LJUBLJANA (AFP) - Slovenian secret service agents have gone on strike for the first time in their history demanding better pay and working conditions, the government said Thursday (Dec 7).

It said in a statement however that "all tasks crucial for national security and other state interests" were still being fulfilled.

Media reports said that the strike began on Wednesday and that new agents' salaries of 750 to 1,000 euros (S$1,194 to S$1,592) were below the national average.

Other public sector workers in the small European Union and eurozone country of two million people have also been pressing for more pay in recent weeks.

The former Yugoslav republic was hit hard by the 2008 to 2009 global financial crisis but the economy is set to grow by a healthy 4 per cent this year and next.