This is the first time that Slovenian veterans have been invited to the official commemoration of the Normandy landings, where they will stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow veterans from around the world.

While Slovenian troops were not directly involved in the operation along the 80-kilometre Normandy coastline in 1944, their role in the Allied war effort during second world war is widely recognised.

Meeting with the delegation of veterans who will travel to Normandy on Friday, President Borut Pahor said that Slovenia has worked hard to get its veterans invited to an official commemoration of D-Day.

"It was the veterans who risked their lives for our freedom," Pahor said after the meeting on Thursday.

The delegation of Slovenian veterans will be led by the long-time former head of the Veterans' Association of the National Liberation Struggle Janez Stanovnik, who said that the invitation amounted to an important recognition for the Slovenian partisan movement.

"Normandy symbolises human solidarity for great ideas," said Stanovnik, who said that younger generations should be made aware that "thanks for the world we have today must go to all those who gave their lives fighting for a better world".

In addition to veterans from around the world, the commemoration events in Normandy will be attended by a number of world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Queen Elizabeth II.

Slovenia will be represented with its Ambassador to France Veronika Stabej and the Secretary General of Pahor's office, Nataša Kovač.

As part of efforts to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Slovenian Veterans' Association has also published a special booklet reviewing the cooperation between Slovenian partisans and Allied forces.

"Together: Combat Comradeship between the Slovenian Partisans and the Allies" was written by four historians to highlight the contribution of Slovenian partisans to the Allied war effort, which they feel is often overlooked.

"All the other nations get more of a mention, including the Slovaks and Hungarians, who were actually more passive fellows of the Allies, while Slovenian partisans were active from the start of the war in Yugoslavia," said Zdenko Čepič, one of the authors, at the launch on Thursday.

The publication has been published in English first - it is expected to come out in Slovenian in autumn - in order to raise awareness about the role of the Slovenian partisans among foreign readers.

While Slovenian partisans did not participate in the Normandy landings, their fight on Slovenian soil contributed to laying the groundwork for the start of Operation Overlord, as the Normandy invasion was dubbed, according to another author, Gorazd Bajc.

One of the tasks of the Allies at the time was to divert the attention of the Germans to other areas in Europe.

"One of the tactics used was sabotaging key railway routes and a plan formed in 1944 listed the Zidani Most interchange and the Ljubljana-Croatia line as the strategic targets," said Bajc.

The publication, which was also features contributions by Martin Premk and Blaž Torkar, examines the nature of World War II, the battles which took place on Slovenian soil and the cooperation between the partisans and the Allies.

According to Čepič, Allied forces worked on the basis of cooperation in the common fight against enemy. Important elements of this cooperation was solidarity, which took place in military, moral and political form.

This differed greatly to the relationship on the collaborationist side, which more often than not took the form of master-servant relationship, said Čepič.