Maybe the shift came after voters around Europe have given a sign to politicians that they expect measures that will create new jobs and a light at the end of the crisis tunnel.

The message of the visit of the "haiku poet among politicians" to Slovenia, put in his own form could be "Not just cost-cutting, / but growth and new employment / are the final goal."

However, daily Delo says under "Haiku for Slovenia", where to get the money for boosting growth is a EUR 12,600bn question - the EU's GDP in 2011.

Slovenia is becoming part of the problem in the EU with its waning economy, rigid state-owned banks and investment standstill; yet, the government's austerity package was lauded by Van Rompuy.The fact that the president of the European Council also used the occasion of his trip to Ljubljana to address the countries of the Western Balkans is meanwhile a clear sign that the EU sees Slovenia mainly as a bridge to this part of Europe.