We Slovenes are a persistent, also a complacent, but chiefly an adaptable nation. At least since the time that Trubar started calling us Slovenes, our more numerous neighbours have been eating away at us and we have avoided, by the skin of our teeth, disappearing in the sea of more aggressive and fertile nations. But we have been incredibly lucky: to the echo and smoke of the Berlin Wall falling we became a nation and now we may, as a nation state , help constitute a supra-national Europe.

Who should we thank? First of all, all past generations that managed to preserve the language, culture and national territory. Then the majority of living Slovenes and other - we would say today - citizens who declared at the plebiscite that they wanted to be on their own. And lastly, those of us who had the unique opportunity to be allowed to initiate, plan or directly implement this historic project.