Overview of the week's top stories
since 21 September 2002

On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that seven countries will be invited to join Nato at its 21-22 November summit in Prague, among them Slovenia. According to unnamed European and American sources, the other six countries are to be Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. The news emerged from a three-day meeting of Nato defense ministers earlier in the week in Warsaw.

Reportedly, the decision to offer membership to the seven countries has already been made. According to the Washington Post, "U.S. and European officials said in interviews that agreement on admitting all seven has been reached, barring unanticipated, last-minute difficulties."

It is expected to take two years for the parliaments of all 19 Nato member states to ratify the accession of the new members.

The following day, Barbara Brezigar became the first of those who have announced their intention to run for the post of president to officially register her candidacy with the State Electoral Commission. Brezigar has far surpassed the 5000 signatures required to register, garnering nearly 20,000 in just three weeks.

As part of the local elections to be held concurrently with the presidential elections on 10 November, the post of mayor of Ljubljana is up for grabs. So far, six people have announced their intentions to run for the post, but none have been formally registered as of yet.

In order to register their candidacy formally, each must collect the signatures of 250 Ljubljana residents or be backed by a party by 16 October. The official list of candidates will be released on 26 October.

On 23 September, Delo reported on the state of the Slovene ethnic minority in Hungary. According to the 2001 Hungarian census, the number of ethnic Slovenes has risen, along with the number of Slovene speakers.

Dr. Zlatko Muršec, Slovene Counsel General in Hungary, told Delo that while the 2001 census showed a strengthening of Slovene national self-consciousness, much work remains to be done to counter the process of assimilation, primarily in the 25-35 age group whose Slovene language skills are generally the weakest. Currently, 230 preschool, elementary and high school students receive Slovene-language instruction.

The majority of ethnic Slovenes in Hungary live in seven villages in the Porabje region, contiguous to northeastern Slovenia. Each village has a Slovene minority self-administration, which has influence primarily in the field of culture. There are also Slovene minority self-administrations in two districts of Budapest which are home to a number of ethnic Slovenes.

The Slovene minority is also served by a cultural-information center in Monošter, in the Porabje region. The center publishes the biweekly magazine Porabje, which has a print run of 1200 copies. There is also a Slovene-language program on the local radio station.

The government Office for Youth Affairs (UM) held a series of events called "Ljubljana – Open City of the Young" from 24 to 28 September. The program followed a similar one staged at the beginning of September in Ptuj, and the UM would like to expand the program and stage similar events throughout the country.

The primary focus is on elementary-school children. The program’s schedule ran the gamut from educational to sports to cultural activities, with a particular emphasis on foreign languages, seen as a key to Slovenia’s integration into wider European and international currents.

The UM was also active in Bled this week. From 26 to 29 September, the office participated in an international seminar on the European Commission’s White Book and the development of youth policies in the states of Southeastern Europe. More than 70 representatives were expected to participate, from Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary, and Romania. Representatives from Denmark, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, were also invited.

Discussing Šelestenje, Eddie Cockrell writes "A quiet triumph of focused improvisation, Slovene relationship drama Rustling Landscapes marks a noteworthy feature debut film from Janez Lapajne and his quartet of leads…" and goes on to predict "good biz on the arthouse landscape."

Deborah Young was less generous in her review of Slepa Pega: "Conceding nothing to the lighter side of life, pic is a hard watch whose main chance will be with disaffected young auds able to identify with its stark, no-future characters. Others may find this well-shot film too unpleasant to spend time with."

• On Monday, the National Assembly began its September session – the first under the new Poslovnik (Rules of Procedure) passed earlier this year. Among the innovations in the Poslovnik are revised limits on the amount of time allotted to members to speak on the floor of parliament, as well as other measures intended to streamline parliamentary procedures.