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This summary is provided by the STA:
Foreign ministers of Slovenia, Japan call for boosting cooperation
LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar received his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi, with the pair calling for enhancing cooperation between Slovenia and Japan in business and politics, as Slovenia sees potential in high-tech. Logar said Japan was one of the most important trade partners and investors in the programme for encouraging investment and internationalisation of the Slovenian economy in the next four years. The pair also exchanged views on the Western Balkans and the Indo-Pacific region. Motegi also met President Borut Pahor and PM Janez Janša.
Pahor finds statements about govt undermining democracy too radical
MARIBOR - President Borut Pahor said in an interview with the newspaper Večer that government officials had indeed created the impression that press freedom or the independence of journalists was at risk. Still, he finds assessments that democracy is being undermined under this government too radical. He said all democratic institutions, including the political ones, were functioning without disruption, media included. But he is frustrated that the STA financing cannot be solved.
EU Commission urges Slovenia to speed up delegated prosecutor appointments
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders urged Slovenia's Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič to speed up the appointment of European delegated prosecutors. The European Public Prosecutor's Office is set to be launched on 1 June and the only other participating country running behind is Finland, unofficial sources told the STA. Reynders addressed Kozlovič in a letter sent to her on Thursday and seen by the STA.
Budget records EUR 1.27bn deficit in first quarter
LJUBLJANA - State budget revenue in the first quarter of the year amounted to EUR 2.4 billion, up 1% year-on-year, while expenditure rose by 37% to almost EUR 3.68 billion for a deficit of nearly EUR 1.27 billion, up from EUR 304.9 million in the same period last year. The Finance Ministry said the higher expenditure was mostly due to measures to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on companies and individuals with wage payments increasing by 13.2% to EUR 391.3 million.
Protesters light bonfire in front of parliament
LJUBLJANA - After a massive anti-government protest in Slovenia's capital on Resistance Day, several hundred protesters hit the streets on their bicycles today, stopping by at the headquarters of the STA on their way to express support before lighting a bonfire in the square in front of the parliament building. The protest, which was held in defiance of the ban on gatherings of more than ten people, unfolded peacefully with most protesters wearing face masks.
Labour Day messages call for job security and safety at work
LJUBLJANA - While coronavirus restrictions prevented traditional bonfire celebrations on the eve of Labour Day, trade unions came out in support of labour right, calling for job security, decent pensions, social security but also for safety at work in the face of coronavirus infections. The youth trade union Mladi Plus urged the government to provide help to young job seekers. Over 82,600 were registered as unemployed in March, among them 16,360 people aged between 15 and 29. Offucial statistics show the outlook indicator is rising and nearing the pre-crisis level.
Slovenian, Italian unions call for easing of border restrictions
NOVA GORICA - Trade unions from the Slovenian-Italian border area staged an annual get-together on the eve of Labour Day, this year drawing attention to the problems faced by the people commuting for work across the border and calling for easing of border-crossing restrictions. Therefore the FJK-SLO inter-regional council of trade unions called upon the Slovenia and Italian governments several times to ease the restrictions, repeating their message today as well.
Vaccination official says deaths among 60s and 70s unnecessary
LJUBLJANA - Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, expressed her frustration at the fact that people in their 60s and 70s are dying of Covid-19 on a daily basis when they should have been vaccinated against the disease. "Dying of Covid-19 in that population in Slovenia at this time is not understandable or necessary, because everyone could have protected themselves on time by getting inoculated if they wished so," said Beović.
949 new infections recorded on Thursday, seven deaths
LJUBLJANA - The number of new coronavirus cases in Slovenia rose to 949 on Thursday, when 4,442 tests were conducted for a positivity rate of 21.4%. Seven patients died. A total of 626 people were in hospital, 157 of whom needed intensive care, government data show. The 7-day average of new cases rose to 640, after standing at 632 yesterday and at 606 on Wednesday.
One in five Slovenians experienced discrimination, report shows
LJUBLJANA - One in five residents in Slovenia thinks they have been discriminated against, and two-thirds think that discrimination is a major problem in the country, shows the 2020 annual report of the Advocate of the Principle of Equality. It says that discrimination is the most frequent in the employment procedure and in access to goods. The circumstances due to which individuals in Slovenia are treated unequally are disability (14%), ethnicity and race (11%), age (6%), gender (5.5%), religion or belief (5%) and citizenship (5%).
Union hotels 2020 results undermined by pandemic
LJUBLJANA - The Group Union Hoteli ended 2020 in the red due to the coronavirus pandemic. It posted a net loss of EUR 4.3 million after reporting EUR 4.4 million in profit the year before. The group's revenue went from EUR 26 million in 2019 to EUR 6.1 million, according to the group's unaudited report. CEO Matej Rigelnik said Union was the only hotel company in Slovenia to avoid state loan subsidies by issuing bonds to borrow on the capital markets.
Annual inflation at 2.1% on higher electricity prices
LJUBLJANA - The annual inflation rate in Slovenia ran at 2.1% in April, mostly due to much higher electricity prices that are back to pre-epidemic levels. The Statistics Office said those contributed one percentage point to the annual inflation, with higher petroleum product prices adding an additional 0.8 points. Inflation was driven down by lower prices of package holidays (-9.2%). The monthly inflation ran at 1%, mostly as a result of higher prices of clothing and footwear (+8.1%).
This April in Slovenia coldest in 20 years
LJUBLJANA - This year's April in Slovenia was the coldest April in 20 years, the Environment Agency said. The average temperatures for the entire country were 1.5 degrees Celsius lower than the national average in the meteorological period between 1981 and 2010. The warmest day this month was 1 April, when temperatures rose to up to 25 degrees in some parts of the country. Only a week later, the lowest average temperatures for April since 1997 were recorded around the country.
Slovenia had 2,108,977 residents on 1 January
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia had 2,108,977 residents on 1 January, of whom 1,940,326 were citizens of Slovenia and 168,651 were foreigners. A negative trend was observed in the last quarter of 2020, as the number of births decreased and number of deaths increased compared to the same period the year before, the Statistics Office reported. At the beginning of this year, men outnumbered women in Slovenia, as there were 1,059,938 male residents and 1,049,039 female residents.
Gorizia community centre celebrating 40th anniversary
GORIZIA, Italy - The Gorizia community centre, a hub bringing together the Slovenian minority in the Italian border city and broader area, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It was marked on Thursday with the opening of an exhibition featuring more than 60 artists who have donated their work to Kulturni Dom Gorica in the last 40 years. The centre was opened with the desire to become a hub of cultural activity in the city, where the entire Slovenian ethnic community from the Gorizia area would gather. It has since gained a cross-border dimension.
Slovenian men's team qualifies for 2022 European Championship
OPOLE, Poland - The Slovenian men's handball team qualified for the 2022 European Championship despite Thursday's 26:27 loss to Poland in the penultimate round of qualifying, as it cannot finish worse than in the second place in Group 5. This is due to Slovenia having better head-to-head score against the group rivals Poland and the Netherlands. The final tournament will take place on 13-30 January in Hungary's Budapest, Debrecen and Szeged and Slovakia's Bratislava and Košice.
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