Year 1997

27. February 1997

Janez Drnovšek forms his third government

Janez Drnovšek forms his third government; the government coalition is composed of Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, Slovenian People's Party and Democratic Party of Slovenian Pensioners (the government term ends on 7 June 2000).

23. March 1997

The Great Crystal Globe of Planica to Slovenia

The ski jumper Primož Peterka is the Slovenian to win the Great Crystal Globe of Planica.

06. June 1997 - 07. June 1997

Two-day meeting of CEI member states

Presidents of eight member states of the Central European Initiative meet in Piran on 6 and 7 June.

15. July 1997

Association agreement between Slovenia and the EU

The National Assembly ratifies the association agreement between Slovenia and the EU.

12. September 1997 - 13. September 1997

Two-day meeting of CEFTA member states

Prime ministers of CEFTA member states meet in Portorož.

23. November 1997

Presidential elections are held

Milan Kučan is re-elected President of Slovenia (55,57%).

13. December 1997

Photo: Jože Suhadolnik/BOBO, source Slovenia Weekly

Slovenia to open negotiations with the EU

The Luxembourg EU Summit decides to launch the enlargement process and open negotiations with the first group of candidate countries, including Slovenia.

Overview of the year

Janez Drnovšek was again elected prime minister following parliamentary elections in November of the previous year. His third coalition government consisting of liberal democrats, the People's Party (SLS) and the pensioners’' party (DeSUS) was formed in February. Major events of the year included a meeting of the eight countries of the Central European Initiative in Piran in the beginning of June and a meeting of prime ministers of members of the CEFTA in Portorož in the mid-September.

The EU summit in Luxembourg on 13 December approved EU expansion and Slovenia was one of the candidates for EU membership.

A noticeable event was the Pope’s appointment of Franc Rode as the new archbishop of Ljubljana and metropolite of Slovenia after the archbishop Alojzij Šuštar who was very active during the process that lead to the country’s independence retired due to his age.

Milan Kučan won the presidential elections in the autumn with a sizeable majority and remained in the office of the president of the republic.
The ski jumps world cup was at the forefront in sports with Slovenian jumper Primož Peterka as the winner.

The European Month of Culture in Ljubljana from the mid-May to the beginning of July with 250 cultural events has been remembered in the field of culture.

Text: Government Communication Office