Republika on Arms Embargo on Slovenia

Ljubljana, 18 August - At the news that the UN is to lift the arms embargo on Rwanda, the daily Republika notes that Slovenia is still under an arms embargo. Yet, it is not the practical aspect of the embargo consequences that is the problem for Slovenia has supplied its army undisturbed, but the symbolic meaning of this act which was adopted in the UN in a packet for all former Yugoslav republics. Such reasoning according to the commentator puts Slovenia among the countries in the crisis for it makes it equal to Bosnia, Croatia, or Serbia, the synonyms for the Balkan crisis. An average foreigner who is flooded by the images from "the former Yugoslavia" on the daily basis on the TV news finds it even more difficult to distinguish between Slovenia and Slavonia. Therefore Slovene politicians take the most time during their visits to foreign countries to persuade their Western counterparts to stop using the term "former Yugoslavia", and to lift the arms embargo put on Slovenia.