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Weekly News Bulletin Overview of the week's top stories by brian J. po žun
Mosque, but no minaret On Wednesday, Lojze Marinček announced his intention to run for the post of Mayor of Ljubljana in the upcoming local elections. He will run under the banner of the SLS.It was his platform, however, which made news. Among other things, Marinček said that he supports the building of a mosque in Ljubljana, but that the traditional architecture of a mosque would not fit the city’s image. Therefore, he believes it should be built without a minaret.For more than a decade, Muslim groups in the capital have wanted to build a cultural center, including a mosque, in the capital. The primary obstacle is the city counc il, but many vocal city residents are also opposed to the plan. This January, Sarajevo mayor Muhidin Hamamdžič took up the issue during a visit to Ljubljana, but the plan remains stalled.At the time of the 1991 census, there were 30,000 Muslims in Slovenia, unofficial statistics point to anywhere between seventy and one hundred thousand today. Marinček was Minister of Science and Technology from 1997 until October 2000. His platform also includes the construction of a subway to ease traffic problems, pl ans to increase economic growth, and better care for older residents.So far, current mayor Viktorija Potočnik, head of the local DeSUS branch and state secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Affairs Branko Omerzu, independent city councilor Janez Sodržnik, SDS vice-president and head of local SDS branch Andrej Bručan and member of parliament and vice-president of the NSi Janez Drobnič have announced their intentions to run. SMS head Dominik Černjak is also considering a bid.
$165,000 per president In Thursday’s Finance , Tomaž Vidic reported that the meeting of Central European Presidents, which took place in Bled and Brdo on 31 May and 1 June 2002 cost SIT 660 million (USD 2.6 million), a third higher than expected.With sixteen presidents attending, the cost averages out to SIT 41.25 million (USD 165,000) per president. In May, organizers predicted a total cost of SIT 500 million (USD 2 million). Only now is the government releasing the full price. The cost of security, SIT 433 million (USD 1.8 million), was released shortly after the summit. Now, protocol, information and promotion expenses of SIT 100 million (USD 400,000) and traffic expenses of SIT 50 million (USD 200,000) are being added to the total, which also includes various investments. The government wanted to host the summit as part of an effort to create an image of the country as a place of international dialogue, building upon last year’s Bush-Putin summit. However, the summit was not widely reported in the internatio nal press, and when it was, Slovenia itself was paid little attention. For more information about the summit, see Brian J. Požun, “The Summit Side of the Alps?"
Slovenia less attractive for illegal immigration According to an article in Saturday’s Dnevnik, illegal immigration to and through Slovenia is falling sharply. It seems that 2000 was the high-water mark for illegal aliens crossing the border with Croatia into Slovenia. Statistics from last year show a drop of about 40 percent, particularly from September on. This year, the numbers are even better. From 1 January to 30 June 2002, police investigated 3,640 illegal border crossings, 70 percent less than in the same period last year. Authorities credit the drop to a change in philosophy and better strategies. The trend is expected to continue. According to an unnamed source, Croatia has also seen a drop in illegal border crossings, which indicates that the pathway into Western Europe is no longer as attractive for illegal migrants as the one through Poland and Slovakia. Italy has seen a rise in illegal migration, not by land but by sea. Illegal immigrants find their way into Slovenia primarily via highly-organized networks. Demographically, most are younger, able-bodied men. The most frequent countries of origin of illegal migrants in Slovenia are Serbia, followed by Macedonia and Bosnia. Illegal migrants from Turkey, Iraq, Moldova, and Romania are becoming less frequent as of late.
Independent press agency robbed Late Saturday night, at least one unknown man broke into the offices of the independent press agency Morel in Ljubljana and stole a laptop computer and communication equipment worth around SIT 800,000 (USD 3,200). The information contained on the laptop has yet to be determined. According to a press release sent out by Morel, the intruder or intruders also ransacked all of the cabinets, shelves and desks in the offices, and may have searched the contents of all of the offices’ computers. Emil Lukančič Mori, the agency’s owner, told Finance that the agency lost around SIT one million due to two lost workdays (Sunday and Monday). Lukančič is afraid of losing subscribers due to the interruption.Lukančič believes that the break-in may have been connected to Morel’s recent cooperation with the Serbian production house Virus, which is currently shooting a documentary about the links between trafficking in human beings, weapons and cigarettes, money laundering and corruption, with international terrorism in the former Yugoslavia.Last week, the documentary team interviewed key officials in Ljubljana for the film, including Ombudsman for Human Rights Matjaž Hanžek, Assistant General Director of Police Andrej Anžič, and heads of the parliamentary Commission for Oversight of the Work of Security and Information Services, Jože Jerovšek and Zmago Jelinčič. They also interviewed representatives of the NGO Ključ, which works with victims of trafficking in human beings, and an advisor to the director of the government’s Office for the Prevention of Corruption, Drago Kos. "However, the talks with these representatives did not, in our opinion, expose any affair," Lukančič wrote in his press release.None of the materials for the documentary were in the offices of Morel at the time of the break in. Lukančič saw the robbery as a threat to press freedom: “We small media outlets in Slovenia are subjected more and more to communication and financial blockades which are leading us to the edge of collapse, and we cannot seek out protection anywher e, since the pressure is covert," he wrote.Security cameras recorded the face of one man. On Wednesday, STA reported that a 29-year old man from Ljubljana has been taken into custody. However, police do believe he was working with an accomplice.
HIT opening casino in Sarajevo Nova Gorica’s Hit announced this week that it is opening an entertainment complex in Sarajevo. The complex, called the Coloseum, has an ancient Roman theme. The project is worth EUR 6 million, and will employ around 70 people, primarily locals. According to the Coloseum’s director, Valter Kranjec, at least 150 guest per day are expected. The complex covers nearly 1500 quadratic meters, and contains a casino, two restaurants and an events hall. The casino will have eight game tables and 80 state-of-the-art slot machines. Hit runs the Park and Perla entertainment complexes in Nova Gorica and a third in Kranjska Gora, as well as casinos in Rogaška Slatina and Otočec. It holds an 80 percent share of the local market.This is Hit’s second project outside of Slovenia, after its Casino Caribe, which it opened last November on Bonaire Island in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. Their third project, renovation and expansion of the Maestral hotel in Montenegro, is expected to be completed some time next year.
And in other news…
Note: The Ljubljana Life weekly news bulletin will take a brief summer break and resume once again in early September.
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