Slovenia News 19 June 2007

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel concluded on Friday, 15 June, with a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a three-day visit to the US, devoted to Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008 as well as international issues, foremost Kosovo. PM Janez Jansa established on Wednesday, 13 June, as part of a cabinet trip to Dolenjsko and Bela krajina that Slovenia's southeastern region had developed since the government's last visit there in January 2006, quoting statistical data which show an increase in employment and the number of newly-founded companies. The annual US State Department report on trafficking in persons places Slovenia in the first tier of countries, which fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. More » EU justice ministers, including Slovenia's Lovro Sturm, agreed in Brussels on Wednesday on procedures to prepare and exchange criminal records in what the minister termed an important step forward. Opposition by six countries meanwhile prevented an agreement on common minimum rights of suspects. More » Officials in charge of succession to the former Yugoslavia on Monday adopted rules of procedure which Slovenia's representative said would allow them to work more effectively and to proceed to substantive issues. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel concluded on Friday, 15 June, with a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a three-day visit to the US, devoted to Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008 as well as international issues, foremost Kosovo. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel will pay an official visit to Luxembourg on Tuesday to learn about its experience in presiding over the EU. While Slovenia will serve as EU president for the first time at the beginning of 2008, Luxembourg has held the rotating presidency 11 times, the last time in 2005. More » US Ambassador to Slovenia Thomas B. Robertson said on Tuesday that Slovenia was able to successfully preside over the EU. However, the main question, according to him, was whether Slovenia would be remembered for its stint as EU president. More » The cabinet adopted on Thursday the changes to the organisation and financing of education act and the elementary school act, Education and Sport Minister Milan Zver told the press. More » PM Janez Jansa established as part of a cabinet trip to Dolenjsko and Bela krajina that Slovenia's southeastern region had developed since the government's last visit there in January 2006, quoting statistical data which show an increase in employment and the number of newly-founded companies. More » Switzerland has filed an official request to join the Schengen passport-free zone as part of the "SIS I for All" project, Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said on Tuesday. This means that as EU president in the first half of 2008, Slovenia will oversee the evaluation of Switzerland's readiness to enter the Schengen zone. More » Slovenian companies have invested EUR 900m in Serbia so far, Slovenian Ambassador to Serbia Miroslav Luci said in Belgrade on Thursday. Slovenian companies want to continue investing in Serbia but also expect Serbian companies to invest in Slovenia, he said at a meeting of small- and medium-sized companies from the two countries. More » Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk said on Friday that Slovenia's economic growth was based on healthy foundations and was not a consequence of artificially created demand. According to him, the record 7.2% Q1 growth can be attributed to increased exports and foreign investment. More » Europe must increase investment into research and development (R&D) as well as facilitate creativity if it wants to remain competitive in the global world, EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Slovenian Development Minister Ziga Turk agreed in Kranjska gora on Thursday. More » The European Commission approved in Brussels on Tuesday the Slovenian National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), which defines the country's priorities in the area of regional development in the 2007-2013 period that will see Slovenia receiving EUR 4.1bn from the bloc's cohesion funds. More » Slovenia is pondering the option of joining Active Endeavour, a NATO operation monitoring shipping in the Mediterranean to prevent smuggling and terrorist activity. Defence Minister Karl Erjavec said Slovenia would make this announcement at the NATO session in Brussels on Thursday. More » Transport Minister Janez Bozic took part on Friday in a Eurasian conference on road transport, which focused on cutting costs and increasing the effectiveness and profitability of Eurasian transport corridors. Bozic said that the conference in Warsaw closed with a joint statement, which saw the participants committing themselves to observing WTO rules on free transit, to cut red tape and rationalise costs and taxes. More » This year's Sovre Prize for translation was presented on Tuesday to Andrej E. Skubic for translations of works by American writer Gertrude Stein and Scottish novelist James Kelman, and Vasja Bratina for his translation of two novels by Italian author Umberto Eco. More » Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti said on Tuesday that the Culture Ministry would not push its agenda during Slovenia's approaching spell as EU president, but would rather focus on carrying out the plans outlined by the EU. Its priority task will be intercultural dialogue, the minister told the press in Ljubljana. More » Franciscan Edvard Kovac received in Toulouse on Wednesday a French National Order of Merit (Ordre du Merite) for his contribution to intellectual and cultural ties and exchange between Slovenia and France, especially in philosophy, theology and sociology, and for promotion of Francophonie. More » Slovenia's second largest city will this year again play host to the Lent festival, the largest music and theatre festival in Slovenia. This year, the 15th edition of Lent is to feature 400 musical, theatrical and literary events in 22 venues throughout Maribor. More » Precisely 100 years have passed since the birth of acclaimed Slovenian painter and graphic artist Lojze Spacal. One of the most visible Slovenian post-war artist was honoured with an exhibition showcasing of prints in his hometown of Stanjel in the western region of Kras on Friday. To mark the centenary of the artist's birth, a book of memoirs by the artist's son Borut Spacal was presented together with a special edition of a postage stamp and a host of other events all across the region. More » The centennial of birth of the first internationally acclaimed Slovenian film star, Ita Rina, is to be marked in the western town of Divaca, where she was born as Ida Kravanja. More » A natural reservation was opened on Thursday in the Ljubljansko Barje wetlands, encompassing 65 hectares between the villages of Ig and Podpecje on the outskirts of Ljubljana, the Birdlife Slovenia (DOPPS) association said in press release. More » The renowned Lipica Stud Farm handed over to the Lipizzan International Federation (LIF) a newly developed global register of Lipizzaner horses at the federation's general assembly in Serbia this weekend, Kobilarna Lipica, which runs the stud farm, said on Monday. More » The number of overnight stays and of visitors to Slovenia exceeded all expectations in the first quarter of 2007, Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) chairman Dimitrij Piciga told the press in Portoroz on Friday on the first day of the Slovenian Incoming Workshop 2007. More » Schedule of Events for 19-24 June More »

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