Slovenia News 25 January 2005

Janez Jansa and Ivo Sanader, the prime ministers of Slovenia and Croatia, have restarted bilateral talks after a lull induced by elections in both countries. In line with expectations that no big solutions would be devised, they reviewed all open bilateral issues and agreed on approaches to be taken in solving them. Yet as one commentator put it, despite the clichés one should not overlook the fact that is not a continuation of dialogue where the old cabinet left it, but rather a new beginning. Meanwhile, parliament was immersed in debates on the EU treaty, which will thoroughly re-design the EU's institutional framework. Since the National Assembly must, and may, only rubber-stamp it, debates focused on how to best inform the public about the landmark document and its implications. "Without changing legislation, it will be impossible to create the conditions facilitating a rise in investments. The rise is necessary for economic growth, which will also be propelled by an effective drawing of EU budgetary funds, stressed Mojmir Mrak of the Ljubljana Economics Faculty. More » The government has sped up preparations for Slovenia to meet the nominal convergence criteria in order to introduce the EU's single currency, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told the parliament on Monday, highlighting the need to lower inflation. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa is to pay an introductory visit to the EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, where he will discuss a number of topics regarding Slovenia's relations with the EU and NATO. More » Slovenian and Croatian prime ministers, Janez Jansa and Ivo Sanader, reviewed all open bilateral issues and agreed on approaches to be taken in solving them as they met for their first working visit at the Mokrice Castle in SE Slovenia on Friday. More » Slovene-Slovak relations are excellent and amicable, the foreign ministers of Slovenia and Slovakia, Dimitrij Rupel and Eduard Kukan, said when they met the press after their meeting in Ljubljana on Friday. More » The government has united the Regional Development and Structural Policy Office and the Interior Ministry's Directorate for Local Self-Government into the Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy. The new body is headed by minister without portfolio Ivan Zagar. More » Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant met representatives of NGOs on Friday to discuss the establishment of a dialogue between the government and the NGOs. More » The parliamentary commission for Slovenians abroad held a panel debate ahead of drafting a national strategy on Slovenians living in neighbouring countries, which is to take into account the present position of Slovenia as a EU member country. The panel focused mainly on the preservation of Slovenian language. More » Anton Kokalj, the chair of the parliamentary EU affairs committee, has agreed on closer cooperation between the committee and Slovenian officials in EU institutions. More » Members of the parliamentary commission for constitutional affairs met to discuss the EU constitutional treaty before the National Assembly convenes for a session on 1 February to ratify it. More » Slovenia supports a reform of the stability and growth pact. "Certain modifications are necessary, yet they must be minimal," Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday, echoing the general agreement that the pact's key elements must stay in place. More » Due to lacklustre domestic demand, economic activity is being sustained by exports. Moreover, foreign trade is increasingly reliant on the EU, as exports to the Union account for two-thirds of the overall exports, according to Economic Trends, a monthly publication of the Faculty of Law's Economic Institute. More » Smuggling of illegal immigrants, arms trafficking and distribution of counterfeited euros are the most frequent cases of organised crime in Slovenia, suggests an annual report by Europol. More » Slovenia's GDP per capita stood at 75.3 percent in 2002, which means that the country was just slightly above the level that makes it eligible for EU funds under Objective 1. This is according to data released on Tuesday by the EU's statistics office Eurostat. More » The National Veterinary Administration (VURS) makes sure that Slovenian consumers are guaranteed an adequate level of food safety. "This level is definitely comparable to the European level," VURS director Vida Cadonic Spelic said. More » Slovenian content on the World Wide Web amounts to around 8.7 million documents, 67 percent more than in December 2003, according to figures from the country's top search engine. More » The European Commission would like to see as soon as possible the completion of the railway line between France's Lyon and Hungary's Budapest, which also crosses Slovenia, Transport Minister Janez Bozic told the press after meeting European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and the head of the Commission's Transport DG Francois Lamoureux in Brussels. More » Slovenian charities have been flooded with donations for victims of the 26 December tsunami in SE Asia. While the Slovenian Red Cross has received almost SIT 69m (EUR 290,000) in donations, Slovenska Karitas has collected SIT 125m (EUR 520,000). More » Slovenia's Tina Maze won the World Cup giant slalom event in front of a cheering home crowd on Saturday, bagging her third g-slalom win of the season. Maze finished in 2:16.36, 0.22s ahead of Italy's Karen Putzer. Martina Ertl of Germany was third, 0.93s behind. More » Schedule of Events from 25 - 29 January More »

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