Schedule of Events from 1 to 7 July

MONDAY, 1 July

LONDON - Slovenia's progress in accession to the EU is set to top the agenda as Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is due to pay a one-day visit to Great Britain on Monday. Apart from meeting with his British host and counterpart Jack Straw, Rupel is also due to meet Minister for European Affairs at the British Foreign Office Peter Hain.

MURSKA SOBOTA/MORAVSKE TOPLICE/SREDISCE - Ambassadors from EU member states in Slovenia will inspect four projects that are financed by the EU's Phare programme, worth EUR 3.79m. The tour of the projects is to be organised by the delegation of the European Commission in Slovenia and the Slovene Agency for Regional Development. The ambassadors will be accompanied by the head of the European Commission delegation in Slovenia Erwan Fouere.

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is to meet with representatives of the Slovene minority living in Italy.

LJUBLJANA - A delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is due to kick off three-day consultations with Slovene officials. The EBRD representatives are expected to be acquainted with direct foreign investments in Slovenia, while they will also visit software company Hermes Softlab and retail chain Merkur. On Tuesday, the EBRD delegation is to meet with Finance Minister Anton Rop, Information Society Minister Pavel Gantar, Bank of Slovenia Governor Mitja Gaspari, the chairman of Telekom Slovenije Peter Grasek and the chairman of Slovenia's leading bank, the NLB, Marko Voljc, among others.

LJUBLJANA - Economics Minister Tea Petrin is to address a press conference at which she is to present the achievements of the ministry and future goals.

LJUBLJANA - Slovene President Milan Kucan is to confer a state honour, the honorary symbol of freedom, to the Slovene-run International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF), a leading demining organisation in SE Europe.

RADENCI/MURSKA SOBOTA/KRIZEVCI PRI LJUTOMERU - Agriculture Minister Franci But is to visit the Prekmursko region, NE Slovenia. During his stay, Minister But is scheduled to visit a number of local companies, while talks are expected to focus on agricultural and food policies, as well as negotiations for EU membership.

LJUBLJANA - The Slovene capital is due to host from 1 to 3 July a closed-door session of the management board of the European film fund Eurimages, an institution set up by the Council of Europe in 1988 in a bid to encourage co-production, distribution and public screenings of European films. The session is to be addressed by Slovene Culture Minister Andreja Rihter. Slovenia has been a member of Eurimages since 1 January 2001, and as a member has the possibility of hosting a session of its management board.

TUESDAY, 2 July

STOCKHOLM - European Affairs Minister Janez Potocnik is to visit Sweden as part of his regular series of visits to the EU member states.

SANTIAGO - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Ignac Golob is to attend the two-day ministerial session of the Human Security Network.

LJUBLJANA - The Danish Embassy in Ljubljana, together with the delegation of the European Commission in Slovenia, is to organise a presentation for the Danish presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2002.

JESENICE - The head of the European Commission delegation in Slovenia Erwan Fouere is to take part in the opening ceremony of the Jesenice Business District project, which aims to stimulate the economy in this former Slovene industrial stronghold.

WEDNESDAY, 3 July

LJUBLJANA - King of Spain Juan Carlos and spouse Queen Sofia are to begin an official three-day visit to Slovenia at the invitation of Slovene President Milan Kucan. The Spanish royal couple are to hold meetings with top level Slovene officials.

BRATISLAVA - A session of the joint committee of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which is to be partaken in by the Economics Ministry State Secretary Renata Vitez.

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is to receive the heads of the two leading umbrella organisations of the Slovene minority in Austria's province of Carinthia.

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is to receive outgoing Russian Ambassador to Slovenia Tigran Karkhanov for a farewell visit.

THURSDAY, 4 July

LJUBLJANA - The Dalai Lama is set to begin a three-day visit to Slovenia which will come at the invitation of the Ljubljana University.

LJUBLJANA - Regular week government cabinet session.

LJUBLJANA - Negotiations on a free trade agreement between Yugoslavia and Slovenia are set to resume.

LJUBLJANA - Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is to receive outgoing Luxembourger Ambassador to Slovenia Georges Santer for a farewell visit.

MARIBOR - The European House Maribor and the regional commerce chamber are to stage a conference entitled "The Day of the Slovene Economy". Expected to attend are Finance Minister Tone Rop, among others.

FRIDAY, 5 July

RIGA - The beginning of a two-day meeting of prime ministers of the Vilnius group of NATO candidate countries, including Slovenia. Slovenia is expected to be represented by Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek.

BASEL - A fresh round of negotiations of the successors to the former Yugoslavia on the assumption of cover for old savings deposits.

LJUBLJANA - The head of the Slovene parliamentary group for amicable relations with Australia Ciril Pucko is set to receive the deputy president of the Australian parliamentary group for amicable relations with Slovenia Tanya Plibersek.

LJUBLJANA - The head of the European Commission delegation in Slovenia Erwan Fouere is to participate in a workshop entitled "The Europeanisation of the Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe - the Example of Slovenia", organised by the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, the Jean Monet Institute for Political Sciences of the Cologne University and the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences.

SUNDAY, 7 July

BLED - The Slovene emigrants association is to organise the regular meeting of Slovene emigrants, entitled Meetings in Our Homeland 2002. Slovene President Milan Kucan is expected to be an honorary guest at the meeting.