Slovenia News - July 2008

Slovenia News 29 July 2008

Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Kamnik Mayor Anton Smolnikar visited on 24 July the village of Gozd near Kamnik, which has been devastated in a recent storm that left over 100 buildings damaged and bill of EUR 4m. Jansa was happy that the first phase of repairs had been quick and successful. Jansa said after the visit that the first phase had shown good organisation and solidarity of people. "According to the latest estimates, we can say that the damage was immense. Solidarity aid will suffice for the first phase, but the actual reconstruction will require additional funds," Jansa said. Out of the total damage, houses have sustained EUR 2m of damages and the same amount will be needed for repair works on commercial buildings. The storm also left the local primary school with EUR 350,000 in damages. A municipal commission tasked with assessing the damage will soon prepare first estimates on the basis of which urgent aid will be distributed to individuals. According to Smolnikar, the municipality of Kamnik will give EUR 20,000 from the budget reserves directly to farmers who have to repair their farms. So far we have been saving houses, and now we have to take care of other facilities, he said. Environment Minister Janez Podobnik held a meeting with Montenegrin Minister of Tourism and the Environment, Predrag Nenezic, in Podgorica on Monday, at which they signed a memorandum on cooperation between their ministries. More » US Ambassador to Slovenia Yousif Ghafari paid a visit on Tuesday to American Slovenians in Cleveland, one of the biggest Slovenian communities outside of Slovenia. Ghafari met around 45 of the most visible representatives of the community at a restaurant serving Slovenia delicacies. More » Serbian Ambassador to Slovenia Predrag Filipov has returned to Ljubljana, four months after he was recalled in protest against Slovenia's recognition of the independence of Kosovo, the Serbian Embassy confirmed on Monday. More » Parliament Speaker France Cukjati said in Ljubljana on Tuesday in a lecture on the role of national parliaments in EU association processes that the national parliaments of Western Balkan countries play an important role in their countries' efforts to join the EU. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Kamnik Mayor Anton Smolnikar visited on Thursday the village of Gozd near Kamnik, which has been devastated in a recent storm that left over 100 buildings damaged and bill of EUR 4m. Jansa was happy that the first phase of repairs had been quick and successful. More » Energy group Petrol posted EUR 30.8m in net profit in the first six months of 2008, which was 33% more than in the same period last year. Operating profit was also up a whopping 42%, topping EUR 35.7m, Petrol said on Friday. More » The South Stream project represents an opportunity for Slovenia to get a more reliable supply of natural gas, not to mention a great business opportunity, chief executive of Slovenian natural gas distributor Geoplin Alojz Stana has told a publication. More » Panensa, a joint venture of Slovenian chemistry-through-tourism conglomerate Sava and Bosnian wood processing company Panefin, launched on Thursday a wood biomass factory in Srbac, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The biggest factory of the kind in the Balkans will serve as an energy base for Sava and other Slovenian companies. More » The European Commission allocated on Thursday some EUR 45m for the promotion of EU farming products. Slovenia will get around EUR 900,000 for two projects in net worth of EUR 1.7m. More » The Municipality of Ljubljana has launched work on a wireless broadband network which will initially cover the city centre and, by 2013, the entire municipality. The network, based on Wi-Fi technology, will provide access to the municipality's portal and limited free access to a wide range of internet services. More » Slovenia was one of the most successful EU members as regards the phasing of EU funds, Local Government Minister Ivan Zagar told the press on Thursday. Slovenia drew some 95% of the funds available to it from the European Regional Development Fund between 2004 and 2006. More » Nine EU members, including Slovenia, have laid out plans to employ the EU's mechanism of enhanced cooperation to overcome the stalemate in EU divorce legislation talks after a veto by Sweden. More » Slovenian hauilers passing through Italy will no longer be asked to produce CEMT permits, the Transport Ministry confirmed on Friday. Following protest from the hauilers and the ministry, the Italian transport minister has received a revised interpretation of a relevant EU regulation and has called on Italian authorities to stop issuing fines. More » Around 900 participants from 71 countries are attending the second World International Studies Conference, WISC 2008, taking place at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences (FDV). The conference, dealing with international relations and the world after 9/11, was addressed on Wednesday by president Danilo Tuerk. More » The Culture Ministry has achieved everything that was set out in the coalition agreement, outgoing Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti told the press on Friday in what was a report on the ministry's achievements during the 2004-2008 term. More » Sunday's ceremony at the Russian Chapel, devoted to the memory of Russian prisoners of war who died 92 years ago while constructing the Vrsic mountain pass, was marked by praise, both from Slovenian and Russian speakers, for the ever closer cooperation between the two countries, as well as among Slavic cultures in general. More » Italian tennis player Sara Errani won the fourth Slovenia Open in Portoroz on Sunday, downing Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues in straight sets 6:3, 6:3 in the final of the US$ 145,000 WTA tournament. More » Slovenian guard Sasa Vujacic signed Monday a three-year, US$ 15m contract to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers, even though he was apparently offered more money in Europe. More » Health Minister Zofija Mazej Kukovic highlighted on Wednesday as the biggest achievements of her one-year term the progress made in the investment into the new Pediatric Clinic and the Neurological Clinic. She believes that the main priority for the next term should be reducing waiting lines in hospitals and clinics. More » Calendar of Events for 29 July - 3 August More »

Slovenia News 22 July 2008

After meeting political group leaders of the government coalition, Prime Minister Jansa described the coalition's work in the last mandate as successful and steady: the coalition partners were free of political turbulence and were able to focus on essential development issues and the needs of Slovene citizens. According to an analysis of the actual implementation of the coalition agreement, out of 706 concrete, measurable actions planned when the document was signed, 80 percent were, objectively speaking, fully carried out, some were partly fulfilled and only five percent were not accomplished, said Prime Minister Jansa. He also pointed out that these measures included events which could not be foreseen upon signing the agreement but were nonetheless dealt with efficiently by the coalition. One of the major achievements of the coalition agreement is the historic rise in the employment rate or the drop in unemployment, noted PM Janša. "After two and a half years of this coalition, unemployment in Slovenia is at a historic low while at the same time employment is at a historic high," said the PM, adding that the number of jobs is surely set to rise. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel welcomed on Tuesday the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic. More » The Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) received the 11th donation of the Czech Republic on Thursday, as an agreement on a EUR 84,810 donation was signed by Czech Ambassador Ivana Hlavsova and the fund's international cooperation adviser Iztok Hocevar. More » After meeting political group leaders of the government coalition, Prime Minister Janez Jansa described the coalition's work in the last mandate as successful and steady: the coalition partners were free of political turbulence and were able to focus on essential development issues and the needs of Slovene citizens. More » The government decided on Thursday to earmark EUR 682,000 from the budgetary reserves for the repair of houses damaged or destroyed in Sunday's storm. The funds will be distributed through municipal authorities on the basis of their estimates, Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk told the press. More » The Government Development Office presented on Friday the results of a project addressing the challenge of adapting to climate change. The project lays out three possible scenarios for Slovenia's development through 2035, which are entitled "A Green Oasis", "Without Ideas", and "Chameleon". More » Parliament Speaker France Cukjati labelled Tuesday the 2004-2008 term of the National Assembly, which is drawing to a close, as successful. He believes the relationship between the government and the assembly was appropriate and "maybe slightly more consistent and of better quality than in the previous term". More » Deputy Parliament Speaker Saso Pece received on Friday a Japanese parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi. The pair stressed that the cooperation between the countries was good, especially at the parliamentary level, and expressed hope the visit would strengthen tourism ties between the countries. More » Development Minister Ziga Turk believes the proposal of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to lower VAT on fuel should not be entirely discarded. Yet a reduction should be accompanied by higher taxation of other products that contribute to carbon emissions, which in effect means taxing all emissions of greenhouse gases. More » Nearly 24,000 students were enrolled in music and dance classes in the 2007/2008 school year, which is slightly more than last year, according to the National Statistics Office. More » Slovenia welcomes in principle the changes to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposed by the European Commission, Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Branka Tome told the press on Thursday. The Commission suggested changes to direct farm payments, common market organisation and rural development aid. More » President Danilo Tuerk told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that it was not good if the choice of the European Council president - a post envisaged by the Lisbon Treaty - was limited to only a few of the member countries, as the pair met in Brussels on Wednesday. More » The latest Eurobarometer survey for Slovenia has shown that support for EU policies has grown among Slovenians during the country's EU presidency. Yet the people are increasingly pessimistic about the country's economic outlook. More » Around 30,000 people have visited an exhibition of Ancient Egyptian art in Cankarjev dom, making it the best visited exhibition of all times at Slovenia's premiere arts centre. More » Hopes for new Slovenian Olympic medals were on everyone's mind as the 62 athletes that make up the Slovenian team for the Olympic Games in Beijing gathered for the first time on Monday. More » Vasilij Zbogar bagged silver at the Laser and Laser Radial European Championships in Newport, Belgium, on Saturday, after the organisers cancelled the last race because of strong wind. More » The Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) has presented its latest three-year strategy for the development of its comprehensive tourist information system, announcing an expansion of the tourist web portal. The STO expect the portal to be visited by more than 20 million people in 2010. More » Calendar of Events for 22 - 27 July More »

Slovenia News 15 July 2008

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met on 8 July his Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandrokovic in Brdo pri Kranju. The two ministers have already met on several occasions, but the meeting organised at the invitation of Minister Rupel represented the first opportunity for an in-depth analysis of relations between the two countries. Minister Rupel highlighted the obligation of both countries to develop mutual trust, to avoid incidents and to resolve outstanding issues in line with European norms. Regarding Croatia’s drawing closer to Euro-Atlantic integrations, Minister Rupel highlighted Slovenia’s interest in the stabilisation of the Western Balkans and its integration into Euro-Atlantic structures with the aim of establishing an open European region from Ljubljana to Athens with the introduction of Schengen and euro areas. “Croatia is first in line," added the Slovenian Foreign Minister. The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Gordan Jandrokovic, paid an official visit to Ljubljana at the invitation of Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel. The two ministers have already met on several occasions: at a working lunch in Munich on 9 February, at the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brdo on 29 March and at numerous other EU events in Brussels and Luxembourg. But the meeting organised at the invitation of Minister Rupel represented the first opportunity for an in-depth analysis of relations between the two countries. At first the ministers held talks in private, but later the delegations of both ministries joined them. More » The Slovenian EU presidency did very well in many areas and even surpassed many expectations, French Ambassador to Slovenia Chantal de Bourmont said in an interview for a Slovenian political weekly. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa thanked the Slovenian Armed Forces in Kranj on Friday for their cooperation during Slovenia's stint at the helm of the EU. The military was responsible for security and logistics of the events related to the EU presidency. More » Slovenia's industrial output increased 1.2% year-on-year in May but it dropped 1.5% over the month before, according to seasonally and working day-adjusted figures released by the Statistics Office on Thursday. More » The government adopted on Thursday several regulations on the management of the port of Koper, Slovenia's sole seaport, granting port operator Luka Koper a license to manage the port for another 35 years. More » The number of mobile phone users in Slovenia rose by 6% in 2007 to a total of 1.98 million, now accounting for 96% of the population in Slovenia, states the National Statistics Office in an electronic communication development survey for 2005-2007 published on Monday. More » Slovenia's population grew by 15,489 (0.8%) to 2,025,866 persons in 2007, continuing recent a growth trend fuelled primarily by immigration. More » The Slovenian National Examinations Board announced on Monday that 92.86% of final-year students had passed the matura, the national high school leaving exams. On average students scored 19.89 out of 34 points. More » A severe storm that hit central and northeastern Slovenia Sunday evening has left a trail of destruction, with hundreds of roofs peeled off houses and crops decimated, causing damage that will reach millions of euros. More » Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Janez Jansa today attended the Summit for the Mediterranean in Paris, at which the prime ministers and presidents of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership upgraded the so-called Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. In so doing, the Member States intended to emphasise that the new Union represents an upgrade of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership established in 1995. The new framework of cooperation will contribute added value to the political, economic and cultural partnership by focusing on priority projects which will be broadly recognised by residents of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership region. More » Slovenia is above the EU average and is still progressing towards the 2010 goals it has set itself regarding its education system under the Lisbon Strategy, an annual European Commission report shows. More » Labour, the Family and Social Affairs Minister Marjeta Cotman received on Tuesday her Czech counterpart Petr Necas. The pair discussed the Slovenian EU presidency and topics related to the free flow of people in the 27-nation bloc. More » Safety on Slovenian roads has improved since the introduction of amendments to the road safety act in April, Transport Minister Radovan Zerjav said on Tuesday. More » Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler has appointed a 13-member temporary secretariat tasked with preparing Slovenia's second largest city for the challenges ahead of its stint as the European Capital of Culture 2012, which is expected to shortly be confirmed by the EU. More » New York will host a retrospective of Slovenian film entitled "At the Crossroads: Slovenian Cinema", which will be the first overview of Slovenian film art in the Big Apple. More than a dozen classic and contemporary films will be presented from 16 to 22 July at Walter Reade Theater. More » Slovenian national basketball team captain Radoslav Nesterovic has donated almost 10,000 books on science and the environment to Slovenian schools, earning him the praise of Education Minister Milan Zver. More » Slovenia's rising swimming star Sara Isakovic issued a warning to her competitors ahead of Beijing by registering the second-best time in the world in the 200 metres freestyle at a meeting in Dubrovnik on Sunday. More » The Slovenian Olympic Committee confirmed on Tuesday a list of 61 Slovenian athletes, 41 men and 20 women, who will travel to Beijing for the Olympic Games. More » Calendar of Events for 15 - 20 July More »

Slovenia News 8 July 2008

Prime Minister Janez Jansa presented on Monday the main achievements of Slovenia's EU presidency to the government council for Slovenians abroad, thanking all Slovenians abroad who had contributed in any way to the organisation of cultural and other events promoting Slovenia during the presidency. Members of Slovenians emigrant communities from Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, France, China, Germany, Serbia and the US congratulated the prime minister for the successful EU presidency. They also thanked Prime Minister Jansa for the government's attention and its activities related to Slovenians living abroad and took the opportunity to exchange information on the activities of the Slovenian communities around the world. The need for Kosovo to become a multiethnic society and embark on the path of EU integration was emphasised Monday as Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel received his Kosovo counterpart Skender Hyseni. More » The Slovenian soldiers taking part in the EUFOR peacekeeping mission to Chad are doing very well, Brigadier Alan Geder told the press in Vrhinka on Tuesday. "Our boys have had excellent training and have the topmost equipment." More » Slovenia is the 27th best country for business, according to the latest issue of the US Forbes magazine, which compares 121 countries by indicators including GDP, trade balance and unemployment. More » The Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) again blamed on Friday high prices of oil and food for the 7% inflation rate in Slovenia. While there are signs that the economy is cooling, IMAD said that Slovenia is maintaining a cycle of strong economic growth. More » Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak has labelled the Slovenian EU presidency a success. The team at the Economy Ministry did a huge amount of work and the results are excellent, Vizjak told the press Friday, highlighting the accord on the decoupling of energy utilities as the key achievement. More » Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways carried 602,037 passengers in the first half of the year, up 26% over the same period last year, the company said in a press release on Thursday. More » The number of children born in Slovenia reached a 15-year high of 19,832 in 2007, up 4.3% over the year before, but the birth rate, at 1.38 children per woman, is still well below replacement level, according to the Statistics Office. More » Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Mojca Kucler Dolinar and her Montenegrin counterpart Sreten Skuletic signed an agreement on cooperation in science and technology in Budva on Wednesday, the Education Ministry said in a press release. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa presented on Monday the main achievements of Slovenia's EU presidency to the government council for Slovenians abroad, thanking all Slovenians abroad who had contributed in any way to the organisation of cultural and other events promoting Slovenia during the presidency. More » The European Union remains committed to taking in new member states despite the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in a lecture in Munich on Thursday. More » Participants of Tuesday's panel on Slovenia's EU presidency, "Impressions of the Presidency", agreed that the presidency was well received in other countries and helped promote Slovenia as a country capable of leading the EU. More » The Slovenian presidency of the EU achieved progress on many important environmental issues, Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Janez Podobnik told the press on Monday, highlighting the climate change and energy package talks, and the debate on biodiversity. More » Anton Kokalj, the chair of the parliamentary EU Affairs Committee, received Tuesday a delegation of the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliamentary committee for European integration. The head of the delegation Halid Genjac took the opportunity to thank Slovenia for its support for Bosnia's EU integration. More » The Slovenian EU presidency was successful and Slovenia set realistic goals which it also managed to meet, according to a report which the government adopted on Thursday. More » The 12 annual Seviqc Brezice classical music concert opened on Friday with a concert of French Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu. The festival, which stages classical concerts to historic venues, will feature a forum of European Early Music Network (REMA), an association of classical music festivals. More » Slovenia is observing on Tuesday a day of mourning for the victims of last Thursday's boating accident on the Sava river. All state institutions will mark the day of mourning by lowering their flags to half mast. More » Between 1,000 and 1,500 ethnic Slovenians living abroad convened in Nova Gorica on Sunday the traditional annual "Meeting in Our Country". The social gathering, organised by the Slovenian Emigrant Association, was welcomed by State Secretary for Slovenians Abroad Zorko Pelikan. More » Calendar of Events for 8 - 13 July More »

Slovenia News 1 July 2008

The general tenor of the 21st EU-Russia Summit has – according to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and current President of the European Council – been very congenial. The Summit, held in Khanty Mansiisk, Siberia, on 26 and 27 June, gave positive expectations of the start of a new phase in the relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation. It was the first such meeting since 2003 to conclude with the adoption of a Joint Statement. “Ten years on from the very first EU-Russia Summit, we have adopted a Joint Statement marking the launch of negotiations for the new agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation. We have thus confirmed the positive expectations of a new start, which have recently characterised our partnership,” commented Prime Minister Janez Jansa at a press conference after the Summit. The Summit is also a special one on account of the fact that it was chaired for the first time, for the Russian side, by the new President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, and, for the EU, by Slovenia, the first of the new Member States since the latest enlargement to hold the EU Council Presidency and also the first Slavic country to take the helm of the EU Council. In this issue we also write about the handover of the EU Presidency from Slovenia to France. Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel symbolically handed over the EU presidency to his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on 30 June, the last day of Slovenia's six-month stint as EU president, at a ceremony in the symbolic square joining Slovenia's Nova Gorica and Italy's Gorizia. Several ceremonies were held on Tuesday as the country gears up to celebrate National Day, which marks the day when Slovenia declared independence. Officials praised the unity that the nation showed back in 1991, but pointed to challenges still ahead. More » Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the margins of the EU-Russia Summit in Khanty Mansiysk on Friday, the talks focusing on how to boost the already booming bilateral trade and cooperation on projects such as the South Stream gas pipeline. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa commented on the latest released inflation figures on Monday, telling a radio show at the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija that the high oil prices were mainly to blame. The government cannot influence those, he said against the backdrop of a record 7% annual inflation figures, unveiled earlier today. More » Addressing the inaugural Asia-Europe (ASEM) Social Partners Forum in Brussels on Monday, Labour Minister Marjeta Cotman said the forum was an important platform for stressing joint goals in labour legislation standards as well as for promoting the fight against child labour. More » The cabinet adopted on Thursday a new set of measures to support promotion, education, research and counseling in the wine sector. The measures allow state aid of up to EUR 40,000 per beneficiary in a period of three years. More » Slovenia is not a leading country in research and development, it however has good potentials, an analysis presented by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) on Friday revealed. More » The general tenor of the 21st EU-Russia Summit in Khanty Mansiisk, Siberia, has – according to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and current President of the European Council – been very congenial, it is also the first such meeting since 2003 to conclude with the adoption of a Joint Statement. “Ten years on from the very first EU-Russia Summit, we have adopted a Joint Statement marking the launch of negotiations for the new agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation. We have thus confirmed the positive expectations of a new start, which have recently characterised our partnership,” commented Prime Minister Janez Janša at a press conference after the Summit. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel symbolically handed over the EU presidency to his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on Monday, the last day of Slovenia's six-month stint as EU president, at a ceremony in the square joining Slovenia's Nova Gorica and Italy's Gorizia. More » Slovenia led the EU with a calm effectiveness and transformed itself from a newcomer into an experienced member of the European family, Slovenian Ambassador to the EU Igor Sencar told the press in an interview at the end of Slovenia's spell as EU president. More » The government adopted on 26 June a declaration on guidelines for Slovenia's work in the EU's institutions and EU Council for the next 18 months, when the EU will be presided by France, Czech Republic and Sweden. More » Former European Affairs state secretary Janez Lenarcic will take over on Monday as director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), a body within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). More » Transport Ministry State Secretary Peter Verlic said at a press conference in Divaca that the route of the railway link between the Italian port of Trieste and the Slovenian transport hub of Divaca had been set. More » A key section of the A2 north-south motorway through Slovenia opened for traffic Tuesday. The 5.5km stretch connects the southbound motorway from Austria to the Ljubljana ring road, taking cars off one of the most congested thoroughfares in the city, the Celovska street. More » Toll stickers are obligatory for all except heavy vehicles on Slovenian motorways as of today. The introduction of yearly and half-yearly vignettes, costing EUR 55 and EUR 35 respectively for car users, comes amid calls from abroad to also introduce weekly and monthly stickers. More » Raising of a flag announced on Friday the beginning of the 16th Lent Festival, the largest music and theatre festival in Slovenia. More » Ljubljana's 49th annual Jazz Festival opened on Monday evening with a concert of Sardinia-based trumpeter Roy Paci at the Cankarjev dom arts centre. The festival, which will keep the city swinging until 4 July, will feature eleven world-acclaimed jazz bands, including two Slovenian. More » Franja, a WWII hospital in a gorge near Cerkno which was heavily damaged in flash flooding in 2007, received on Wednesday its first group of visitors. While still undergoing repair and restoration works planned to be finished only in 2010, the popular tourist attraction will be open for small groups Sundays and holidays. More » Slovenia's top kayaker Peter Kauzer won the slalom World Cup race in Tacen on Sunday. More » Calendar of Events for 1 - 6 July More »

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