Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short coastline within the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, which is part of the Mediterranean sea. Slovenia is mostly mountainous and forested, covers 20,271 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi), and has a population of approximately 2.1 million. Slovene is the official language. Slovenia has a predominantly temperate continental climate, with the exception of the Slovene Littoral and the Julian Alps. Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia, is geographically situated near the centre of the country. Other larger urban centers are Maribor, Kranj, Celje and Koper.
Since Slovenia declared independence in 1991, its Governments have underscored their commitment to improving cooperation with neighbouring countries and actively contributing to international efforts aimed at bringing stability to Southeast Europe. Resource limitations have nevertheless been a problem hindering the efficiency of the Slovenian diplomacy. In the 1990s, foreign relations, especially with Italy, Austria and Croatia, triggered internal political controversies. In the last eight years, however, a wide consensus has been reached among the vast majority of Slovenian political parties to jointly work in the improvement of the country's diplomatic infrastructure and to avoid politicizing the foreign relations by turning them into an issue of internal political debates.
Radiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization.
Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980, and 1985. The Yugoslavian participant broadcaster in the contest was Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija (JRT) which selected its entrant with the national competition Jugovizija. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the 1990 contest.
Foreign relations of Serbia are formulated and executed by the Government of Serbia through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Serbia established diplomatic relations with most world nations – 188 states in total – starting with the United Kingdom (1837) and ending most recently with Guyana (2024). Serbia has friendly relations with following neighboring countries: Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, and Hungary. It maintains colder, more tense relations with Albania and Croatia and to a lesser degree with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria due to historic nation-building conflict and differing political ideologies.
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), the contest was held on 3 April 1993 in Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija in Ljubljana, Slovenia and presented by the Slovenian television presenter Tajda Lekše.
Slovenia has been a meeting area of the Slavic, Germanic, Romance, and Uralic linguistic and cultural regions, which makes it one of the most complex meeting point of languages in Europe. The official and national language of Slovenia is Slovene, which is spoken by a large majority of the population. It is also known, in English, as Slovenian. Two minority languages, namely Hungarian and Italian, are recognised as co-official languages and accordingly protected in their residential municipalities. Other significant languages are Croatian and its variants and Serbian, spoken by most immigrants from other countries of former Yugoslavia and their descendants. Slovenia is ranked among the top European countries regarding the knowledge of foreign languages. The most often taught foreign languages are English and German, followed by Italian, French, and Spanish.
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia, commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one of the six federal republics forming Yugoslavia and the nation state of the Slovenes. It existed under various names from its creation on 29 November 1945 until 25 June 1991.
Germany–Slovenia relations are the foreign relations between Germany and Slovenia. Germany–Slovenia state relations are good and harmonious. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1992. Germany has an embassy in Ljubljana and Slovenia has an embassy in Berlin and a general consulate in Munich. Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe, the European Union and NATO.
The foreign relations between Croatia and Slovenia are bound together by shared history, neighboring geography and common political ideologies. Both states established diplomatic relations in 1992, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the independence of Croatia. Modern relations are warm and friendly. The two states have disputes over their border and sovereign rights over certain nuclear and economic assets. The countries share 670 km (420 mi) of common border. They are perennially each other's largest trading partners on an import-export basis.
Polish-Serbian relations are foreign relations between Poland and Serbia. Diplomatic relations have been maintained since Poland and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes established them in 1919. Poland is a European Union member state and Serbia is a European Union candidate.
Serbia-Spain relations are foreign relations between Serbia and Spain. Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 14, 1916. Serbia has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has an embassy in Belgrade. Both countries are member states of the UN, Interpol, COE and OSCE. Spain is member state of the EU since 1986 and Serbia is a candidate country since 2012 negotiating its future membership which Spain is strongly supporting. In relation to third parties, both countries supported position of Argentina in its Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom in the past.
Serbian-Slovak relations are foreign relations between Serbia and Slovakia. Both countries established direct diplomatic relations in 1993. Serbia has an embassy in Bratislava. Slovakia has an embassy in Belgrade. Slovakia is among the few NATO and EU members which have not recognized the independence of Kosovo. Also Serbia is an EU candidate and Slovakia is an EU member.
Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became independent countries. As the border between the countries had not been determined in detail prior to independence, several parts of the border were disputed, both on land and at the sea, namely in the Gulf of Piran.
Cyprus–Serbia relations are considered as strong, due to common European policies and the sharing of Orthodoxy as a common religion. Cyprus has been a supporter of Serbia in its efforts to join the EU. Likewise, Serbia has been advocating a stable Cyprus after the Turkish invasion in 1974 and supporting a lasting solution to the Cyprus dispute. Cyprus has an embassy in Belgrade. Serbia has an embassy in Nicosia.
Marko Đurić is a Serbian politician and diplomat serving as the minister of foreign affairs since 2024. Prior to becoming a government minister, Đurić was the ambassador of Serbia to the United States of America since 8 October 2020, and the non-resident ambassador of Serbia to Colombia since 3 July 2021.
From the establishment of the European Economic Community in 1957 until the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, thus during the Cold War period, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the first socialist state to develop relations with the organisation. Notwithstanding occasional and informal proposals coming from both sides, Yugoslavia never became a full member state of the EEC.
The Brdo-Brijuni Process is an annual multilateral event in the Western Balkans. It was initiated in 2013 by Slovenian president Borut Pahor and Croatian president Ivo Josipović. The first official meeting was in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia. The main focus of the Process is the enlargement of the European Union with countries of the Western Balkans. Similar meetings were held at the prime-ministerial level in 2010 and 2011 by then-Prime Ministers of Slovenia and Croatia, Borut Pahor and Jadranka Kosor. The Brdo-Brijuni process includes Slovenia and Croatia and candidates and potential candidates for EU membership from the Western Balkans.
Spain–Yugoslavia relations were post-World War I historical foreign relations between Spain and the now divided Yugoslavia.
Foreign relations of Yugoslavia were international relations of the interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Cold War Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During its existence, the country was the founding member of numerous multilateral organizations including the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, International Monetary Fund, Group of 77, Group of 15, Central European Initiative and the European Broadcasting Union.
