http://www.ukom.gov.sihttp://www.ukom.gov.si/eng/slovenia/publication/sinfohttp://www.ukom.gov.sihttp://www.gov.sihttp://www.slovenia.infohttp://www.gzs.sihttp://www.ozs.sihttp://www.japti.sihttp://www.ljse.sihttp://www.stat.sihttp://e-uprava.gov.sihttp://www.eu2008.siMit - IndexMit - SINFO March 2008 No.6 - IndexEditorial: Government Communication Office, Director: Anže Logar, MSc, GregorËiËeva 25,
1000 Ljubljana, tel. +386 (0) 1 478 2605, fax +386 (0) 1 251 2312, www.ukom.gov.si,
Editor-in-Chief: Vesna ŽarkoviË, vesna.zarkovic@gov.si, Editorial Board: Valentin Hajdinjak, Branko Vidrih,
Gregor ©uc. Production editing: Nicha d.o.o., Translation: PSD d.o.o., Printed by: Littera Picta d.o.o., Number
of copies: 4600
Available also at: www.ukom.gov.si/eng/slovenia/publication/sinfo
8 POLITICAL COMMENTARY
Dr Matej Makarovi»: the iMperceptible
presiDency of the eU in the slovenian MeDia?
21 − 22 OUR EXCELLENCE
slovenia convinceD the professional pUblic by
winning the first prize at the biggest worlDrenowneD
toUrist exhibition in rUssia, Mitt
2008
27-28 PEOPLE
aUthor, joUrnalist anD songwriter ivan sivec:
i’M still at the beginning of the path!
29-30 CULTURAL HERITAGE
300 years of the catheDral st. nicholas of
ljUbljana
Cover photo: Mill on the Mura River, Photo: Darinka MladenoviË
3
Anæe Logar
THE fRONTIERS HAvE
fALLEN
The last day of March featured the official ceremony at the
point of entry into Schengen airspace. The day before, the
nine countries that became Member States in 2004 entered
the European airspace without internal frontiers. The event
has great symbolic significance. It is concrete evidence of the
advantages brought by EU membership to the citizens of the
mentioned countries, and it brings the Member States a step
closer together regarding their rights and obligations. It is
not a coincidence that four years after the ‘Big Bang’, ‘old’
and ‘new’ Member States are still spoken of many times.
This division becomes obvious when the discussion comes
to the free movement of the four liberties. The employment
markets in one fifth of the Member States are still subject
to transitional restrictions on employment. On the eve of
the ‘third industrial revolution’, which the Slovenian Minister
for Growth, Žiga Turk, discusses within the framework of
the Lisbon Strategy in this issue of Sinfo, it is difficult to
understand that the free movement of the four liberties has
still not been established throughout the territory of the
European Union. Soon, the set of liberties will be joined by
a fifth − free movement of knowledge. Could anyone justify
eventual restrictions on the free movement of this liberty?
The last day in March will most probably be remembered also
by Slovenian secondary school students. Within the ‘Firsthand
EU’ project, more than one hundred representatives of
the government and European institutions visited secondary
schools that they had gone to in the past. The Prime Minister
of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and President
of the European Council, Janez Janša, accompanied by the
European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez
PotoËnik, joined the secondary school students of his former
school. He talked about the experiences he has lived through
since his secondary school days in former Yugoslavia. ‘At
that time in Slovenia there was only a desire of individuals to
have a life like in the EU.’ Today, the European Union is our
everyday, and the prospects for the future are positive.
The PM did not waste any words on the restrictions in the
employment market. Finally, also these obstacles will be
abolished in 2011 at the latest. Just in time to not effect
today’s generation of European secondary school students.
Government Communication Office: www.ukom.gov.si
Government Institutions: www.gov.si
Slovenian Tourist Board: www.slovenia.info
Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: www.gzs.si
Slovenian Chamber of Craft: www.ozs.si
Public Agency of the RS for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments: www.japti.si
Ljubljana Stock Exchange: www.ljse.si
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia: www.stat.si
State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia: http://e-uprava.gov.si
Slovenian Presidency of the EU 2008: www.eu2008.si
february 08 sinfo