• Ljubljana’s new youth hostel open for business
• Regular bus service between Ljubljana and Belgrade begins
• Documentary on the first Slavs begins filming near Murska Sobota

The Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Affairs formally submitted its draft law on same-sex unions to parliament on Tuesday. The draft proposes to not only allow same-sex unions to take place, but would also give them the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual marriages. Individuals in same-sex unions, however, would still be unable to adopt children without additional legislation.

Parliament should begin debate on the draft law in the fall, and it is expected to be passed before the end of the year.

The draft was prepared with the cooperation of four gay-rights groups: ŠKUC-LL, ŠKUC-Magnus, ŠKUC-Roza Klub and Legebitra. RTVS reported this week that gay rights leaders are pleased with the result. According to Tatjana Greif of ŠKUC-LL, a recent survey showed that 77 percent of same-sex couples in the country would take advantage of a legal union if given the chance.

Same-sex unions are fully legal in a number of countries, including Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands. Several other countries, such as the Scandinavian countries, France, Germany, Portugal and Hungary have arrangements similar to the Ministry’s proposal. Draft laws are currently being reviewed in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.

Among the topics covered in the seminar were economic development strategies vis-à-vis the EU, preparation of a national program for the adoption of the Acquis, harmonization of national legislation with that of the EU, human resource management and management of external aid programs.

Earlier this year, the government adopted a plan concerning technical assistance on European affairs to the states of Southeastern and Eastern Europe. This seminar is a key part of that plan, together with similar seminars organized by SVEZ in April in Skopje, in May in Zagreb and Belgrade, and last week in Podgorica.

Though several options for bringing back Radio Dva were discussed, all agreed that it is up to the Austrian government to find a lasting solution. Austrian state broadcaster ORF had promised that it would create a new Slovene-language station back in March, but progress on the project has been slow. The latest version of the project sees a launch in January 2004, but the station would only provide eight hours of Slovene-language programming daily, according to Delo.

After the meeting, a spokesman for the Office of Slovenes Abroad told STA that the Foreign Ministry can fund the radio station through the end of 2003, with funds earmarked for the organizations of Slovenes outside of Slovenia. However, the Ministry expects Austria to keep the station going.

Radio Dva, the only 24-hour Slovene-language radio station in Austria’s Carinthia (Koroška) region, went of the air last Friday, following a nearly six-month struggle to survive. Until January, it was sponsored by the Austrian government via ORF and provided 24-hour Slovene-language radio for the country’s ethnic Slovene minority. Station employees then worked without salaries to keep the station going, while the government of Slovenia funded the stations’ other costs.

The organizers of the conference included the Dr. Šiftar Foundation, ZRC SAZU, Maribor University’s Pedagogical Faculty, the Regional Study Library of Murska Sobota, the Union of Slovenes of Hungary and the cultural society Seventh Article for Austrian Styria. Sponsors include the city of Murska Sobota and the Ministries of Culture and Education. A collection of the conference papers is expected to be published by next May.

• Ljubljana’s new youth hostel Celica is up and running. The hostel officially opened at the end of May, but could not accommodate guests until the very end of June when it finally obtained an operating permit. According to STA, the hostel is operating at maximum capacity at present. Most of the guests so far have been day-trippers from across Europe, the US, Australia, Japan and Canada. A website is in preparation for the hostel, but is not completed as of yet. The cost for a bed runs between Euro 10 and 28.

• This week, regular bus service between Ljubljana and Belgrade began. The bus leaves Ljubljana daily at 10:00 and arrives in Belgrade at 17:47, with stops in Šid, Sremska Mitrovica and Ruma. Not only is the bus faster than the train – just under eight hours, instead of thirteen – but cheaper as well. A one-way ticket costs SIT 8200 and a round-trip 11,500, while the train costs 9040 and 14,438, respectively. The service is run by Sap Turbus.

• Filming for a documentary on the first Slavs in the Slovene lands began on 16 July near Murska Sobota. The working title of the film is Slovani (The Slavs). The film will depict life in a Slavic settlement around the year 600 A.D. Live-action segments will be meshed with other video and photographic materials. A full-scale early Slavic village has been constructed near the village of Broda pri vasi Krog for the project. Miha Knific is directing the film, which is being produced by Strup production and partially funded by the University of Ljubljana.