Last Week in Slovenia: 7 - 13 January, 2022

By , 15 Jan 2022, 11:26 AM News
Catch up with the news from Slovenia, wherever you are Catch up with the news from Slovenia, wherever you are Flickr kishjar CC-by-2.0

Share this:

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA

FRIDAY, 7 January
        LJUBLJANA - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec doubled down on Slovenia's support for making nuclear energy a part of the EU's taxonomy of sustainable energy sources, telling the press that nuclear was crucial to Slovenia's and EU efforts to carry out the green transition.
        LJUBLJANA - Doctors entrusted with monitoring, warning and raising awareness of the health risks of pollution voiced opposition to proposed regulation on waste incineration. The regulation should set emission limit values as low as possible, they said, warning that waste incineration should be a last resort.
        LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Slovenian Police (SPS) tabled a bill backed by over 7,000 voter signatures to give employees better protection when they receive a warning before termination, a system they say would protect workers against abuse of this disciplinary sanction.
        
SATURDAY, 8 January
        LJUBLJANA - Jaša Jenull, one of the figureheads of Friday's bicycle protests, was reported facing a lawsuit in which the Interior Ministry alleges he is responsible for the costs of policing a 2020 anti-government rally. Jenull described the lawsuit as a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful protest.
        KRANJSKA GORA - Sara Hector of Sweden won the women's Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora ahead of France's Tessa Worley in second and Italian Marta Bassino in third. The best Slovenian was Tina Robnik in 8th.

SUNDAY, 9 January
        DRAŽGOŠE - Former President Milan Kučan stressed the importance of resistance and warned of a proliferation of signs of revival of Fascism as he addressed a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the WWII Battle of Dražgoše.
        IZOLA - Voters in the coastal municipality of Izola rejected a spatial plan that would have opened up large swathes of the coastal municipality to development, including on prime agricultural land. Sunday's referendum vote was 72% against and 28% in favour.
        KRANJSKA GORA - Petra Vlhova from Slovakia won the women's Alpine Ski World Cup slalom event in Kranjska Gora. Swiss Wendy Holdener, who was in the lead after the first run, was second, and Anna Swenn Larsson from Sweden finished third.

MONDAY, 10 January
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary commission investigating suspicion of political interference in the work of police adopted an interim report and a resolution proposing the National Assembly urge Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and both of his state secretaries, Franc Kangler and Božo Predalič, to resign, its chair citing evidence that politicians are dictating the work of the police force.
        ŠENTJUR - 57 of Slovenia's 212 mayors gathered in Šentjur, east of Celje, to form a Club of Independent Mayors upon the initiative of Kočevje Mayor Vladimir Prebilič. The idea is to form an alliance to make a mark in this year's super election year in Slovenia, but the club is yet to decide how to take part in each of the three elections.
        LJUBLJANA - The 8 March Institute, one of the NGOs that initiated a referendum on changes to the waters act last year, presented a proposal to repeal eleven pieces of legislation that it describes as harmful. The goal is to collect 60,000 signatures in the course of the campaign.
        LJUBLJANA - The European Research Council (ERC) has granted EUR 2.2 million in funding to a project in which Anna Dragoš from the Biotechnical Faculty at the University of Ljubljana will research the virus-bacteria interaction.

TUESDAY, 11 January
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted amendments to the mining act under which low-volume hydraulic fracturing would be allowed but high-volume fracturing banned, legislation that paves the way for fracturing in the only location in Slovenia where it is currently being explored, the Petišovci gas field in the east.
        LJUBLJANA - The alliance of four centre-left opposition parties, the Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), the Left and the SAB, discussed election campaigning and their joint efforts. They expressed willingness to discuss the potential cooperation with ex-GEN-I director Robert Golob.
        LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković and his two sons were acquitted of tax evasion concerning the sale of shares of the retailer Mercator in 2006 as the court handed down its ruling after a month-long trial. Janković said he had expected an acquittal. The prosecutor announced an appeal.
        KOPER - The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Primorska has been awarded the UNESCO chair in partnership with the Škocjan Cave Park, joining another three UNESCO chairs in Slovenia. The Škocjan Cave has been on UNESCO's world heritage list since 1986.

WEDNESDAY, 12 January
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia reported a new record of 7,420 new daily coronavirus cases, a wave driven by the Omicron variant. Hospital numbers remained low, but massive quarantining was becoming an increasing problem: 10% of primary school children and 16% of secondary students were self-isolating.
        LJUBLJANA - The news web portal N1 cited unofficial sources in reporting that Slovenia is to appoint several ambassadors and consuls this year with the list of candidates to include several closest aides of Foreign Minister Anže Logar. State Secretary Gregor Dovžan is to be appointed new ambassador to Croatia, while State Secretary Stanislav Raščan is to serve in Bratislava.
        LJUBLJANA - The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy called on Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik to draft changes to electoral legislation to ensure that those who may be ill with Covid-19 or self-isolating during elections could still cast their vote.
        LJUBLJANA - A new party called Liberal Democrats (LIDE) was founded with National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič elected as one of up to three leaders in a move showing the party is open to alliances. Promoting liberal values, the party will seek to strengthen the middle class.
        LJUBLJANA - MP Željko Cigler left the deputy group of the opposition Left to join the Social Democrats (SD). The head of the SD's deputy group, Matjaž Han, said this did not affect the relations within the Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL), whose members are both the Left and SD.
        LJUBLJANA - Representatives of the Bank Association urged the lifting of restrictions that the central bank imposed on consumer lending in 2019, calling them illogical and not giving the banks a level-playing field. The association's director Stanislava Zadravec Caprirolo argued that Slovenian households were among the least indebted in Europe.
        LJUBLJANA - Toyota Yaris Cross was selected the Slovenian Car of 2022 in what is the first time in the 30-year history of the contest that the title went to the Japanese car maker. A total of 15 models vied for the title.

THURSDAY, 13 January
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a national strategy to phase out coal and restructure coal regions in line with the just transition principles. The document envisages that coal used for electricity production will be fully phased out by 2033 at the latest. Environmental NGOs believe Slovenia should phase out coal by 2030.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium/BREST, France - Defence Minister Matej Tonin attended an informal meeting of EU defence ministers, warning that while focussing on Ukraine and Mali, the EU must not forget about the Western Balkans, especially Bosnia-Herzegovina, because Russia had certain interests in the region, which could deteriorate the situation there.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly confirmed amendments to the pension and disability insurance act that provide a tiered indexation of pensions, of between 1.7% and 3.5%, as a means of bridging the gap between pensions and wages caused by austerity measures during the economic and financial crisis.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed changes to public procurement legislation that regulate purchase of medical devices by introducing a system of reference prices. The coalition said this would result in lower prices, while the opposition warned that more taxpayer money would be channelled into private pockets.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a proposal for a resolution on the national social protection programme 2022-2030, with development of the welfare system, reduction of the risk of poverty and higher social inclusion among the key goals.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a resolution on the 2030 national programme for higher education, terming it a key strategic document for forming quality goals, standards, measures and policies in Slovenian higher education.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) plans a 5% return on assets in the portfolio under its management for this year, which is slightly less than the estimated return for 2021, shows the annual plan for 2022, which was approved by the government. A slight increase in return is expected in 2023.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce has declared Slovenia's glass manufacturer Steklarna Hrastnik the winner of its award for innovation for 2021. The prize is given out together with the German Embassy in Slovenia and WISE Institute.

 

Photo galleries and videos

This websie uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.