At the time of independence Slovenians had ambitious goals which have mostly been achieved since, Janša said, adding that "Slovenia's current goal is to exit the crisis as soon as possible".

"We want to catch up with European countries in development, which has been lagging behind over the past three years because Slovenia had been taking out loans to keep the high standard of living for citizens," he noted.

According to Janša, Slovenia has reached practically all its goals in foreign policy and now has to keep its position in the international community.

Laris Gaiser, the president of the Slovenian Paneuropean Movement, believes that the young will make Slovenia even more recognisable in the world.

Journalist and historian Rosvita Pesek noted that parallels between the time of independence and the current time were not possible as "Slovenians will never again face such a challenge".

Pointing to the country's future, she stressed that the world "respects countries that stand up for themselves and don't only follow others".

Slovenia has missed a number of opportunities since the independence, Janša said on the other hand, adding that it especially failed in developing all regions equally.

This was echoed by Bovec Mayor Siniša Germovšek, who called for faster development of the Zgornje Posočje region (NW) with the help of the government.