"Honourable President of the Republic of Slovenia, Honourable President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, distinguished guests, citizens, Slovenians and spectators,

Today we celebrate Referendum Day, the day when we voted together and united for an independent Slovenia. I still remember very well those days when we went to the polls, a little uncertain, a little tense, but with immense anticipation. We remember a double pride – we knew that we were making history, a history that is written only once in the birth of a country. At the same time, we felt an immense joy at unity. Unity as we awaited the referendum. Unity as we went to the polls. Unity as we waited in front of our screens for the results. And unity as we celebrated the results. And if ever, we realised then that unity is a key prerequisite for experiencing a nation's victories. Without unity, there can be no victories and no success stories. I am sure that today, 33 years later, we are all united in the view that Slovenia's independence was a success story. A story that can inspire us not only for today, but also for a brighter future.

But no success story in itself caps history or is a guarantee of success. It can inspire us, but it is not a guarantee. Every collective story needs to be built on again day after day, and we do that with our individual success stories. Whether they are the success stories of our athletes, our cultural workers, our professionals, our scientists or our economists. And sometimes success stories also come from unlikely places where people do not expect them at all. Today, I would like to share one of these stories with you.

On the very day of 25 June 1991, six months after the plebiscite, a girl celebrated her tenth birthday. Thus immediately after Slovenia’s gaining independence, this young lady entered her second decade, heading towards her own independent life together with an independent Slovenia. From her native Zreče, via Maribor and Ljubljana to Amsterdam, she made it all the way to New York. When the States Parties to the Rome Statute, by a majority of more than two-thirds, gave the mandate for establishing the International Criminal Court to Judge Beti Hohler, it was not only her success, but the success of a whole country. It was the success of our independence story. Ms Hohler has shown that with knowledge, dedication and courage, all doors are open. She has also shown that when you succeed by hard work alone, you are a source of pride and prestige for a whole country.

It is with the same joy and pride that I also share with you the story of the collective victory that the Republic of Slovenia experienced this year on the same floor. A victory of confidence, when we won the confidence of countries from all over the world for our place on the Security Council with a majority of almost three-quarters. This victory would not have been possible without unity. Let this be an inspiration to us that we need to remain united in order to experience the greatest collective victories. Unity not only affirms us internally as a country or a nation, but above all gives us credibility externally in front of all other nations. When we believe in ourselves and achieve unity, everyone else believes in us, too – or at least three-quarters of them do.

This is what can inspire us to keep going when we believe in ourselves. We know that the size of a country is not everything. Slovenia's size is not a weakness, but can be an advantage on the international stage. We believe that because of our size and the credibility we build by being objective and neutral in international relations, we can achieve solutions that larger countries might not even consider. This can serve as an inspiration for the future, because with success comes responsibility for all of us.

I have deliberately highlighted two areas – the rule of law and world peace – where the world's responsibility and attention will be even more focused on us. In the year ahead, we will prove not only to ourselves, but to the whole world, that the reputation we enjoy is worthy of trust and that we can turn that reputation into actions that will sooner or later lead to peace in crisis hotspots. The responsibility is great, but its size and weight must not deter us from action. The same applies to responsibility on the home front. Just as the electoral victory of the current coalition was great, so too is its responsibility for the situation in the country.

I myself became acutely aware of this responsibility when we were hit by the devastating floods. On the first day after the floods, when I visited the Civil Protection headquarters, this awareness greatly increased because of the extent of the floods. At that moment, the tension and sense of uncertainty were high. Can we do it? The following day, when we started thinking about the next steps to take and looking for international assistance – who can we turn to, are there any international mechanisms at our disposal? – our scepticism grew. We were told that Europe had the funds but that they had already been used. We had to figure it out on our own.

And do you know what the turning point was? The turning point came the next day in the field, among the people. There was unity, but not only that – there was kindness, dedication, selflessness and solidarity on all sides. It was unity in the best sense of the word. Whether from members of the Civil Protection, firefighters, the affected residents or volunteers from other parts of the country. Unity and selflessness were the key and an inspiration.

Despite what we were told, that we could not achieve much at the international level, we started making calls. We knew that we had a reputation, earned through our actions in the past, of helping others. This same reputation that manifested itself in the United Nations. And we had trust. We had faith, not only that we could, but that we had to ask for help and that we would get it. My faith proved to be completely justified.

When I first spoke to the President of the European Commission, who was in the United States at the time, she was boarding a plane and she said to me: "I understand, wait for me to land." When she landed in Europe, she called me with a plan ready. Two days later, she came to Slovenia with that plan and made promises. Of course, no promise can be fulfilled overnight, as promises take time. Some of the promises given by the President of the European Commission have already been fulfilled and some will be fulfilled, as big promises take even more time.

The same goes for Slovenia and the same goes for our Government. Given our convincing victory in the elections, the people’s expectations of this Government are great. And we have never run away from them, so on the very first day after the elections, we vowed that our goals would be ambitious. We would start working on the most challenging projects, on projects that take two terms to complete. Nothing will deter us, even if, for a brief moment, we stop believing that we are on the right path. Because we believe it to be the only way to continue down this road, even if the results of most of the planned reforms will only be visible at the end of this term or in the next one.

Nevertheless, allow me to acknowledge some of this year’s achievements of which we are particularly proud. During this time, Slovenia has successfully dealt with rising energy prices. All energy product prices were capped, while the benefits for the most vulnerable groups with the lowest incomes were increased. Our aim was to preserve social cohesion by preventing social stratification from increasing as a result of the crisis, and we managed to achieve this. Energy product prices for the business sector were also capped, but that was not enough. Funding for the promotion of investment, including foreign investment, nearly doubled, and the first substantial foreign investments have been carried out in this Government’s term. At the same time, funds for development, science and innovation nearly doubled over a three-year period. Because only by investing in knowledge can we follow the path of successful, knowledge-building individuals. That is the only way forward for Slovenia.

During this time, we also ensured media independence, provided long-term care, introduced free school meals and eliminated complementary health insurance. Many have forgotten by now that this was ever a problem. If we had not done that, everyone sitting here would now feel the consequences in their wallets, and the public healthcare system would feel it even more.

Just as sometimes we do not fully appreciate important steps, we also do not fully appreciate how important the social climate is for the perception of our reality. I want to end this speech with a personal wish for you. I want to inspire you to join me in a common task for a common goal – and that is creating a positive social climate. When we reach this goal and come together, we can say that we are on the path to a welfare society.

I wish everyone a calm and peaceful Christmas and many ambitious plans in the coming year. And to everyone in Slovenia, I wish you all a Happy New Year.