• Beltinca elects Roma representative
• Ministry of Culture halts Lesbo funding
• Slovenes join Bosnian Academy of Science and Art
  

Kučan to testify against Milošević

However, Kučan hopes to be ready for Milošević’s attack. Already on 6 May, Kučan requested supplementary information from the Defense Ministry concerning the events of the ten-day war between Slovenia and the Yugoslav People’s Army. He is particularly concerned about possible events during the war which Milošević could cite as war crimes committed by Slovene forces.

Prime Minister Anton Rop bears a degree of responsibility for the recent controversy surrounding Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and the Legal Faculty and Diplomatic Academy (PFDA), according to a report in the 10 May issue of Sobotna priloga. Rop, however, has made no public statement on the controversy.

Matija Grah wrote that "Each day he remains silent, the Foreign Minister’s political responsibility becomes also the Prime Minister’s political responsibility and no less the responsibility of the party which he leads and to which the Foreign Minister also belongs."

In mid-April, the foreign ministry abandoned an agreement with the University of Ljubljana, and signed another which moves the ministry’s diplomatic academy to the PFDA. However, the PFDA does not formally exist, since the Council on Higher Education has yet to approve its program. More significantly, Rupel himself has allegedly signed on to teach full time at the PFDA, which according to Mladina borders on corruption, since Rupel committed ministry funds to an institution where he also intends to be employed.

Speaking to Delo, Office for the Prevention of Corruption head Boštjan Penko agreed. He said that the third article of the agreement between the ministry and the PFDA, which states that the ministry will provide resources for the diplomatic program, "shows abuse of public function for personal gain," given that Rupel is supposed to teach at the school.

Penko’s office quickly alerted the State Prosecutor’s office, submitting a report based on media accounts and other supporting documents. The prosecutor’s office is currently verifying the media accounts to determine whether legal action should be taken.

Rupel believes the controversy is a personal attack intended to discredit him personally and politically. However, if the media accounts are correct, Rupel may have broken article 261 of the criminal code, which forbids using one’s official position or associated privileges for personal gain. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of up to one year.

Last Friday, Delo quoted Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel criticizing France and its politics during his recent visit to Washington. According to Delo, Rupel said "I think that Germany will not be a problem, but France, it seems to me, has certain ambitions" He continued,

On Thursday, Delo responded to allegations by the Foreign Ministry that the quote was falsified. According to the daily, the quote was recorded and is in their archives. The same quote was recorded by RTV Slovenija and STA, which could also vouch for its accuracy.

The hostel has 96 beds, and includes tourist and conference services and a cafeteria. It will also have a gallery space, a library, a café, and a bar with internet access and an outdoor garden.

The hostel will be run by the non-profit institute Šouhostel, which has been established by the Student Organization of the University of Ljubljana (ŠOU). ŠOU contributed about forty percent of the funding for the project, while the City of Ljubljana contributed the remaining sixty percent.

Two more hostels are slated to open on 1 June in Ljubljana: Youth Hostel Ljubljana and Youth Hostel Ljubljana Šiška. The first will be open year-round, while Youth hostel Ljubljana Šiška will be open from June to August.

The plot follows two young people who set off to the sea in a truck from Belgrade as Yugoslavia begins to collapse in 1991. The war is a major factor in the film, but it is nevertheless a comedy.

Slovenia’s e-Motion Films and Serbia’s Komuna Films, as well as by the German production house Thoke - Moebius Filmproduktion are producing the film. Plans were announced at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. This marks the first time Slovenia and Serbia have collaborated on a film since Slovene independence in 1991.

• This week, the Ministry of Culture halted its funding for Lesbo, the country’s only gay- and lesbian-oriented magazine. The Ministry explains that since Lesbo is properly a "bulletin" and not a "magazine," it is ineligible for funding. However, just last year, Lesbo was officially registered as a magazine. Publishers are appealing the decision.