independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...

was held in the

Republic of Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

(then part of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

) on 23 December 1990. Both the ruling center-right coalition and the left-wing opposition supported the referendum and called on voters to support Slovenian independence. The voters were asked the question: "Should the Republic of Slovenia become an independent and

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

?" ( sl, Ali naj Republika Slovenija postane samostojna in neodvisna država?). The

Slovenian parliament The Slovenian Parliament ( sl, Slovenski parlament) is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia, the gen ...

set a threshold for the validity of the plebiscite at 50% and one of all electors (the absolute majority).

Results

On 26 December the results of the referendum were officially proclaimed by

France Bučar France Bučar (2 February 1923 – 21 October 2015) was a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first speaker of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the inde ...

in the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

. 88.5% of eligible voters (94.8% of those participating) had voted in favour of independence, therefore exceeding the threshold. 4.0% had voted against independence, while 0.9% had cast invalid ballots, and 0.1% had returned their ballots unused. 6.5% of electors did not participate in the elections. Bučar's announcement obliged the Slovenian authorities to declare the independence of the country within six months. On 25 June 1991 the Basic Constitutional Charter on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Slovenia was passed and independence was declared the following day, leading to the

Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...

. 42,274 people could not vote, because they worked abroad or were involved in military service or military exercises, and were not counted in the calculation of results.

References

{{Yugoslavian independence referendums Ten-Day War Independence referendum, 1990

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Independence referendum, 1990

Independence referendum, 1990 December 1990 events in Europe