|
|
Home - Search - News - Message Board - Contact Us |
|
|
Slovenia News Bulletin Overview of the week's top stories since 30 Nov. 2003 by brian J. po žunThis week’s headlines…
And in other news…
Rupel appears before court of investigation Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel gave 45 minutes of testimony before a court of investigation on 4 December as part of the official investigation into corruption charges against him. He was accompanied by a team of three lawyers: Danijel Starman, Boris Grobelnik and Carmen Dobnik. The lawyers are trying to convince the court to dismiss the request of the State Prosecutor’s Office for a formal inquiry against Rupel. On 24 October, the investigative section of the Ljubljana Regional Court formally requested an investigation against Rupel on charges of attempted criminal abuse of position. If he were to eventually be convicted, Rupel could end up with one to eight years in prison. Rupel is calling the allegations a "political construct" intended to discredit him. At the center of the controversy is the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic academy, which is mandated by the Law on Foreign Relations. For about ten years, the academy was part of the Social Sciences Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. In April, however, the Ministry pulled the academy from the university and signed an agreement to move it to the Law Faculty and Diplomatic Academy (PFDA) based in Portorož. Controversy erupted when the media discovered that the PFDA does not formally exist, since it is not registered and its program still has not been approved by the Council on Higher Education. On 5 December, the Council of Higher Education refused to authorize the establishment of the PFDA. The school has no more than two months to redo and resubmit its application materials. Among the problems with the application is the use of the name "academy," which is reserved for art schools. Further, Mladina reported that Rupel himself had signed on to teach full time at the PFDA. The news weekly alleged corruption, the head of the government’s anti-corruption office Boštjan Penko agreed. In an interview in April with Delo, Penko 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 SIT 8 million (USD 37,200).
Haider en route to Ljubljana On 5 December, STA reported that Joerg Haider, the controversial governor of Austria’s Carinthia (Koroška) province, will visit Ljubljana on Monday. The majority of Austria’s Slovene minority live in Carinthia and most are not pleased with Haider’s leadership. Haider will participate in various holiday events, including the cutting down of a 14-meter tree in Tivoli park. The tree is to be given to Carinthia as a gift from Slovenia. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Franc But will also take part.
Corruption a big problem few have experienced Results of a study on corruption were released on 2 December showed much the same results as last year. More than 60 percent of respondents said that corruption is a big problem, while less than five percent said it is a small problem. However, 95 percent of respondents said they themselves have never had personal experience with corruption at all. The study was undertaken by University of Ljubljana’s Center for Public Opinion Research and Mass Communications and was ordered by the government’s Office for the Prevention of Corruption.
Slovene soldiers going to Afghanistan The government decided on 4 December to send 20 members of the 1st brigade of the Slovene army to Afghanistan. They will participate in the international stabilization forces there from February to August 2004. The government had approved the participation of Slovene soldiers in the Afghanistan campaign. However, a ruling by the Constitutional Court on access to private information complicated matters and the government decided in June to hold off on sending troops for six months. Speaking at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel announced the plan to send Slovene troops to Afghanistan. He added that there are no plans to send Slovene troops to Iraq, since the government wants to support NATO there in other ways, such as training for police and businessmen.
Argentine Slovenes greet Martin Strel On 4 December, Večer ran an article about Slovenes in Argentina. Martin Strel, Slovenia’s "ultra marathon swimmer," is currently swimming Argentina’s Parana river, and on Monday he found himself in the town which bears the same name, Parana. This is the town where the third, fourth and even fifth generation of descendents of the first Slovene emigrants to the country live.Arriving in Parana, he was greeted by Slovene flags and people saying "dober dan" (hello) and "dobrodošli" (welcome) in the distinctive accent of Argentine Slovenes. Slovenes first started settling in Argentina in 1879. Slovenes in Argentina on the whole do not speak Slovene, but they have an organization which is trying to encourage language learning among the ethnic Slovenes there. Strel has another 600 km to swim before arriving in Buenos Aires. He expects to show up there between 8 and 10 December, depending on the weather.
Primorske novice to go dailyThe coastal newspaper Primorske novice is planning to publish six times per week next year, according to director Barbara Verdnik, who spoke to Finance this week. The newspaper currently publishes just on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, with a print run of about 26,000 copies. Primorske novice has been part of a group of local newspapers led by Delo which is trying to pool resources to allow all involved to go to a daily print schedule. Under the plan, several pages would be produced by the local paper, with additional materials added to each paper by a special team of Delo journalists. Also involved in the plan are Gorenjski glas, Celje’s Novi tednik, Murska Sobota’s Vestnik, Štajerski tednik and Dolenjski list. Of these, just Primorske novice, Gorenjski glas and Novi tednik are predicting that they will be able to go daily in 2004. Primorske novice, however, has decided it is unwilling to wait for the others, and will go daily on its own. Verdnik stressed that this does not mean her paper will not continue to participate in joint projects with the other regional newspapers. This will make Primorske novice the country’s eighth daily newspaper, alongside Slovenske novice, Delo, Ve čer, Dnevnik, Ekipa, Finance and Marko Crnkovič’s daily which is expected to appear in March 2004. A ninth, Jasno, is being prepared by Dnevnik and Salomonv oglasnik but it is unclear when or if it will premier.
FHM to debut On 8 March 2004, the Slovene version of FHM (For Him Magazine), a hugely successful British men’s magazine, will hit newsstands. According to Finance, FHM will be published monthly by Maribor’s Videotop, with a print run of 20,000 copies. It will be produced by an eight-member editorial team, with outside help. Videotop publishes PC Format, T3, PC Formatovi Popolni vodi či and Digitalna Kamera. They also distribute computer and video games. Aside from Maribor, they also have offices in Zagreb and Belgrade.FHM is hoping to replicate the success of other foreign magazines launched in recent years on the Slovene market, including Playboy, Men’s Health and Cosmopolitan.
And in other news…
Home | Search | Contact Us Copyright © 2003, Wagner & Associates and Ljubljana Life Magazine.
|
