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This summary is provided by the STA:
Minister Počivalšek on track to surviving ouster motion
LJUBLJANA - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek looked on track to surviving the ouster motion filed against him by four opposition parties over opaque ventilator and PPE purchases as a marathon debate protracted late into the evening. The coalition backed him, speaking of an unjustified political attack on a minister who did well in chaotic conditions, while the opposition spoke of war profiteering.
Janša hits back at Gentiloni
LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša hit back at European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni following his appeal for explanation over the dismissal of the Statistics Office's director. "@govSlovenia replaced a political appointee as Statistics Office head with an expert with 30 y of experience in this Office. Hope this is the last time you play a political game for Slovenian left," Janša said on Twitter. SocDems current leader and MEP Tanja Fajon said this damaged Slovenia's reputation.
PM checking whether Commission would drop ECB lawsuit against Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - Nearly two weeks before the first oral hearing is scheduled at the European Court of Justice in a lawsuit the European Commission has brought against Slovenia over a 2016 seizure of ECB documents, the newspaper Delo reported that PM Janez Janša had offered a "settlement" to Commissioner President Ursula von der Leyen. PM Janez Janša tweeted today that Slovenia wanted to see whether there was any chance that the Commission withdraw the lawsuit.
Military, minister under increasing pressure over Italy border incident
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) and Defence Minister Matej Tonin came under significant pressure a day after it transpired that soldiers likely had been involved in an incident on the border with Italy in which a civilian was stopped at gunpoint by two Slovenian soldiers. Responding to demands for clarification, SAF vowed to help investigate the case.
Gatherings of up to 500 people and intl. transport to be allowed
LJUBLJANA - The government decided that public gatherings of up to 500 people, including at sports events, will be allowed in Slovenia as of next Monday, while international public road and railway transport will resume. The last Covid-19 fatality in the country was recorded on 1 June and no no new coronavirus cases were recorded yesterday. Data from the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org show that only 15 out of the total of 1,488 Sars-Cov-2 cases so far confirmed in Slovenia remain active. Six patients remain in hospital.
Several EU foreign ministers for reinstating free movement
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar took part in a videoconference on easing coronavirus border restrictions. Hosted by German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass, the representatives of a total of 13 EU member states shared a view that the common goal was to reinstate free movement among member states. Logar said that Slovenia's epidemiological situation remained favourable but that caution was nevertheless needed, so a balance should be found between preserving pubic health and keeping the economy up and running.
Slovenia agrees to accept four child asylum seekers from Greek islands
LJUBLJANA - The government decided Slovenia will accept four unaccompanied minors seeking asylum to help divide the asylum burden between Greece and EU members. The four, located in migrant reception centres on Greek islands, are younger than 10 and meet conditions for international protection.
Foreign Minister Logar to head 2021 EU presidency project
LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed Igor Mally as the head of the project of the EU Council presidency in the second half of 2021, and appointed Foreign Minister Anže Logar in his place. Members of the relevant tasks force were also replaced. The appointments follow the new organisational structure for the preparation and organisation of the presidency adopted by the new government, which features a core task force led by PM Janez Janša and a broader task force led by Logar.
Govt overhauls arbitration implementation task force
LJUBLJANA - The new government has overhauled the inter-ministerial task force for the implementation of the Slovenia-Croatia border arbitration decision, putting Vinko Gorenak, a state secretary at the prime minister's office, at its helm. The task force was established on 6 July 2017, a week after the border arbitration decision was announced, and its main tasks are coming up with proposals and guidelines for coordinated action of state bodies regarding the decision's implementation.
Soldiers' union and Defence Ministry bury the hatchet
LJUBLJANA - The Defence Ministry and the Trade Union of Soldiers (SVS) have reinstated cooperation after the previous agreement was cancelled under the former defence minister, in effect preventing the SVS from representing soldiers in relation with the employer. A new deal was signed today by State Secretary Uroš Lampret and SVS head Gvido Novak.
Maribor airport may become parking spot for idle aircraft
MARIBOR - Maribor airport, which has been laying almost idle even before the coronavirus pandemic, may become a parking spot for aircraft that have been grounded as passenger transport has been halted and is only being gradually relaunched, the aviation portal Sierra5 reported. DRI, the state-owned company which manages the airport, and the charter and aircraft maintenance company Aero4M have reportedly offered medium- and long-term parking in Maribor to international airlines.
State to buy Semenarna's plant genetic centre
LJUBLJANA - The government tasked Slovenian Sovereign Holding, the custodian of state assets, to buy the Ptuj Selection Centre on behalf of the state to keep seeds of Slovenian plants in Slovenian hands, arguing the centre is of strategic importance for the country. The government acted upon the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food's initiative after Slovenia's largest seed company, Semenarna Ljubljana, was sold to a Serbian company in March.
Debate on making sign language an official Slovenian language suspended again
LJUBLJANA - A year after endorsing in principle a proposal to enter the Slovenian sign language into the constitution, the parliamentary Constitutional Commission suspended the debate again to clarify a proposal by an expert group to also include the Hungarian and Italian sign languages. Minority MP Ferenc Horvath said he was aware this would be probably technically hard to implement, but insisted on such a solution and suggested the MPs should back it. All the other parties voiced second thoughts.
At-risk-of-poverty rate down to 12% in 2019
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's at-risk-of-poverty rate decreased to 12% in 2019, down by 1.3 percentage points from 2018, show figures released by the Statistics Office. This means that 243,000 Slovenians lived on an income lower than the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, among them 90,000 pensioners, 40,000 who had a job, 40,000 jobless and 41.000 children.
Extensive monograph on Partisans launched
LJUBLJANA - A comprehensive monograph on the Partisan movement during WWII was launched by publisher Cankarjeva Založba, offering an insight into its emergence and development in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The book aims to "show the historical truth in all of its glory, as well as its delusions, tragedy and crimes", historian Jože Pirjevec said in the preface to his monograph.
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