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When he arrived in the country ten months ago, Mussomeli said he was very optimistic about the future prospects of Slovenia. Almost a year later, he seems to be feeling much less positive.
"One year later, in the face of this protracted and complex worldwide economic crises, we are all realising that we are not going to get through these difficult times simply by conducting business as usual - a little tweak here and there is not going to fix it," the ambassador told last month's meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce. "At the risk of sounding undiplomatic, it has been impossible to maintain optimism when there has been no progress in opening and reforming the Slovenian economy, or improving bilateral economic relations."

Frustration

The ambassador's frustration with current developments in Slovenia were obvious in every sentence he uttered; all of them emphasising concerns that the media and unbiased critics of the government have been voicing for a while now. Commenting on Slovenia's slip by 12 places on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, he said the country "is discovering that maintaining the status quo and standing still in this global economy means falling further and further behind".
The ambassador also said he was frustrated to see US companies investigate Slovenia for potential investment, only to become discouraged and go elsewhere.
"Despite plenty of lip service and nice-sounding public statements - and impressive analysis by many domestic economists - this country is not yet genuinely committed to opening up its economy to foreign investment," he concluded with regret.

Which way to go?

The subsequent round table debate on the future of global trade and industries - and on the future of Slovenia - seemed to echo the ambassador's sentiments. Panelists Dr Gonzalo Caprirolo, Dr Žiga Turk, Dr Dušan Mramor and Dr Peter Groznik all agreed that both Europe and Slovenia must start tackling problems immediately and with determination.
However, their ideas on how the problems should be tackled differed. Dr Groznik, for example, supports consensus government that will put aside party politics and work towards getting Slovenia out of the woods. Dr Mramor stressed that Slovenia should ideally have a professional government from both political poles. Dr Turk, perhaps unsurprisingly considering he is a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party, advocated early elections arguing that new political leadership is necessary as the current one has lost its political capital. This prompted some reaction from the audience, with Johannes Douma, the Dutch ambassador, making a point that early elections will only delay decision-making and that Slovenia is losing time.
These were far from the only differences. While Dr Turk argued for big economic packages that would intice investors, Dr Groznik expressed opposition to such plans saying that they have been shown not to work. Instead, he urged small measures that do not involve a lot of work and huge changes, such as employing more people in the judiciary to speed up the process of justice as well as the time it takes to do basic things such as setting up a company.

Europe at fault too

Criticism was not only focused on Slovenia. Dr Groznik pointed out the authorities of European countries are extremely inefficient: "They act as if things will settle for themselves, they await the end of the crisis." He called for authorities to recognise the reality and start working, not just talking. Dr Caprirolo stated the crisis of trust should be overcome before any kind of fiscal consolidation can follow.
Now that early elections seem inevitable, the future government's top task will be addressing these mounting problems in an efficient manner. In all likelihood a party that was in opposition will win the elections but many will wonder whether it is as good at solving problems as it was criticising the (in)action of the outgoing government.