Slovenia News - November 2005

Slovenia News 29 November 2005

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana promised to help Slovenia and Croatia resolve their bilateral issues last week, the week in which participating states of the OSCE, which is chaired by Slovenia this year, managed to agree a new scale of budget contributions, something that Russia was rather dissatisfied with. The staging of the OSCE ministerial meeting will be a testament to Slovenia's role as an active and responsible member of the international community, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel believes. PM Janez Jansa and FM Dimitrij Rupel were in Slovakia for a CEI summit. Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who is a member of the troika as Slovenia chaired the CEI last year, pointed to economic cooperation, saying that it would be a good move if Central European Initiative countries attracted more investment. Changes in the political landscape in the region which are the result of the entry of several Central European Initiative (CEI) members in the EU topped the agenda of this year's summit of the organisation in Bratislava. More » The staging of the OSCE ministerial meeting will be a testament to Slovenia's role as an active and responsible member of the international community, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel believes. More » The government has adopted amendments to the asylum act, which it believes will help prevent the abuse of the right to asylum and streamline the procedures. More » The cabinet appointed on Thursday Zorko Pelikan the new state secretary of the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad. Zorko, who is to assume his post on 1 December, will succeed Franc Puksic, who resigned in July over disagreements with the government. More » SRC.SI, the largest Slovenian company specialising in system integration, opened its branch office in Brussels on Tuesday, the first such solo effort by a Slovenian company. More » Investment funds are one of the branches of the financial sector with the brightest future, Stane Valant, head of the association of asset management firms, told a two-day conference of the association on Thursday. More » The Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) hosted the Slovenian Capital Markets Day at the London Stock Exchange on Friday to introduce six leading Slovenian companies to London's investment community and present the latest developments on the Slovenian capital markets. More » The EU Competitiveness Council on Monday confirmed a partial common approach to the proposed 7th framework research programme for 2007-2013. With its proposed reforms, Slovenia is already following the council's recommendations, Janez Mozina of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology said. More » European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik told the press in Brussels on Tuesday that the European Commission has "tried to do its best, both as a whole and as individual commissioners" in the past year. More » Preparations for Slovenia's EU presidency, and a strategy for effective functioning in the EU will be the main tasks of the Government Office for EU Affairs (SVEZ) in 2006, the head of the office, Marcel Koprol, told the press on Wednesday. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said that Slovenia's first impressions about the informal proposal by Great Britain for the 2007-2013 spending plan are positive. More » The public is ever more interested in the annual Slovenian Book Fair, which will take place for the 21st time at the conference centre Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, the chair of its management board Rudi Zaman told the press on Tuesday. More » Under the auspices of President Janez Drnovsek, the Piran Days of Architecture 2005, featuring exhibitions and an international seminar on architectural policies, opened on Friday in the seaside resort in Piran. More » "Uglasevanje" (Tuning), a film by the up-and-coming Slovenian director Igor Sterk, has won best feature film award at the 54th Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, the Slovenian Film Fund said on Monday. More » The 16th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe) ended on Thursday in Ljubljana with an award ceremony. The Kingfisher Award, the top prize of the two-week festival, went to a Danish-Icelandic parody "Dark Horse", directed by Dagur Kari. More » Rudolf Maister is one of the people in Slovenian history whose life and work are inseparably linked to the national and political emancipation of the Slovenian nation, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said on Friday in Maribor. More » The 38th World Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia has ended with a double Slovenian victory, which saw Mitja Petkovsek on parallel bars and Aljaz Pegan on high bar become world champions. More » Health Minister Andrej Brucan said on Friday that Slovenia is ready to cooperate as a partner and donor in developing health services in SE Europe. His comments came at the 2nd Forum of Health Ministers from SE Europe that took place in Macedonia, the Health Ministry reported on Friday. More » Schedule of Events from 29 November to 4 December More »

Slovenia News 22 November 2005

Just weeks before the OSCE ministerial in Ljubljana, it has turned out that the hard work has paid off, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said, adding that the "table is relatively clear of problems". Rupel highlighted the resolution of problems in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan as the biggest achievements. Internally, he said the OSCE had made great progress in budget talks and the appointment of a new secretary general. The parliamentary foreign policy committee unanimously concluded that Slovenia's international reputation has been greatly enhanced by the country's stint as the chair of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has told the parliamentary foreign policy committee that Slovenia would seek renewed arbitration on the debt of the defunct bank Ljubljanska banka (LB) to Croatian savers. More » The government decided on Thursday to establish an office that will coordinate the implementation of the planned structural reforms, to be headed by a minister without portfolio. More » The cabinet on Thursday set up two privatisation working groups, one for the country's largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska banka (NLB), and the other for the leading insurer, Zavarovalnica Triglav. More » PM Janez Jansa told the National Council on Wednesday that the Slovenian economy is doing relatively well, however the time had come to give it more oxygen, thus allowing companies to start breathing with full lungs. More » Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski encouraged Slovenian companies to invest in Macedonia, which is currently undergoing structural reforms to cut red tape for foreign investors, at a Slovenian-Macedonian business conference on Friday. More » The EU must embrace the opportunities offered by globalisation and face the challenges, agreed speakers at Thursday's business conference discussing the impact of globalisation. More » The European Commission has kept its economic forecast for Slovenia almost unchanged: it projects Slovenian economy to expand by 3.8% this year despite the unfavourable international environment, whereas end-year inflation is expected to hit 2.6%. More » The changeover to the euro will be one of the most difficult projects that the central bank has ever undertaken, a central bank official has told a presentation of Slovenia's euro coins. More » "Slovenia Culture Profile", a project designed as a sort of English-language guide to Slovenian culture, was presented to the press on Monday in Ljubljana. It features a review of the country's cultural organisations and art groups on a web site and in a book with the same title. More » Slovenian extreme swimmer Martin Strel has announced his latest world-record quest - a swim of the world's longest river, the Amazon. More » Slovenian ski lift operators expect a good season this year, as they invested a lot of money into three new ski lifts, artificial snow machines and numerous other projects, head of the national ski lift operators association Ales Ursic said on Wednesday. More » Schedule of Events from 22 to 27 November More »

Slovenia News 15 November 2005

Slovenia filed this week a request with the European Commission to be granted the status of two cohesion regions so that it could continue receiving core EU development aid in the future. The Commission said it would study the request, but indicated that even if confirmed, the new status was unlikely to step into force in time for the 2007-2013 EU spending period. In other news, Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek held separate meetings with counterparts from Austria and Croatia this week to discuss bilateral relations, including burning open issues. Slovenia is to seek to be granted the status of two cohesion regions in talks with the European Commission More » The Barcelona Convention signatories on Wednesday adopted a Sustainable Development Strategy for the Mediterranean. This is globally the first regional document based on the Agenda 21, Environment Minister Janez Podobnik told the press. More » The 1975 Treaty of Osimo has been a disappointment for the Slovenian minority in Italy, but it has nevertheless provided great benefits for both countries, agreed speakers examining the international and local implications of the treaty at a science conference. More » The government adopted a basic set of measures for establishing a system for close inter-institutional projects, also known as twinning projects. More » The cabinet has appointed four working groups that will be in charge of preparing plans for the privatisation of major state-owned companies. More » While Slovenian companies fulfill quality standards, a lot needs to be done in the field of innovation and corporate connections, the head of the Slovenian association for quality, Jozko Cuk, said on Thursday in Portoroz. More » Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk and European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia on Tuesday signed an agreement to cooperate in the campaign leading up to the adoption of the euro. More » Acclaimed director Jan Cvitkovic's black comedy "Gravehopping" was conferred best feature film award and best festival film award given out by the ecumenical jury at the 15th Eastern Europe Film Festival in Cottbus, Germany on Sunday, according to the production house Staragara. More » St. Martin's name day is celebrated in the country on 11 November as a traditional holiday which also signifies the end of farm labour for the year and the christening of new wine. The holiday, traditionally connected with the tasting of new wine, is observed mostly in wine-growing areas. More » The government adopted a proposal for the drafting of a three-year programme of French for employees in the state administration, which it considers as one of the key elements in preparations for its stint at chairing the EU in 2008. More » Schedule of Events from 15 to 20 November More »

Slovenia News (8 November 2005)

The week was moreover marked by the government endorsement of a blueprint for structural reforms, and President Janez Drnovsek's elaboration of his Kosovo status plan. President Janez Drnovsek underscored the role of the Serb minority in Kosovo for the future status of the province in a letter addressed to world leaders on Tuesday, 1 November. The country witnessed the biggest bank robbery in its history, which has deprived many SKB customers of many precious valuables in their safety deposit boxes. President Janez Drnovsek underscored the role of the Serb minority in Kosovo for the future status of the province in a letter addressed to world leaders on Tuesday, 1 November. More » The cabinet adopted the blueprint for structural reforms at its session on Thursday. Among the envisaged measures is the establishment of a government reform office, which would be headed by a minister without portfolio. More » The Slovenian Railways holding and the country's sea port Luka Koper are planning to join forces in the transport-logistics market, the management boards of both companies agreed on Thursday in Koper. More » The Slovenian gaming company HIT and Harrah's Entertainment of the US have concluded a deal on a mega gaming project in Slovenia, both companies said in a joint press release on Monday. More » The plans for the production of a new Renault model at Slovenian car maker Revoz are back on track after successful adjustments were made to the car. More » The possibility that the EU budget framework for 2007-2013 is adopted in December has increased, European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik told the press in Ljubljana on Friday. More » The 19th annual exhibition of foreign literature "Frankfurt after Frankfurt" is staged at Ljubljana's arts and conference centre Cankarjev dom from 3 to 8 November. More » The rock sensation Siddharta triumphed at Thursday's MTV European Music Awards in Lisbon as the best act in the region, the regional programme MTV Adria, which participated in the event for the first time this year, said on Friday. More » At least three heavily armed men burgled as many as 420 of a total of 4,900 deposit boxes at SKB banka in Ljubljana in what is considered to be the biggest bank robbery in Slovenian history. The robbers surprised guards by announcing themselves over the phone as regular customers, tied up both guards and proceeded to break into the deposit boxes with welding torches. More » Slovenia will put itself on display for residents of Berlin in what will be a first such exhibition aimed at raising the country's profile among EU citizens, Slovenian Tourist Board said. More » The goal of the government is to promote private enterprise, and that includes the health sector, Health Minister Andrej Brucan told the biggest meeting of general practitioners in Slovenia. More » Schedule of Events from 8 to 13 November More »

Slovenia News 2 November 2005

Just over a month before the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will take place in Ljubljana on 5 and 6 December, 873 people have confirmed their participation in the largest political event in independent Slovenia. Thirty-six foreign ministers will be attending the meeting, the preparation of which involves extremely complex logistics. EU leaders convened in Great Britain last week for talks about globalisation and the EU's next budget framework. On another front, President Janez Drnovsek defended his proposal for Kosovo, which has been met with considerable criticism in Serbia. Just over a month before the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will take place in Ljubljana on 5 and 6 December, 873 people have confirmed their participation in the largest political event in independent Slovenia. Thirty-six foreign ministers will be attending the meeting, the preparation of which involves extremely complex logistics. More » A regional ministerial on illegal migrations, organised crime, corruption and terrorism in SE Europe started at Brdo pri Kranju on Friday with the appeal of Slovenian Interior Minister that these phenomena be tackled in concerted effort. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa came out of the informal EU summit on Thursday confident that the prospects of agreement on the EU's 2007-2013 budget framework have increased. More » The cabinet has adopted the Reform Programme for the Implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in Slovenia. According to head of the Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) Janez Sustersic, the document answers impending challenges faced by Slovenia with measures that promote restructuring and liberalisation. More » The Slovenian candidate for best foreign film Oscar award, "Rusevine" (Ruins), faces a record number of 57 rivals for the top five nominees, the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Tuesday in Los Angeles. More » The Break 2.3 multimedia festival, which is to take place in Ljubljana between 7 and 21 November, will focus on "original author ideas" the organisers told the press on Thursday. More » The acclaimed Maribor-based choir, Carmina Slovenica, embarked on a Swedish tour on 1 November as part of the musical exchange between Sweden and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. More » Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti delivered a keynote address as Slovenia staged its central Reformation Day ceremony. Reformation Day, a bank holiday was celebrated on 31 October, marks a 50-year period in the country's history that had a profound impact on Slovenehood. More » A delegation of the highest state officials laid wreaths at Zale on Sunday, the central cemetery in Ljubljana, two days prior to All Saints' Day. More » Schedule of Events from 2 to 6 November More »

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