After reunification, the ethnic Slovenians living in the region became unified with Slovenia after nearly 900 years of being part of Hungary.

Prekmurje was reunited with the homeland as part of the deal the Kingdom got at the Paris Peace Conference following WWI, although some Slovenians remained on the Hungarian side of the border and some Hungarians on the Slovenian side.

Since 2006, the day of the reunification has been celebrated as a national holiday, although it is not a bank holiday.

Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek issued a message on the eve of the holiday, highlighting its significance not as a memory of a turbulent past but as hope for a better future.

The people of Prekmurje lived under Hungary, but they preserved Slovenian culture and language, passing them down generations, she said.

A ceremony was held on Friday evening in the town of Beltinci, with Alenka Jeraj, an MP for the opposition Democrats (SDS), stressing in her keynote that the reunification was a stellar moment in the nation's history.

"It was the only moment in history when Slovenians increased our territory, not lost it...It is extraordinary not because we acquired land but because Slovenians joined forces," she said.

The ceremony was attended also by President Borut Pahor, whose government however decided in 2010 not to mark this holiday with a national ceremony due to austerity measures.

The government decided the holiday would be marked with a high-profile national ceremony only every five years. Since then, the annual ceremony has been organised by different local municipalities.