Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Tuesday, 09 July 2019

By , 09 Jul 2019, 02:21 AM News
Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Tuesday, 09 July 2019 Gordana Grlič

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This summary is provided by the STA:

Slovenia to enhance controls on border with Croatia

ILIRSKA BISTRICA - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said that security on Slovenia's southern border would be beefed up, including with new equipment such as drones and an expansion of the border fence, after meeting with Ilirska Bistrica officials and civil society representatives to discuss the situation on the border with Croatia. Šarec, visiting the south-western town along with Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar and Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar, said that he understood locals' feelings of unease about the situation.

Pahor and Erdogan discuss illegal migrations

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Slovenian President Borut Pahor and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed a rise in illegal migrations on the Balkan route as they held a bilateral meeting in Sarajevo on the sidelines of a SE Europe cooperation event. Pahor told Erdogan about the recent rise in the number of migrants entering Slovenia illegally from Croatia, Pahor's office said in a release. Erdogan in turn outlined Turkey's plans about the four million refugees in Turkey, complaining the EU was not fully meeting its financial commitments related to them. The two presidents are worried that the situation in the Middle East could worsen, and hope that a diplomatic solution will be found to the Iran nuclear deal issue.

Slovenia, Croatia present views on border arbitration in court

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Slovenia reiterated its stance that by not implementing the 2017 border arbitration award, Croatia is violating EU law, as it presented its view in an oral hearing of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) about the admissibility of Slovenia's lawsuit against Croatia. While Croatia argues arbitration does not fall under the ECJ's jurisdiction, because borders are a matter of international rather than EU law, Slovenia stressed the lawsuit was not about the border, because the border had been set in the 2017 award. The EJC advocate general will present his legal opinion on the case on 6 November, while the Slovenia side expects the decision on admissibility at the start of 2020.

SOVA did its job to provide for security of arbitration task force

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's intelligence agency SOVA had adequately instructed Slovenia's staff about security risks, so it cannot be blamed for the 2015 wire-tapping scandal related to the Slovenia-Croatia border arbitration process. However, its advice had not been fully heeded. Several commission members visited SOVA today to talk to the staff who had coached the task force working on Slovenia's arbitration case, the chair of the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission, Matej Tonin told the press. Tonin added he could "credibly confirm" that Simona Drenik, the agent in the arbitration case who was recorded talking over the land-line phone with Jernej Sekolec, Slovenia's member of the international tribunal, had not worked for Croatia's intelligence service.

Iraqi man shot by officer after stabbing taxi driver

NOVA GORICA - An Iraqi man injured a taxi driver with a knife and attacked a police officer in the Nova Gorica area on Sunday afternoon. News portal 24ur.com says police are investigating whether the incident was a clash between migrant traffickers. Two police officers responding to a distress call found a taxi driver bleeding from his neck and saying he had been attacked by a man sitting in a near-by taxi. As the police officers approached the alleged attacker, he started running towards one of them with a knife. The officer fired a warning shot and shot the man in the leg.

Slovenia ready to sue Italian radio stations, prefers other solutions

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is getting ready to sue several Italian radio stations for FM frequency interference in the border area, but while the suits will be ready by autumn, it would still prefer to resolve the long dispute in a more constructive way, government officials said. "We don't harbour the illusion that lawsuits will simply resolve this issue. But they will definitely have an impact, including a financial impact," Public Administration Minister Rudi Medved told the press, hopeful that the lawsuits will "prompt Italian politics into action".

Fiscal Council urges more budgetary restraint amid macroeconomic uncertainty

LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council, Slovenia's fiscal watchdog, reiterated in the face of the government's latest budget plans that increasing macroeconomic uncertainties require a more cautions fiscal policy approach. The council wrote that the fiscal goals Slovenia had committed to at the European level were attainable given the current figures. However, it added that the primary structural surplus would also decrease this year even if the fiscal targets are met. "This indicates a continuation of a pro-cyclical expansionary fiscal policy, which we feel is not appropriate in the current macroeconomic circumstances," the watchdog said.

Slovenia completes EUR 350 million bond issue

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia secured EUR 350 million with an additional issue of a 10-year benchmark bond originally issued in January to obtain EUR 1.5 billion. The bond, due on 14 March 2029, has an annual coupon interest rate of 1.1875% and was sold at a price of 109.875%. The issue, which was well oversubscribed, was lead managed by Goldman Sachs International Bank, Jefferies and JP Morgan.

DeSUS to hold election congress in January

LJUBLJANA - The coalition Pensioners Party (DeSUS) decided to a hold an election congress on 17 January. Karl Erjavec, the party's head since 2005, said it was too early to say whether he would run for another term. DeSUS has been on a downward trajectory for some time, winning only five seats in the National Assembly in 2018 and recently failing to secure an MEP post. Asked to comment on speculation that Igor Šoltes, the former Court of Audit head who failed to get reelected MEP standing on DeSUS's slate in this year's EU vote, could succeed him, Erjavec said this was up to the congress to decide and would also depend on his decision to potentially stand again.

Sunday storms caused havoc in central, eastern Slovenia

ROGATEC/PTUJ - Heavy rain, winds and hailstorms that hit the central and eastern parts of Slovenia on Sunday afternoon caused havoc in 63 municipalities and damaged hundreds of buildings as well as crops and forests. The hardest hit municipalities were Zagorje ob Savi, Rogatec and Rogaška Slatina. Ptuj also suffered severe damage. The hardest hit municipalities were severely affected in particular by the swollen Medija and Sotla rivers, according to the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration.

Third incarnation of apparel giant Mura goes bust

MURSKA SOBOTA - The last remaining bit of Mura, once a huge apparel company, went into receivership. Arum, which was founded by an executive and has been leasing the premises of Aha Mura, has thus become the third failed attempt at salvaging Mura's legacy. Arum was founded in 2015 by Dušan Gomboc, Aha Mura's technical director who saved the company in the last minute before it would have to cease operations a year after it formally entered bankruptcy. Arum leased the premises, machinery and brand, and hired 347 of the remaining 380 Aha Mura employees.

HIT shareholders to get EUR 1.15m in dividends

NOVA GORICA - HIT, Slovenia's leading gaming company, will pay out EUR 1.15 million in dividends in 2019, with the rest of last year's distributable profit, which stood at EUR 4.42 million, remaining undistributed, the company's shareholders decided at their annual meeting. They also gave discharge of liability for 2018 to board member Marjan Zahar and to the supervisory board.

Merger of Ljubljana and Zagreb basketball clubs completed

LJUBLJANA - The shareholders of Ljubljana's Olimpija and Zagreb's Cedevita confirmed what is the first merger of professional basketball clubs from two countries. While Cedevita Olimpija will be seated in Ljubljana, its first head coach will be Croatian expert Slaven Rimac, who coached the Zagreb team in the past season. On the players' front it has been confirmed that the team will also feature 27-year-old small forward Edo Murić, who was among those who won the European Champions title for Slovenia in 2017.

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