Slovenia is perhaps the most likely case for establishing that the East-West divide is no longer relevant, but it may also be the paradigmatic case of core-periphery relations evolving within the EMU. In the early 1990s Slovenia managed to escape the escalation of violent conflict in the break-up of Yugoslavia, pursuing unfaltering democratic reforms and European integration. Economically most developed and the most Western-oriented state in Southeast Europe, it was overdetermined for successful democratisation - so it was no surprise when it joined the CEE states for the first round of Eastern Enlargement in 2004. Its transformation into a market economy has also been considered successful, though from the onset it carried a stamp of distinctiveness for pursuing a gradualist approach that carefully balanced the demands for structural adjustment that came from international financial institutions and the EU. In comparison to many other post-communist states, it rejected the privatisation of pensions, retained stronger wage bargaining institutions, did not privatise its banking sector and overall managed to retain the features of a corporatist social welfare-state model. However, after joining the Eurozone in 2007 its distinctive economic model came under increasing stress. The country was sharply hit by the economic crisis in 2008, and by 2010 the political repercussions of the crisis looked very much like those in Western Member States. Indeed, for explaining the political and economic trajectory of Slovenia today the East-West divide has become irrelevant.
