POLITICS
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian and Italian foreign ministers Samuel Zbogar and Franco Frattini have written to their EU counterparts a letter calling for stepping up the process of visa liberalisation for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, the Foreign Ministry said. Sent to the foreign minister of the EU presiding country, Sweden's Carl Bildt, and his European colleagues, the letter expresses commitment to EU enlargement and highlighting the scrapping of visas for the Balkans as an important concrete step in the process.
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Interior Minister Katarina Kresal reiterated Slovenia's steadfast support for Macedonia's efforts to join the EU as she wrapped up her two-day visit to Skopje. The main topic of Kresal's talks with Macedonian officials was the upcoming abolishment of EU visas for Macedonian citizens. Kresal also met her Macedonian counterpart Gordana Jankulovska and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Apart from EU issues, bilateral topics were also discussed by the officials.
LJUBLJANA - President Danilo Tuerk called for intensive social dialogue as he received representatives of trade unions, who presented him their views on the current situation of workers, their requests for a higher minimum wage and doubts regarding the proposed pension reform. Tuerk called on social partners to restore social dialogue as soon as possible and seriously dedicate themselves to priority issues.
LJUBLJANA - On the eve of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Office for Equal Opportunities warned against dating violence among students. This form of violence is still taboo, vice director Tanja Selecl said, stressing the importance of raising awareness. The young must be clear on what behaviour is acceptable and what they should say no to, she said.
OTHER NEWS
PEC, Kosovo - A Slovenian soldier on service in Kosovo has died in what appears to be an accidental shooting at her base in Pec, the Slovenian Defence Minstry said. There is no indication that a second person was involved in the death of the soldier and other personnel were not aware of the incident that happened at around 1 PM on Tuesday, the ministry said.
LJUBLJANA - A road assessment programme, carried out in cooperation with the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), found 59% of Slovenian roads to have high or medium risk rates, president of the Automobile Association of Slovenia (AMZS) Danijel Starman said.
BOCHUM, Germany - Slovenian football player Zlatko Dedic, whose goal sent last week the Slovenian national team to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, has been diagnosed with swine flu, his club Bochum said. Dedic, who plays professionally for the German Bundesliga club, was admitted to hospital, missing a Sunday match against Hamburger SV.
SPORTS
PORTOROZ - Peter Kukovic, the chair of the Slovenian Athletics Association (AZS), said that Slovenian sport had not been immune to savings, default on payments and even strikes that have plagued the business sector in time of crisis. Next year will continue to see a downward trend in sports, he stressed at a press conference held in Portoroz.
