NEWS
Prime Minister at the opening of Eurobasket 2013: "We will cheer for our boys, hope with them, breathe and live for them"
The European Basketball Championships – Eurobasket 2013, the biggest international event in the history of independent Slovenia, officially started this evening at Kongresni trg in Ljubljana. The speaker of honour at the official part of the opening, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, said that we can be proud of the boys of the Slovenian team, but that they, in turn, have a duty to be proud of their country.
"We excel at sports. We ski and climb where no one has skied or climbed before, swim and cycle the distances that no one has swum or cycled yet," she highlighted the Slovenians' orientation towards sport and added that we are not only individualists, our team athletes also achieve excellent results. "The number of medals won at major international competitions is truly enviable considering that there are merely two million of us. According to this official Olympic criterion we are among the best in the world," she emphasised adding that she was convinced that we will succeed again.
At the close of her address, Prime Minister Bratušek said: "We can be proud of the boys of the Slovenian team, however, they – as we all – are also bound by duty to be proud of their country. Only thus can they wear the national kit and defend the colours of our flag with honour." Ms Bratušek wished all the guests to have a pleasant stay in Slovenia and promised our team that we will cheer for them, hope with them and breathe and live for them in the following days.