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

• Adriatic EEZ: Croatia waiting for talks, Italy promises support
• Rupel promises EU help to Serbia
• Prague Summit to criticize EU draft constitution
• Maribor University gets medical, police faculties
• Slovenes trust daily newspapers most
• Boris Pahor turns 90

Concern over Croatia’s plan to establish an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic, which would cut Slovenia off from international waters, continued to be the top story this week. On 25 August, Radio Croatia reported that the Croatian Foreign Ministry has decided not to respond to the Slovene government’s latest memo on the issue, preferring direct talks.

Talks are expected to be held on 16 September in Ljubljana. Aside from governmental negotiating teams, legal and environmental experts as well as representatives of Slovene and Croatian fishermen are also expected to take part.

The Italian government, which is cooperating with Croatia on the EEZ plan, also gave several assurances this week that it does not intend to leave Slovenia out in the cold.

On 26 August, STA reported that charge d’affaires at the Italian embassy in Ljubljana Adriana Apollono spoke to the Slovene foreign ministry. She said that her country supports Slovene cooperation in the protection of the Adriatic, and stressed that Italy intends to respect Slovenia’s interests. She added that all decisions will take place in the context of the European Union.

Croatia announced the EEZ plan on 1 August. The plan would split the Adriatic down the middle between Croatia and Italy, cutting Slovenia off from international waters. Slovene officials are warning that the European Union will not look favorably on the EEZ, though no official word has come from Brussels as of yet. Another problem Slovene officials point out is that there is no defined sea border between Slovenia and Croatia.

Should the EEZ plan go forward, Slovenia would find itself nearly 500 kilometers from international waters. Slovene vessels would still have navigation rights, and aircraft would still have overflight rights, but fishermen could face quotas, licensing fees and other restrictions.

The Slovene government is continuing in its efforts to encourage the other former Yugoslav republics on their paths to membership in the European Union. On an official visit to Belgrade on Thursday, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel reiterated Slovenia’s commitment to assisting Serbia and Montenegro (SCG).

According to Serbia’s B-92, Rupel said, "Of course we will forget the bad things from our past, but there were also some good things and we must use these in the future."

Earlier this year, the government adopted a plan concerning technical assistance on European affairs to the states of Southeastern and Eastern Europe. Aside from official assurances of support, seminars have been held in Skopje, Zagreb, Belgrade, Podgorica and Sarajevo on Slovenia’s experience in joining the EU as part of the plan.

On Monday, representatives of smaller EU member- and acceding countries will meet in Prague to try to agree on a unified position on the Union’s draft constitution. The draft constitution is to be signed later this year in Rome. Representatives of 17 countries, including Slovenia, are expected to attend the Prague meeting.

The smaller countries primarily take issue with efforts in the draft constitution made to streamline the executive branch of the EU leadership. Key points include a reduction of Commissioners to 15 and the partial abolition of countries’ veto rights.

Aside from representatives of Slovenia and the Czech Republic, representatives from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden are expected to attend.

Poland, which will be among the larger EU members, has been invited due to its membership in the Višegrad group, and the Benelux countries are still undecided on sending representatives, since they have little problem with the draft constitution.

This week, the government approved the establishment of a medical faculty and a police security studies faculty at the University of Maribor.

The decision to approve the medical faculty was based on Ministry of Education, Science and Sport opinions that the country needs more doctors, according to an STA report. The ministry stated that by 2020 Slovenia will need 25 percent more doctors than it currently has. The faculty is expected to begin taking on students in the 2004-2005 academic year.

According to research results released this week by Gral-Iteo, nearly 88 percent of Slovenes trusted the reporting of the countries’ daily newspapers most of all on the recent war in Iraq. The research was conducted in Slovenia for the German firm GfK, which is conducting a general research project covering 13 European countries.

Slovenia was joined by Croatia and the UK in trusting the British Sky News over the American CNN. Slovenia, however, was the only country included in the research which put Sky News over the BBC.

On 26 August, leading Triestino Slovene cultural figure Boris Pahor celebrated his 90th anniversary. He is perhaps the key figure among the Trieste (Trst) Slovene community.

Pahor is best known for his literary works, primarily prose and essays. He has published nearly thirty works, many of which have found praise outside of Italy and Slovenia. His work has been translated into numerous languages, including English, French, German and Italian.

Next week, Pahor will be a guest of honor at the 18^th annual Vilenica literary gathering in Lipica. He will discuss the fate of Slovene writers outside of Slovenia in the run-up to EU expansion, focusing on the role of Trieste, equality of smaller language groups and the maintenance of historical memory.

• The Ministry of Information Society reported this week that it will open the first internet café in Celje on 2 September. Also participating in the effort are the Town of Celje and DZU Filter. The internet café will be located at Stanetova 17a.

• Slovenes in Indianapolis, United States, celebrated their ethnic heritage this week at the third-annual Indy Slovene Fest. Thousands of Slovenes settled in Indiana from 1885 to 1940, and primarily worked in metal foundries. There are nearly 25,000 people in the Indianapolis area who claim Slovene heritage.