A spectre is haunting Slovenia - the spectre of the European Stability Mechanism.
Prime Minister Janez Jansa has warned his people straight out that if the reforms and austerity measures proposed by his conservative government aren't implemented, a "national bankruptcy" would be unavoidable - as would a bailout.
Things looked very promising for Slovenia when it joined the EU together with nine other countries as part of the eastern enlargement in 2004. As it turns out, this was all an illusion.
"The Slovenians lived heavily on credit in the years after EU accession, amassing enormous debts abroad in a bid to finance a construction boom that eventually had to be cut off rather abruptly", said Hermine Vidovic of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.
The consequences of this climate are nothing short of disastrous. Slovenia's national debt has doubled in the past four years and is now around 50 per cent of GDP. Simultaneously, the economy is currently sliding further into recession.
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