SLOVENIA: Slovenians will decide a neck-and-neck battle for control of parliament tomorrow, when they vote in a general election coloured by an angry border dispute with neighbouring Croatia, writes Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest.
Opinion polls show the centre-right Democratic Party (SDS) pushing for victory over the centre-left coalition led by the Liberal Democrats (LDS), who have dominated politics in the little Alpine state since it won independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
The SDS leader, Mr Janez Jansa, who was Slovenia's defence minister during its 10-day war of independence, has criticised the LDS for failing on promises to strengthen the economy, increase wages and pensions and improve infrastructure across the state.
His call for change after more than a decade of LDS rule has struck a chord with voters in this country of 2.1 million people, who enjoy the highest standard of living in the Balkans and joined NATO and the European Union in May.
The ruling coalition, led by LDS chief and prime minister Mr Anton Rop, was weakened by in-fighting earlier this year which saw one of its members - the People's Party - join Mr Jansa's opposition bloc.
People's Party leader Mr Janez Podobnik was at the centre of a diplomatic storm last week when he and 11 other Slovenians were detained and, they allege, roughly treated by Croatian border guards at a frontier that the two nations still dispute.
Mr Podobnik was widely criticised for mounting a pre-election stunt, in a country where memories of the struggle for independence are still fresh and relations are sensitive with old partners in the Yugoslav federation.
In what was seen as an attempt to stop nationalist votes flooding to the aggrieved Mr Podobnik, Mr Rop launched a scathing attack on Croatia, vowing to withdraw Slovenia's support for its accession to the European Union in 2009.
His offensive backfired however, when he was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after being chided by the Slovenian media and the EU's visiting security and foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana.
"We would like all the potential tensions in the region be solved in the European manner, which is dialogue, talking, co-operation between different countries," Mr Solana said last week. "Membership of the European Union and NATO also carries some kind of obligation vis-a-vis other countries which are waiting to be a part of the EU."
"We want to see the countries of the Balkans be a part of the EU, the sooner the better," Mr Solana told Mr Rop. "You can help them, you can show them the way in which they have to move to be a part of the same institution."
After the meeting, Mr Rop said Croatia's membership of the EU was still in Slovenia's long-term interest and denied that he had damaged his party's chances of election success.
He insisted that the main factor would be a turnout level which is expected to be low, favouring the opposition. "If Slovenians come and vote, I'm convinced we'll win," he said, highlighting his party's management of Slovenia's entry into the EU and NATO.
"Our victory will lie on our positive programme and arguments, and we will not be stopped by opinion polls, the opposition or provocations."