Overview of the week's top stories
since 22 February 2003

On 27 February, the National Assembly passed a constitutional law to amend the so-called European articles of the constitution. The changes were required to allow the country to join the European Union and NATO. This new law also forms the legislative basis for the upcoming referenda on entry into both organizations.

The law passed with a vote of 71 to 8. Both the SNS and SMS were opposed. Included in the law are amendments and supplements to four articles of the constitution, namely articles 3, 8, 47 and 68.

The law adds a new article 3A after article 3 of the constitution in order to allow the country to transfer a portion of its sovereignty to international organizations and alliances. However, no mechanism to allow the country to leave an international organization or alliance has been included. Theoretically, though, an exit strategy could be formulated on the basis of international law.

Amendments to article 8 define the relationship between Slovene legislation and that of supranational organizations, e.g., the European Parliament. Changes made here also affect the relationship between the National Assembly and the government.

Article 47 forbids the extradition of a Slovene citizen to another country. As amended, the article will now permit extradition in accordance with international agreements. This should serve to extend extradition rights to not only European Union countries, but also to the International Criminal Court.

Article 68 is also amended, to abolish the principle of reciprocity, whereby EU citizens have been treated in Slovenia the same way Slovenes are treated in individual EU countries. With this new amendment, EU citizens will all have the right to own property in Slovenia regardless of whether Slovenes can own land in the various EU countries. This article was also amended in 1997.

The constitutional law also forms the legal basis for the 23 March referenda on Slovene entry into the EU and NATO. According to the law, the referenda can only be held once before ratifying an accession treaty, and the referenda’s results are binding on parliament.

The amendments were prepared by the Constitutional Commission, which has worked on the draft law since 2001. This marks only the third time the Slovene constitution has been altered since it entered into force in December 1991. In 1997, article 68 was amended to allow foreigners to own property; and in 2000, article 80 was amended to reflect changes to electoral procedure.

On 24 February, SMS member of parliament Igor Štemberger asked Prime Minister Anton Rop to comment on the Vilnius Declaration and called for Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel’s dismissal. Rop responded that the Vilnius Declaration is in accordance with the government’s stand on the Iraq crisis, and that there is no need to replace Rupel.

Štemberger, however, was not satisfied with Rop’s answer, and called on other members of parliament to sign his party’s petition to begin interpellation hearings against Rupel. The four SMS and four SNS members of parliament signed the petition, but no others would offer their support. The interpellation attempt therefore failed for lack of two signatures, since the constitution states that no less than ten MPs must support any attempt at interpellation.

On 5 February, Rupel aligned Slovenia with the Vilnius Group of ten Central and Eastern European states, which issued a declaration supporting US policies towards Iraq. Rupel insists that he made the move in consultation with the president and prime minister, and that the declaration is in line with the government’s official position on the Iraq crisis.

In a closed session on Wednesday, the National Assembly reviewed the first report of the parliamentary commission investigating the work of the police and the possibility of involvement by public officials in the affair. The commission began its work in February 2002.

The current report is marked "strictly classified," and so its contents have not been made public.

The National Assembly reviewed the report and ultimately approved it, but not without controversy. The session ran late into the evening, as MPs could not come to an agreement on one of the conclusions. The MPs from the NSi, SDS and SLS all walked out in protest.

The report is based on a collection of evidence and transcripts of witnesses’ testimony, and ends with three conclusions. Among them are claims that the state prosecutor’s office and the police were insufficiently cooperative with the commission.

In any case, STA has reported that both Zamernik and Speaker of Parliament Borut Pahor believe that the commission will be able to continue in the future and successfully conclude its work. The commission would still like to hear testimony from representatives of the offices of the Slovenj Gradec prosecutor and the General Prosecutor, as well as further testimony from the police force.

A final report is expected sometime next year, assuming the commission can resume its work quickly.

The latest Politbarometer, the monthly survey conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research of the University of Ljubljana, was released on Monday. The results show that support for the government is falling. The January results showed a marked drop in support for the new government, led by Prime Minister Anton Rop, and so a trend may be forming.

The percentage of those who do not support the government rose five percent since January, to 36, while the percentage of the government’s supporters fell by one, to 47. Compared with December, however, the percentage of those who support the government has fallen by 16 percent.

Prime Minister Anton Rop received an average rating of 3.18 out of five this month, up from 3.13 last month. However, Janez Drnovšek received 3.62 while prime minister in December.

Nearly 86 percent of respondents intend to vote in the upcoming referenda on Slovene entry into NATO and the EU. Both referenda should pass, based on the Politbarometer results: NATO 53:47, and EU 83:17.

On 26 February, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel held a press conference where he blamed the media for such low support for entry into NATO. According to him, the poll results are not accurate, and in fact a majority of Slovenes favor joining NATO. He cited not only the Politbarometer, but also a similar poll conducted by Gral Iteo which found that support for NATO was just 44 percent.

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday to extradite Kosovo Albanian war-crimes suspect Fatimir Limai to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in the Hague. Limai was arrested in Kranjska Gora on 18 February.

Justice Minister Ivan Bizjak signed the ruling on Thursday. The exact date of Limai’s transfer to the Hague has not yet been determined, but the Supreme Court’s ruling sets a deadline of 15 days.

The extradition request arrived late last week. Limai, a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), currently serves as a member of parliament in Kosovo. He is one of the first four ethnic Albanians to be indicted by the tribunal. All four are accused of illegally detaining, torturing and murdering 22 Serb and Albanian civilians at a KLA prison camp from May to July 1998.

Limai is denying all charges, and requested to be extradited as soon as possible, in order to defend himself before the Tribunal.

Leaders in Grosuplje, another town which refused, petitioned the Constitutional Court to overturn the ruling, arguing that political representation for Roma should be carried out on the national level (i.e., in parliament) as is done for the Italian and Hungarian communities, rather than on the local level. However, the Court upheld its earlier ruling in late November, after the local elections had passed.

On Thursday, Slovenia received its first Jewish Rabbi since the end of World War Two, Ariel Haddad of Trieste (Trst). At the same time, Ljubljana’s first synagogue in more than fifty years was consecrated.

The only other synagogues in the country are located in Maribor and Lendava, however they do not host religious services and primarily serve as cultural centers.

Slovenia’s Muslims, however, are not as lucky. Their community has faced resistance to its request to build a mosque and community center in Ljubljana by residents and the city council for the past ten years. Influential figures such as the Ombudsman for Human Rights and the mayor of Sarajevo have drawn attention to the issue, but no progress has been made.

In January, Ljubljana Archbishop France Rode brought the issue to the forefront once again when he said that a mosque is a political center, while a church is a religious one.

According to the 1991 census, nearly 300 Jews live in Slovenia. That census showed about 30,000 Muslims, though more recent unofficial statistics point to anywhere between seventy and one hundred thousand.

Upon independence from Yugoslavia, the Slovene government undertook what some have called a "soft genocide" by revoking the residency status of nearly 30,000 people who were living in Slovenia at the time but who did not have, or otherwise qualify for, citizenship in the newly independent Slovenia.

Wednesday, 26 February, marks the eleventh anniversary of the so-called izbris (erasure). The Society of the Erased, which is working for a resolution of the issue, organized a week of events to mark the anniversary, beginning with a screening of a documentary produced by the BBC about the situation.

Other events included one round table called "Erasure, Legal Error or Ideology?" and another "The People Without." The Society also held a lecture for foreign ambassadors. The highlight was Wednesday’s protest march, which passed by both the parliament building and the office of the president. The week ended on Friday with a reception at Gromka club at Metelkova.

According to unofficial estimates, there are between 3000 and 4000 people in Slovenia who were erased from the registries and have not yet been able to regulate their status.

• On 25 February, the National Assembly ratified the treaty with Croatia resolving the status of the Krško nuclear power plant (NEK). While the LDS, ZLSD and DeSUS parties all supported ratification, the SDS, NSi, SMS and SNS opposed it. The SLS advised its MPs to vote according to their consciences. The treaty converts NEK into a "society with limited responsibility" (D.O.O.), and it will be run jointly by both countries.

• The National Assembly passed the Freedom of Information bill this week. The new law mandates a Commissioner, appointed to a five-year term by the National Assembly at the suggestion of the president. The Commissioner, who is as-yet unnamed but should begin work in September, will manage the public’s access to non-sensitive government information.

• The 43rd annual kurentovanje carnival celebrations began this week in Ptuj. More than 2500 performers are participating in the 11 days of events, including folk groups from across Slovenia, as well as from Austria, Croatia and Sardinia. The term kurentovanje comes from the pagan demigod Kurent, who in earlier times was believed to chase away winter and usher in spring. Kurentovanje runs through 4 March.

• On 26 February, the dance festival Gibanica began at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana. Twenty performances were selected from the nearly 40 submissions. The Dance Theatre and the City Theatre are also hosting performances. The festival was organized by the Exodus Institute, Cankarjev Dom and the Society for Modern Dance of Slovenia. Gibanica runs through 2 March.