Highlights - October 2009

INTERVIEW: Matjaž Longar, Consul General of RS in Celovec - Klagenfurt

In 2006 Matjaž Longar became Consul General of RS in Celovec at the Consulate General, which is competent for the Austrian federal lands: Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Previously he has been for many years in diplomatic service, including in Rome and Berlin. All the time he has also been in contact with the minority issues. »I think, that the minority, which has been exposed for decades to strong assimilation, can no longer afford fragmentation of its potentials and urgently needs to develop an effective and constructive form of internal dialogue«, among other things in an interview for our magazine said Mr. Longar.

THE TOPIC OF THE MONTH: International Year of Astronomy and the Slovenes

The United Nations on the 20th of December 2009 proclaimed International Year of Astronomy - IYA2009. Although astronomy as one of the first sciences began to develop already in the ancient past, it is exactly 400 years ago, when in 1609 as one of the first Galileo Galilei began a systematic observe of the night sky with a simple telescope. With this began a new era in astronomy and on this respectable anniversary the International Astronomical Union (IAU) this year makes a number of activities under the heading: "The universe is above you. Discover it!" Also the Slovenes denote the International Year of Astronomy with a series of events and activities on the national, regional and global levels. Slovenes have been occupied with astronomy for at least nine centuries. We are one of the few nations that had our astronomer already in the 12th century, at least three astronomers before Nicolaus Copernicus and at least five astronomers before Johannes Kepler! In the article we therefore looked at the Slovene contribution to the development of astronomy. Among other things we presented Herman of Carinthia, Andrew Perlah, stopped at the Herman Potocnik Noordung, Paul Kunaver and Anton Peterlin. Also our contemporaries have contributed to the development of this science - compatriots from the world, including Dušan Petrač and Sunita Williams, paying a visit to Slovenia right in these autumn days. She reaped a lot of attention of the media and the public.

A TALK TO THE FELLOWCOUNTRYWOMEN: Irena Sterckx Militarev, editor of Geneva News

Irena Sterckx Militarev, editor of Geneva News and active member of the Association of Geneva Slovenes has been in Switzerland for 16 years owing to love. Now she lives with her husband and three children in Lausanne at the Geneva lake and she says for herself, that she is »a graduated mum«, dealing with the organization of a family life. She devotes a lot of her free time and interest particularly to the Slovene language and culture. «I grew up in the theater world, and I managed to keep in touch with interesting people in Slovenia and Switzerland. Probably because we have a common theme - culture, and if what connects us then this may be right culture.«

SPORTS: Slovenian basketball players finished in the fourth place at European Championship (EuroBasket 2009)

The Slovenian basketball players lost against Greece in the small final at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland. They had only two points missing to the historic bronze. However the Slovenian basketball team took an important step with the fourth place toward the European summit. Slovenia has never had such a high final score in the 18 - year state history. At first glance the ungrateful fourth is still worthy of all congratulations. So the chosen team of the selector Jure Zdovc secured the appearance at the World Championship in Turkey and the European Championship in Lithuania 2011.