The opening speech was given by State Secretary Vesna Humar, who pointed out that many Slovenians live and work in France. "Their success proves that Slovenians are successful wherever we go."

Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arčon congratulated all the athletes for their excellent successes today, especially Andrea Leška for her gold medal in judo. "I am sure this will be an additional boost for other athletes to achieve great success," said the Minister. "Wherever we go, we are extremely successful. Why? Everything we do, we do with love," he concluded.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to France, Metka Ipavic, also greeted the gathered and stressed that sportsmen and women and cultural figures are Slovenia's greatest ambassadors in France and thanked them for their great contribution. In his address to the Slovenians in France, the President of the Slovenian Olympic Committee, Franjo Bobinac, stressed the importance of networking through sport and culture, which are the connective tissue of all Slovenians, regardless of where they live. He said that for several years he had also been a "Slovene in France", when he was director of representatice office of the known Slovenian company.

Slovenians in France rounded off the evening with a pleasant social and cultural programme, enriched by the performance of Ante Bračič, a Slovenian actor and translator living in France, and a performance by musicians from the Emil Komel Slovenian Centre for Music Education in Gorizia.

The Office estimates that around 20,000 people of Slovenian origin live in France. Many of them have found a second home in eastern France (Merlebach, Aumetz), but there are also larger communities of Slovenes in Paris, Nice, Marseille and elsewhere. Many well-known Slovene artists, such as Evgen Bavčar, Brina Svit, Vinko Globokar and many others, are also active in Paris.

More photos at: GALERY.