The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung ran a lengthy article on Slovenia on Wednesday, focusing on the crisis that has hit this young EU member. It said that earlier optimism about the country's development has given way to pessimism caused by poor economic results.
Slovenia used to look like "an extension of Austria", but in the meantime it has started to look like Italy, Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.
"The country is totally gripped by the debt crisis," the Munich-based newspaper said, recalling that the rating agency Moody's downgraded Slovenia's credit rating last week.
After good economic indicators at the time of accession to the European Union in 2004, Slovenia is now grappling with the crisis and bad trends, and the government is forced to cut costs in all areas, it said.
The newspaper said that Slovenia's politics were not completely stable either, citing failure to form a government at first attempt following elections last December and legal proceedings against Prime Minister Janez Jansa for corruption.
"Tourism is the only successful branch of the Slovenian economy," Sueddeutsche Zeitung said, noting that Slovenians could no longer afford what they could offer to their guests.
