Slovenians urged to postpone travel, as number of coronavirus cases rises
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry advised Slovenians to postpone all non-essential trips abroad in the face of the spreading of the new coronavirus. The unprecedented call has been met with severe criticism from the Association of Travelling Agencies, which said it may spell bankruptcy of all Slovenian travelling agencies. Meanwhile, two new cases of infection have been confirmed in the country, raising the total number of cases to eight, three of them being health care workers. While the first seven patients had all traveller to or through Italy, the information is still scarce in the last patient, a doctor at the community health centre in Metlika. However, Health Minister Aleš Šabeder said that the health workers had not contracted the virus at work but while travelling abroad.
Janša suggests information on coronavirus insufficient
LJUBLJANA - PM-elect Janez Janša commented on the new coronavirus outbreak in Slovenia, saying the best way to avoid panic was to keep people well informed. He assessed the virus had been detected late in Slovenia. "The fewer people you test, the later you find out that something is wrong," he said. Outgoing Health minister Aleš Šabeder is planning to meet Slovenian protective gear suppliers to urge them to increase production. He could not say whether the Skiing World Cup races in Kranjska Gora next weekend or the Ski Jumping World Cup competition in Planica a week later will go ahead as planned.
Hotels closing doors amid coronavirus outbreak
LJUBLJANA - The head of the Slovenian hotelier association Gregor Jamnik said that certain hotels in Slovenia had been temporarily closed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. He described the situation as serious. The Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS) said that 80% of its members were affected by the impact of the global outbreak. The Labour Ministry has already put forward an emergency bill to subsidise pay for workers temporarily sent on furlough or quarantined.
Four Slovenian police officers to be deployed in Greece
LJUBLJANA - After initially announcing that 35 Slovenian police officers would be deployed on the Greece-Turkey border as part of a Frontex rapid border intervention team, the Interior Ministry reduced the number to four in its latest announcement. The officers are to be sent to Greece on Tuesday, also with a donation of material aid, such as raincoats, rubber boots, blankets and sleeping bags, valued at EUR 242,300.
Gender equality in Slovenia comparatively high
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia ranks 8th among 120 countries on the OECD gender equality scale, however women's average monthly pay is nearly EUR 130 lower than men's and two thirds of pensioners below the poverty line are women. The share of discrimination in Slovenia was 12.9%, with discrimination within the family the biggest problem. Official statistics released ahead of International Women's Day also show that Slovenia has the highest rate of female employment in the EU and one of the narrowest pay gaps.
Not guilty verdict in Chemistry Institute boss murder case allegedly annulled
LJUBLJANA - The 2014 murder of Chemistry Institute boss Janko Jamnik that shocked Slovenia will reportedly return to court in what will be the third repeat of a trial featuring Milko Novič, a former employee of the institute, as the defendant. While the Higher Court decision on the prosecution's appeal against the 2019 not guilty verdict for Novič is not yet public, the web portal 24ur.com reported on Friday that the case, which becomes statute barred in October, has been sent into retrial. Unofficially, the Higher Court agreed with the prosecution, which had taken issue with some of the procedural steps taken by Ljubljana District Court judge Zvjezdan Radonjić, who has been adamant Novič could not have committed the crime.
Slovenia to get new biotechnological centre
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will get a new biotechnological centre on the western outskirts of Ljubljana near the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. The agreement on the construction of the Biotechnological Hub of the National Institute for Biology (NIB), valued at EUR 20.8 million, was signed today by Minister of Education, Science and Sport Jernej Pikalo and NIB head Matjaž Kuntner. The 6,500-square-metre research centre is to be built by 2023. The EU is to chip in EUR 16 million.
Open data stakeholders agree on closer cooperation
LJUBLJANA - The Open Data Hub of Slovenia, to be known as the OPSI Hub, was launched in Ljubljana in an effort to further open up public sector data, encourage the use and expansion of the government-sponsored open data portal OPSI and facilitate the cooperation of all open data contributors and beneficiaries. The communication platform was launched by the Technology Park Ljubljana and Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of the Public Administration Ministry.
Info commissioner critical of ePrivacy Regulation proposal
LJUBLJANA - Information Commissioner Mojca Prelesnik criticised the latest proposal on the EU's ePrivacy Regulation, recently put forward by the Croatian presidency, finding that the proposal would lower the level of protection of user rights and open door wide to potential infringements of their rights because of business interests of providers of electronic communication services. Prelesnik believes the proposal is too vague on when and how providers can process and share personal data.
