Schedule of Events for Friday, 21 October

LJUBLJANA - President Janez Drnovsek is to host the 8th conference on the future of Slovenia, this time focusing on the EU's goals from the aspect of the EU's budget framework for the next seven years; begins at 10 AM. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - The OSCE chair-in-office, Slovenia's FM Dimitrij Rupel is to host a meeting of mediators on the Transdniester conflict, starting at noon. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - Romanian Economics and Trade Minister Ioan-Codrut Seres is due to visit Slovenia. He is to meet Slovenian counterpart Andrej Vizjak, with whom he will sign a memorandum on cooperation between the ministries. The pair are to speak to the press at 11:30. Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce is to host a Slovenian-Romanian business conference at 9:30 AM to coincide with the visit. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary finance and monetary policy committee is to launch a session at 9 AM dedicated to the 2006 and 2007 budget bills. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - The Manager Association is to stage a meeting to debate the proposed tax reform that will see the attendance of foreign experts, including former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar. Also expected to attend are representatives of the government reform committee, financial experts, representatives of employers and the unions; starts at 9 AM. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - The College of Deputy Group Leader is to meet at noon to debate the agenda of the October session of parliament.

LJUBLJANA/VIPAVA - Paul J. Crutzen, the 1995 Nobel Laureate for chemistry, is set to visit Slovenia. He is to meet Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Jure Zupan. Moreover, he is to deliver a lecture at Zemono Castle in the evening. Zupan and Crutzen are to speak to the press at 1:30 PM.

LONDON, the UK - The conclusion of a two-day informal meeting of EU health ministers on the Union's readiness for an avian flue pandemic in Europe, also attended by Slovenian Health Minister Andrej Brucan.

ZAGREB, Croatia - A meeting of Slovenian Defence Minister Karl Erjavec and his Croatian counterpart on the margin of a ministerial meeting of the Central European Nations' Cooperation in Peace Support (CENCOOP) is planned for 2 PM.

LJUBLJANA - The Centre for Public Opinion Research is to present the results of October's Politbarometer survey; at noon. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - Acting head of the Directorate for Electronic Communications at the Economics Ministry Matjaz Jansa is to outline the ministry's response to an official warning from the European Commission on Slovenia's supposed failure to ensure full independence of the national telecommunications regulatory authority; at 1:30 PM.

LJUBLJANA - The new leader of the opposition Liberal Democracy (LDS) Jelko Kacin and the head of the party's deputy group Anton Rop are to hold a joint conference at 1:30 PM.

LJUBLJANA - The Union of Education, Science and Culture is to hold a press conference at 10:30 AM to outline its views on the proposed structural reforms in Slovenia and the reforms of the education system.

LJUBLJANA - Parliament is to host a public debate on the proposed changes to the civil servants act, which envisages a 2% cut in the size of the public administration by 2007; starts at 10 AM.

KRANJSKA GORA - The Slovenian Incoming Workshop, a forum of Slovenian tourism, is to get underway at 9 AM. (STA)

LJUBLJANA - The final day of "e-Challenges e-2005", an EU-sponsored three-day international conference on the challenges of information and communication technologies.

MARIBOR - A panel entitled "Europe in the Heart - the Destiny of the EU Constitutional Treaty", organised by an NGO and to be attended by FM Dimitrij Rupel and German Ambassador to Slovenia Hans Jochen Peters, among others, is planned for 4 PM.

RADGONA - The Slovenian World Congress is organising a two-day meeting entitled "When Borders Are Gone", with a debate on Slovenian identity. Starting at 10 AM, the event is to be addressed by the Slovenian ambassador to Austria and his Austrian counterpart in Slovenia.

LJUBLJANA - The launch of the third and last volume of "The Great Lexicon of Slovenia" (Slovenski veliki leksikon) is scheduled for 11 AM.

LJUBLJANA - Press review. (STA)

In case of further queries please contact duty editor at +386 1 241 0109:

8:30 AM to 3:30 PM: Eva Horvat
3:30 PM to 10:00 PM: Gorazd Jukovic

Comments and suggestions may be sent to: english@sta.si