On that day the Slovenian Assembly, as the parliament was called, passed the Basic Constitutional Charter and the Declaration of Independence.

The charter was based on the December 1990 plebiscite, in which 88.2% of the voters opted to leave Yugoslavia and which was the culmination of months of preparations to go independent.

Independence was however declared in Republic Square in front of the parliament building on 26 June, jump-starting a ten-day war with Yugoslavia.

The fighting ended on 7 July 1991, when Slovenia pledged in an EU-brokered declaration to suspend its independence efforts for three months.

When the moratorium expired in October, Yugoslav troops left Slovenia and the country introduced its own currency and eventually obtained international recognition in the months thereafter.

The national ceremony marking National Day was held last evening in Congress Square, with President Borut Pahor as the key-note speaker.

Pahor stressed while sometimes failing to deliver, Slovenia is capable of tackling all challenges to the benefit of its national interests, common European ambitions and the transatlantic partnership, which makes it a master of its fate.

Before the national ceremony, the National Assembly held a special session, at which Deputy Speaker Matjaž Nemec stressed that the unity of a nation did not mean living without differences but with the awareness of the importance of joint values.

President Pahor also held a reception for the relatives of the victims of the independence war and those who were injured in it at the Presidential Palace.

This morning, he will welcom visitors to the Presidential Palace and lay a wreath at the monument to the victims of independence war at Žale Cemetery.

Several ceremonies were held around the country these past few days and several more are scheduled today.

A mass for the homeland marking National Day was held already on Friday evening at St Nicholas's Cathedral. It was attended by representatives of politics and the diplomatic corps.