Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Thursday, 5 November 2020

By , 05 Nov 2020, 04:01 AM News
Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Thursday, 5 November 2020 Wikimedia - Florian Plag CC by 2.0

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This summary is provided by the STA

New uptick in daily infections, Covid-19 fatalities

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has recorded a new uptick in daily coronavirus infections with 2,027 of 6,311 tests performed on Tuesday returning positive results, or as many as 29%. The country also reported 29 fatalities, a new daily high. Hospitalisations have increased to 979, up by 54 from the day before, with 158 patients now in intensive care, 13 more than the day before. Despite the increase in cases, government spokesman Jelko Kacin noted the reproduction number kept falling, which he finds encouraging. Kacin however added the situation in hospitals remains very serious. Slovenia has an estimated 23,417 active cases. A total of 441 patients with Covid-19 have died.

Janša says Trump re-election pretty clear

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša tweeted in the morning that it was "pretty clear that American people have elected Donald Trump" for another four-year term as US president. The more that there will be "delays and fact denying" from mainstream media, the bigger the final triumph for the president, Janša added. Janša, who also congratulated the Republican Party "for strong results across the US", had endorsed Trump for a second term on 23 October. Janša's latest tweet was accompanied by a warning label by Twitter saying: "Official sources may not have called the race when this was tweeted". It also prompted a series of questions from foreign media at the European Commission's midday briefing. Commission chief spokesperson Eric Mamer would not comment on Janša's tweet, but he did say that as a rule an electoral process was not to be commented on, something that should be followed, while Janša's tweet was going in a different direction. Croatian President Zoran Milanović meanwhile said that he hoped the tweet was not a sign of Janša's conduct at the helm of the EU "because this is not done in principle", referring to Slovenia's spell at the presidency of the Council of the EU next year.

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Environment minister tests positive for coronavirus

LJUBLJANA - Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak has become the second member of the Slovenian government to test positive for the novel coronavirus after Foreign Minister Anže Logar. Vizjak tested positive Tuesday, 3 November. Although he has been feeling well and has not displayed any symptoms, he has been self-isolating since Tuesday, 27 October. As for Logar, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said "he is feeling relatively well, but he is still positive, getting tested again (...) he's got a mild headache." Kacin said three persons were infected at the Foreign Ministry.

October jobless total level on the month before

LJUBLJANA - The registered jobless total in Slovenia stood at 83,654 at the end of October, down 0.1% on September and up 15.5% year-on-year, the Employment Service said, adding that anti-coronavirus restrictions did not increase unemployment last month. At the end of October, 112 fewer persons were registered as unemployed than in September but compared to October 2019 the number was higher by 11,238. The number of newly registered persons was 6,510, up 37.2% on September and down 5.7% year-on-year. 6,431 persons got a job, 20.8% less than the month before and 39.7% more than a year ago. At the end of February, before the epidemic, 77,484 persons were registered as unemployed.

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Slovenia to sent draft recovery plan to Brussels this year

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia will send its draft recovery and resilience plan to Brussels by the end of 2020, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told the press after an online session with his EU counterparts. The deadline to submit draft plans to draw from the EU's EUR 750 billion recovery plan is 30 April 2021, but the European Commission had encouraged member states to start sending them already after 15 October.

Trade unions present proposals for sixth stimulus package

LJUBLJANA - The ZSSS trade union confederation proposes a number of measures for the easing of the consequences of the epidemic. It urged the government to include them into the pending sixth stimulus package. The ZSSS proposes 32 measures, including a 100% pay compensation to one of the parents for child care in case schools and kindergartens remain closed. The self-employed should be reimbursed by the state in the amount of the minimum wage. While the Chamber of Commerce and Industry proposed the government delay the implementation of the new legislation that is to raise the minimum wage, trade unions believe helping companies at workers' expense would be misguided.

OZS updates list of measures it wants in next stimulus package

LJUBLJANA - The OZS chamber of small business presented a list of measures it believes the government should adopt as part of the planned sixth stimulus package to help small businesses cope with the coronavirus crisis. Some measures were sent to the government already in October, but the list has been expanded after Slovenia has gone into partial lockdown as part of the ongoing second wave of the epidemic.

ESS session suspended due to absence of ministers

LJUBLJANA - A session of the Economic and Social Council (ESS) was suspended due to the absence of the finance and economy ministers since employers and trade unions believe that their presence is necessary to discuss the emerging demographic fund proposal and the planned sixth anti-corona legislative package. When today's session is to resume will be probably known on Thursday when the ESS college is to hold a meeting, said the head of the ZSSS trade union confederation Lidija Jerkič.

Telekom Slovenije gets new chief supervisor

LJUBLJANA - Supervisors at the majority state-owned telco Telekom Slovenije appointed Boštjan Koler the new chief supervisor after former Health Minister Aleš Šabeder resigned from the post on 19 October. Koler's deputies are Barbara Kürner Čad, representative of the capital, and Drago Kijevčanin, representative of employees, Telekom said in a press release.

Culture committee continues debate on RTV Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Culture Committee resumed a debate on government pressure on public media requested by four opposition parties. Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija was again in the centre of a heated debate in which the opposition highlighted its importance for the media landscape and the coalition criticised it as biased. The four centre-left opposition parties proposed that the committee call on the government to stop all attempts at subordinating public media, but their proposal was rejected in a 10:6 vote.

Opposition fails with its call for Kustec's resignation

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary committees of health and education resumed a debate on the failure of Education Minister Simona Kustec to wear a face mask at a gala event in late September. The opposition's call for Kustec's resignation did not receive enough support.

AmCham director general expects different rhetoric if Biden wins

LJUBLJANA - Ajša Vodnik, director general of AmCham Slovenija, pointed to the difference between rhetoric and actions as she commented on the effects that US presidential elections will have on global relations. Looking back at Donald Trump's actions in the global arena in recent years, she said he was using very sharp rhetoric, which however was not always followed by actions. If Joe Biden wins, she primarily expects changes in the rhetoric. She thinks Biden could also strengthen the partnership with the EU.

Financial analyst expects Trump to take more pragmatic approach in event of new term, Biden an unknown

LJUBLJANA - Kruno Abramovič, the chairman of asset manager NLB Skladi, believes Donald Trump would probably take a more pragmatic approach should he win a second term, while he finds Democrat Joseph Biden a much bigger unknown. Commenting for the STA as the result of the US elections is not clear yet, Abramovič said that no major difference was expected from the aspect of US economic policies regardless of who wins the vote as the Republicans would almost certainly keep a majority in the Senate despite a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives.

Threat level low for Slovenia after Vienna attack

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's inter-ministerial task force for counter-terrorism efforts has determined that the risk level in the country remains low following the Vienna terror attack, said the Government Communication Office, noting that the likelihood of an attack in Slovenia is thus low, however the possibility could not be ruled out.

Japan decorates OKS boss Gabrovec

LJUBLJANA - Bogdan Gabrovec, the president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee (OKS), is one of this year's recipients of Japan's high-profile state decorations, the Japanese Embassy in Ljubljana said. He will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Golden Rays with Rosette, for promoting judo in Slovenia and exchanges of athletes between Japan and Slovenia, according to the OKS.

Art museum director Zdenka Badovinac receives Igor Zabel Prize

LJUBLJANA - The Igor Zabel Prize for culture and theory for 2020 has been conferred on Zdenka Badovinac, a curator, art historian and director of Slovenia's Museum of Modern Art, which she has been leading since 1993. Badovinac was honoured as one of the most important and zealous locally anchored and globally connected figures in cultural production in recent decades.

Tim Gajser secures his third MXGP class motocross championship

TRENTO, Italy - Tim Gajser won the penultimate race of the MXGP class of the FIM Motocross World Championship season in Italy's Pietramurata having already secured the title of world champion by finishing second in the first leg. This is the third title for the 24-year-old Slovenian motocross racer after the 2016 and 2019 seasons.

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