Prime Minister Golob: 'A nation’s strength comes not from division, but from shared values'

Prime Minister Robert Golob today attended the celebration in Vipava marking the national holiday of the Return of Primorska to the Motherland | Author Danijel Novakovič/STA

On this day 77 years ago, the Paris Peace Treaty came into force, enabling most of the Primorska region to rejoin its mother nation under what was then the Yugoslav Federation after suffering for a long time under fascism. This year's celebration was held under the title "Moja pesem je himna srca" ("My poem is the anthem of the heart"), a verse by the Vipava poet Drago Bajc.

"Like a garden without flowers, like a face without a smile, like the Adriatic without the song of the starlings. That is how it would be today. Slovenia without Primorska, the land of sunshine, hospitality and, above all, freethinking people. That is why I believe that today is not only a holiday for the people of Primorska, but a holiday for the whole of Slovenia," said Prime Minister Golob in his opening remarks. He added that the poet and priest Simon Gregorčič was quite clairvoyant in his poem "Soči" ("To the Soča River"). Only a few decades later his prophecy came true. "He had predicted the agony of the last century, and unfortunately it came true. The First World War brought horrors, followed by fascism in our land. It left indelible traces of violence and oppression in our people, but it awakened in us that most noble, immense desire for freedom and rebellion against the ideology of hatred," the Prime Minister said. He continued, "TIGR was among the first organisations to prove to the world that fear can be countered with courage. And we did not give in. After two years of national liberation struggle, Italy capitulated."

Even after Primorska's return to its motherland, more than a hundred thousand Slovenians remained on the other side of the border. For the last two decades, we have been living together in a wider community, and the Prime Minister expressed the hope that through this, their situation was improving. "To all our compatriots abroad, I would like to say that Slovenia remains your motherland. Your struggle for identity and language will always be etched in our hearts and in our collective memory," he said to the compatriots living on the other side of the border.

"History holds a series of timeless lessons, including how the ideology of hatred and intolerance has never brought peace or freedom to anyone, both to those who oppressed and those who were oppressed," he added.

He went on to highlight that Slovenia is a safe country today, that no bombs are falling on us. Prime Minister Golob warned that hate speech, lies and manipulation do not kill our bodies, but they kill our souls. "It is our responsibility to reject them and safeguard our common values - the values of coexistence and freedom. The strength of a nation never comes from division, but always only from shared values."

In his keynote speech, the Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of unity. It was only in Primorska that both the Slovenian clergy and the fighters combating under the red star were united in their belief in freedom, he said. "And only this unity can lead us to continue to fulfil great ambitions and goals in the future," he said.

He added that all this also requires individual courage. "It is the courage that each one of us must muster to do the right thing at the right time," said Prime Minister Golob. He added that today's challenges are certainly complex, but when we learn the lessons, we can address them more successfully. He went on to talk about one of the major challenges facing Slovenia - how to preserve our public health system, which is the envy of practically the whole world. How to make sure that the public health system will not only remain in the future, but also fulfil its mission even better. The Prime Minister also said that he really appreciated Slovenian doctors.

"Our strength is not that we are all the same, but that despite our differences we listen to each other and look for common solutions. I believe that each of us faces challenges, big and small," said Prime Minister Golob. He added that he is determined that we work together to ensure that our nation continues to prosper. And he concluded, "Vstala Primorska!" (Primorska Has Risen!)