Overview of the week's top stories
since 8 December 2001

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek announced he will not resign in October as predicted. The prime minister told Reuters that expectations that he would resign "have provoked some negative consequences, insecurity, and have affected stability in the country." Therefore, he has decided to remain in office.

In October, Drnovšek had said he might resign next spring from both his post as prime minister and as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS). He did not intend to fully withdraw from politics, however. Drnovšek was and still is expected to run for the post of president of the country next year.

But all future plans are contingent upon his health: there is speculation that Drnovšek has lung cancer, and he was forced to abandon his post as prime minister two years ago for three months when a tumor was removed from his kidney.

The country closed three more chapters of its accession agreement in negotiations with the European Union on 12 December in Brussels. The newly completed chapters, free movement of persons, justice and home affairs, and taxation, bring Slovenia's total of closed chapters to 25 of 31.

Negotiations regarding free movement of persons were concluded with a compromise: Slovenia will accept a transitional period on the basis of reciprocity. Markets in some EU member states, such as Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland, will be open to the Slovene workforce immediately upon membership; bilateral agreements will be drawn up with others, including Germany, Austria and Italy.

Justice and home affairs was also a sensitive area, since it deals with measures against terrorism and illegal immigration. Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Cyprus all managed to close this chapter at this week's talks; Hungary had closed the chapter previously. The chapter on taxation was the easiest of the three.

Ljubljana had also hoped to close the chapter on transportation policy this year. However, movement on this front is blocked to all candidate countries since the current EU members have yet to arrive at a negotiating position. By the end of next year, it is expected that the remaining chapters will be closed, and Slovenia will be fully prepared for EU membership by 2004.

As it stands, the country has closed the most chapters of all the candidate countries, followed closely by Cyprus and the Czech Republic, each with 24. Hungary has closed 23, Latvia 22, Lithuania and Slovakia 21 each, Estonia 20, Poland and Malta 19 each, Bulgaria 13 and Romania 9.

With the struggle organizers have faced in trying to establish a third university in Slovenia, in the Primorska region, it is surprising that plans are already being drawn up to establish a fourth. But recently, the plans for the University of Southeastern Slovenia took a major step forward.

Supporters of the plan believed the major obstacle would be a lack of technical expertise available to the proposed university. Though the Council for Higher Education has not yet issued an opinion on the proposals, the city of Krško has already found ample evidence to the contrary.

When Krško and the Valvasor Research Center hosted six professors and lecturers from Zagreb University's Faculty of Transportation recently, officials from Krško were inspired to put out a call for experts willing to help create a new faculty for Logistical Systems.

Surprisingly more than 80 candidates replied, among them more than 40 PhDs. The academics from Zagreb University also expressed interest in cooperating with the new faculty in research, lecturing and in post-graduate study.

Geographically, the new university would be closer to Zagreb than to any of the other university centers in Slovenia. Especially since ties have already been formed, cooperation between the new university and the University of Zagreb should be close.

The University of Southeastern Slovenia would be the country's fourth, following those in Ljubljana and Maribor and the planned Primorska University to be based in either Koper or Nova Gorica (or both). It would be centered on the Dolenjska and Bela Krajina regions and would be based at Konstanjevec na Krki, which would host the university's rectorate, library, research facilities and post-graduate programs.

Aside from the Faculty for Logistical Systems to be established in Krško, three other faculties are planned for Konstanjevec, Sevnica and Novo Mesto. At least two could be open for business as early as the academic year 2002-2003, while the Faculty for Logistical Systems could be ready by 2003-2004. The university could be formed by 2010, according to the Valvasor Research Center.

Supporters of the proposed university see it as a significant regional development project. The Dolenjska and Bela Krajina regions are among the country's lowest developed. The university could offer much needed opportunity to the two regions' 400,000 inhabitants by attracting scholars and experts from Slovenia and abroad, as well as by creating new jobs. The university could also help keep well-educated young people in the region.

Hot on the heels of State Secretary for Slovenes Abroad Magdalena Tovornik's visit to Slovene communities in the United States, a delegation from the parliamentary Commission for Relations with Slovenes Abroad met with representatives of the 5000 strong Slovene community in Switzerland as well as with representatives of Swiss institutions caring for the 600,000 Swiss people living outside of their country.

The delegation was interested in the experience of Switzerland, and whether it could be applied to their own situation. The Swiss constitution, like the Slovene, mandates cooperation with and support for countrymen abroad. The Slovene parliament adopted a resolution on the situation of autochthonic Slovene minorities in neighboring states five years ago, and in the near future parliament will take up a resolution concerning Slovenes around the world.

Also this week, the parliamentary Commission for National Minorities reviewed the experience of Hungary. The matter was more pressing, however, given that the commission was reviewing the new Law on Hungarians Living in Neighboring States adopted this June by the Hungarian parliament.

Nearly 3.5 million Hungarians live in surrounding countries. More than 8500 live in Slovenia. The law gives members of Hungarian minorities in Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine a legal status somewhere between that of a tourist and that of a citizen.

According to the law, special identification papers will be distributed to ethnic Hungarians in neighboring states, including those in Slovenia. The papers, legally valid only on the territory of Hungary, will entitle the holder to work in Hungary for three months annually, to have access to free higher education, as well as to healthcare benefits. The law takes effect on 1 January 2002.

The project, part of the National Housing Program, foresees almost 5000 new beds in student housing in higher education and university centers. It is worth SIT 24 million and will be executed in the period 2002-2006.

Furthering the project was a major part of the pre-election campaign platform of the Slovene Youth Party (SMS) and of the cooperation agreement signed between the SMS and the LDS. According to the SMS, Ljubljana needs about 3200 more beds, Maribor 1000, Kranj 80, Novo Mesto 50, and Primorska 450.

The second feature film by 34-year old Igor Šterk, Ljubljana, will have its world premier at the 31st International Film Festival in Rotterdam. The festival runs from 23 January to 3 February 2002.

Šterk's first feature, Ekspres, ekspres was well received internationally. Ljubljana will premier in its titular city on 7 February 2002.

• On Sunday, 16 December, a new timetable goes into effect for Slovene Railways. Information can be obtained at rail stations or by calling 01 29 13332. The new timetable will be in effect until 14 December 2002.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone broke records in its opening weekend throughout the country. In Ljubljana alone, between Thursday and Sunday some 17,768 people saw it - while total attendance at the city's theatres was reportedly 32,301. With attendance figures from Maribor, Celje, Kranj and Novo Mesto, where the film is also showing, total attendance for the film's opening weekend throughout the country was just under 30,000.

• This week, Kolosej also announced attendance figures for Slovene films shown this year: