Germany–Slovenia relations are the foreign relations between

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Germany–Slovenia state relations are good and harmonious. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1992. Germany has an embassy in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

and Slovenia has an embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and a general consulate in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Establishment of relations

Germany officially recognized Slovenia, along with Croatia, on December 23, 1991. Germany's unilateral recognition of Slovenia, which came earlier than from the other members of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, was the subject of much controversy and debate. During the first years of Slovenian independence, Germany was a strong advocate for the

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

of Slovenes, and instituted a comprehensive consulting and support program for the promotion of

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an democratic transition, authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction ...

and market reform process in Slovenia. It also supported Slovenian accession to the EU and NATO.

Bilateral visits

There are more than 50,000

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

living in Germany and more than 50,000 Germans living in Slovenia. A number of high-level visits have strengthened the friendly relations, e.g. Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

visited Ljubljana on 26 June 2001, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Slovenian independence; from 25 until 27 March 2003,

Wolfgang Thierse Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th president of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005. Early life and career Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present- ...

, the Bundestag President, visited Ljubljana, Celje and Koper, and Federal President

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

was in advance of the meeting of the Central and Eastern European Presidents from 29 May until 1 June 2002 in Bled, Ljubljana and Maribor. Since Slovenian accession to the NATO and the EU in spring 2004, the partnership of the two countries has reached a new level. More highlights of the two nations' diplomatic relations include the visit of the CSU group to the German Bundestag with the Federal Economics Minister Glos and Federal Agriculture Minister Seehofer on 11 July 2006 in Ljubljana and the participation of Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

at the official ceremony of the Slovenian government to adopt the euro on 15 January 2007 in the Slovenian capital.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Germany has an embassy in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. * Slovenia has an embassy in

and an consulate-general in

. File:Nemsko veleposlanistvo v Ljubljani german embassy ljubljana Slovenia.jpg, Embassy of Germany in Ljubljana File:Berlin, Mitte, Hausvogteiplatz 3-4, Geschäftshaus Am Bullenwinkel 02.jpg, Embassy of Slovenia in Berlin

References

External links

German Federal Foreign Office about relations with Slovenia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Slovenia relations

Bilateral relations of Slovenia

Establishment of relations

Bilateral visits

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References

External links