Balkan roadshow - Slovenia (6/6)

The final leg of our roadshow took us to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, the biggest economic, political and social success story in Eastern Europe. It's hard to imagine that just 18 years ago, this pretty, clean, highly advanced, (and some say smug), country was part of Yugoslavia, along with our first four roadshow destinations. The differences are huge.

Ljubljana is extremely picturesque: a perfectly preserved old town, with a castle on a hill in the very centre, and ringed by beautiful, snow-capped mountains. And the country is incredibly efficient, a legacy of its Germanic influences, perhaps. A first class letter posted in the morning will be delivered anywhere in the country by 3pm that day.

Slovenia is the model for the rest of the Western Balkans; the dream they aspire to. It has extremely good relations with the other countries of the region (despite a minor border tiff with Croatia) and is the strongest advocate for the EU to take them in.

We were here for just 24 hours to meet the government, and launch another sister organisation.

In the morning we met with the State Secretary for European Integration, at the Slovenian Cabinet Office. Though sleepy, he was enthusiastic about our role in Slovenia, and the Western Balkans more widely. We will send him our much anticipated report following the trip and he will tell us how the Slovenian Government will fund our work. Sounds like a good deal.

In the afternoon we attended the launch of the Slovenian Association for leaders. This is the third body that we've helped launch, following Nigeria and Italy. Japan will launch theirs in September.

Following the launch (where my boss delivered another stellar performance, while I devoured the cakes on offer), it was straight to the airport.

It was a great trip. We've learnt a huge amount about the state of civil society in the region, and made hundreds of new high-level contacts. We've also learnt how to pronounce words without vowels (such as 'Trg'), read the Cyrillic alphabet, and Carlo's learnt to chain smoke.

The trip was a success. As we wait to enjoy the delights of another Easyjet flight, it's with great satisfaction that we can say six down - mission accomplished.