World Notes: YUGOSLAVIA

Slovenia (pop. 2.1 million), one of the six republics and two autonomous provinces that make up Yugoslavia, provided a reminder last week of why the word Balkanization is a synonym for divisiveness. Meeting in the capital of Ljubljana, the republic's parliament overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment allowing Slovenia to secede from the Yugoslav federation. Though a split is not imminent, the move was seen as insurance for the Slovenes against growing Serbian nationalism. Slovenia, which shares borders with Italy and Austria, boasts the nation's most prosperous economy. But it is dependent on raw materials from the rest of the country and, despite growing exports to the West, relies heavily on the Yugoslav market for its manufactured goods.