Farmers have to be aware of the fact that in the long run it is not sustainable to live off state intervention. Therefore, agriculture must work towards competitiveness, pointed out Pahor. The predictions about such fairs losing their charm and becoming redundant have failed to come true, remarked Pahor, explaining that – unlike modern technologies – such fairs still offer real human contact.

"I think this is also the main message of the fair. It is the reason why it is so well visited and from here stems its importance to this day," continued the president of Slovenia. Its communicative value, both to the agricultural community as well as the general public, speaks of the fact that Slovenia is a special land in some sense, as half of the population lives in the countryside and the other half in the cities, suggested Pahor.

The president added that Slovenia "isn't trying to change this ratio in favour of the urban. We want to keep it this way, and from here originates the irreplaceable role and, thus, the mission of the country – to make sure that the half of the population still persisting in the countryside and taking care of it in – in a social, cultural and national sense – can have at least similar quality of life as the ones living in an urban environment."

A. Č., MMC;
translated by K. Z.