Slovenia

To the north-east of Italy, due south of Austria, at the isthmus of the Adriatic Sea, Slovenia was one of the half-dozen states that had previously been combined to form Yugoslavia, and the first, in 2004, to join both NATO and the EU. Where every other Balkan state transitioned from Tito to wherever it is now by the forceps of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the bloody emergency caesarean of civil war and despotism, Slovenia managed a rather more natural delivery, parturition as opposed to partition, with just a brief labour on the expected date (Yugoslav forces tried to prevent it, Slovene forces defended it, the EU brokered a ceasefire, about a hundred people were killed, and the Yugoslavs withdrew) - you see, it can be done

There are, of course, some negatives, of which the battle over the rights of citizens of other former Yugoslav republics has been the principal. Parliament introduced legislation in February 2004, restoring those rights; a referendum in April of that year rejected the legislation. Yet, ironically, in 2012, another referendum approved the granting of the same rights to gay couples as already existed for heterosexuals. So you can be gay in Slovenia, but not if you are of Croatian origin. The Slovenes particularly dislike the Croatians, because they have a border dispute. Slovenia even tried to block Croatian membership of the EU. Issues over the liquidity of Slovenia’s banks will likely be the reason for their next appearance in the world news headlines.

Marks for: 4

Marks against: 1

You can find David Prashker at:
http://theargamanpress.com/
http://davidprashker.com/
http://davidprashker.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TheArgamanPress
http://davidprashkersprivatecollection.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkerssongsandpoems.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersbookofdays.blogspot.com/
http://davidprashkersartgallery.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2015 David Prashker

All rights reserved

The Argaman Press