"Rebellion has become part of our national character through our national maturation"

In his keynote address on the occasion of the National Day, the President of the Republic congratulated the citizens and Slovenes at home and abroad with his best wishes for a peaceful, beautiful and secure future. He said that today's holiday celebrates resistance, as Slovenian women and men have twice stood up to the invader in our semi-past and recent history. "Insurgency, it seems, has become part of our national character through our national maturation," President Pahor said, stressing that a nation that is morally right will always win in the end in the struggle against the occupier, regardless of its military strength.

"This is true today and it is true for the war in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian people are morally right," he said, stressing that Slovenia would like to see an end to the suffering in Ukraine as soon as possible, peace and a peaceful settlement of disputes, complications and differences between the two neighbouring countries. "V In this sense, today should be our national holiday, when we celebrate the resistance against the occupier, a call for solidarity with the Ukrainian people, but also a call for peace and a peaceful resolution of this conflict and all conflicts around the world, so that Europe and the international community can enjoy the peace and security that children deserve, so that they can develop their talents and dream their dreams," said the President of the Republic.

In his address on the occasion, President Pahor also stressed the importance of not forgetting the most glorious days of our history, from which we draw our national courage and moral credo. "Among these glorious historical events is the partisan movement in the middle of the last century, which, in cooperation with the Allies, succeeded in liberating Europe from the fascist and Nazi yoke," he said, recalling the Statement on Reconciliation prepared by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts on the occasion of Slovenia's 30th anniversary, which, among other things, states, that no one should challenge the patriotic impulse and legitimacy of the partisan movement, but there have also been acts of which we cannot be proud and which remind us of the civil conflict in which brother raised his hand against brother. "A democratically mature nation, capable of living its own history, draws from it what is glorious as inspiration for the future - and from what is inglorious as a reminder not to repeat mistakes," said the President of the Republic, concluding his address by stressing that Slovenians are learning. "If we stood on different shores in the middle of the Second World War, this was not the case when we were gaining independence and defending our decision to establish our own country. It was then - even knowing the danger of renewed fratricidal struggle - that we stood together and defended our homeland, our country, which today we are preserving and developing for the interests and dreams of our children and their children," President Pahor concluded his address on the occasion of the National Day.

Marijan Križman thanked the President of the Republic for the opportunity to speak at the Presidential Palace as the President of the Union of Associations of Combatants for the Values of the National Liberation Struggle of Slovenia on such an important holiday as the Day of Resistance against the Occupier. "The Liberation Front is still a living memory in the Slovenian nation of the moment when the Slovenian nation decided to resist the four occupiers," said Mr Križman, adding that today's holiday teaches and reminds us that we have always achieved our goals when we have collectively decided to do so. Mr Križman also stressed that the arc of liberation from General Maister through the national liberation struggle led to an independent Slovenia. "Peace is a priceless value that cannot be replaced by anything," Mr Križman added.

The Presidential Palace was visited by representatives of the leadership of the Association of the Combatants' Associations for the Values of the National Liberation Struggle of Slovenia and representatives of the Coordination of Patriotic and Veterans' Organisations of Slovenia, as well as by many other visitors from all over Slovenia.

The music programme has been prepared by young Ukrainian musicians who have taken refuge from Russian aggression and the harsh war situation in their homeland, and together with their Slovenian peers they are preparing a large charity concert entitled "Music for the future" led by Live Ploj Peršuh, renowned Slovenian opera and symphony conductor. The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, is the honorary patron of this charity concert, which will take place on 11 May at the Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana.

As on every Open Day, a guard of honour from the Slovenian Armed Forces Guard is stationed in front of the Presidential Palace to mark the National Day.