SUMMARY

The Republic of Slovenia was one of the six republics making up former Yugoslavia from 1945 until May 1992. The republic declared its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991; a decision rooted in a referendum held in December 1990, in which a large majority of the Slovenian population voted in favor of such a decision. The Republic of Slovenia had previously favored maintaining the Yugoslav Federation, albeit with a looser connection between the constituent republics. However, the increasingly aggressive pro-Serbian policies of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic provoked the demand for full independence. Unlike many of the other Yugoslavian republics, Slovenia had a relatively high level of ethnic homogeneity.

The Republic of Slovenia’s main fighting force was comprised of its “Territorial Defense Force”, which had been established when it was part of Yugoslavia. This force numbered 60 000-70 000 in total, but only approximately 35 000 was mobilized in 1991.

In April 1990, Slovenia was also the first of the Yugoslavian republics to carry out free and fair multiparty parliamentary election, won by the coalition of parties known as the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (Demokratična Opozicija Slovenije, DEMOS); Alojz Peterle of the Christian Democrats became Prime Minister. In the subsequent presidential election on 22 April, the former Communist leader Milan Kučan was elected President of the presidency (the collective executive body of Slovenia at the time), after defeating DEMOS’ candidate Jože Pučnik. On 2 July 1990, the new Slovenian assembly issued a statement of full sovereignty.

As the pace of Yugoslavia’s break-up escalated, with the eruption of a conflict over Croatian territory in July 1991, the Yugoslav authorities lost interest in Slovenia, which lacked a significant Serb or Croat minority. In 1992 Yugoslavia abandoned all claims to Slovenian territory, whereby Slovenia was recognized as an independent state.