Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 1 Political-Military Talks Between Slovenia and the United States Washington, May 22, 2007 - Bilateral Political- Military talks between Slovenia and the United States took place in Washington on Monday. This year's talks covering political-military matters were organized on the basis of last year’s very successful consultations. The Slovenian delegation was once again headed by Ms. Anita Pipan, Director General of Multilateral Affairs at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. The main focus of the discussions was multilateral cooperation between Slovenia and the United States within NATO, especially in NATO military missions abroad (Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq). However, the discussions also touched upon several other foreign policy concerns shared by both countries. The U.S. side devoted much attention to the presentation of priorities regarding next year's Slovenian EU presidency. On Tuesday, Ms. Pipan met with The United Nations and with State Department officials in charge of U.S. human rights policy. She thanked them for their extensive support of Slovenia's candidacy in the United Nations Human Rights Council elections, in which Slovenia achieved a landslide victory last week. ______________________________________ Ambassador Žbogar Finishes Cleveland Marathon Ambassador accompanied by Consul General at the finish Cleveland, May, 2007 - Slovenia's Ambassador to the United States, Samuel Žbogar, successful- ly completed his first full marathon in Cleveland on Sunday, after having run half-marathons in Texas, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., in a bid to raise money for the Slovenian-run Inter- national Trust Fund for Demining (ITF). Slove- nia's Ambassador was happy to finish in three hours and 45 minutes in his first attempt at the distance of 26.2 miles (42 km). Ambassador Žbogar was cheered on by Mrs. Žbogar and a group of Slovenian diplomats from Washington, D.C. Cleveland’s ethnic Slovenians rallied as well, waving Slovenian national flags and cheering to the joyous tunes of live accordions. Ambassador’s team of runners included 10k runner Dr. Zvone Žigon, Consul General of Slovenia, in Cleveland and Half-Marathoner, Irena Lukač, economic Counselor at The Embassy of Slovenia.
Transcript
Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 1
Political-Military Talks Between Slovenia and the United States
Washington, May 22, 2007 - Bilateral Political-Military talks between Slovenia and the United States took place in Washington on Monday. This year's talks covering political-military matters were organized on the basis of last year’s very successful consultations.
The Slovenian delegation was once again headed by Ms. Anita Pipan, Director General of Multilateral Affairs at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. The main focus of the discussions was multilateral cooperation between Slovenia and the United States within NATO, especially in NATO military missions abroad (Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq). However, the discussions also touched upon several other foreign policy concerns shared by both countries. The U.S. side devoted much attention to the presentation of priorities regarding next year's Slovenian EU presidency.
On Tuesday, Ms. Pipan met with The United Nations and with State Department officials in charge of U.S. human rights policy. She thanked them for their extensive support of Slovenia's candidacy in the United Nations Human Rights Council elections, in which Slovenia achieved a landslide victory last week.
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Ambassador Žbogar Finishes Cleveland Marathon
Ambassador accompanied by Consul Generalat the finish
Cleveland, May, 2007 - Slovenia's Ambassador to the United States, Samuel Žbogar, successful-ly completed his first full marathon in Cleveland on Sunday, after having run half-marathons in Texas, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., in a bid to raise money for the Slovenian-run Inter-national Trust Fund for Demining (ITF). Slove-nia's Ambassador was happy to finish in three hours and 45 minutes in his first attempt at the distance of 26.2 miles (42 km).
Ambassador Žbogar was cheered on by Mrs. Žbogar and a group of Slovenian diplomats from Washington, D.C. Cleveland’s ethnic Slovenians rallied as well, waving Slovenian national flags and cheering to the joyous tunes of live accordions. Ambassador’s team of runners included 10k runner Dr. Zvone Žigon, Consul General of Slovenia, in Cleveland and Half-Marathoner, Irena Lukač, economic Counselor at The Embassy of Slovenia.
Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 2
Slovenian power: As a polka band greeted him with the Slovenian song "Na Golici," Samuel Žbogar felt right at home after finishing his first marathon. "I thought I'd be more tired," said Ambassador, ac-companied by his wife, Maya. "Maybe I should have run faster."
Cheering team from Washington: Patricia from Uruguay, Mrs. Maja Žbogar, Jean-Pierre Vonarb, Maša Šiftar, Miriam Možgan
Ambassador Žbogar has already topped his goal of raising U.S. $38,000 for ITF, while the U.S. State Department has promised to match the sum with its own donation. The funds will go to six children from Bosnia-Herzegovina who were severely injured by landmines and now require new prostheses. Ambassador's campaign is organized in cooperation with the Marshall
Legacy Institute, an international humanitarian organization which assists nations in building mine clearance and landmine awareness programs. More photos from Sunday’s race:
Slovenian cheering crowd under Slovenian umbrellas
19 Miles and still fresh....
‘Slovenian Power’ at 19 miles…
Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 3
Slovenian Diplomat Runners: Ambassador Žbogar, Irena Lukač, Zvone Žigon.
How to donate to the Ambassador'sfundraising project?
There are three ways to donate funds:1) Send a check to the Marshall Legacy Institute at 2425 Wilson Blvd Suite 313 Arlington, VA 222012) Send a check to the Embassy of Slovenia at: 1525 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC, 20036 3) Donate online at:
Please make all checks payable to MLI and mark thememo, “for ITF". Please inform the Embassy of Slovenia if you send checks directly to MLI.
Lady of Slovenia rededicated to the City of Cleveland
photo from clevelandslovenian.com
Cleveland, May 18, 2007 - The historic statue, “Lady of Slovenia”, was rededicated to the City of Cleveland by Slovenian Ambassador to the
United States, Samuel Žbogar. The ceremony was led by Cleveland City Councilmen, Michael D. Polensek and Joe Cimperman. The official rededication was made to the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank G. Jackson, who warmly re-ceived the Slovenian Ambassador and the many representatives from Cleveland’s Slove-nian community. Additionally, representatives from the State of Ohio, the U.S. Congress, and the Consulates of several European countries were in attendance.
photo Phil Hrvatin: Ambassador Žbogar with the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank G. Jackson
In 1938, Cleveland was presented with a wood-en statue “Lady of Slovenia” by its Sister City, Ljubljana, to symbolize a cultural bridge be-tween the large immigrant community in Cleveland and its native Slovenia. The statue is a work of prominent Slovenian sculptor, Tone Kralj, who carved the 42-inch-tall “Lady” out of a single piece of cherry wood.
The statue was badly damaged and lost in the sub-basement of Cleveland City Hall and is now beautifully restored and on permanent dis-play in the Office of the Mayor at Cleveland City Hall.
A story about the “Lady of Slovenia” statue, written by Dr. August B. Pust, is published on
Timothy Riffle, a member of the restoration team, Ambassador Žbogar, Cleveland City Councilman Michael D. Polensek, August Pust, Consul General Zvone Žigon
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Public Notice
Obveščamo vas, da se čas za uveljavljanje odškodnine iz naslova Zakona o popravi krivic z letošnjim letom izteka. Zakon ureja pravico do povrnitve škode in pravice iz pokojninskega in invalidskega zavarovanja bivšim političnim zapornikom in svojcem po vojni pobitih oseb. Za odškodnino po tem zakonu lahko torej zaprosijo vsi tisti, ki so po vojni živeli v begunskih taboriščih ali jim je bila kako drugače odvzeta prostost, pa tudi svojci pobitih v povojnih pobojih. Natančna pisna navodila in obrazec za prijavo lahko dobite na Generalnem Konzulatu, lahko pa tudi neposredno pri Ministrstvu za pravosodje v Ljubljani, na telefonski številki 011-386-1-434 2702 oziroma po elektronski pošti [email protected]. _______________________________________
Consular Affairs
Slovenian citizens who are eligible to vote are invited to update their contact information for the Voters Registry of the Republic of Slovenia.
For more information on the procedure, please contact the Consular Department at the Em-
bassy of Slovenia, or the Consulate General of-fices in New York or Cleveland. _______________________________________
Grants Available for Foreign Companies Investing in Slovenia
Foreign companies investing in manufacturing, strategic services and R&D operations in Slovenia can apply for financial incentives at the Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments. In 2007, the Slovenian Govern-ment allocated a total of $7.5 Million in funds toward foreign investment projects that have a positive effect on new employment, balanced regional development, knowledge and technol-ogy transfer. More information on eligibility criteria and application procedure is available at:www.InvestSlovenia.org/incentives.______________________________________
Slovenia's Top Two Pianists to Present Their New Album at Klavierhaus –
Fazioli Salon
May 23, 2007 at 8.00 p.m. Bojan Gorišek and Milko Lazar, also known as piano duo, “Gorišek Lazar Two Pianos,” are Slovenia’s most celebrated pianists. After last year’s per-formances in New York (Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall) and Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center), they are returning to the U.S. this May to present their new album which was released in November 2006 (available for sale online at: www.cdbaby.com). The CD produced in collaboration with the Slovene national radio program (RTVSLO) contains a selection of Milko Lazar’s composi-tions for two pianos, written in the past three years. It opens with “Largo Mistico” and con-tinues with three trilogies “Stefbet Trilogy no. 1”, “Stefbet Trilogy no. 2” and “Stefbet Trilo-gy no. 3”, which are based on Lazar’s previous creations and have been newly composed for two pianos. The closing composition “Mirrors” is a reflection of their next album, due to be re-leased later this year.
Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 5 “Gorišek Lazar Two Pianos” will present their new album to New York audiences at Klavier-haus (http://www.klavierhaus.com), where they are guests of the “Klavierhaus presents the Fazi-oli Salon” Program. The performance takes place at at Klavierhaus, 211 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019, on May 23rd at 8 p.m. Admission is free. _________________________________
SLOVENIAN SUMMER SCHOOL FOR YOU- NEW!
July 28 - August 11, 2007 Application Deadline: May 25, 2007 The Ministry of Education and Sport presents a program of summer Slovene language courses for children and teenagers of Slovene descent. Applicants should be between seven and 17 years of age. The school will be held at Dijaški dom in Koper. The daily program includes lec-tures from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. followed by post 3 p.m. activities which include sports and recre-ation, cultural activities, nature trips, and trips to tourist destinations. All levels of ability are wel-come.
Full scholarships are available. For informa-tion on scholarships and how to apply, please contact Dragica Motik at the Ministry of Educa-tion and Sport at [email protected]. For more information on the program and informa-tion on Dijaški dom, you can visit www.d-dom.kp.edus.si.
SUMMER SCHOOL OF SLOVENIAN LANGUAGE 2007 July 2 - 27, 2007 Application Deadline: May 31, 2007 The Centre for Slovene as a Second/Foreign Language invites you to visit Slovenia this sum-mer to take a course in Slovene while enjoying an unforgettable Slovene holiday. Over the years, thousands of students from all over the world have studied at The Centre. Socializing with Slovenes and other Slovene language par-ticipants is a valuable part of this Summer School experience.
The Centre offers two-two week courses: July 2-13 and July 16 – 27, as well as a four-week course: July 2 - 27. Classes will be held in the morning, with additional electives in the afternoon. There will also be a varied social program, designed to acquaint students with Slovene culture, history, and contemporary life. Classes and some activities are held in Ljubljana, however, students have the option to explore a bit more of the country through trips organized by the Centre.______________________________________
Chicago – Slovenian art project gets support from the CEC Artslink
CEC Artslink, an international arts service or-ganization, just announced the 2007 ArtsLink Project Awards for U.S. visual and media arts collaborative projects in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. There is also a collaborative project between artists in Chica-go and Slovenia. CEC ArtsLink will support Temporary Services, a collective of three artists based in Chicago who will travel with their archive, Home Inventions, and continue their documentation of unique inventions and re-in-ventions of every day objects. The archive will be exhibited at Ljubljana's P74 Gallery, which will collaborate with Temporary Services on a publication illustrating the project. For more in-formation about recipients and CEC
ArtsLink programs can be viewed at: www.c ecartslink.org ._______________________________________
THE SHADOW: Jumping, Moving, Tricking…
June 1, 2007, 7:00 pm, Eva Petrič and Lenart Krečič present an evening of photography and jazz at at St. Cyril's Hall, 62 St. Mark's Place (East 8th St.), New York, NY 10003.
Petrič will exhibit visual works based predomi-nantly on her analog black and white photogra-phy of shadows, many of them subjected to
Newsletter May 24, 2007 Page 6darkroom manipulations. She will also exhibit a handful of color works, which play on the same themes. Krečič will lead the Lenart Krečič Quartet._______________________________________
The Lenart Krečič Quartet consists of Gašper Bertoncelj on drums, Marcos Varela on bass, Yotam Silberstein on guitar and Lenart Krečič on tenor sax. ______________________________________
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