KRANJ, Slovenia — President Bush opened a farewell tour of Europe last night in this tiny, picturesque nation, which is basking in its status as the current head of the European Union and the most successful state to emerge from the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Home to just 2 million people, the alpine country is hosting this week’s annual summit between America and the 27-nation European Union. The two sides will debate such issues as the Iranian nuclear program and a ban on American poultry imports, though officials expect few firm agreements. Slovenia and some of its neighbors are urging America to ease visa restrictions on former communist bloc nations.

Mr. Bush has been to Slovenia once before, in 2001, when he made his much-reported remark about looking then-Russian President Putin in the eye, talking with him, and getting “a sense of his soul.” That meeting took place at Brdo Castle, the palace that Mr. Bush will visit today.

Two years before that, tens of thousands of Slovenians stood in a downpour to greet then-President Clinton. All of this international attention for a nation the size of New Jersey is due in no small part to Slovenia’s rise as a bastion of stability in the otherwise troubled Balkans. Covered in thick forests stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic, Slovenia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991 after a 10-day fight in which about 70 people died, and now ranks above its Central European neighbors in per capita income and most other measures.

“We are not only the success story of the former Yugoslavia, but also of all of Central Europe,” said Samuel Zbogar, the Slovenian ambassador in Washington, who returned here for Mr. Bush’s visit. “It’s gone very smoothly for us.”

The country is more homogeneous than its Balkan neighbors to the south, with Slovenians, who are historically Christian, accounting for more than 80% of the population. It has clung to a distinct culture and language through occupation and upheaval. Unlike its Balkan neighbors, which spent centuries under Ottoman rule, Slovenia was part of the Habsburg empire. It has a generally pro-Western outlook.

The country was admitted in 2004 to both the European Union and the NATO alliance, and is currently governed by a coalition led by Prime Minister Jansa, who will meet with Mr. Bush along with President Turk. Slovenia holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union, which will pass to France on July 1.