Overview of the week's top stories
since 5 January 2003

On Thursday, Prime Minister Anton Rop announced that the government will hold non-binding referenda on Slovene entry into NATO and the European Union on 23 March. The move followed more than a week of intense negotiations.

According to existing legislation, the referenda will be merely consultative, though Rop said the coalition will adopt a declaration making the outcome of both binding on the government.

As of Tuesday, it appeared that the date 26 March was the most likely, after the date 9 February was rejected because of a lack of time and opposition from the SDS and NSi.

The SDS sought a Constitutional law to form the referenda’s legal basis, which would make the outcome of the two referenda binding on the government. The Law on Referenda currently in force provides only for non-binding referenda. The party also wanted to see a two-thirds majority required to approve entry into either international organization.

The NSi suggested another version of a draft law for the referenda. It included a deadline of 30 April for holding the two referenda, and the official text of the referenda questions were also to have been be included in the law itself.

The Euro-Atlantic coordination team, made up of representatives of the government and parliamentary factions, had trouble agreeing on the exact date, but they did agree that the referenda must be held before the protocols on the accession of new members to NATO enters into force on 26 March.

All parties currently in parliament, with the exception of the SNS, support Slovene entry into both NATO and the EU in principle.

On Wednesday, parliament’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Science and Sport supported a draft decision on the establishment of Primorska University. It is expected parliament will deliberate on the draft before the end of this month.

A group of Primorska mayors told the Committee that they support the draft decision, and hope that the university will have three official campuses, in Koper, Nova Gorica and Sežana, where the university’s seat is to be.

Knez, however, pointed out that the establishment of the new university must not come at the expense of the two existing universities. The government must provide sufficient resources for the new university without retracting resources from either Ljubljana or Maribor.

The two also discussed other issues at the conference, including the organization of an integral method of financing, labor laws and financing scientific research.

Cross-border cooperation was also a major feature of an interview European Commission president Romano Prodi gave to Radio Koper last Sunday. He said that that Italy’s Gorizia and Slovenia’s Nova Gorica should fuse into a single city upon Slovene entry into the European Union. Prodi suggested the two cities could share a single hospital and other institutions.

The primary issue on the agenda was how the Italian government has implemented the law on the protection of the Slovene minority. Špacapan told a press conference after the meeting that if nothing else, the article which determines the areas were protection is to be insured is implemented everywhere but in Trieste. Špacapan promised increased financial support for the minority from Ljubljana.

Graz, Austria, assumed the title of Europe’s Cultural Capital 2003 last Saturday with gala events throughout the city. Graz, known as Gradec in Slovene, is Austria’s second-largest city after Vienna.

The European Union has given out the distinction each year to a different city or cities since 1986, when Meline Mercouri, then Greece’s minister of culture, conceived the idea. His country’s capital, Athens, was Europe’s first Cultural Capital and continues to serve as a model for cities which have since held the honor.

Last year, Bruges in Belgium and Salamanca in Spain shared the title. Graz was also Europe’s Cultural Capital a decade ago in 1993, while Ljubljana held the honor in 1997.

Although Graz has one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval centers, modern architecture is a major part of the Cultural Capital festivities. Among the most impressive projects is an artificial island made of steel lattice and glass which is now floating in the Mur river in the middle of town. It is home to a café, and amphitheatre and a children’s playground.

The editorial board which produces Delo’s "Vikend Magazin" supplement produced the television schedule portion of "TV Okno," while the regionals prepared three of the 48 pages themselves.

"TV Okno" is the first concrete result of a letter of intent signed last year by the directors of Delo and five regional papers. The letter confirmed a plan whereby Delo will help the regionals pool resources and become dailies. Four of the five papers are now collaborating on "TV Okno." Tednik is new to the project, while Dolenjski list opted out of "TV Okno." All six of the regionals currently appear once to three times per week.

The radio program includes news and features on all aspects of culture: concerts, film, comic strips, theatre, literature, exhibits, festivals, internet sites, media and so on. The program can be heard Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. on Ljubljana’s Radio Študent (89.3 MHz).

Along with Radio Študent, Belgrade's B-92, Zagreb's Radio Student, Zrenjanin's Radio Kojot, Novi Sad's Radio 021, Mostar's Studio 88, Sombor's Radio Sombor, Sarajevo's eFM Sarajevo and Banja Luka’s Radio Balkan all participate in the project.