ASEF, in support of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Social Science (UL-FSS), hosted a public lecture by Assoc. Prof. Miro Hacek entitled, “Small state influence in International Organisations: The Case of Slovenia”.
The event took place at the ASEF premises on the 25th of January from 10am to 11:30am.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Slovenia has put in place all the democratic institutions necessary for state organisation. It has undergone major capital rearrangements (privatisation, liberalisation, denationalisation) and achieved both of the starting objectives of international involvement together with fulfilment of their criteria to enter the EU and NATO. On 1 January 2007, Slovenia became the first former socialist country to enter the common European currency. In addition, in the first half of 2008 Slovenia became the first former socialist country to hold the presidency of the EU. .
During the transition, the formation of the institutional framework continued apace, while institutional reforms and policies gained credibility and stabilisation. At the same time the influence of international and regional integrations on national policy increased steadily.
This lecture and the new book, “Political System of Slovenia”, presents Slovenia as one of the leading former communist countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The presentation emphasized practical “lessons” learned from the transition to the current democratic system, the EU accession process and the relations with neighbouring countries in the Balkans.