The government has enough time to prepare for the demanding task of chairing over the EU in the first half of 2008, said Prime Minister Janez Jansa.
The government should complete the majority of the issues related to the economic and social reforms by the end of the year, meaning that it could then focus entirely on preparations to chair over the 25-strong bloc.
The government has enough time to prepare for the demanding task of chairing over the EU in the first half of 2008, Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said at a meeting between Slovenian ministers and state secretaries with high-ranking officials from the UK, Denmark and Austria. More »
A vast majority of Slovenians (80.5%) believe that social and economic reforms are necessary in the country, according to a July survey by the government-commissisoned Aragon polling agency. More »
The Slovenian government on Thursday decided to endorse the new proposal for the EU's 7th Framework Programme on research, reversing an earlier decision to oppose it on the grounds that it paves the way for EU funding for embryonic stem cell research. More »
Slovenian carrier Adria Airways carried 406,000 passengers in the first six months of the year, up 15% over the year before. The number of flights and cabin occupancy increased as well, the company said in a press release on Thursday. More »
Vera Zvonareva of Russia has prevented Slovenia's no. 1 tennis player Katarina Srebotnik from taking her fifth WTA tour crown with a commanding straight sets victory, 6:2 and 6:4, in the final of the Cincinnati Open. More »
The chairman of airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana Vinko Moze and the chairman of construction company SCT Ivan Zidar signed a EUR 2.3m contract on the first phase of the construction of a new passenger terminal at the Ljubljana International Airport on Tuesday. More »
Brnik, 18 July
Slovenia News (18 July 2006)
Editorial
The news of the week was the confirmation by the finance ministers of the final legal basis - the decision allowing Slovenia to introduce euro as legal tender, and a regulation determining the definitive tolar-euro exchange rate - marks the end of the formal proceedings for the EU.
Slovenia will enter the eurozone with an exchange rate of 239.64 tolars to the euro, becoming the 13th member of the eurozone and the first of the ten 2004 EU newcomers to adopt the euro.
Prime Minister Janez Janša has voiced regret over the absence of a step forward in bilingual town signs for the Austrian province of Carinthia, after the Austrian parliament failed to muster the majority to implement the latest agreement on Friday. More »
The cabinet adopted on Thursday a decree establishing the Council for Slovenians Abroad and the Council for Slovenians in Neighbouring Countries which were envisaged as consultative bodies as part of the recently passed act on Slovenians abroad. More »
The July report of the international rating firm Dun&Bradstreet (D&B) keeps the country firmly at the top in Eastern Europe. Slovenia retains a DB2b rating, thereby consolidating its position at the top of the regional table. More »
EU finance ministers ushered Slovenia into the eurozone on Tuesday by giving it the final green light for the adoption of the single European currency on 1 January 2007, diplomatic sources said. More »
Slovenians mostly think about the EU in connection with the single European currency, the euro, with 82% of those surveyed in favour of the European Monetary Union and the euro, according to the results of the latest Eurobarometer poll. More »
The 100th anniversary of the rail line between the northern Slovenian town of Jesenice and the western town of Nova Gorica, the last section of a line running from the Czech Republic to northern Italy, is to be celebrated with a ceremony in Nova Gorica on Saturday. More »
An Old Slavic burial ground has been discovered during sewage system construction works in the village of Doslovce (NW), the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Slovenia has told STA. More »
The 47th International Mathematical Olympiad, which ended on Monday in Ljubljana, was very successful for Slovenians, who have won one silver and three bronze medals, said Josef Pelikan of the event's advisory committee. More »
Mick Jagger will wear clothes by Slovenian manufacturer Mura produced for the Belgian fashion label Dries Van Noten at the Rolling Stones concert in Vienna on Friday, said the manufacturer from Murska Sobota. More »
Murska Sobota, 14 July
Slovenia News (4 July 2006)
Editorial
The European Commission has proposed that the final and irrevocable exchange rate at which Slovenian tolars are exchanged for euros on 1 January 2007 be fixed at 239.64 tolars per euro. This is the rate at which Slovenia entered the ERM II exchange rate mechanism two years ago.
Following an informal working meeting, the Slovenian and Croatian Presidents, Janez Drnovšek and Stipe Mesić, have called on the governments of both countries to begin talks and start resolving issues pertaining to the border, and the debts of the former Ljubljanska banka owed to its Croatian depositors. More »
The Slovenian government has approved an increase in its contribution to the Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) by SIT 42m (EUR 175,000) for this year, the Government PR and Media Office said in a press release. More »
The government approves an action plan for implementing an electronic toll collection system, and supports an initiative for establishing a Slovenia-based Drought Management Centre for the countries of South-Eastern Europe. More »
MPs decided at an extraordinary session of parliament to postpone voting on amendments to the Auditing of Public Procurement Procedures Act to a future session, as none of the amendments was endorsed by the budgetary and public finance control commission. More »
The European Commission has proposed that the final and irrevocable exchange rate at which Slovenian tolars are exchanged for euros on 1 January 2007 be fixed at 239.64 tolars per euro. More »
The Slovenian national carrier, Adria Airways, has launched daily cargo flights between Ljubljana and Liege, which will be serviced by a SAAB 340A cargo turboprop that it has purchased. More »
The streets of Ljubljana have come alive with the 9th Ana Desetnica international street theatre festival, which aims to revive the old city centre and encourage informal gatherings of diverse audiences and artists. More »
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) has conferred awards for the best innovations at national level in 2005 with the aim of encouraging the innovation potential of the Slovenian economy through thirteen regional CCIs. More »
The Slovenian government has decided to rename a section of the road between Kranjska Gora and the Vršič mountain pass the Russian Road to honour the memory of the more than 100 Russian prisoners who died at the mountain pass Vršič (NW) in the First World War. More »
Vasilij Žbogar, for years one of the world's top five competitors in the Laser class, and an Olympic bronze medallist in Athens, 2004, has moved up one place in the ISAF rankings to take second position. More »
Slovenia's health care system, in comparison with other EU members, is close to the European average, according to recent research conducted by the European health care think-tank the Health Consumer Powerhouse. More »