"Harrah's Entertainment of the United States and Slovenia's Hit Group are suspending talks on construction of a 750-million-euro (1.17-billion-dollar) entertainment park in western Slovenia, the Hit Group said in a statement Wednesday.
'The two companies concluded that they could not find a solution that would meet the interests of both,' said Hit Group, which controls the largest casinos in the tiny European Union state.
It added that 'it was not possible to define a managing structure that would fulfill the interests of the Hit Group for a balanced development of Nova Gorica as a tourist destination and granting, at the same time, (Harrah's) expected influence in the new joint company.'"
Source: Servihoo.com
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Ex-Slovenian President Dies at 57
"Former President Janez Drnovsek, who helped lead Slovenia to independence from Yugoslavia and later enthralled many of his countrymen by adopting a New Age lifestyle, died Saturday, his office said. He was 57.
Mild-mannered but resolute, Drnovsek became a political icon in part for working to keep violence at a minimum when Slovenia gained independence in 1991. He later led the country to European Union and NATO membership.
In recent years, as he battled cancer, he made a radical transformation to a holistic lifestyle and wrote several New Age-influenced books. His office said he died overnight at his home but gave no specific cause.
Drnovsek was the Slovenian representative the Yugoslav federation's collective presidency when his region declared its independence. Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic sent tanks to Slovenian borders, triggering a brief war. But Drnovsek used his position to push for negotiations, eventually orchestrating a deal for the peaceful withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and sparing Slovenia from bloodshed that later engulfed Croatia and Bosnia.
Drnovsek was Slovenia's prime minister for a decade before being elected president in 2002. He did not run for a second presidential term in elections late last year and was replaced by Danilo Turk in December."
Source: The Associated Press
Mild-mannered but resolute, Drnovsek became a political icon in part for working to keep violence at a minimum when Slovenia gained independence in 1991. He later led the country to European Union and NATO membership.
In recent years, as he battled cancer, he made a radical transformation to a holistic lifestyle and wrote several New Age-influenced books. His office said he died overnight at his home but gave no specific cause.
Drnovsek was the Slovenian representative the Yugoslav federation's collective presidency when his region declared its independence. Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic sent tanks to Slovenian borders, triggering a brief war. But Drnovsek used his position to push for negotiations, eventually orchestrating a deal for the peaceful withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and sparing Slovenia from bloodshed that later engulfed Croatia and Bosnia.
Drnovsek was Slovenia's prime minister for a decade before being elected president in 2002. He did not run for a second presidential term in elections late last year and was replaced by Danilo Turk in December."
Source: The Associated Press
Monday, February 11, 2008
Slovenia worried Serbia bomb linked to EU role
"Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel expressed concern Saturday over a bomb blast at a Slovenian-run shopping mall in Serbia, saying he feared it was tied to his country's EU leadership.
'Yesterday there was some bomb explosion in Belgrade in front of Slovenian stores,' Rupel said during a speech to an international security conference in Germany on the issue of the crisis between Serbia and breakaway Kosovo.
'I'm a little worried about that because it may be connected to the role Slovenia's playing at the head of the European Union,' he said.
Slovenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU"
Source: EUbusiness.com
'Yesterday there was some bomb explosion in Belgrade in front of Slovenian stores,' Rupel said during a speech to an international security conference in Germany on the issue of the crisis between Serbia and breakaway Kosovo.
'I'm a little worried about that because it may be connected to the role Slovenia's playing at the head of the European Union,' he said.
Slovenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU"
Source: EUbusiness.com
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sarkozy steals Slovenia’s EU limelight
"Less than 17 years since becoming an independent state, Slovenia launched its presidency of the European Union this week – and received a swift lesson in how to have its spotlight stolen.
For three years the little Alpine nation had prepared for the proud day when it would bask in the spotlight as the first country once under communist rule to have the honour of leading the 27-member EU.
But when Tuesday came, so did Nicolas Sarkozy. As the Slovenes applied themselves to the humdrum task of hosting the European Commission at a conference centre outside Ljubljana, the French president was busy dazzling the world’s media at the Elysée palace.
While the Slovenes gave a succinct summary of the EU’s policy agenda between now and June 30, Mr Sarkozy, leapfrogging over them, sketched his vision for France’s EU presidency from July 1 to December 31.
Slovenia, a country of 2m people with centuries of experience of foreign domination – including a brief spell as part of the Napoleonic empire – says its contacts with France have been constructive at all levels. It is just as well.
Slovenia’s diplomatic service is so small that, over the next six months, France will provide representation in more than 100 countries where the Slovenes have no missions.
In similar fashion, Slovenia last year helped out Portugal, its predecessor as EU president, by representing it in Macedonia and Montenegro. But Slovenia’s reliance on France is on a different scale altogether."
Source: FT.com
Monday, January 7, 2008
Slovenian journalists renew censorship claims
"Slovenian journalists urged the government Friday to create an independent commission to investigate allegations of government censorship and political pressure on the media.
Journalists Blaz Zgaga and Matej Surc said international experts should be included in the commission 'that could evaluate the situation and contribute to improving media freedom in Slovenia.'
Zgaga, a journalist with the daily Vecer, and Surc, a state television reporter, last year initiated a petition signed by 570 journalists accusing the government of censorship. The petition was sent to all EU capitals.
But three months on and just days after Slovenia took over the six-month presidency of the EU, the paid [sic] said that no measures had been taken in response to their complaints.
'Since then, the only Slovenian official to have talked to us is the Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek Travnik,' Zgaga told AFP."
Source: EUbusiness.com
Journalists Blaz Zgaga and Matej Surc said international experts should be included in the commission 'that could evaluate the situation and contribute to improving media freedom in Slovenia.'
Zgaga, a journalist with the daily Vecer, and Surc, a state television reporter, last year initiated a petition signed by 570 journalists accusing the government of censorship. The petition was sent to all EU capitals.
But three months on and just days after Slovenia took over the six-month presidency of the EU, the paid [sic] said that no measures had been taken in response to their complaints.
'Since then, the only Slovenian official to have talked to us is the Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek Travnik,' Zgaga told AFP."
Source: EUbusiness.com
Croatia seizes Italian boat days after fishery zone comes into force
"The Croatian navy seized an Italian fishing vessel that was 'illegally present' on Thursday (January 3rd), two days after declaring a protected fishing zone in its territorial waters.
Police spokeswomen Zeljka Radosevic said the trawler crew was fishing near a remote island in Croatian waters and not inside the new Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Protected Zone (ZERP), which extends to the middle of the Adriatic.
Radosevic said the boat was escorted to a port on the island of Vis for investigation. She added that the three crew members would appear before a judge and would probably be fined. It was not immediately clear what impact this incident would have on Croatia's ongoing dispute with Italy and Slovenia over the fishing zone, which the EU has also warned against.
Croatia held general elections in late November. Because the new government has not been formed, the zone was enacted automatically based on laws previously passed.
Diplomats have been unable to make progress on the issue due to the slow pace of forming the new coalition cabinet."
Source: SETimes.com
Police spokeswomen Zeljka Radosevic said the trawler crew was fishing near a remote island in Croatian waters and not inside the new Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Protected Zone (ZERP), which extends to the middle of the Adriatic.
Radosevic said the boat was escorted to a port on the island of Vis for investigation. She added that the three crew members would appear before a judge and would probably be fined. It was not immediately clear what impact this incident would have on Croatia's ongoing dispute with Italy and Slovenia over the fishing zone, which the EU has also warned against.
Croatia held general elections in late November. Because the new government has not been formed, the zone was enacted automatically based on laws previously passed.
Diplomats have been unable to make progress on the issue due to the slow pace of forming the new coalition cabinet."
Source: SETimes.com
Friday, January 4, 2008
Many in Slovenia yearn for old Yugoslavia - Telegraph
"Marco Sporar, a 21-year-old business student who studies in the capital Ljubljana, said he understood why posters of Yugoslavia's founding leader and Second World War hero Marshal Josip Broz Tito are appearing again on the walls of many Slovene homes.
'I have a picture of Tito at home, my mother worships him,' he said. 'It was easier to get a job then, now everything is about money.'
Doubts remain about whether the EU will bring Balkans countries, such as Slovenia and Serbia, together or heal the wounds of past conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
'The EU is not united like Yugoslavia. Then every country, under Tito, had a voice. In the EU the biggest countries have the biggest say,' said Mr Sporar."
Source: Telegraph
'I have a picture of Tito at home, my mother worships him,' he said. 'It was easier to get a job then, now everything is about money.'
Doubts remain about whether the EU will bring Balkans countries, such as Slovenia and Serbia, together or heal the wounds of past conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
'The EU is not united like Yugoslavia. Then every country, under Tito, had a voice. In the EU the biggest countries have the biggest say,' said Mr Sporar."
Source: Telegraph
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