Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consisting of a National Assembly or Drzavni
Zbor (90 seats; 40 are directly elected and 50 are selected on a
proportional basis; note - the numbers of directly elected and
proportionally elected seats varies with each election; members are
elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the National
Council or Drzavni Svet (this is primarily an advisory body
organized on corporatist principles with limited legislative powers;
it may propose laws, ask to review any National Assembly decisions,
and call national referenda; members are indirectly elected to
five-year terms by an electoral college)
elections: National Assembly - last held 3 October 2004 (next to be
held October 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - SDS 29.1%, LDS 22.8%,
ZLSD 10.2%, NSi 9%, SLS 6.8%, SNS 6.3%, DeSUS 4.1%, other 11.7%;
seats by party - SDS 29, LDS 23, ZLSD 10, NSi 9, SLS 7, SNS 6, DeSUS
4, Hungarian and Italian minorities 1 each
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly on the
recommendation of the Judicial Council); Constitutional Court
(judges elected for nine-year terms by the National Assembly and
nominated by the president)
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of Retired (Persons) of Slovenia or DeSUS [Anton
ROUS]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Anton ROP]; New Slovenia or
NSi [Andrej BAJUK]; Slovene Democratic Party or SDS [Janez JANSA];
Slovene National Party or SNS [Zmago JELINCIC]; Slovene People's
Party or SLS [Janez PODOBNIK]; Slovene Youth Party or SMS [Darko
KRANJC]; United List of Social Democrats or ZLSD [Borut PAHOR]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member),
FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest),
NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (member affiliate), WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Samuel ZBOGAR chancery: 1525 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 667-5363 FAX: [1] (202) 667-4563 consulate(s) general: New York and Cleveland
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas B. ROBERTSON embassy: Presernova 31, 1000 Ljubljana mailing address: American Embassy Ljubljana, Department of State, 7140 Ljubljana Place, Washington, DC 20521-7140 telephone: [386] (1) 200-5500 FAX: [386] (1) 200-5555
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with
the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of Triglav, Slovenia's
highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center;
beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and rivers, and
above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in an inverted
triangle, which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of
Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early
15th centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist side of the
flag centered in the white and blue bands
Economy Slovenia
Economy - overview:
Slovenia, with its historical ties to Western Europe, enjoys a GDP
per capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning
economies of Central Europe. In March 2004, Slovenia became the
first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor
partner at the World Bank. Privatization of the economy proceeded at
an accelerated pace in 2002-04. Despite lackluster performance in
Europe in 2001-04, Slovenia maintained moderate growth. Structural
reforms to improve the business environment have allowed for greater
foreign participation in Slovenia's economy and have helped to lower
unemployment. Further measures to curb inflation are still needed.
Corruption and the high degree of coordination between government,
business, and central bank policy were issues of concern in the
run-up to Slovenia's 1 May 2004 accession to the European Union. In
mid-2004 Slovenia agreed to adopt the euro by 2007 and, therefore,
must keep its debt levels, budget deficits, interest rates, and
inflation levels within the EU's Maastrict criteria.