Slovenia News 29 March 2005

Slovenia this week faced the biggest challenge in its role as the presiding OSCE country so far as it tried to mediate in the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, sent his personal representative for Central Asia, Alojz Peterle to the country to help calm the situation. The foreign policy agenda was also dominated by the EU summit in Brussels, where Prime Minister Janez Jansa welcomed the reformed Lisbon Agenda and the decision to send a special EU mission to Croatia to examine the country's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal. Relations between Croatia and Slovenia were meanwhile discussed by Slovenian and Croatian presidents, Janez Drnovsek and Stipe Mesic, at an informal meeting. PM Janez Jansa welcomed the reform of the Lisbon Agenda approved by the EU summit on Wednesday. He said the reformed economic plans were based on more realistic grounds than they were five years ago when the agenda was first passed. Moreover, the monitoring of implementation has become a part of the Strategy, which increases the commitment of the member states. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa has welcomed the decision of the EU summit to send a special mission to Croatia to assess its cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal. "It is a good decision, we have backed it, moreover we co-shaped it," Jansa said in Brussels on Wednesday. More » Slovenia has secured itself an option to change its classification at the level of NUTS 2, which serves as a basis for drawing funds from EU structural funds, Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said. More » Only three months after assuming the OSCE chairmanship, Slovenia faced a major challenge in mediating in the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, sent his personal representative for Central Asia, Alojz Peterle, to the country to help calm the situation, but Peterle himself became target of the protesting crowd. More » Slovenian Ambassador to Great Britain Iztok Mirosic and Honorary Consul Ana Wersun on Wednesday inaugurated a consulate in Edinburgh, the first Slovenian consular mission in Scotland. More » Slovenia would like to see a stable Croatia within the EU so that bilateral trade could improve even further. This is what the Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek and his Croatian counterpart Stipe Mesic said to the press as they held an informal meeting at Bizeljsko on Thursday. More » The March edition of the Politbarometer survey has shown a high government approval rating. The government received the backing of 61% of respondents, which is level with February's 59% and January's 61%. Opposition was expressed by 25% of the people polled, down from February's 29% and close to January's 22%. More » Continuing its monthly session for March, the National Assembly is set to debate the government's draft declaration on guidelines for Slovenia's EU activities in 2005 on Tuesday. More » Slovenia's largest grocer, Mercator, has opened its fifth shopping centre in Croatia as it continues its push to capture ten percent of the country's grocery market. More » The Slovenj Gradec-based company Prevent Global has decided to launch a new production of optical memory cards in Slovenia despite great interest of its foreign partners to win the deal. Test production is expected to start in December. More » The CEO of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Novartis, has said that Ljubljana-based Lek, a subsidiary of Novartis' generic group Sandoz, is well-positioned on the markets of Eastern Europe and Russia, which afford enormous growth potential. More » Slovenia has assumed the presidency of the Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies (CEEPUS) at the 10th anniversary of this network. According to Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Jure Zupan, the priority of Slovenia's presidency will be CEEPUS II with an emphasis on joint degrees. More » Underground water presents as much as 95% of resources of drinking water in Slovenia, which are fairly well preserved compared to the situation in other European countries, the National Environmental Agency highlighted on Tuesday, World Water Day. More » Slovenia is stepping up its calls to be split into three regions when it comes to being consiSdered for EU regional aid. The country is currently classified as a single region, something that could hurt its possibilities for staying entitled to cohesion funds in the future. More » The new chief conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonics, George Pehlivanian, announced his plans for transforming the Ljubljana orchestra into one of the world's most renowned orchestras at a news conference on Tuesday. More » Slovenian artists will display their works in Ireland's Cork, the 2005 European Capital of Culture, in an exhibition dubbed "Eye Try" to be held between 5 and 28 April. More » The good weather in the second half of the winter season should help Slovenian ski resorts beat the turnout figures from the previous season. According to forecasts from the Association of Slovenian Ski Lift Operators, more than 1.4 million skiers will have hit the slopes in Slovenia by the time the season is over. More » TUESDAY, 29 March LJUBLJANA - Parliament is to continue its March session to vote about a draft on guidelines for Slovenia's activities in EU institutions. LJUBLJANA - US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is to visit Slovenia, to hold talks with Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and Prime Minister Janez Jansa. BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Slovenian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff, Major General Ladislav Lipic, is to begin a two-day visit at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). LJUBLJANA - The Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development is to present the 2005 project of direct payments. LJUBLJANA - Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Janez Podobnik and president of the Chamber of Commerce Jozko Cuk are to sign an agreement on issuing the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) certificates. LJUBLJANA - The boat show and holidays fair is to be opened by Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak at the Ljubljana Fairgrounds (to end on 2 April). LJUBLJANA - The 1980 Nobel Prize laureate in economics Lawrence R. Klein is to visit Slovenia to receive honorary doctorate from the University of Ljubljana. He is to be received by President Janez Drnovsek. LJUBLJANA - American linguist Noam Chomski is to hold a lecture in Ljubljana and be awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Ljubljana. He is to be received by President Janez Drnovsek. WEDNESDAY, 30 March LJUBLJANA -The EU Committee of the Regions President Peter Straub is to visit Slovenia. He is to meet with President Janez Drnovsek, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Bozo Cerar and State Secretary in charge of EU affairs Marcel Koprol. LJUBLJANA - State Secretary in charge of EU affairs Marcel Koprol is to meet the director of the European Agency for Reconstruction Richard Zink. YEREVAN, Armenia/TBILISI, Georgia/BAKU, Azerbaijan - FM and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel is to go on a Caucasus tour during which he is to visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. BRUSSELS, Belgium - Minister of Local Government and Regional Policy Ivan Zagar is to meet Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Huebner and Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. LJUBLJANA - The tourism and energy group Sava is to present its business plans. LJUBLJANA - A seminar on the Slovenian educational strategy is to be organised by the Ministry of Education and Sports and the European Commission. CELJE - Slovenian football team is to face Belorussia in Group 6 of the 2006 World Cup qualifications. THURSDAY, 31 March LJUBLJANA - Speaker of Polish Parliament Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz is to visit Slovenia, to meet his Slovenian counterpart France Cukjati, heads of deputy groups and President Janez Drnovsek. LJUBLJANA - The government is to hold its weekly session. LJUBLJANA - UNIDO Director General is to visit Slovenia at the invitation of Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak. KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia-Montenegro - Slovenian transport company Viator&Vektor is to sign a contract with Serbian Zastava vozila on the purchase of its subsidiary Zastava Sped. More »

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