Slovenia News 19 February 2008

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel led the meeting between the EU Troika and Russia, which took place in the castle of Brdo on 13 February. The EU was represented by Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy and Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, State Secretary responsible for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry. The Russian delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. At the meeting, Minister Rupel stressed the long-standing successful cooperation between the European Union and the Russian Federation, and pointed out that Slovenia is the first Slavic country to have assumed the presidency of the EU Council. Slovenia plans to mark this fact by organising a special event in Brussels – an exhibition entitled The Slavs of Europe. Presenting the key goals of the Interior Ministry and the police force for 2008, minister Dragutin Mate told the press on Tuesday that the ministry wished to see the death toll on Slovenian roads drop beneath the 2006 level, when traffic accidents claimed 262 lives. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa was upbeat as the government revisited eastern Slovenia on Wednesday, saying the region of Posavje posted an above-average rate of strong Slovenian development over the past two years, which he believes augurs well for the future. More » The government adopted on Thursday a bill on arbitration, which will help decrease the workload of courts, State Secretary at the Justice Ministry Robert Marolt told the press. The bill speeds up and specifies procedures in more detail as well as provides better legal security for parties involved. More » This afternoon, Prime Minister Jansa took part in a consultation of mayors of Slovenian municipalities organised with a view to debating regional legislation. After a thorough and lively debate, the majority of mayors supported the suggestion that the Government should resubmit the proposal for a law on the establishment of regions but, this time, partially amended since, as PM Jansa pointed out, the prevailing opinion is that establishing regions is a project Slovenia needs as soon as possible in order to ensure faster and more uniform development. More » Below is the statement released by the Prime Minister Janez Jansa on 17 February after Kosovo’s declaration of independence. More » Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met on Friday with the Speaker of the Sobranje of the Republic of Macedonia. The main subjects under discussion were the bilateral cooperation between Slovenia and Macedonia and Macedonia’s drawing closer to Euro-Atlantic structures. More » Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic and Trieste Mayor Roberto Dipiazza committed to boosting cooperation between their cities in education and culture, tourism, public services and city planning as they met Monday in Trieste. More » The regional GDP per capita in Western Slovenia in 2005 amounted to 104.7% of the EU average, while GDP in Eastern Slovenia reached only 71.6% of average EU GDP, shows a statistical comparison published by Eurostat on Tuesday. More » The group around Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, posted a pre-tax profit of EUR 184.9m for 2007, up 20% year-on-year. Total assets increased by 27% to EUR 18.3bn, the bank said on Thursday. More » The Cleveland Slovenian Business and Professional Association (CSBPA), an initiative bringing together US entrepreneurs with Slovenian roots, conducted its inaugural reception in Cleveland on Thursday. Established a year ago, the CSBPA already numbers around 200 members. More » Some 27,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the border areas of Slovenia, Italy and Croatia are to be listed on a new web portal by the end of the year as part of a cross-border project involving Slovenia, Italy and Croatia. More » Zavarovalnica Triglav, Slovenia's largest insurer, holds a 15% market share in SE Europe, Triglav chairman Andrej Kocic told the press on Tuesday as he presented the group's unconsolidated business results for 2007. More » A delegation from France, comprising representatives of national, regional and local authorities as well as hunters and sheep breeders from the Pyrenees, is visiting Slovenia this week to try to find the key to successful cohabitation between people and brown bears. More » FM Rupel headed a foreign ministerial level meeting between the EU Troika and Russia, which took place on 13 February at Brdo Castle. Apart from Minister Rupel, the EU was represented by Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy and Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, State Secretary responsible for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry. The Russian delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. More » The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and President of the European Council, Janez Janša, today received the leader of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Mr Martin Schulz. More » The government has declared 27 January Holocaust Remembrance Day in Slovenia. The government is aware of the fact that historical remembrance is a key factor preventing such events from repeating, government spokesman Valentin Hajdinjak told the press on Thursday. More » The idea of "personal adoptive language" as a sort of second mother tongue is a "concept for the future", Education Minister Milan Zver said on the sidelines of the first EU ministerial on multilingualism in Brussels on Friday. He added that this was possibly a "step coming ahead of its time", but a "reality" in the future. More » Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc opened in Brussels on Monday "The Solar Flowers Dancing for Europe - United in Diversity", an installation of 10,000 little solar powered flowers, which aims to highlight the issues of energy and climate change and point to the potential of renewable energy. More » Slovenian Violinist Anja Bukovec is getting ready for her first world tour, which will take her to 14 cities worldwide. Bukovec will play 18 concerts, starting in Sarajevo on 22 March and concluding in the Israeli national opera house in Tel Aviv. More » Calendar of Events for 19 - 24 February More »

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