Today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, attended the 17th meeting of politicians at the Najevska lime tree. On this occasion the PM remembered the people of Koroška during the fight for Slovenia's independence and also spoke of the future regionalisation of Slovenia.

Prime Minister Janez Janša and the Mayor of Črna na Koroškem, Janez Švab, welcome Mr Emil Plajnšek, a 94-year old, who regularly attends the meetings at the Najevska lime tree, and wishes him all the best in the future (Photo: Primož Lavre/Salomon 2000)

 

In his speech, the PM mentioned a letter written 16 years ago. "During negotiations with the Yugoslav army a demand was made that the regime of 25 June 1991 is to be re-established on the borders. We then received a letter from Koroška saying that what the people of Koroška paid in blood while defending their homeland, they would never return to the Yugoslav army. Also due to these heroic acts, the future of Slovenia is clear and new tasks lie ahead."

 

Among the tasks, the PM stressed the future regionalisation of the country, which will facilitate the decentralisation of Slovenia. The PM said that the location of the regional seat was not the most significant thing. "In any case, the seat of the Koroška region will be in Koroška, not in Ljubljana any more. It is also not necessary that all institutions be in the same town." According to the PM, establishing regions will enable their people to focus on the common development challenges of local municipalities and use the allocated funds even better, as they themselves know their needs best. Koroška has already shown that limited funds can be used wisely and not only to wait for aid from elsewhere. This provides the basis for further development.

 

A unified region can achieve progress even with regard to more demanding projects such as the third development axis, which, according to the PM, could be in the process of construction had the strategic plan been coordinated and worked on years ago. As it was, the project had to be addressed from the beginning.

 

The PM ended the meeting by hoping that future generations would meet under the lime trees in Koroška and all around Slovenia primarily to party and have fun and not to resolve disputes.