The new pavilion, co-funded by the EU, effectively doubles the museum's exhibition area, turning it into the biggest museum complex in the country.

The independence war exhibition is centred on a display of Yugoslav army armoured vehicles, a reference to the history of the site.

It was from this site, which used to be a Yugoslav army barracks, that the first tanks hit the streets on 26 June 1991, marking the start of the independence war, the museum said.

The pavilion opening was the highlight of the tenth Festival of Military History, which started on Monday and continues through 20 September.

President Borut Pahor was on hand for the occasion, describing the museum as hopefully the only place where people will ever have to be face-to-face with war.

"In a hundred years Slovenians have had three wars and we paid our due so that we can now have our own homeland and decide about our own destiny," Pahor said.