Slovenia News 11 January 2005

Slovenia assumed the chairmanship of the 55-strong OSCE on 1 January, a task that Slovenian diplomats expect to be a great challenge. Given that this security organisation is burdened by internal disagreements, Slovenia has vowed to bring different interests closer together, and has announced to work towards a successful OSCE reform. With the New Year, Slovenia took over the presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. This is the greatest challenge for Slovene foreign policy after gaining independence since our leadership of the UN Security Council. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, on a visit to Ukraine as the OSCE chairman-in-office, has told the officials there that he has come to express his admiration and congratulations on the democratic process, and to listen and to learn. More » Slovenia's diplomacy is facing big challenges, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said in an address to Slovenian diplomats. In practical terms, this means more work without much more resources, in particular over the next two years, said Jansa, referring to Slovenia's stint at the helm of the OSCE and its presidency over the EU later on. More » Slovenia's chairmanship of the OSCE will be taking place in the most unfavourable international situation, President Janez Drnovsek said in an address to Slovenian diplomats as he outlined some of the main task they will be involved in this year. More » The government has adopted supplements to the Convergence Programme, passed in May 2004, and authorised the Finance Ministry to submit it to the European Commission and the Council of Ministers. Preparations for the introduction of the single European currency meanwhile also topped the agenda of a meeting of PM Janez Jansa and Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk with the central bank governor Mitja Gaspari and vice-governor Andrej Rant on Friday. More » The government economic panel has urged for a simplification of tax legislation. Since the implementation of the tax laws that entered into force on 1 January has been causing certain difficulties, the panel on Friday proposed to the finance minister to set up a taskforce to draft a reform of this legislation as soon as possible. More » The government has confirmed the bill on the ratification of the EU constitution and sent it for approval to parliament. According to FM Dimitrij Rupel, the government expects the National Assembly to give it its stamp of approval by the end of January. More » The government on Thursday created a working group put in charge of preparations for Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008. Chaired by PM Janez Jansa, the group includes Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk, Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant and head of the Government Office for European Affairs (SVEZ) Marcel Koprol. More » Slovenia has received mixed marks in the annual Index of Economic Freedom for a combined rating of "mostly free". The country came in 45th out of 161 countries scrutinised by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, and the Wall Street Journal. More » In Slovenia’s first full year as a member of the European Union it was a net recipient of funds. The Budget and Public Accounting Directorate at the Ministry of Finance reported that last year Slovenia paid 40.64 billion tolars into Brussels’ treasury, and received 43.97 billion tolars. More » American conductor of international renown George Pehlivanian has become the first ever chief conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Pehlivanian was appointed the resident conductor effective on 1 January, and will be a kind of artistic director of this music house until the end of September 2008. More » Dance company Plesni Teater Ljubljana, which is considered to be the pioneer of Slovenian contemporary dance and has trained the country's most acclaimed dancers and choreographers, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. More » Irena Grafenauer, the Slovenian flautist of world renown, has been selected woman of the year by readers of one of the most popular Slovenian women's magazines, Jana. More » 2004 has been one of the most successful years for Slovenian spa resorts recently. The visitor numbers were up by 6.9 percent to 529,940, with 56.4 percent of the guests coming from abroad. More » The Slovenian capital has witnessed a steady increase in visitors in the past few years. Ljubljana saw a record rise in overnights and the highest number of visits to tourist and information centres last year. During the Christmas and New Year's holidays alone the number of overnights jumped by over 50% year-on-year. More »

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