Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Wednesday, 19 February 2020

By , 19 Feb 2020, 04:10 AM News
Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Wednesday, 19 February 2020 Flickr - kishjar CC-by-2.0

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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:

Tusk pleads with Slovenian EPP members to form coalition

LJUBLJANA - Donald Tusk, the head of the European People's Party (EPP), pleaded with the Slovenian members of the EPP not to waste the chance to take "leadership in both the parliament and the government", after meeting New Slovenia (NSi) head Matej Tonin in Brussels. NSi is in talks to form a government headed by the fellow EPP member Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and also involving the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Modern Centre Party (SMC) after PM Marjan Šarec stepped down.

Intelligence services commission investigating suspicion of abuse of NBI

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Intelligence and Security Services Oversight (KNOVS) performed an unannounced inspection at the National Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday, investigating suspicion that that outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and his state secretary Damir Črnčec had abused intelligence and security services to "influence, threaten and extort MPs and leaderships of parties of the potential future coalition," said KNOS vice president Žan Mahnič, a member of the Democratic Party (SDS), which is trying to form the coalition. The police released a strong-worded response, denying the media reports that raised these suspicions.

Slovenians quarantined on cruise ship due home by weekend

LJUBLJANA - The three Slovenian couples quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in the Japanese port of Yokohama are expected to return home by the end of the week. The Foreign Ministry, which is organising their return home in cooperation with other European countries, said all six of them were feeling fine. Two of them have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, while the results for the other four passengers are not yet available. They will be tested again upon their return home. Discussing the outbreak today, the government said no infection had been detected in Slovenia this far.

Slovenia well equipped for COVID-19 diagnosis, less for outbreak, experts say

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is well prepared for early diagnosis in the case of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, but its hospitals could not handle a great number of patients, experts told the parliamentary Health Committee. Slovenia's hospitals have been neglected for too long and are ill-equipped for a big epidemic, the body heard. "In Slovenia, we must work on hospital infrastructure. Improvisation cannot be our default work mode," Aleš Rozman, the head of Golnik hospital, said.

Petition urges Šarec to take more decisive climate action

LJUBLJANA - A petition addressed to PM Marjan Šarec and backed by 12,700 individuals and 255 organisations called for the government to take more resolute measures to fight climate change in response to the latest warnings from experts. The call for timely decarbonisation of the energy, transport and agriculture sectors comes as the caretaker government is to adopt the national energy and climate plan, which sets out the course of action until 2030.

Culture Ministry condemns attacks on journalists

LJUBLJANA - The Culture Ministry joined the condemnation of different forms of attacks on journalists reporting about alleged funding from circles around Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of media with ties to the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). Echoing last week's reaction by the Journalists' Association (DNS), the ministry said the recent outburst of public stigmatisation and even street assaults on journalists was a worrying indication of an escalation of pressure.

Illegal migration almost doubled in January

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian police recorded 595 cases of illegal crossing of the border in January, or 84.8% more than in the same month last year. As many as 30% of these involved Moroccans, followed by Afghans and Egyptians. The number of asylum applications rose by 48.6% compared to 235. Only 12 persons were granted asylum, while procedures were suspended in 180 cases, mostly because the applicants left the county. Slovenian authorities returned to 362 migrants to Croatia.

Slovenia fully meets aid commitment for Iraq

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry said that Slovenia had recently donated EUR 40,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross for immediate humanitarian aid to Iraq, thus fully meeting the commitment it gave as part of the international conference for reconstruction of Iraq, held in Kuwait in February 2018. At the conference, Slovenia promised EUR 100,000 in aid for the 2018-2020 period. It had already transferred two EUR 30,000 instalments earlier.

SDS questions Petrol deal with Russian company under US sanctions

LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS) called for an emergency session of the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission to examine a cooperation memorandum signed last September by the state-controlled energy company Petrol with a Russian company subject to US sanctions. The memorandum with T Plus was signed as part of a visit to Moscow by outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and envisages cooperation with the T Plus Group and Schneider Electric Russia in the field of energy efficiency.

Pensioners to benefit from 3.2% rise

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian pensioners can look forward to 3.2% higher pensions at the end of the month as part of a regular annual adjustment with wages and consumer prices. Pensions will be adjusted as of January at the annual cost of EUR 172 million to The Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ), director-general Marijan Papež said as the rise was endorsed by the ZPIZ council. Provided that the economic growth exceeds 2.5%, pensions will rise again at the end of the year.

Cancelled bidder for Koper-Divača bridge tender gets another chance

LJUBLJANA - The bidder that won the public tender for the first of several bridges on the planned new railway between the port of Koper and Divača but was later dismissed over flawed documentation has been successful with its appeal. 2TDK, the state company managing the construction, announced it would ask Markomark Nival to change its subcontractor. This was after the National Review Commission said 2TDK had been right to doubt one of the references listed by the bidder but should not have annulled the tender.

Journalist organisations protest against layoffs at Delo

LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Journalists and Journalists' Association (DNS) issued a protest against the ongoing layoffs at Delo, the largest newspaper publisher in the country. The two organisations say the management is abusing social dialogue and demolishing the newspaper and Slovenian journalism by shedding a quarter of its workforce within three years. Delo confirmed laying off seven journalists and photographers today as part of a reorganisation, but denied any violations.

Cinkarna Celje's main product classified as suspected carcinogen

CELJE - Cinkarna Celje, one of the biggest chemical companies in the country and one of the few makers of titanium dioxide, a substance used in pigments, is facing a challenge after its main product was declared as suspected of causing cancer by the European Commission. Cinkarna Celje said it had been introducing measures to reduce potential risks since 2006. The company regretted that the classification wording was unclear and allowed various interpretations.

Petrol acquiring power retailer for western Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The energy company Petrol confirmed that it had been chosen as the best bidder to acquire E3, the subsidiary of the power distributor Elektro Primorska which is one of the largest electricity sellers in the country. The newspaper Finance reported that Petrol would pay EUR 15 million for E3 and that the agreement was to be signed by the end of February. The acquisition would raise Petrol's share in the electricity retail market to 20% and the share in power supply to households to almost 25%.

Postal company plans further expansion in SE Europe

MARIBOR - Having finalised the acquisition of the logistics company Intereuropa, the national postal operator Pošta Slovenije plans to further expand in the markets of the Southeast Europe and make EUR 195 million in investment over the next six years. The company expects to generate EUR 457 million in revenue this year. Its strategic development plan by 2025 has recently been endorsed by Slovenian Sovereign Holding. Pošta Slovenije and Intereuropa employ a combined 8,000 people.

Israir Airlines to connect Ljubljana and Tel Aviv

BRNIK - The Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) announced that Israeli airline Israir Airlines would start flying between Tel Aviv and the Slovenian capital in April. The STO said that the link was a result of presentations to business and individuals in Israel at the IMTM tourism conference in Tel Aviv. The scheduled link will be launched with three flights in April, and continued with two flights a week between 23 May and 13 October.

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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