May 1, 2004 – Slovenia Becomes a Member of the European Union

Historically, as Wikipedia explains, the territory of Slovenia has been part of many different states: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Carolingian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Republic of Venice, the Illyrian Provinces of Napoleon’s First French Empire, the Austrian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In October, 1918, the Slovenes co-founded the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs. In December 1918, they merged with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1946, Yugoslavia became a socialist federation of six republics: Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. At this time, it adopted the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

In 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia seceded. (Serbia and Montenegro claimed to be, in combination, the successor state to the SFRY but were not recognized as such. The two countries eventually split up in 2006, with each declaring independence as sovereign states.)

Slovenia had officially declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991, but the Yugoslav People’s Army was dispatched to Slovenia. A ten-day war followed, and on July 7, an agreement was signed implementing a truce. In December 1991 Slovenia adopted a new constitution. The EU recognized Slovenia on January 15, 1992, and the UN accepted it as a member on May 22, 1992.

On this date in history, Slovenia became the first former Yugoslav republic to join the European Union.

Today, Slovenia has one of the highest per capita GDPs in Central Europe, according to the CIA World Factbook. It currently has a female president, Natasa Pirc Musar, who was elected in November, 2022. (The constitution of Slovenia holds that the president is the highest representative of the state. In practice, the position is mostly ceremonial. The prime minister, the actual head of the government, is nominated by the President after consultation with the parties represented in the National Assembly. That person is then formally elected by a simple majority of the National Assembly.)

Natassa Pirc Musar

The currently serving president is Robert Golob, who assumed office in 2022. He obtained a PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Ljubljana in 1994. After his studies, he was a post-doctoral Fulbright scholar in the United States at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He leads the Freedom Movement, a social liberal political party in Slovenia.

Robert Golob in 2023 picture via Wikipedia