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Slovenia ’ s first big crisis since independence
斯洛文尼亞獨立後首遇大危機
Beautiful but angry
美麗表面蘊藏危機
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Slovenes have always felt rather pleased with themselves. Their country is beautiful, they werethe richest of the Yugoslavs and, after independence in 1991, they joined the EuropeanUnion, NATO and the euro.
斯諾文尼亞的國民們一直生活得幸福快樂。他們的祖國景色秀麗，是前南斯拉夫中最富有的國傢，並在 1991 獨立後加入北約，隨後成為歐盟成員國之一，並規定歐元為流通貨幣。
How different things are today. Slovenes are angry and confused. Their prime minister is ontrial for corruption, unemployment is high, the country ’ s banks are teetering on the edge ofbankruptcy and a series of painful structural reforms lie ahead.
然而三十年河東，三十年河西。現如今，斯洛文尼亞舉國上下充滿著幽怨和迷茫。現任總理正因腐敗問題接受審訊 , 國內失業率居高不下 , 該國的銀行在破產邊緣搖搖欲墜 , 而結構改革的道路上有一系列的挑戰等待著他們。
In July Slovenia ’ s leading bank had to be bailed out to the tune of more than 380m ( $478m ) bythe government. Janez Jansa, the prime minister, has talked of a "Greek scenario" and haswarned that Slovenia will become the sixth European country to seek a bail-out unless hisgovernment ’ s reforms go through. The ratings agencies have downgraded Slovenia; many civilservants have had their pay cut by 7.5%.
在 7 月份的時候，斯洛文尼亞的主要銀行不得不接受超過 38 億歐元 ( 約為 47.8 億美元 ) 的政府援助來幫助自己脫離困境。現任總理 Janez Jansa 曾談論到一個 " 希臘場景 ", 並警告說，如果斯洛文尼亞不進行改革，它將成為第六個尋求援助的歐盟國傢。而評級機構已經下調瞭斯洛文尼亞等級 ; 許多公務員的工資也被削減瞭 7.5%。
Even though Slovenia ’ s demography is terrible, it has until now had generous pensions and alow retirement age. As only 40,000 signatures are needed to call a referendum, painful reformsare easily blocked. A referendum that defeated an attempt at pension reform in June 2011 wasthe beginning of the end of the then government. The current coalition ( in which a party ofpensioners plays a crucial role ) has adopted draft laws on pension and labour-law reform,which will both be contested.
盡管斯洛文尼亞人口老齡化情況是十分嚴峻的 , 到目前為止，全國還保持著高額的養老退休金以及低齡退休的傳統。由於全民公投需要 40000 人的簽名，因此曲折的改革之路很容易遇到阻礙。2011 年 6 月的時候，一項全民公投將當時被提出的養老金改革計劃扼殺在搖籃裡，這意味著當時政府失勢的開端。當前的聯合政府 ( 一群退休人員在這其中扮演著關鍵角色 ) 通過瞭養老金和勞動法改革的草案 , 這些都將會引發爭議。
Mr Jansa, a political veteran, came to power in February. He is on trial for allegedly taking bribesfrom a Finnish arms company. On September 5th the former head of one of Slovenia ’ s biggestcompanies was convicted of fraud. The Catholic church has been rocked by financial and sexscandals.
現任總理 Jansa 是一個政治老手 , 在今年 2 月上臺執政。他在任期中因遭指控接受瞭一個芬蘭武器公司的賄賂，現正接受審理。9 月 5 日，斯洛文尼亞頭號企業的前負責人被判欺詐罪。而天主教會一直也飽受金融和性醜聞的影響。
In this febrile atmosphere quarrels have been breaking out about who did what in the secondworld war. These altercations may serve as distractions from the country ’ s economic woes, butthey provoke much bitterness. In the political mythology of Slovenia ’ s right the ten-day warof independence in 1991 should take centre stage, not the tragic events of 1945.
這焦躁不安的氣氛中，關於二戰某些人所作所為也是爭論不休。這些爭執可能會分散他們對該國萎靡經濟形勢的關註，但是另一方面也會引起他們的哀怨。占據在斯洛文尼亞政治神話的中央舞臺上應該是 1991 為期十天獨立戰爭，而並非 1945 年的悲劇事件。
On November 11th Slovenia will go to the polls to elect a president. The incumbent, DaniloTurk, looks set for a second term. Under united leadership, Slovenia could recover relativelyquickly, says Sonja Smuc, who runs an employers ’ association. It has several companies thatthrive abroad and its public debt, at 47.6% of GDP, is growing but far from critical. RenataSalecl, an intellectual, is less optimistic though. Many of Slovenia ’ s problems are similar tothose elsewhere in Europe, she says, and "soon we will reach deadlock."
11 月 11 日，斯洛文尼亞將會全民投票選舉總統。現任總統 Danilo Turk 期許能獲得連任。某雇主協會主席 Sonja Smuc 稱，在統一領導下 , 斯洛文尼亞能較快恢復生產經營。斯洛文尼亞在國外有幾傢企業發展狀況良好 , 並且其國債占 GDP 比重為 47.6%，雖然不斷增長但無大礙。Renata Salecl 是位知識分子 , 對此不抱有樂觀態度。斯洛文尼亞的所遇到的問題和歐洲某些地區相似 , 她認為 ," 我們很快也會陷入僵局。"
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