A few days ago I mused on the shape of Europe I’d like to see in the years ahead; smaller government, more flexible institutions, accountable local government, and I pointed to Singapore as a conspicuous success. I didn’t need to look so far; Slovenia has achieved a lot for a similarly small country half the age of Singapore. False teeth?
No, Slovenia does not manufacture false teeth as any fule kno. We know that Lichtenstein is the largest producer of false teeth in the world but we also digress. Slovenia is prosperous, relying a lot on tourism. As part of the EU and the euro-zone it has had its economic woes but has overcome them. I had a debate with a restaurant owner who complained that his country was so small – I think he meant insignificant. I hope I persuaded him of his good fortune to be living somewhere so prosperous and so untouched by the woes of the world.
This is not to say that Slovenia does not punch above its weight on the world stage. There may be other examples of this but the one I am aware of, staying on Lake Bled, is international rowing. Slovenia won a gold medal in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and Bled has become a fixture on the international rowing circuit.
The lake is surrounded by hills and mountains so, usually, is sheltered from the wind and the course is a straight 2,000 metres. It must be one of the most beautiful courses in the world.
It’s always interesting to get a flavour of the politics. Last year there was an election for the 90 seats in the National Assembly. Seventeen parties participated and seven won seats, the winning party with 34% of the vote being the Party of Miro Cerar (also called the Modern Centre Party) , led by the eponymous Miro Cerar, a lawyer and professor.
But back to international sport. Miro’s father was an international, medal winning, gymnast but, like his son, had time to be a lawyer and a professor as well. So, small government can produce leaders who are not professional politicians but can appeal to the electorate and can usefully serve their country. And he got 34% of the national vote under PR.