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This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia changes Covid-19 status of several countries
LJUBLJANA - Bulgaria, Romania, the Bahamas, India and five Spanish administrative units have been added to Slovenia's red list of countries from which arrival entails a mandatory two-week quarantine due to coronavirus. Spain, Belgium, Australia, Morocco, Andorra and Canada have been removed from the green list of safe countries, and downgraded to yellow. The changes were made by the government last night and are effective from today. The red-listed parts of Spain are Valencia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Navarre and Aragon. Sweden and Portugal were upgraded to yellow.
Daily tally of coronavirus infections down, but one fatality
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's death toll from Covid-19 increased to 119 after one more patient died on Thursday as 17 new infections were confirmed from 917 tests, down from 24 the day before, fresh government statistics show. The number of hospitalisations increased by two to 24 after three more patients were admitted and one died. Five patients remain in intensive care. The latest infections take the total case count to 2,156, out of which 240 remain active cases.
Member of PM's staff tests positive for coronavirus
LJUBLJANA - A staffer at the office of Prime Minister Janez Janša has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been on leave for a week and has not been in direct contact with the prime minister. All the staff at who had been in contact with the infected person have been tested and the results of all the tests were negative. Prime Minister Janša, who has been tested as a matter of precaution several times before, has not been tested this time, his office said. He is currently on holiday.
Czech media: Pompeo to visit Slovenia in mid-August
LJUBLJANA - The Czech news web portal Lidovky.cz reported on Thursday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to visit Prague, Vienna, Ljubljana and Poland in mid-August. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry would not comment on the report, and the US Embassy in Ljubljana responded by saying "we do not have anything to announce at this time", however neither denied the news. According to Lidovky.cz, Pompeo is to start his European tour in Prague on 11 August with one of the topics of his talks with the European allies being the new digital infrastructure and the deployment of 5G technology.
TV report alleges seaside town hosted Pivec on semi-private trip
LJUBLJANA - The public broadcaster reported on Thursday that the Izola municipality paid for the hotel accommodation for Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec during her official trip to the seaside town in June with a hotel invoice suggesting she was there with her sons, a charge the minister denied. The minister's office told the STA that Pivec visited Izola between 12 and 14 June at the invitation of the municipality, which also paid for hotel accommodation for ministry officials. The allegations, as well as those concerning her late June trip to Kras, will be examined by the anti-graft watchdog. So has her Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) urged Pivec to provide explanations.
Mladina says questionable asylum policy enforced, ministry denies claim
LJUBLJANA - Mladina reported a new asylum regime had been implemented since June at some police stations on the border with Croatia, which it said had no basis in legislation. The regime restricts the movement of asylum seekers and places them in the centre for aliens in Postojna, where they live in inhumane conditions. NGOs, including Amnesty International Slovenia, expressed concern about the developments. The Interior Ministry and the police rejected the accusations and said asylum applicants were treated in line with the law. The ministry released figures showing a marked increase in the number of asylum seekers sent to the Postojna centre, but said all decisions were made on a case-by-case basis.
Slovenian in Croatian parliament vows to promote minority rights
ZAGREB, Croatia - Barbara Antolić Vupora, the first ethnic Slovenian to be elected to the Croatian parliament, has pledged to strive to ensure implementation of the rights of the Slovenian minority in Croatia. The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) has her back, Antolić Vupora told the STA in an interview. She said she thought she could do more for the Slovenian minority as a party MP than she would if she were a minority MP. In the Sabor, she will be in charge of safeguarding minority rights and promoting elderly care.
Suffering of Roma and Sinti in WWII remembered in Maribor
MARIBOR - The Nazi genocide against the Roma and Sinti during the Second World War was rememberedby the local centre for Jewish cultural heritage, with the ceremony including a lecture connecting the genocide with modern populisms. Entitled The Night Violins Went Silent, the event hosted by Sinagoga Maribor was addressed by Vita Zalar of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, who spoke about the Roma genocide in WWII in the light of populism of today.
Budget records EUR 1.9 billion deficit in H1
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian state budget recorded a EUR 1.92 billion deficit in the first six months of the year, mostly on the account of a considerable drop in revenue related to a lower tax yield as the government introduced restrictive anti-epidemic measures, figures from the Finance Ministry show. The EUR 1.92 billion deficit in the January-June period compares to the EUR 219.7 million surplus in the same period last year. Budget expenditure increased by 27.7%, while revenue contracted by 15.5%.
Slovenia's inflation running at 0.3%
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate ran at 0.3% in July despite a 0.1% dip of consumer prices in a month-on-month comparison due to clearance sales at clothes and footwear shops, data from the Statistics Office show. Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU-wide gauge, Slovenia posted an annual deflation rate of 0.3% in July and prices fell by 0.2% in a month. Inflation was mostly driven by costlier food as fruit prices surged by 16.2% and meat prices rose by 6.3% y/y.
Easyjet back in Slovenia
BRNIK - British low-cost carrier Easyjet has returned to Ljubljana airport after more than a four-month break due to the pandemic. Easyjet is the eighth airline to resume its services at Slovenia's central airport in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. On Sunday, its Ljubljana-Berlin route was renewed, while the first flight from London Gatwick was due today. Airport operator Fraport Slovenija anticipates the return of at least six more carriers, including those flying to Warsaw and Brussels.
Slovenia's population expands by 0.6% with foreign residents
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's population increased to 2,097,195 on 1 April, 0.6% more than on the same date last year, the Statistics Office reported. In the first quarter of the year, the number of Slovenian citizens decreased by 1,900 or 0.1%, whereas the number of foreign citizens residing in Slovenia increased by 3,200 or 2.1% to 159,582, which represented 7.6% of Slovenia's total population. There were 51.2% women among Slovenian citizens and only 33.4% among foreign residents.
Muslim Eid al-Adha celebration adjusted to coronavirus
LJUBLJANA - The Muslim community in Slovenia celebrated its first Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday, at the new Muslim Cultural Centre in Ljubljana. However, under strict anti-epidemic measures believers were let in in groups of 50 in four separate ceremonies. Also called Eid Qurban or Bakra-Eid, the Feast of the Sacrifice is considered the holier of the two major Muslim holidays. It is linked with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, but this year Slovenian Muslims have not travelled there due the pandemic.
Dance project intertwines Ljubljana and Tenerife
LJUBLJANA/SANTA CRUZ, Spain - A dance production entitled Dance, No Goal by choreographer Carlota Mantecón will premiere at the Ljubljana Dance Theatre as well as in Tenerife tonight. The international dance project explores societal relations towards ageing and movement. All the performers are aged above 65 and non-professional dancers. The joint premiere is a result of the pandemic. If it was not for Covid-19, the show would have first opened with the entire ensemble in Tenerife and then in Ljubljana.
Extreme summer temperatures not easing up
LJUBLJANA - This year's July saw similar temperatures compared to the same period in recent years, but more rainfall. One of the warmest days this month is in store for today; extremely high temperatures were recorded already in the morning. Cities and the coast are in for a scorchingly hot weekend. By 9am today temperatures had climbed to 22 degrees Celsius in the northern Gorenjska region and up to 28 degrees in the Primorska region in the west, show data from the Environment Agency.
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