Events

June 2007

Celebration of the return of the coastal Primorska region to Slovenia after World War II, September 9, 2007

Chargé Maryruth Coleman spoke to a gathering of over a hundred people in the town of Sežana to celebrate the return of the coastal Primorska region to Slovenia after World War II. The ceremony also commemorated the role of the U.S. and British Military authorities, and particularly that of American Senior Civil Affairs Officer Alfred Bowman, who wisely administered the Sežana area from 1945-47. Many of the audience were elderly and warmly recalled the role of the American military in helping their community to recover after the devastation of the war. A prominent town leader described the Allied Military Government and Colonel Bowman in particular as giving the people “a vision of the future.” In her remarks, the Charge noted that just as the U.S. and UK helped Slovenians to reconstruct their economy and rebuild civil society after the conflict, so Slovenia is now giving the gift of hope to its neighbors in the Western Balkans by fostering stability, democratization, human rights and economic revival. The British Charge also addressed the gathering.

Chargé Maryruth Coleman Addressed Participants at the Celebration of the Return of the Coastal Primorska Region to Slovenia after World War II