Slovenia - the Right Choice

(from Slovenia Weekly, 12 June 2001)

Interview with Director of Government Public Relations and Media Office, Dr Alja Brglez

Prior to Saturday's meeting of American and Russian presidents Bush and Putin, we talked about the preparations and importance of this great event for Slovenia with the Director of the Government PR and Media Office, Dr Alja Brglez. "As the host of the summit, Slovenia is not only providing the background, but is thereby entering the global political arena as a reliable and trustworthy partner in international relations. This gives great impetus to our self-confidence and conviction that we are on the right track," she says.

SW: How would you compare the significance and size of the coming summit with the great events so far organised by Slovenia?

Dr Alja Brglez: This is clearly a global event and an event without comparison. On Saturday, Slovenia will be in the very centre of the world. The summit will carry its name around the whole planet. Everywhere, television screens will be full of our Alps, lakes and marvellous landscapes of Gorenjsko or fairy-tale images from central Ljubljana. Computer mouses will search our web sites to find out more about the summit, as well as about us. Comparing this event with others that we have hosted, I can say that Slovenia has not yet had such an opportunity. I am convinced that we did not obtain this by coincidence, but that we have deserved it. We were chosen because we are the right choice. The reason is that we are a country that has, in one decade, achieved progress for which centuries are sometimes needed. As citizens of a young country, we know what it means to have one's own country and see that our efforts have been worthwhile. With their choice, presidents Bush and Putin have shown our country great fondness, recognition and trust. As the host of the summit, Slovenia is not only providing the background, but is thereby entering the global political arena as a reliable and trustworthy partner in international relations. This gives great impetus to our self-confidence and conviction that we are on the right track. The arrival of both presidents is without doubt a clear confirmation that our country is also respected by the great.

SW: Preparations for the event are also being dealt with by a special organising committee, in which the Government PR and Media Office is also co-operating. What are the tasks of your Office here?

Dr Alja Brglez: We are mostly responsible for informing journalists and promoting Slovenia. This includes the accreditation of journalists, preparation of press centres, organisational aspects of the venues where the two state leaders will meet. There has been little time from the outset, meaning that preparations with American and Russian representatives regarding security, protocol and organisation in general are taking place very quickly and intensively. There is no room for hesitation; nevertheless, everything must be perfect. All of this involves great responsibility and a huge amount of work by us. This is absolutely the most global promotional moment in Slovenia's entire history, the most powerful and significant moment of Slovenia's promotion. The images and striking news and thousands of texts that will go across the world around 16 June, with the name of our country appearing in the background the whole time, cannot be compensated for by anything.

SW: The event will be covered by many domestic and foreign journalists. How have you arranged their working conditions?

Dr Alja Brglez: We can boast of the top technological equipment, comparable to that used for such summits around the world. At least two press centres will be available, the central one in Ljubljana and another one at Brdo - if the summit takes place there - smaller working press centres are also envisaged at the venue itself. In Ljubljana, journalists will have access to 150 PCs, connected to ISDN digital lines and 150 connections for portable computers. An auxiliary, smaller press centre will also be well equipped and have a total of 200 working places. The centre in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana will open on Friday 15 June at ten in the morning and will remain open until Sunday evening, while the centre at the venue will only be open on the day of the summit.

SW: With regard to the 1999 experience gained through the visit of the then American President Clinton - what novelties will there be for journalists?

Dr Alja Brglez: The differences originate in the nature and contents of both events: the American President came to visit us, his attention was on Slovenia at the margin of a restless world, and the attention of the public stemmed mostly from the United States and Europe. This time it is different: we will host the two most important statespersons in the world who will bring with them their and our common contents - they will discuss our common safety and future, therefore, the public interest is not limited by borders or continents and, as mentioned already, Slovenia is the most appropriate diplomatic, political, economic, cultural and civilisation stage for this.

SW: "For its tenth birthday, our country obtained an opportunity to give itself self-confidence."

Dr Alja Brglez: Therefore, this time we are planning even more promotional activities. We are glad that we were able to involve in our work, so to speak immediately, the City Municipality of Ljubljana with its many events, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry with its presentations of the national economy and the Slovenian Tourist Board with its convincing offer of the country's tourism. Slovenian companies and cultural institutions have shown great interest in the event and will exploit it for their promotion purposes with appropriate presentations. Numerous events in the Slovenian capital will also be dedicated to all others - under the slogan of the summit, they will take place from 11 June until the end of the month, that is some days after celebrating the tenth anniversary of independence on 25 June, the National Day. Thus, our capital will in particular mark this event. Ljubljana Castle will be lighted in the colours of all three countries, and the centre of the town will be especially formal. There will be a central tourist-information centre in the Kresija building near the Three Bridges, where ten computer terminals will also be available up until 10 p.m. A road passenger train will carry passengers up the Castle hill, tourist boats will sail on the Ljubljanica river. Guests will be able to test wines in the wine cellar and attend many cultural events.

SW: The coming summit is considered the greatest event in Slovenia's territory in the last 180 years. What does this event mean for the independent Slovenia, celebrating its first ten years in these days?

Dr Alja Brglez: In recent days we have indeed often remembered the Holy Alliance congress that Ljubljana hosted in 1821. There have been 180 years since then, while there have only been ten years since we have had our own country. Ten days of the independence war, ten years of successful growth and development, and ten minutes of the most magnificent fireworks show ever to be prepared in the capital are at first sight mere numbers, but there is so much human effort, enthusiasm, knowledge, ability and energy lying behind the first two that they deserve a real colour burst of praise and recognition. We have now received this. For its tenth birthday, our country obtained an opportunity to give itself self-confidence.

SW: Won't the summit somewhat overshadow celebrations of the tenth anniversary of independence?

Dr Alja Brglez: By no means. I am even convinced that it is a truly marvellous coincidence that the two events will interweave so spontaneously. And it will even be somewhat easier for us, as we have been preparing to mark the tenth anniversary for some time, and will thus be able to carry out the preparations for the summit more appropriately, for which we will have had only four weeks of time, from the moment we found out that it would take place in our country until the day everything is over. Ten years is a period when a country can stop and reflect - the transition processes are behind us, we can look back at our path of reliable steps, promising that it will continue to take us to higher places. After only ten years, we are still a new place, a place that in no way conjures up thoughts of the old times and bad memories. If the summit also has an encouraging result, the discovery of the new place could even be a discovery of a new period and, if this is so, the new period will start in our country.

SW: Why, in your opinion, was Slovenia chosen to host the summit?

Dr Alja Brglez: I will borrow the thoughts of the US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who made some contents on the summit at a press conference in Washington. She especially emphasised that Slovenia would not only be the venue, but a special and important stop on the tour. Slovenians have shown what a successful transition country can achieve, she stressed, while adding that Slovenia has excelled in its economic reforms and that our country is taking big steps, and is therefore an exceptional success in the Balkans story. We were also chosen because Slovenia is a safe country in which all previous meetings have taken place without any complications. If somebody else says this instead of us, it is worth even more.

SW: Slovenia will probably play host to a record number of foreign journalists. What message does Slovenia send to the world public about itself in this way?

Dr Alja Brglez: We all strongly wish that there will come an end to any doubts about our location and identity, that we will ourselves no longer question our recognisability and presence. Perhaps this summit means a certain award for all the years of quiet endeavour that we have spent in the background, and the fact we will host the summit is probably a unique example of the country's imperceptibility being an advantage, when we suddenly have, due to our non-conflict and non-problematic character that have kept us away from the cover pages of the world media over these years, the opportunity to shine on them because of these very characteristics. Certainly, I hope that this opens the door for us to enter the world of truly sovereign relations, including with the largest countries in the world, and to stay there.