Overview of the week's top stories
since 30 November 2001

"By my assessment, we have accomplished a considerable amount of work over this year and the government has worked relatively well during this term, better on average than during the previous term, if I may say so," said Prime Minister Drnovšek at a press conference on 3 December, the end of the first year of the government he has led.

"Less time has been spent on disagreements within the coalition, and with fewer disagreements the coalition has been functioning better and the government can concern itself with the matters at hand rather than political and inter-party relations, or defining the identity of individual parties as has been often the case in the past."

However, the government's Public Relations and Media Office reported the statement as: "the ruling coalition is much stronger in this term than during his previous mandates, which enables the ministers to focus on the content of matters," removing the critique of the previous coalition, led by Prime Minister Andrej Bajuk. That coalition was the only one in the history of independent Slovenia Drnovšek did not lead.

Among the government's greatest achievements in the domestic arena was the adoption of the budgets for 2002 and 2003, according to the Prime Minister. With the biennial budget, more stable economic policies can be conducted. Slovenia is one of the first countries in the world to adopt the practice.

Drnovšek also reported that the annual report of the European Commission shows that the country is well on its way to EU membership, and progress is being made towards membership in NATO. Relations with neighboring states, according to the Prime Minister, are satisfactory.

Among the few problems Drnovšek pointed out were the allegations of increasing police brutality, which have put pressure on interior minister Rado Bohinc and head of police Marko Pogorevc.

According to November's Politbarometer, the monthly survey conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research of the University of Ljubljana, Drnovšek’s government is enjoying a 59 percent approval rating, however the percentage of those who do not support the government rose from 25.2 to 29.6 percent since last month.

The two-week "Netherlands and Slovenia" festival taking place at various venues throughout Ljubljana seems to have even made its way into the halls of parliament. On Tuesday, MPs from the LDS and ZLSD formally submitted a bill that would, if enacted, effectively legalize prostitution in Slovenia, a practice already known in the Netherlands.

The bill would amend the Law on Violations of Public Order and Peace, but its sponsors say the attempt is only half-hearted. They are not necessarily looking to legalize prostitution, but merely to create public debate over the issue.

Proponents say making prostitutes business people would help curb the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. They also believe it would mean less organized crime and smuggling in drugs and weapons, crimes often tied to prostitution. Regulation of prostitution could also cut down on the number of foreign women, lured to the country with promises of other jobs and ultimately sold into little more than slavery.

A similar bill was entered into legislative procedure in 1993 and nothing came of it. There is little that would indicate that this bill would be any more successful. Police estimate that there are 1400 women working as prostitutes in Slovenia; there are no estimates as to the number of men.

Despite its high price and dry subject, the recently-released Slovene Orthography 2001 has become a rare publishing success story. After just nine days on the market, the first printing of 10,000 copies is sold out. A small second printing is expected to help meet demand by the end of the year, and an additional run of 10,000 books is expected by mid-January.

Orders were taken as early as August. Some 80 percent of the original 10,000 copies were sold before the book was printed at a special price of SIT 17,910 (USD 75). The regular retail price is SIT 23,100 (USD 96).

Sales figures so far are comparable to Slovita Kuharica by Felicita Kalinšek, which has sold more than 60,000 copies, but that is since its release in 1994. Finance reported that its sales most likely compare to those of the Slovene translations of the Harry Potter books, though the Epta publishing house would not release figures.

Radio Študent in Ljubljana and several NGOs rallied around Maribor Radio Študent (MARŠ) this week after last week’s announcement that its license has been revoked.

A spokesman for Maribor University told the daily Delo that the university did not sue MARŠ to have it shut down, but it did have to protect its interests. Maribor University maintains that the station had nothing to do with Maribor students, and in any case was run by people who did not study at the university and who were too old to be students.

Maribor University intends to recreate MARŠ as a student-run station. Spokespeople for the university have said that they will apply to the government's Office for Telecommunications to acquire the frequency, 95.9.

For their part, the station’s staff has also announced their intention to apply for the frequency. On Thursday, an agreement was signed between the Society for the Support of MARŠ and the Student Organization of the University of Maribor (ŠOUM) to form a new legal entity called MARŠ which will file the application.

ŠOUM, a founder of the original MARŠ along with the University of Maribor, also wanted more influence over MARŠ, but nevertheless opposed the methods the university used to resolve the issue. In supporting the re-establishment of an independent MARŠ, ŠOUM will be allotted seats on the advisory board of the new/old station.

The most immediate concern for now is the division of the station’s assets, and especially its technical equipment. Most of the equipment was purchased in Switzerland with the help of the Open Society Institute (OSI).

At that time, MARŠ was not a legal entity and could not import the equipment itself. Maribor University helped, and so on that basis wants ownership of the equipment. A spokesman for the OSI, however, told Mladina last year that if MARŠ was shut down, the equipment was to be donated to a humanitarian organization. The question will most likely be resolved by the courts.

Minister of Interior Rado Bohinc said this week that the new regional structure could be established in time for elections by 2004. The minister spoke at a two-day conference entitled "Days of Slovene Local Self-Government," held at Bled.

Bohinc assured the assembled audience that the government agrees the country is too centralized, and believes that devolving authority to the regional structures is the best way to resolve the issue. The regions are intended to be self-financing, autonomous legal entities.

So far, there is little indication that the government has even decided on how many regions the country will have, let alone what authority they will have, and so it is quite early to predict a date for elections.

But according to Bohinc, the government is currently preparing the legislation that could lead to regional elections being held as early as 2004. If there is sufficient political will, elections could even be held earlier.

The basic law will be the Law on Regions. Parliament expects to finalize the language of the law's text by the end of the year. Early next year, a second law will be prepared to determine the number and form of the proposed regions.

Ever since the multiplex Kolosej opened in Ljubljana in May, sharp drops in attendance at smaller cinemas throughout the city were predicted. The reality was worse than the expectations, however, as several have already closed and more may do the same soon.

The first two, Triglav and Maja, closed in May, virtually simultaneously with Kolosej's opening. Union closed shortly thereafter and is now being turned into a conference hall. Dvor closed at the beginning of June, and Šiška closed just last week.

Gregor Draksler, a spokesman for Kolosej, told Dnevnik this week that attendance at cinemas throughout the city fell by four times when the multiplex opened in May, but now the novelty is starting to wear off and people are returning to their local cinemas.

By the fall, attendance at local cinemas was only three times lower than before Kolosej opened. Currently, Draksler says it is about two and one half times lower.

It is predicted that the long-term trend will be for younger people, which account for some 80 percent of the movie-going public, to see more films at Kolosej, while older viewers will form the main audience for the local cinemas.

• On Thursday, the government approved the wording of the long-awaited Concordat. This is the document regulating relations between a state and the Vatican; Slovenia is the only country in the region which has not yet adopted one. The text is expected to be made available to the public after parliament initials the document. Three MPs of the ZLSD, a party which has consistently opposed the Concordant, refused to back the document without explanation. The text will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court before it is approved in its final form.

• Customs officials at the Port of Koper discovered 13 tons of cigarettes this week. The smugglers' ship originated in Dubaj and had passed through Albania. The record amount of cigarettes were disguised on the ship's manifest as "Indian red pepper," and the unusual quantity tipped off officials. According to the manifest, the goods were destined for Poland, though Dnevnik reported that they were mostly likely en route to Great Britain and France.

• A conference called "Europe Without Tobacco" convened in Ljubljana this week. The conference was organized by the World Health Organization and is intended to establish new norms for European tobacco policies. Minister of Health Dušan Keber told the conference that the number of smokers in Slovenia fell by 200,000 from 1978 to 2000, which he called a great achievement. The number of young people and women, however, is on the rise. Overall, less than one-fourth of adults in the country smoke.

• State Secretary for Slovenes Abroad Magdalena Tovornik finished her eight-city, nine-day tour of Slovene sites in the United States with a reception in New York on Tuesday. In Cleveland, Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago and other cities, she met mostly with older representatives of the local ethnic Slovene communities. Tovornik believes that more must be done to raise ethnic awareness among younger generations. The trip has also inspired her to begin preparations for a new Museum of Slovene Emigrants, which would serve as an exhibition space and archive in Ljubljana.

• "The Celts in Novo Mesto" opened this week at the Dolenjska Museum. The exhibit includes more than 500 archaeological objects, many of which are being shown for the first time. The objects were drawn primarily from the graves at Kandija, the country's largest Celtic site. The Celts occupied the territory of modern Slovenia from the third century, BC, until roughly the first century, AD.