The biggest thing to come out of Slovenia! Melania Trump is thanked by her home country's president for raising their profile as he invites the soon-to-be First Family to visit

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Soon-to-be First Lady Melania Trump is probably Slovenia's highest-profile export ever - and the Eastern-European country is making sure she knows it.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Dr Miro Cerar have both in touch with the former model to express their gratitude for her prominent position in American life.

The pair wrote a letter to her thanking her for 'raising visibility of our central-European country,' TMZ reported.

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Slovenian star: Melania Trump (right) is Slovenia's highest-profile export, and so its government have been in touch to thank her for raising the country's profile this week

Grateful: Slovenia's President, Borut Pahor (left) and Prime Minister, Dr Miro Cerar (right) both thanked her by letter. Pahor also invited Trump and Melania to visit Slovenia in a call this week

First Lady: Melania met Trump in 1998, and - barring a brief break-up early on - has been by his side ever since

The letter to Melania was written in Slovenian and sent out by the country's Embassy in the US, an embassy official told TMZ.

That's not the end of Pahor and Cerar's attempts to reach out to the Trumps, however.

Pahor spoke with both Donald and Melania Trump this week, and invited them to visit the country.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of relations between the US and Slovenia. 

Melania was born in Slovenia in 1970, in the city of Novo Mesto, but she grew up in a humble apartment with her father, mother and sister in Sevnica, around 40 minutes' drive away.  

The cities were then part of the former Yugoslavia, which broke apart in the 1990s, and were under Communist rule.

Her father was a Communist party member, and held a job in state-owned children's clothing company Jutranjka. 

That company chose five-year-old Melania to be a model for its clothing, starting off her obsession with becoming a model, and her eventual career.

At 17 she was spotted by renowned Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko; that led to her moving to Milan in the 1980s, and ultimately to America.

Going up in the world: Melania Trump grew up in a humble apartment (left) in Svenica, but now lives in New York's Trump tower (right) with her husband and family

As well as being the 25th anniversary of the start of the US-Slovenian relationship, 2017 is the 19th anniversary of the relationship between Trump and Melania - they met in 1998, at a Fashion Week party in New York City.

He was separated from then-wife Maria Marples at the time, and she initially refused to give him her number, as he'd attended the event with Norwegian cosmetics heiress Celina Midelfart. 

Melania broke off the relationship early on, due to 'trust issues', according to GQ, but they got back together about six months later.

She stood by him during his foray into presidential politics in 2000, when he tried to win the nomination for leader of the Reform Party.

So it's a happy time for the couple that they should, 16 years later, not only be married, but also the new First Couple in the White House.

But Melania hasn't forgotten her roots: Her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, spend around half of each year in the US, helping to raise Barron, who now speaks fluent Slovenian.

Parents: Melania's parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, still live in Slovenia, but spend much of their time in the US, where they have helped to raise Barron