Soliven at IPI World Congress in Slovenia

The Philippine STAR chairman and publisher Max Soliven is in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress and 51st General Assembly to be held today until May 12. Chairman of the Slovenian IPI Organizing Committee is IPI Executive Board Member Mitja Mersol. Soliven is the Philippine IPI national chairman.

Slovenian President Milan Kucan will deliver a speech during the Opening Ceremony. Among other Congress highlights are discussions on "Visions for the Balkans"; "What Went Wrong in the Balkans"; "The Future of European Union Enlargement"; "What Price Accesion?"; "How to Guarantee Editorial Independence"; "Protection of Journalists in Regions of Conflict"; and "Terrorism- The New Threat to Global Security". The "Free Media Pioneer 2002" Award will be given and IPI World Congress 2003 to be held in Nairobi, Kenya will also be presented during the Congress.

The 20,000-km. Alpine and Adriatic nation of Slovenia, populated by only two million, boasts of a millenium and a half of history at the crossroads between Slavs, Germanic peoples and Romans. It has always been the most prosperous of the six republics comprising the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since its independence in l991, it has vigorously pursued entry into both European Union (EU) and NATO, and it achieved associate membership of the EU in l996.