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In This Issue
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Slovenian Teams Raced
Across America
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Compatriot Marko Baloh
Finished Third
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Johanna Bajc Helped
Cleveland Team
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National Assembly Hosted
Slovenians Living Abroad
Slovenian Teams Raced Across America
Annapolis, 28 June - Slovenian ultramarathon cyclist Jure Robic has failed
to defend his title at the grueling Race
Across America (RAAM) after quitting
in protest over jury decisions.
After leading the entire race,
Robic, a four-time RAAM winner, quit
at the final control point on Thursday in
protest, after he was adjudged a one-hour
penalty that allowed his nearest rival Dani
Wyss of Switzerland to pass him.
Robic’s team disputed the penalties
given to the Slovenian and claimed that
the jury had missed infractions by other
riders.
Wyss won the race in 8 days, 5
hours and 45 minutes. More on Jure
Robic’s race and the developments on:
http://www.jurerobic.net/
Compatriot Marko Baloh
finished third
Slovenia nevertheless had a
finisher in the top three at what is
considered one of the world’s most
demanding cycling events, as Marko
Baloh crossed the finish line in Annapolis
in third place in a combined time of 9
days, 21 hours and 44 minutes.
This year’s race, which started in
Oceanside on the US West Coast on 17
June and ran nearly
~~
Slovenians Celebrated
Abroad
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5,000 km to the East
Coast, was entered by 59 riders.
Slovenian E-HUB Team finished
second at 2-Person Team.
Slovenians also had a strong team in the
2-Person Teams competition.
The E-HUB TEAM comprised
of Slovenian duo Erik Rosenstein and
“defending champion,” Tomaz Percic, a
RAAM veteran, who won last year with
Marko Baloh on Team ORCA, clocking
7.02.51. They finished second in this year’s
race and the 3021 mile in 7 days, 9 hours
and 12 minutes, averaging 17.05mph.
Adventures for the cure won
Prledzic Selected in
NBA Draft
~~
Slovenia’s GDP at
90 percent of the
EU Average
Embassy Newsletter
Page 1
July 3, 2009
these men in a category under 50 2P team race.
After the race, the whole team visited the
where they were greeted by the Slovenian Ambassador
http://www.percic-rosenstein.si/
Slovenian Embassy
Kirn and embassy
in Washington,
staff. More at:
Johanna Bajc helped the Cleveland Team
Team Reaching Heights from Cleveland, OH, who also ran in this years RAAM was raising money for a public
school foundation in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Team members Charlie Combs and Richard Waugh worked as crew members for 2008 runner-up and rookie
of the year Mark Pattinson.
An important member of the Team Reaching Heights was Johanna Bajc, assistant to the Slovenian General
Consul in Cleveland, who accompanied and cheered for the cyclists on RAAM race.
Reaching Heights, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Schools Foundation, engages American
citizens to help in the work of providing an excellent education to students in their district, an education that prepares
them for college and adult life. Their mission is to mobilize community resources to foster highly valued public
~~
National Assembly Hosted Slovenians Living Abroad
Ljubljana, 2 July (STA) - Borders are
becoming increasingly blurred in
today’s globalised world and people
are now distinguished only by their
language, culture and national
identity, head of the parliamentary
Commission
for
Slovenians
Abroad, Miro Petek, said at the 9th
traditional meeting of Slovenians
abroad at the National Assembly
on Thursday.
The meeting focused on the
integration and assimilation, two
processes that according to Petek
Slovenians living abroad inevitably
face.
Assimilation comes in
many forms and one can resist the
obvious ones. However, the most
dangerous form of assimilation is
the one that people are unaware of,
Petek pointed out.
Parliament Speaker Pavel
Gantar meanwhile said that
integration and assimilation were
Embassy Newsletter
crucial for the future and the survival
of a national community which is
separated from its country.
Minister for Slovenians
Abroad Bostjan Zeks said that
everyone should make an effort to
improve the position of Slovenians
abroad.
“If being Slovenian will be
difficult than we won’t survive in
the wide world. We do not want
and cannot survive as a nation of
martyrs.”
Turning to the bright side,
the minister pointed to the fact that
the number of pupils attending
bilingual schools was increasing
along with the number of applicants
for Slovenian citizenship.
“We should make some
adjustments here and loosen the
system of granting the citizenship,”
Zeks said, adding that anyone who
wished to become Slovenian citizen
and has a good reason for it should
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be granted citizenship.
Editor of weekly Svobodna
Slovenija (Free Slovenia) in
Argentina, Tone Mizerit, told STA
that Slovenians in Argentina were
striving for social and economic
integration, while trying to preserve
the Slovenian language and culture
for future generations.
Damjan Pavlin of the
Lojze Bratoz Culture Centre in
Italy’s Gorizia pointed out that
assimilation was very much present
among Slovenians in Italy and that
efforts should be made to reduce
the pressure, especially in culture.
Alenka
Uduc,
who
represents Slovenians in BosniaHerzegovina, said that integration
was a better option for a minority,
as it allows the people to preserve
their culture, language and customs.
She also said that their association
recorded less cases of assimilation
than integration.
July 3, 2009
Slovenians Celebrated Abroad
Maša Šiftar de Arzu, Second Secretary to the
Ambassador attended a celebration of the Slovenian
Statehood Day and the raising of the flag in Betlehem,
PA on Friday, June 26, 2009.
Šiftar De Arzu gave a speech in the name of
the Ambassador of Slovenia, Roman Kirn, reminded
everyone of the importance of events that happened in
1991, and expressed willingness to help the Betlehem/
Murska Sobota Sister City Association.
The city of Betlehem, which became a
brotherhood city to Slovenian Murska Sobota in 1996,
has a Slovenian community that came from Prekmurje,
a region that the city is in.
The two cities continue to organize the student
exchange between high schools in Murska Sobota and
Betlehem.
Slovenian students from Prekmurje
who are in Pennsylvania on a 3 week
exchange under the wing of two
Lutheran priests Gary Langensiepena
and his wife, Elizabeth, visit the
Embassy of Slovenia.
P r l e d z i c S e l e c t e d i n N BA D r a f t
Clevland, OH - Emir Preldzic,
a 22-year-old member of the
Slovenian national basketball
team, was selected in the annual
draft of the National Basketball
Association (NBA) as the 57th
pick.
Preldzic will play for
the Cleveland Cavaliers, after
being drafted by the Phoenix
Suns and then traded for cash
considerations.
“Emir is a talented
and versatile player that plays
multiple positions for his team
in Turkey,” said Danny Ferry,
Cavaliers general manager. “We
are pleased to have his rights and
look forward to getting to know
Embassy Newsletter
him more.”
Preldzic was taken 57th
overall by the Suns during
Thursday’s NBA draft. The 21year-old played the past two
seasons with Fenerbahce Ulker
Istanbul of the Turkish League
and averaged 8.8 points on 51
percent shooting, 4.5 rebounds
and 4.3 assists in 24 games last
year.
The 6-foot-9 forward
also averaged 7.3 points on 45.6
percent shooting, 3.8 rebounds
and 2.5 assists in 16 games during
Euroleague play. He has also
played in the Slovenian League
(2004-2007) and Adriatic League
(2006-07).
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July 3, 2009
Slovenia’s GDP at 90 percent of the EU average
According to Eurostat report for the year 2008, Slovenian gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity
(PPP) reached 90% of the EU-27 average. Luxembourg had the highest GDP with 253%, while the lowest was
registered in Bulgaria with 40% of the EU average. Luxembourg was followed by Ireland (140%), the Netherlands
(135%), Austria (123%) and Sweden (121%), Slovenia was at the sixteenth place. It is forecast that the current global
economic downturn will result in a contraction of Slovenia’s GDB by four percent.
Happy Independence Day!
Events
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July 3, 2009