Year 2004

29. March 2004

Photo: BOBO, source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Slovenia joins NATO

Slovenia becomes a member of NATO.

01. May 2004

Photo: Uroš Hočevar/Salomon 2000, source: Government Communication Office

Slovenia joins the EU

Slovenia becomes an EU member state.

13. June 2004

Photo: archive Government Communication Office

The first elections to the European Parliament

The first elections to the European Parliament are held in Slovenia; seven MEPs are elected: Mihael Brejc, Mojca Drčar Murko, Romana Jordan Cizelj, Aurelio Juri, Jelko Kacin, Ljudmila Novak and Alojz Peterle.

28. June 2004

Janez Potočnik becomes a European Commissioner

At the Oath of Office ceremony at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, European Commissioners from ten new member states are sworn in. Janez Potočnik (Slovenia) is appointed European Commissioner for Science and Research in the (first Barroso) European Commission (2004 - 2010). In 2010, he becomes the European Commissioner for the Environment.

13. August 2004 - 29. August 2004

Foto: arhiv Urada vlade za komuniciranje

Foto: Aleš Fevžer

Four Olympic medals for Slovenia

At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Slovenian athletes win 4 Olympic medals: rowers Iztok Čop and Luka Špik win a silver medal in the men’s double sculls; the track and field athlete Jolanda Čeplak, the world indoor record holder in the women’s 800 metres, wins a bronze medal; Urška Žolnir wins a bronze medal in judo in the under 63kg category; and Vasilij Žbogar, the 2003 European champion, wins a bronze medal in the laser sailing competition.

03. October 2004

Parliamentary elections are held

At the 2004 parliamentary elections in Slovenia, the Slovenian Democratic Party gets 29,08%, Liberal Democracy of Slovenia 22,8%, United list of Social Democrats 10,17%, New Slovenia - Christian People's Party 9,09%, Slovenian People's Party 6,82%, Slovenian National Party 6,27% and Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia 4,04%.

25. November 2004 - 26. November 2004

Photo: Leon Vidic/Salomon 2000, source: Government Communication Office

Two-day Central European Initiative Summit

Slovenia, as the presiding country, hosts a two-day Central European Initiative Summit attended by the Prime Ministers of seventeen member states in Portorož.

03. December 2004

Foto: Leon Vidic/Salomon 2000, vir: Urad vlade za komuniciranje

Janez Janša forms his government

Janez Janša forms a coalition government, composed of the Slovenian Democratic Party, New Slovenia - Christian People's Party, Slovenian People's Party and Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia

Overview of the year

The parliament ratified the treaty of accession of Slovenia to the EU and the agreement between Slovenia and the Holy See on legal issues, better known as the Vatican Agreement, on 28 January. Slovenia became a NATO member on 29 March and an EU member state on 1 May.

The government adopted a convergence programme in the mid-May as a key document for inclusion of Slovenia in the ERM 2 and the euro zone. The first elections to the European Parliament took place in Slovenia in the mid-June. Seven MEPs were elected from nearly all parties with seats in the national parliament.

Commissioners from the ten new EU member states were sworn in before the Court of the European Union at the end of June. One of them was Janez Potočnik, who was put forward as a candidate by Slovenia and who was commissioner for science and research in his first term and is now the commissioner for the environment in his second term which began in February 2010.

The opposition Democratic Party (SDS) won the parliamentary elections held in the autumn and the party's chairman, Janez Janša, put together a centre-right coalition with the People's Party (SLS), New Slovenia (NSi) and the pensioners' party (DeSUS). The government was elected into office on 3 December.

A two-day summit of presidents and prime ministers of countries of the Central European Initiative was held in Portorož at the end of November.
In sports, the Slovenian handball team won the 2nd place in the European Championship in Slovenia, and extreme cyclist Jure Robič won for the first time the RAAM race across the USA, to which he would add three more victories in the next years. (Jure Robič died in a traffic accident in the spring of 2010.)

Text: Government Communication Office