Beautiful but angry SLOVENES have always felt rather pleased with themselves. Their country is beautiful, they were the richest of the Yugoslavs and, after independence in 1991, they joined the European Union, NATO and the euro.How different things are today. Slovenes are angry and confused. Their prime minister is on trial for corruption, unemployment is high, the country’s banks are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and a series of painful structural reforms lie ahead.In July Slovenia’s leading bank had to be bailed out to the tune of more than €380m ($478m) by the government. Janez Jansa, the prime minister, has talked of a “Greek scenario” and has warned that Slovenia will become the sixth European country to seek a bail-out unless his government’s reforms go through. The ratings agencies have downgraded Slovenia; many civil servants have had their pay cut by 7.5%.Even though Slovenia’s demography is terrible, it has until now had generous pensions and a low retirement age. As only 40,000 signatures are needed to call a referendum, painful reforms are easily blocked. A referendum...
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