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Slovenia News Bulletin Overview of top stories from 25 April to 1 May, 2004 This week’s headlines…
Slovenia joins European Union together with 9 others in historic expansion At midnight on 1 May, Slovenia became a full member of the European Union along with nine other states. The membership of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovakia brings the total number of EU member states up to 25. European Commission President Prodi: Welcome to the New Europe! European Commission President Roman Prodi celebrated with Italians and Slovenes on the square which now unites Gorizia, Italy, and Nova Gorica, Slovenia. He told the gathered crowd, "Today is an historic day for Europe…. Five decades after our great project of European integration began, the divisions of the Cold War are gone – once and for all and we live in a united Europe." He concluded by saying, "While I rejoice today and take pride in the enormity of our achievement in reuniting a once-divided continent, I realize that this is only the beginning. Each and every one of us in the new Europe of 455 million citizens must now work together to build on the foundations we have all helped to lay. What we have achieved is not irreversible. Our cooperation will face constant obstacles and challenges. But united in diversity we will be stronger and better equipped to find solutions to common problems. United in diversity, we can work more effectively for safety and prosperity for all. Welcome to the New Europe." Prime Minister Rop: Slovenia is the Future of Europe. Prime Minister Anton Rop also attended the festivities in Gorizia/Nova Gorica. "Until now, Europe has been the future of Slovenia; now, Slovenia is the future of Europe," he said. Rop also attended festivities in the mountains, at the point where the borders of Slovenia, Italy and Austria meet. Also attending there were Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Italian Minister for Regional Affairs Enrico La Loggia. President Drnovšek: History takes a Step Forward. President Janez Drnovšek addressed the nation from an official ceremony in Ljubljana's Zvezda park. "Today, our history takes a step forward. At midnight, Slovenia becomes a full-fledged member of the European Union," he began. Drnovšek stressed that the dreams of EU membership which were born virtually simultaneously with Slovene independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 were now coming true. However, he also pointed out that "while it is beautiful to dream of the Europe of the future, we know how to live in truth as well. Europe will not solve all of our problems instantaneously. We are not coming to a fully-set table just waiting for someone to sit down. Much hard work is before us. Great challenges. However, there are also great opportunities. More than yesterday or today." Elsewhere in the capital, Speaker of Parliament Borut Pahor hosted some 250 guests at a ceremonial session of the National Assembly. Pahor stated that his is a "lucky generation," which not only secured Slovenia’s independence but also secured Slovenia’s place in Europe. Opposition leader Janez Janša addressed the crowds at Ljubljana's Kongresni Trg, saying that Slovenia now stands on a new path. Janša also stated that his is a "lucky generation," and added that the country now has a chance to begin a "golden age." Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met with his Austrian counterpart Benita Ferrero-Waldner on the Friendship Bridge, which connects Slovenia’s Gornja Radgona with Austria’s Bad Radkersburg. Former President Milan Ku čan met with former president of Hungary Arpad Goenz between Slovenia’s Hodoš and Hungary’s Bajansenye.
Slovenia’s first European born in Trbovlje A boy weighing 3500 g and 52 cm long was the first child born in Slovenia after the country became part of the EU, according to STA. The child was born at 12:50 in Trbovlje. The next two children born were also boys, one at 1:08 in Ptuj and another at 1:48 in Maribor. Only at 4:11 was a girl born, in Postojna, followed by two more at 5:25 and 5:43, both in Kranj.
The World Takes Notice: Slovenia’s EU Entry in the World Press Although the majority of the world media covered European Union expansion on 1 May in great detail, few gave Slovenia much attention. Among the exceptions were Agence France-Presse and the International Herald Tribune. EU Business published and Agence France-Presse article which featured excerpts from speeches by Slovene Prime Minister Anton Rop, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Italian Regional Affairs Minister Enrico La Loggia at the site where Austria, Italy and Slovenia meet in the Alps. EU Business also explored Slovenes’ expectations for EU membership with another Agence France-Press article. "Muted optimism" was the tone the writer found in Ljubljana on the eve of EU entry, with many Slovenes expressing pride and satisfaction but also reservation. The article points out that, especially among older Slovenes, membership in the EU is seen in similar terms as membership in Yugoslavia. "[T]he only difference being that this time Slovenia would not be among the most prosperous members." The International Herald Tribune published Michael Benson’s story of a visit to Slovenia in 1991 during the brief period between independence and international recognition. Benson and friends visited Marija Flajs, then 81, in the Bovec Valley in northwestern Slovenia. She lived through the bloody battles on the Soča Front from 1915 to 1917, after which she was no longer living in Austria but in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929, she was living in the Kingdom Yugoslavia, but with the coming of World War II in April 1941, her land became part of Italy while other parts of Slovenia were split among the Third Reich and Hungary. In 1945, her passport was issued by the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. And as Benson was visiting in 1991, everything had changed once again as Marija found herself in independent Slovenia. Benson writes, "Although she had never budged from her picturesque Alpine valley, Marija had changed her citizenship four times." Marija died in 1996 and did not get to see Slovenia join the EU. The IHT also explored what EU expansion means for Trieste, the Italian port virtually surrounded by Slovenia. The article presents a thumbnail sketch of Trieste’s history, from its stint as Austria-Hungary’s major port, through the bloodshed of World War I and World War II, and the final decision to award the city to Italy in 1954 after several years under international administration. That decision hit Trieste hard, since the city’s hinterland was all awarded to Yugoslavia. The city was barely connected to Italy by a narrow strip of territory and its usefulness as a port was sharply diminished in the new circumstances. Elsewhere, Reuters focused on the story of Slovenia’s Nova Gorica and Italy’s Gorizia, two halves of the same city split since the end of World War II and reunited only with EU expansion. Ben Aris, writing in the Guardian, points out that Slovenia "does not fit any of the usual categories." Which is a departure from most reporting on EU expansion which lumps the country together with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia as "former Warsaw Pact countries" or "countries behind the Iron Curtain." As part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia was never a member of the Warsaw Pact, nor was it behind the Iron Curtain.Slate‘s Samuel Loewenberg, took a grim look at the country which is best summed up in the article’s subtitle: "Xenophobic, protectionist, and on the verge of economic decline." Loewenberg focuses on the Izbrisani and the ongoing struggle of the Muslim community to build a mosque in Ljubljana, and then moves on to a laundry list of economic issues which could prove to be enormous problems after the country enters the EU. Finally, The Telegraph focused on the travel opportunities in the new member states. For Slovenia, the paper focuses on the Lipizzaner horses. Though visitors can ride the horses in their hometown of Lipica, near the Italian border, the paper says that the Pristava Lepener farmhouse near Lake Bled offers a "less formal atmosphere and more scenic setting."
Travel to Slovenia becomes considerably easier for some, cheaper for many While EU membership makes travel to Slovenia easier for residents of the other EU member states, the debut of budget flights into Ljubljana certainly makes getting to Slovenia less expensive for everyone. On 28 April, Easyjet inaugurated its daily London Stansted – Ljubljana Brnik run. Tickets are as cheap as 15 euros, and more than 22,000 tickets were sold even before flights started up. Around 60,000 are expected to take advantage of the cheap fares by the end of 2004, with 90,000 expected in 2005.EasyJet competitor Ryanair currently flies into nearby Trieste, Graz and Klagenfurt, also from London Stansted.
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