ABSTRACT
Slovenia was for centuries a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which, as far as the Slav population was concerned, never managed to solve adequately the issue of the equality of its nations. In the north, one of the smallest federal units was the Republic of Slovenia; yet it was largely ethnically homogeneous and relatively better developed economically and socially than the other units of the federation. The Joint Brioni Declaration of July 7, 1991, with two annexes, which stopped the armed clashes in Slovenia and suspended the independence of Slovenia for three months, has been considered a diplomatic success for Slovenia. After the achievement of independence by Slovenia, political parties, at least most of them, again seem to confuse their party interests with the national interest. Italian foreign policy has traditionally been less interested in Slovenia, since relations with Croatia and Belgrade had a higher priority.
