2005 to
permanent representatives of
fifty-five participating states.
1 February At an
extraordinary session, the
National Assembly ratifies
the Treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe.

3 February The government

approves a plan to introduce
the euro in Slovenia.
1 February 2005
9 May The state ceremony to
mark the 60th anniversary of
the end of World War II is
held in Ljubljana.
22 May On the occasion of
the 15th anniversary of the
first democratically elected
Slovenian government its
members meet at Brdo pri
Kranju.

10 June Croatian and

Slovenian governments hold
a meeting at Brijuni to sign
several agreements on
economic cooperation and
express support to further
enlargement of the EU. A
Slovenian-Croatian historical
commission meets for its
maiden session in Pula.

11 June A national ceremony

commemorating the
unrecognised victims of post-
war killings takes place at the
Teharje Memorial Park. Key-
note speaker is President of
the Republic of Slovenia,
Janez Drnovšek.

23 June At a regular session,

the government approves
Slovenia's Development
Strategy and adopts a bill on
balanced regional
development, which
stipulates that Slovenia be
divided into two cohesive
regions.

14 July At a regular session, 22 May 2005

the government approves a
bill on dual display of prices
in tolars and euros, and
appoints a working group,
headed by Jože P. Damjan,
to prepare a framework of
structural reforms.

28 July The government

adopts a programme in
preparation for Slovenia's EU
presidency in the first half of
2008.

6 October The government

discusses the guidelines of
economic and social reforms,
submitted by government
reform committee, and briefs
the presidents of
parliamentary parties, heads
of parliamentary groups,
representatives of the Italian
and Hungarian minorities,
and the President of the
National Assembly.

7 October Finance minister

Andrej Bajuk and the
Governor of the Bank of
Slovenia, Mitja Gaspari,
present the new Slovenian
euro coins.
3 November Prime Minister
Janez Janša presents the
framework of economic and
social reforms to improve
welfare in Slovenia.

5 December OSCE 3 November

ministerial meeting takes 2005
place in Ljubljana.

16 May The European Commission releases a

convergence report assessing Slovenia's
preparations for the adoption of the euro. The
Commission concludes that Slovenia meets
the criteria to adopt the common European
currency.

23 May Grand opening of the Centre for the

European Perspective at Jable Castle.

2006
2 March Following an
invitation by the Slovenian
Prime Minister Janez Janša,
the President of the
European Commission, José
Manuel Barroso visits
Slovenia, accompanied by
Margot Wallström, Vice
President of the Commission,
and Commissioner Janez
Potočnik.

17 March Prime Minister

Janez Janša attends
international conference on
EMU entry and the adoption
of the euro.

28 March A delegation of the

International Monetary Fund
(IMF) concludes their regular
annual fourteen-day 2 March 2006
consultation in Slovenia. The
Head of the Mission Juan-
Jose Fernandez-Ansola,
together with finance minister
Andrej Bajuk and member of
the Governing Board of the
Bank of Slovenia, Božo
Jašovič, presents an annual
economic report on
Slovenia's economic
situation. According to the
IMF, Slovenia is one of the
most developed new EU
member states, while the
adoption of the euro is a
noteworthy achievement.
18 April Presidents of six
parliamentary parties and the
representatives of the
Hungarian and Italian
minorities sign the
Partnership for Development
Agreement, thus committing
themselves to fruitful
collaboration in seeking the
18 April 2006
best responses to future
challenges, and to reaching
consensus in adopting and
promoting reforms.
29 May Government
representatives, headed by
Prime Minister Janez Janša
and a strong business
delegation pay the first official
visit to Russia, where the PM
meets the Russian President
29 May 2006
Vladimir Putin.
31 May Following an
invitation by Slovenian
President Janez Drnovšek,
Sovereign Prince Albert II of
Monaco visits Slovenia. 31 May 2006