Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 20 September 2019

By , 20 Sep 2019, 01:23 AM News
Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 20 September 2019 JL Flanner

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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

This summary is provided by the STA:

Lenarčič hearing at EU parliament scheduled for 2 October

STRASBOURG, France - Slovenia's Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner-designate for crisis management, will have his hearing before the European Parliament's Development Committee on 2 October, according to a decision taken by the Parliament president and faction leaders. The hearing will be joined by the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, with members of both committees having the right to vote on his bid. The Parliament is then expected to vote on Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission as a whole on 23 October.

Govt confirms slightly reduced budget for next year

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the draft budgets for 2020 and 2021 after ministries reduced the planned expenditure for next year by a combined EUR 100 million following a downgrade of Slovenia's GDP growth forecast to 2.8% for 2019 and 3% for 2020. Budget users will still have a record EUR 10.35 billion at their disposal in 2020, and almost all of them will get more money than this year. The government said that despite its raising expenditure, the budgets were still in line with the golden fiscal rule.

Report: NLB with highest non-binding bid for Serbian No. 2 bank

BELGRADE, Serbia - NLB, Slovenia's leading bank, has submitted a non-binding bid for a 83.2% stake in Komercijalna Banka, the second largest bank in Serbia, offering EUR 450 million, which is according to unofficial information obtained by Serbian newspaper Danas the highest bid among the three competitors. The other bidders are Serbia's AIK Banka (EUR 430 million) and Austria's Raiffeisen Bank (EUR 390 million). The sale is to enter the next stage in November and conclude in 2020.

President Pahor enhancing ties with Switzerland

BERN, Switzerland - President Borut Pahor met his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer in Bern with the pair calling for deepening what was said to be already good cooperation between the two countries. "The Swiss and Slovenians are similar and we want to cooperate," Pahor said as he and Maurer addressed the press. Maurer offered digitalisation and new technologies as two areas where cooperation could be enhanced. Pahor meanwhile hailed Slovenia's good experience with Swiss investors, as he completed his official two-day visit to Switzerland. On Wednesday, he met parliamentary Speaker Marina Carobbio Guscetti to discuss Brexit, the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, and illegal migration.

Govt berated for poor strategic planning of nuclear energy

LJUBLJANA - The Court of Audit issued a rebuke of consecutive Slovenian governments after determining that strategic planning regarding the exploitation of nuclear energy at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) had left the NEK owner in limbo about whether a second reactor at NEK would be built or not. The auditors had examined government strategic planning from 2006 to 2016, determining that strategic documents had been ignored on several occasions and new ones drawn up in disregard of previous commitments or deadlines. Despite the shortcomings, the court only issued a set of recommendations to several stakeholders.

Kangler inquiry on hold pending court decision

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Privileges and Credentials Commission decided that a parliamentary inquiry into prosecutions of former Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler will not be initiated until after the Constitutional Court weighed in on the matter. The move comes after the opposition's motion to examine several former and ongoing criminal procedures against Kangler encountered strong pushback from the judicial authorities. Most notably, the Supreme State Prosecution had asked the top court to examine whether the inquiry may be in breach of the constitutional provision of division of power.

Slovenia's yellow vests taking to streets in October

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian right-wing parties and a number of civil initiatives will stage a protest in Ljubljana on 10 October under the slogan Let's Save Slovenia. The demonstration, at which protesters will wear yellow vests will be held at the initiative of former Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler in cooperation with the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS). Social media comments suggest the protest will also be joined by the opposition Democrats (SDS) and the non-parliamentary party Greens.

Ljubljana mosque gets operating permit

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana mosque got an operating permit, the Islamic Community's secretary general Nevzet Porić told the news web portal 24ur.com. It is expected to open for prayers after the New Year. According to Porić, all work on the interior should be completed by the end of the year and all furnishings should be purchased by the end of February. The official inauguration ceremony is planned at the end of May 2020, after the end of the fasting month, said Mufti Nedžad Grabus.

Slovenian basketball team invited to Olympic qualifiers

MUNICH, Germany - The Slovenian men's national basketball team received a special invitation to play in one of the four qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which will be played next June. The invitation is a consolation of sorts for the reigning European champions missing the recent FIFA World Cup in China, at which they would have had a chance to qualify for Tokyo as one of the top two European teams. The other team from Europe receiving the wild card invitation is Croatia.

Owners pulling from Pastika Skaza management

LJUBLJANA - After more than four decades in business, Plastika Skaza, a fast-growing family company specialising in plastic products, is undergoing a change in leadership; owners Tanja and Igor Skaza are withdrawing and executive directors Robert Agnič and Bart Stegeman taking over. Spouses Tanja and Igor will act as supervisors, as they hold 98% of the company, while Stegeman and Agnič hold 1% each.

Survey: Almost 90% of school children encounter violence

ZREČE - A survey carried out among 4,500 primary school students aged roughly 12 to 15 from 70 Slovenian schools shows that 89% of school children encounter verbal, physical or relational violence. As psychologist Mateja Štirn said at a congress of Slovenian psychologists, the results pointed to the need for more preventive programmes that should start as early in the educational process as possible. The survey is part of a programme aimed at preventing peer violence and sexual violence.

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

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