Slovenia

Slovenia is situated at the crossroads of central Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans.
Slovenia served as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office in 2005, was the Chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors in 2006-2007, and is preparing to be the first of the ten 2004 EU newcomers to hold the EU's rotating presidency in the first half of 2008.
Slovenia is engaged with 29 countries in bilateral military exchange--most actively with the U.S.--and in regional cooperative arrangements in central and southeast Europe; it participates in or intends to contribute forces for five major multinational regional peacekeeping bodies.
Slovenia and the EU Preparation for the EU Presidency in 2008
Judging by the muted reactions to the European Commission’s latest economic forecast which puts Slovenia’s economic growth in 2008 at 4.6%, a substantial drop from the expected 6%, a moderate slowdown in economic activity is increasingly being viewed as an effective means of reining in inflation.
With significant investment in conference facilities over the past ten years and highly professional personnel, Slovenia is now ranked as one of the top 50 conference destinations in the world; a small yet diverse country that offers unlimited possibilities for any kind of event.
Slovenia’s currency was stable, its budget balanced, and its public debt not a crushing one.
Because state welfare was generous and Slovenia had not subjected itself to the shock therapy of the free market, the gap between the poor and the newly rich was markedly less drastic.
But Slovenia would have to make still more “painful decisions,” said the Western critics: fewer public protections, more unemployment to bring down income, lower wages for the many, and higher profits for the few; in other words, Third Worldization—the same plan that is in store for every nation in the world, including the United States.
Slovenia is ranked 27th out of 41 countries in the European region, and its overall score is lower than the regional average.