SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

She is known for her calmness, determination, and kindness, but above all for always speaking the truth – even when it's difficult.

One early autumn day, she was browsing for homemade goodies at the town market. As she was putting them into her shopping bag, she noticed a leather wallet lying under a bench. It was fat and clearly full. Tatjana picked it up and paused for a moment. People rushed past her, each intent on their own business. None of them seemed to be missing anything. When she opened the wallet, she found a considerable sum of money, personal documents, and a few crumpled receipts. The ID card read: Zlatko Feužer, Mlače. The name was familiar to her. 

»But that's the beekeeper I used to buy honey from,« she told herself. She closed her purse and clutched it tightly to her. The money would have come in handy. Expenses were mounting like mushrooms after the rain. No one saw her, no one would have known. The thought was fleeting, almost imperceptible, but strong enough to make her chest ache.

»Honesty doesn't depend on who's watching,« she said softly, as if answering herself. That same afternoon, she drove towards Mlače. The road wound through fields and forests, the leaves already taking on a golden hue. When she arrived at the Feužer family's house, she saw Zlatko in the yard, pacing restlessly and running his hand through his hair. When she got out of the car, he looked at her with tired eyes.

»Good day,« she said, handing him the wallet. »I believe this is yours.«

Zlatko was speechless. He opened his wallet, counted the money, then closed it and exhaled deeply. »I looked for it everywhere. I thought I'd lost it at the market. It contains my entire pension. Today I had to pay the bill for the car repairs.« 

There was silence for a moment, then he stepped closer. »Mrs Tatjana, I don't know how to repay you.«

Tatjana smiled. »There's no need for that. I just did what was right.«

Zlatko insisted that he repay the favour, at least symbolically, but she shook her head. »If you want to repay me, do the same when you have the opportunity,« she said.

News of the lost wallet spread quickly through the surrounding villages, but the story didn't end there. A few weeks later, Zlatko called Tatjana. He told her that on his way from Celje, he had found a bag with documents belonging to an elderly gentleman. He remembered her words and without hesitation took the bag to the correct address. »You know,« he admitted over the phone, »for a moment I thought about leaving it at the police station, but then I remembered you and that day. And it seemed right to do something more.«

Tatjana put down the receiver with a quiet sense of satisfaction. It wasn't about the wallet or the money. It was about the invisible thread that had been woven between people – a thread of trust.

Honesty is not always loud, nor is it a choice between right and wrong, but a decision about who we want to be when no one is looking. Honesty does not win medals or seek applause. Sometimes it is simply a quiet decision in a moment when it would be easier to look away. But it is precisely from such decisions that a community grows, where people dare to trust each other.

And so, Tatjana from Slovenske Konjice and Zlatko from Mlače each proved in their own way that Honesty isn't an old-fashioned value, but a seed that only bears fruit when courageously planted by someone..     

                                    Justina Strašek, 3rd March 2026