The hopes and fears of Slovenia's young job seekers

Study and travel figure strongly in the ambitions of young Slovenes - but top of the list is job prospects. But as Ksenija Samardzija-Matul many young Slovenes have mixed feelings about getting a job elsewhere in the EU.

The institutions of the European Union will offer 4700 additional jobs in the years 2004 and 2005 due to the EU enlargement. We've asked Slovene students whether they think about looking for a job outside of Slovenia and what they think of the EU enlargement:

PERSON 1: "I am for an EU enlargement I think this in general means an economic progress for Slovenia. As far as I am concerned I don't think that the EU enlargement will have an impact on where I'll apply for a job. I'm studying Geography and Slovene to become a teacher so I plan to stay in Slovenia. I believe students of law or management will benefit the most from the enlargement and they will seize the opportunities."

PERSON 2: " What do I expect, well there are positive and negative aspects. Positive is that we will be able to look for jobs abroad or at least it will become easier. I, myself think I will find a job abroad, because I will be a chemical engineer and for us there are great opportunities within the European Union."

Young people in Slovenia have different opinions on job opportunities in an enlarged European Union, some seem to be very keen on finding a job abroad but it seems only in the institutions of the EU, probably because of the good salary, on the other hand a large number of students asked prefers to stay in Slovenia - one of the main reasons for that is that they feel attached to Slovenia and another reason is the language barrier.