Slovenia News 20 February 2007

Slovenian president Janez Drnovsek addressed a letter to his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano over the recent spat between Italy and Croatia. The exchange was prompted by Napolitano's recent speech in which he attributed the post-WWII killings of Italians and the disposal of the bodies in Karst pits - the foibe - as "Slavic bloodthirstiness". Member of European Parliament Mojca Drcar Murko (ALDE/LDS) also joined the line of critics, writing in Wednesday's press release that an anti-Slovenian and anti-Croatian political and media campaign is being carried out in Italy. Misrepresenting the facts regarding the Second World War has so far been a semi-official doctrine of the Italian right, but Napolitano's speech on Sunday turned it into an official position, Murko wrote. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and the presiding member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina council of ministers Nikola Spiric agreed on Monday that the two countries should continue pursuing a solution to the issue of unpaid foreign currency deposits held by Bosnian savers in a defunct Slovenian bank. More » Criticism of Slovenia in the latest report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is in no way "negative or unpleasant for Slovenia. It is realistic and could serve as a good guideline for those dealing with the issue", FM Dimitrij Rupel said in Brussels on Tuesday. More » Slovenia president Janez Drnovsek addresses a letter to his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano over the recent spat between Italy and Croatia. The exchange was prompted by Napolitano's recent speech in which he attributed the post-WWII killings of Italians and the disposal of the bodies in Karst pits - the foibe - as "Slavic bloodthirstiness". More » Slovenia's ambassador to the United States will run in a bid to raise money for the Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining (ITF). The US State Department has already promised to match the funds Samuel Zbogar will raise with its own donation. More » Austrian media company Styria Media International AG said on Tuesday it had signed up Goran Novkovic, deputy editor-in-chief of the business daily Finance, who will be put in charge of a new tabloid daily in Slovenia. More » Responding to reignited debates about post-war history, which has pitted Italy against Croatia, the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAZU) called on Italian authorities to thoroughly study the history of bilateral relations and heed the 2001 report of the Slovenian-Italian historical and cultural commission. More » The cabinet adopted on Thursday a decree that prohibits ministers and state secretaries from serving in management and supervisory boards of companies or institutions in direct or indirect majority state ownership, Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant told the press. More » The cabinet endorsed on Friday key documents that allow Slovenia to draw EUR 4.2bn from EU cohesion funds in the 2007-2013 period. It also authorised the Government Office for Local Government and Regional Policy to finalise talks with the European Commission on the issue, government PR and Media Office said. More » Deputy Parliament Speaker Marko Pavliha on Tuesday called on the government to appoint a special group that would prepare a draft resolution on Slovenia's policy regarding the settlement of the border issue with Croatia. A similar proposal was made by Borut Suklje, Slovenia's former ambassador to Belgrade. More » Interior Minister Dragutin Mate told a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday that the EU cannot implement a system of circular migration for foreign workers before all the internal labour restrictions in the bloc are lifted. More » Airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana, exhaust system maker Akrapovic and Litostroj E.I., a maker of water turbines, won on Tuesday the Rating of the Year award by the rating agency Dun & Bradstreet and its Slovenian partner I. More » The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) on Wednesday unveiled a white paper on competitiveness, which calls for greater value added, a more flexible labour market, better phasing of EU funds and more dispersed exports as ways of boosting the country's competitive ability. More » Mariborska livarna Maribor (MLM) foundry and the civil engineering company Riko unveiled on Wednesday a long-term strategic partnership under which Riko will acquire a 10% stake in the foundry. More » Power producer Dravske elektrarne posted EUR 19.55m in operating profit in 2006, slightly down on EUR 20.9m in 2005, according to unconsolidated data presented to the press on Thursday by director Damijan Koletnik. More » The state-run funds KAD and SOD on Friday published an invitation for bids for their shares in ten companies, among them Iskra Avtoelektrika, a maker of electronic components for the car industry, Domel, a maker of electromotors and household apliances, and shipping company Splosna Plovba. More » Conglomerate Istrabenz on Friday announced a bid to acquire the 40% of food company Droga Kolinska that it does not own already. The offer stands at EUR 16 per share - well below the EUR 17.53 that Droga Kolinska fetched on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange yesterday - and values the outstanding share at EUR 91m. More » Slovenia's gross domestic product per capita reached 83.3% of the average for the 268 NUTS-2 regions in all 27 members of the EU in 2004, according to the data released by the Eurostat on Monday. More » The average gross earnings in Slovenia last year stood at EUR 1,212.8, which is 2.2% more than a year once adjusted to inflation. More » While only 30.7% of older people were employed in Slovenia in 2005, the share stood at a mere 18.7% for women, says a document on employment published by the European Commission on Monday. More » The LJUCosinusBRX art gallery opened its doors in Brussels on Wednesday. Located in front of the office of European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik, the gallery will showcase Slovenian projects that encompass art and science, Jurij Krpan of the Galerija Kapelica gallery told the press in Ljubljana. More » The Slovenian, British and Spanish environment ministries have urged decisive action to deal with climate change. The call was made ahead of Tuesday's session of the EU Environment Council and two years after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect. More » Two years to the day since the Kyoto Protocol came into effect, Environment Minister Janez Podobnik is confident that Slovenia has met all its commitments under the treaty. What is more, Slovenia, along with other EU members, is looking beyond 2012, when the current protocol runs out, Podobnik said Friday. More » The lone Slovenian sugar plant is entitled to funds from the EU restructuring fund when it stops producing sugar under the 2005 EU sugar reform, the Agriculture Ministry told STA on Wednesday. More » Slovenia is expected to send to the European Commission on Thursday key documents for securing billions in EU funds, Minister for Local Government and Regional Policy Ivan Zagar said in Brussels on Wednesday. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Tuesday defended the decision to lift restrictions on the deployment of a 600-strong battalion to the NATO-led mission in Kosovo, where Slovenian troops will have fewer "national caveats" and may be asked to use force in case of civil unrest. More » The Slovenian and Portuguese defence ministers called for an enhancement of ties between the EU and NATO on Friday as they identified the defence priorities of theirs countries' successive presidencies over the Union. More » A special task force tackling the issue of Slovenian road connections near the border with Croatia concluded at Thursday's meeting that the construction of alternative routes that would save Slovenians the need to pass through Croatia to reach their destination in Slovenia is a priority. More » The Cankarjev dom arts and congress centre will host a festival of Turkish art between 24 February and 24 June, bringing a blend of traditional and modern Turkey in the arts ranging from literature and cinema to music and dance. More » A private military museum, located in an old fort in Lokev in SW Slovenia, boasts just under 160,000 items, mainly linked to military history and Slovenia. Among its most treasured items are military uniforms, some of which are unique in the world. More » Jozek Horvat Muc, the head of the Slovenian Roma Association, believes that the biggest problems for the Roma in Slovenia are housing and infrastructure. It cannot make Slovenia proud that some Roma settlements are still without electricity or water, he told Friday a visiting delegation of the International Romani Union (IRU). More » Thousands of masks and tens of thousands of spectators converged on Ptuj, Cerknica and Cerkno, three Slovenian cities that have the longest history of carnivals in the country. While there was not much work to do in chasing away the mild winter, the revelers nevertheless made sure that it got banished for this year. More » The Forestry Service said Wednesday that Slovenia was home to between 500 and 700 brown bears, while their numbers increase by between 100 and 150 bears a year. The bear population is stable, the service wrote in a press release. The World Wildlife Fund challenged the estimate. More » A group fighting for the preservation of the Lipica stud farm in its present form will try to get this home to the famed Lipizzaner horse listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. This would prevent the planned expansion of a golf course in the area, the head of the International Association for Lipica told the press on Thursday. More » "Taste Slovenia" was the slogan used by Slovenian tourist officials as they officially opened a new tourist office in Brussels on Tuesday. More » Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said on Thursday that Slovenia would place a helicopter at the disposal of Frontex - the EU external border control agency. More » EU interior ministers on Thursday agreed landmark plans to give member states access to each other's police databases in a bid to combat terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal immigration. Slovenia fully supports the solution, Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said after the session. More »

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