Slovenia - the envy of the former Yugoslav countries

Crossing the border from Italy or Austria into Slovenia, there is little to indicate that this country was once part of Tito's Socialist Yugoslavia.

there's a huge difference between slovenia and its former bedfellows, serbia, macedonia, bosnia-herzegovina, montenegro, croatia, and the as-yet-unresolved kosovo...

From the new highways leading to Ljubljana, the capital, to the factories and businesses lining them, Slovenia looks clean, organized, prosperous - indeed, like a part of Western Europe.

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When it entered the [European] Union last May 1, it did so with the highest standard of living of the 10 new member states.

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Not content to stay at No. 16 among the 25 members of the expanded Union, Slovenia's government has set an ambitious target: to reach the EU's average standard of living within eight years.

you usually can't pass a day in macedonia without hearing how slovenia is the model to be emulated, how slovenia lucked out because of its proximity to western Europe, how dismal the macedonian situation is, and how much better things were under tito...

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