The site appeared on 17 April and has allegedly published secret files on more than one million people who either cooperated with or were monitored by the former Yugoslav secret service, UDBA. The veracity of the data on the website remains unconfirmed.

Data provided for each person on the list includes their date of birth, the names of their parents, their employment history, citizenship, criminal record and other information. According to article 154 of the criminal code – as well as the constitution – the publication of this sort of personal information is illegal.

A criminal investigation is currently underway, looking into the charges of revealing state secrets and abuse of personal data.

According to STA, Bogataj believes that the publication of the UDBA list is the largest violation of regulations governing the use of personal data to date, insofar as it affects nearly one million people.

Also on 28 April, President Janez Drnovšek announced that personal information about him had been included on the site after the majority of the information had appeared. In a letter to Prime Minister Anton Rop, Drnovšek estimated that his information had been added sometime between 16 and 19 April. He also demanded an explanation as to why his information was on the list at all. Drnovšek has denied that he worked with the former Yugoslav secret service.

According to Mladina, the website was registered on 9 March in New York, and operates out of Bangkok. Dušan Lajovic, Slovenia’s honorary Consul for Australia and New Zealand, has taken responsibility for providing the information. He has said that he has had the files since 1991, but waited to release them until after the referenda on EU and Nato entry.

Sever also points out that the list may complicate next year’s parliamentary elections, as most leading politicians have found themselves to be on the list.

The Office for the Prevention of Corruption, submitted its report on 17 April, on the basis of media accounts and other supporting documents detailing Rupel’s involvement in the establishment of the Law Faculty and Diplomatic Academy (PFDA). The prosecutor’s office is currently verifying the media accounts and will take action on the basis of its findings in the near future.

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 will not formally exist until the Council on Higher Education approves 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, 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. According to media accounts, the ministry pledged T 8 million ($ 37,200).

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.

On 25 April, Rupel held a press conference in which he denounced the investigation as being an "unprecedented attack." He pointed particularly to reporting by Dnevnik, saying that the media accounts were intended to discredit him personally and politically.

Rupel did state that he has no intention to found or lead any educational institution as foreign minister. However, he is prepared to pitch in at the PFDA if and when it is established, if it does not conflict with his ministerial duties.

The foreign minister attacked Office for the Prevention of Corruption head Boštjan Penko, saying that "Penko has done something really stupid, he has no authority to report me anywhere to anyone." He went on to say that "Penko should deal with…real problems, not with academic plans."

The Macedonian Writers' Society is planning to publish the Slovene poets' works in Macedonian translation in its publication. The New Bulgarian University is planning to do the same, in Bulgarian translation.

In the past ten years, the Center has organized fourteen literary tours, which have taken 55 Slovene poets and writers abroad. Unfortunately, as of 2001, the Minister of Culture has decided to suspend support for the trips, and the Center reports that this may be the final tour it will be able to organize.

Bernard Sadovnik was president of the NSKS until Wednesday, when he stepped down in protest to changes made to the organization’s statutes. The changes involved the elimination of direct election of the organization’s president.

This week, Serbian press agency Beta, the Slovak daily Pravda and "Dnevna Mladina" on the website of the weekly Mladina all reported that the confusion between Slovenia and Slovakia is causing problems for postal services.

In the first three months of 2003, 5227 letters and packages weighing a total of 249 kilograms arrived in Slovakia which were supposed to be sent to Slovenia. The mail was sent primarily from other European countries. Most came from Switzerland and Germany, with others from France, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and the US.

• On 26 April, Slovene authorities tried to return eight Chinese citizens who had illegally crossed the border from Croatia, but Croatian authorities refused to let them back into the country, fearing SARS. Two of the Chinese immigrants had symptoms that could be associated with the virus. An attempt to return them to Croatia on 24 April also failed. By Friday, Croatian authorities had allowed them in after it was determined that none were carrying SARS. Croatia immediately made arrangements to return them to Bosnia, from where they entered Croatia.

• Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitrij Rupel said that the country has met the fiscal criteria and that work on meeting the Maastricht criteria is underway. Slovenia hopes to take on the Euro by 2006, but inflation and interest rates must be reduced. But according to Gerassimos Thomas, the European Commission’s spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs, it is too early to plan, since none of the acceding countries have been exposed to the EU market. In any case, the Euro is on the way, since the acceding countries must join the Economic and Monetary Union after 2006.

• On 25 April, Slovenia and five other acceding countries joined an EU e-government program. Estonia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Malta and Poland also signed on to the Interchange of Data between Administrations (IDA) program, which will link those countries to pan-European systems allowing them and EU member states to exchange data and enhance e-government services. The remaining four acceding countries are expected to sign agreements later this year.