STA, 26 February 2020 - With spring approaching, farmers in areas that have seen an influx in bear and wolf attacks in the recent years worry that letting their animals out to pasture would prove fatal despite the emergency measures taken last year to decrease the population of large carnivores in Slovenia.

Between July 2019 and the end of January, the bear population has been reduced by 172 and the wolf population by 11, nearly on target with an emergency law passed last year. Specially authorised hunters shot 161 bears and four wolves, the rest died due to other reasons.

Nonetheless, 22 attacks on sheep, cattle and horses have been reported this year so far, the Environment Ministry told the STA.

No additional culling measures are planned at this point, and large carnivores can only be shot if they pose significant threat to humans and property, and under strict rules.

What is more, the Environment Ministry must draft a new quota reasoning for bears after an environmental NGO successfully challenged the previous one in administrative court in April 2019.

The ministry told the STA that the reasoning would be based on proving that the number of conflicts continued to increase despite measures addressing cohabitation issues.

The reasoning will also have to submit scientific proof that the planned cull quota will ensure an appropriate decrease in population to lower or stop the increase in conflicts.

Last year, bears attacked 461 times and wolves 327 times. Expert estimates suggested that some 1,000 bears lived in Slovenia last year and about 80 wolves.

Now, farmers in the woody Kočevje area are worried that they will face the same problems as last year once they let their animals out to pasture this spring.

"We are afraid that wolves will kill [our sheep] and we will lose everything. Many farmers have heard wolves gathering around sheep pens already," the civil initiative Aktivna Kočevska has said in a letter addressed to Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec.

They demand that the population of large carnivores be reduced to "numbers acceptable to the environment", which they believe was last the case in 1999 and 2000.

First step to this end may be made today, as the upper chamber of parliament, the National Council, discusses another emergency bill for the culling of large carnivores drafted by one of the national councillors.

All our stories about wolves are here, and those about bears are here

In a recent survey conducted by the Institute of Civil Engineering, the Architecture Studio Krištof and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana, the experts examined possible solutions for earthquake reinforcement of the 15 most obviously problematic apartment blocks in the centre of Ljubljana that were built between the years 1959 and 1965, and for five of them they see no other solution than demolition and replacement construction.

The survey was commissioned by the Ljubljana City Government, with a focus on 15 buildings built before the first rules on earthquake-resistant construction were introduced following the 1963 earthquake in Skopje. In addition to the building standards, the criterion was also the height of the buildings, since the densest settlement would put most people at risk in the event of a collapse. The buildings in question are all towers between nine and 12 floor high, with only a few of them having even the minimum amount of reinforcement.

According to Marjana Lutman of the Institute of Civil Engineering, for ten of the buildings adequate earthquake safety can be achieved by internal or external fortification. For towers on Štefanova, Rozmanova, Pražakova and Cigaletova Street as well as Hrvatski trg, however, the experts see no other solution but demolition.

Amid mounting real estate prices in Ljubljana centre the question arises what exactly does this mean for the owners of apartments in these buildings?

For the national broadcaster’s MMC portal the city government explained that the results of the survey only indicate possible solutions, and that concern for the earthquake safety of buildings is primarily the responsibility of the owners. It is up to them to decide whether or not to accept the proposals.

However, interventions to increase seismic safety are associated with high costs. Both exterior and interior fortifications are expected to cost an average of € 5 million for each building, or more than € 110,000 for each housing unit. In contrast, the complete replacement of an old building with a new one would cost an average of almost € 8 million, which means up to € 180,000 per household.

Some apartment owners are convinced that the earthquake safety standards in the survey were unrealistic and that human factors could be taken into account in such cases, and so the criteria could be slightly adjusted. “Standard Eurocode 8 assumes 100% safety, but it does not hold that 100% safety must be maintained in order for a building to survive or fail in a major earthquake. We probably won’t just demolish the old city centre of Ljubljana just because it doesn’t meet the Eurocode 8 standard,”' stated an architect and resident of one of the endangered towers for MMC, Nika Grabar.

“Slovenia is located in a very earthquake-prone area, and according to some estimates there are more than 2000 earthquake safety inadequate buildings in Ljubljana  and around 550 in Maribor, among them several schools and other public institutions,” stated Dr. Peter Fajfar of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy for MMC. “There are 39 schools in Slovenia that were built at the most critical time, 14 of which are in Ljubljana. While considerable obstacles can be found with tackling this problem when it comes to private property in residential buildings, the state has no reason not to immediately undertake earthquake reinforcement measures when it comes to its own buildings,” he added.

All our stories about earthquakes and Slovenia can be found here

STA, 26 February 2020 - Coarse particles (PM10) are seen as the biggest air pollutant in Slovenia with data from the Environment Agency's monitoring stations showing the highest concentrations for urban areas of Celje, Murska Sobota, Zagorje ob Savi, Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo Mesto and Trbovlje.

Celje most polluted city, but getting cleaner

With a toxic industrial legacy, Celje stood out last year as the only location in Slovenia to exceed limit daily PM10 concentrations more than the allowed 35 times a year.

The limit 24-hour mean concentration of PM10 particles, set at WHO guideline value of 50 microns per cubic metre (ug/m3), was surpassed on 42 days, which compares to 35 days in 2018, 49 in 2017, 52 in 2016 and 70 days in 2015.

Excessive concentrations are recorded mainly in winter, when heating adds to other sources of pollution. Another downside is Celje's location in a basin where air pollution is aggravated by temperature inversions in winter.

Local authorities say the city will breathe cleaner air once they have implemented all sustainable mobility projects, and when the state builds a bypass to divert transit traffic out of the city.

To improve its air, the city is expanding its gas pipeline network and district heating system, renovating public buildings to make them more energy efficient and expanding its bicycle sharing system.

It has bought ten compressed natural gas city buses and built a modern filling station with a new park and ride facility to open on the city's outskirts by summer.

Environment Agency data show major air polluters in Celje are the Merkscha veneer mill and chemical company Cinkarna Celje, both of which say they have modernised to reduce emissions.

The mill says it has reduced annual dust emissions from 84 tonnes in 1974 to an average 13 tonnes a year, while Cinkarna says it has reduced its dust emissions by 69% since 2008.

Ljubljana improving its air

City authorities say that air quality in Ljubljana is good; above-limit particle pollution is recorded only occasionally during the heating season. The main challenge outside that season is traffic.

Three out of four homes in the capital are connected to the district heating systems, so pollution in winter is mainly due to household heating on the outskirts.

The Ljubljana-Centre monitoring station recorded an annual mean value of 34.4 PM10 ug/m3 last year, down from 35.8 in 2018; the number of days on which the limit was exceeded dropped from 51 to 37.

The value of PM2.5 stayed at 21 ug/m3, the limit being 25 ug/m3, and the average annual concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was reduced from 48 to 45.3 ug/m3, the limit being 40 ug/m3.

The Ljubljana-Bežigrad monitoring station, which is representative for the whole city, recorded the annual mean for PM10 dropping from 26.9 to 23.2 ug/m3 and the number of above-limit days reduced from 28 to 16.

The annual mean for PM2.5 fell from 19 to 17 ug/m3 and the annual NO2 mean fell from 25.7 to less than 25 ug/m3 although data for December are not available yet.

The key step to improving the city's air was the closure of a section of Slovenska Cesta thoroughfare to all traffic except for buses and taxis. "Measurements show the value of black carbon there has dropped by 70% compared to background area [Vojkova Street], nor have values at surrounding roads increased," city authorities say.

Apart from implementing the sustainable mobility strategy and promoting cycling and walking, a key measure ahead will be a new gas steam power station to replace two out of three coal units at the TE-TOL co-generation plant.

The EUR 130 million investment is to allow the city to replace 70% of coal with natural gas by the end of 2022. Coal is to be fully phased out at TE-TOL in the future.

Under a private-public partnership signed in 2017, 48 public buildings in the municipality are to be renovated to improve their energy efficiency at the cost of EUR 14.9 million, VAT excluded, to save 8.25 million kilowatt hours of energy or over EUR 1 million a year.

Maribor air improving, not yet matching guidelines

Slovenia's second city has been improving its air pollution track record, but PM10 values are still above WHO guidelines, in particular in winter. Between January and November 2019, daily values in the centre were above the limit on 10 days, which compares to 30 the year before.

The city authorities say that the concentrations measured in recent years have been the lowest since 2001, which they attribute to the many measures taken, in particular in sustainable mobility and heating.

However, emissions from industrial sources have almost doubled over the past decade, which is due to new companies mushrooming up in business zones on the sites of once large companies that went bankrupt after independence.

The register of fixed air pollution sources shows the car parts maker Cimos Tam as by far the largest generator of dust, with other major polluters being bread and pasta company Žito, abrasives maker Weiler, Maribor foundry and the hydraulic lifting systems maker Palfinger.

Maribor also gets 13% of all traffic emissions in the country. On the city's periphery the main problems is emissions from individual household heating devices.

Among other measures taken, the city is planning to electrify public passenger transport and expand the network of cycling paths and pedestrianised zones. The city is served by a hybrid bus and a small plug-in passenger vehicle called Maister, which is free to use.

In a public-private partnership and with the help of EU funds, 24 public buildings have been renovated to improve their energy efficiency, including schools, kindergartens and sports and ice rink arenas. The city is also expanding its district heating and gas networks.

Murska Sobota introducing automatic pollution notification

One of the areas with the highest levels of PM10 in the country, Murska Sobota saw the limit daily value exceeded 28 times last year, down from 46 in 2018. The data are from one of the two monitoring stations, with two more to be added soon.

The city is also introducing a smart sensor system to alert residents when to keep indoors due to excessive concentrations of air pollutants. Kindergartens, schools, nursing homes and other public institutions will get notifications automatically.

Based on the data gathered, city authorities will implement further measures to reduce PM10, including energy overhaul of buildings. The main sources of pollution are household furnaces and traffic.

The city has been promoting the use of public transportation, cycling and walking, slowing down traffic, securing its smooth flow, creating pedestrianised zones and expanding cycling paths and green areas.

Zasavje major particle pollution hotspot

The former mining and industrial region of Zasavje in central Slovenia remains one of the most heavily polluted regions in the country, the main reasons being emissions from industry, household furnaces and traffic, coupled with adverse meteorological conditions.

All of the region's major towns - Trbovlje, Zagorje ob Savi and Hrastnik - are located in the narrow, poorly ventilated valleys along the Sava River, which means that temperature inversion keeps polluted air close to the ground.

The Environment Agency (ARSO) has been recording a decline in annual mean concentrations of PM10 since 2002 as a result of lower emissions and purification systems at industrial facilities.

Last year the daily threshold PM10 values were exceeded 28 times in Zagorje, 16 times in Trbovlje and 9 times in Hrastnik.

But while ARSO data show that Hrastnik air is getting cleaner, those from the National Public Health Institute show the town had the highest death rate attributable to air pollution in the country between 2016 and 2018.

The local authorities argue that the data obtained from the ARSO monitoring station, located in a sports park away from sources of pollution, is not realistic. However, their appeals to ARSO and the Environment Ministry to relocate the station and set up additional ones has not been heeded.

In Trbovlje, the biggest source of PM10 are small household combustion installations. The biggest industrial polluter in the region used to be the cement plant, part of the Switzerland-headquartered multinational LafargeHolcim, which suspended production in 2015

The Hrastnik chemical company TKI would not disclose its air improvement measures for the STA, while the glassworks Steklarna Hrastnik as a major Zasavje polluter pointed to its investment into innovation and greener production.

Novo Mesto yet to see significant improvement

Novo Mesto saw the threshold daily PM10 concentration exceeded 18 times last year, which is on a par with previous years. City authorities say that this means that more effort by everyone involved will be needed to achieve meaningful improvements in air quality.

To help plan further measures and evaluate the results of those already taken the city set up own air quality monitoring devices at 14 additional locations last year.

Household heating devices are blamed for two thirds of coarse matter particle emissions, with the other major source being road traffic.

The city has been investing intensively in sustainable mobility projects, including by switching to gas- and electricity-powered public transportation, putting in place plug-in infrastructure for cars and promoting walking, cycling and car sharing.

Like in other parts of the country, measures to modernise household heating systems are being taken with the help of subsidies from the Eco Fund.

Šalek Valley air cleaner, concerns about waste incineration at TEŠ

Air quality in the Šalek Valley (NE) has improved since the launch of generator 6 at the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant (TEŠ) in June 2015. However, the plant's plans to replace part of coal with waste as fuel are causing public concern.

TEŠ says it has reduced CO2 emissions by 30% and substantially cut dust emissions. After the overhaul of the substitute unit 5 in 2017 and 2018, SO2 emissions have been halved compared to the recently phased out generator 4, NO emissions have been reduced by 60% and particle emissions by 80%.

The plant is considering waste co-incineration, which it says would reduce rather than increase the harmful impact on the environment. Its analyses show that 160,000 tonnes of alternative fuel would equal to 215,000 tonnes of fossil fuel, reducing SO2 emissions by 156,000 tonnes a year, with other emissions kept within permitted values.

The local environmental movement opposes the plans, arguing that co-incineration would "cancel out the first positive steps to improving the air". The movement also says that emissions from generator 5 show TEŠ has not met the cuts promised when planning unit 6.

The movement is collecting signatures against co-incineration, and a civil initiative is planning to challenge waste incineration in a referendum.

Kranj removed from air pollution blacklist

Kranj, Slovenia's fourth largest city, used to be one of the category 1 particle pollution areas in the country, but its air has since improved so that in February 2019 it exited the national air quality improvement programme.

The city has been focusing on measures to reduce emissions from building heating and road traffic. In a EUR 6.2 million project subsidised by EU cohesion funds, 22 public buildings have been renovated to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,300 tonnes a year.

Other measures include those aimed at improving traffic flow and promoting sustainable mobility with the first P+R and an integrated passenger terminal in the pipeline, along with the expansion of cycling paths and its cycle share network, the biggest e-bike system in the country.

Mayor Matjaž Rakovec is proud on the improvements, pledging for the efforts to continue. Residents can follow air quality monitoring at three most pollution-prone spots in the city.

Traffic major source of pollution on coast

Although the port town of Koper does not rank among areas with above-limit levels of air pollution, it does exceed limits at times, the main reason being transit traffic during the summer season.

Emissions from the city's dense road network rise several-fold in summer when the situation is compounded by ozone pollution.

As yet incomplete data from ARSO show hourly ozone warning limits in Koper were exceeded four times in 2019, all in June, while the daily 8-hour target level was surpassed 44 times, above the 25 permitted.

The daily PM10 mean concentration was exceeded 8 times in 2019, four times in 2018 and 18 times in 2017.

The city has made steps to reduce pollution, including measures to slow down traffic, expand green areas and promote green mobility, but local official say that the traffic problem may be solved comprehensively only in cooperation with the neighbouring communities and the national government.

The city has renovated more than half of all public buildings and partly refurbished 90% of buildings under its management in recent years to improve their energy efficiency.

PM10 levels are also monitored at the Koper port, but the operator Luka Koper says the values at the port are much lower than in many other parts of the country.

STA, 25 February 2020 - Public institutions in Slovenia have started taking precautionary measures to protect staff against coronavirus infections after first cases of the virus were confirmed in neighbouring Italy, Austria and Croatia.

Some schools have cancelled planned activities, including parent-teacher conferences. One secondary school in Ljubljana, Gimnazija Poljane, said it had called off international exchanges with Italy and an excursion to Rome planned in April.

The University of Ljubljana has called on all students and faculty who have been to parts of Italian affected by the coronavirus in the last ten days to remain in self-imposed quarantine for two weeks.

The Education Ministry has issued general guidance to educational institutions urging head teachers and directors to prepare contingency plans to make sure teaching and research may continue without disruption.

Schools have been given discretion to estimate risk and adjust their activities accordingly.

Half the schools in the country are closed this week anyway, as students in the eastern half of Slovenia have their week-long winter holiday.

In Primorske, the region closest to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, cultural institutions have started cancelling events as well.

A concert in Piran dedicated to the 250th death anniversary of the composer Giuseppe Tartini has been called off, as has the opening show of a Slovenian-Italian cross-border theatre festival in Gorizia.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry State Secretary Simona Repar Bornšek told the parliamentary Health Committee that life must not come to a halt.

"In terms of expertise, there is no reason to call off public events... Institutions must make sure that health care workers and those at the borders are protected but there are no special instructions for healthy people," she said, repeating once again that there is no reason for healthy people to wear face masks.

The committee session was also attended by Italian Ambassador to Slovenia Carlo Campanile, who presented the situation in Italy and called for transparent communication to fight misinformation.

Repar Bornšek also said that patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19 will be directed to health centres that provide 24/7 services. Only severe cases will be hospitalised, therefore the existing capacities are expected to suffice.

Meanwhile, a meeting hosted by Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza resulted in the decision of health ministers from neighbouring countries, including Slovenia's Aleš Šabeder, to keep the borders open.

Keep up with all the news on coronavirus and Slovenia here

According to the national broadcaster's portal MMC, waste packaging is pilling in the yards of the utility companies again. A total of 16,400 tonnes of packaging waste have already accumulated across the country.

The largest pile of garbage lies on the outskirts of the capital. Voca Snaga collects garbage in eleven municipalities and covers waste disposal for one fifth of the country. Nina Sankovič from Voka Snaga told the MMC that "the situation is terrible. We were desperate in 2018, but today we can say that the times we thought we could handle the situation are now gone. Piled up packaging in the size of 17 Olympic swimming pools might catch a fire and we are only a kilometre away from a residential area."

The main reason behind the growing piles of disposed packaging is that the six Slovenian packaging waste management companies (DROE) don't collect it. That is because these companies finance their work from a packaging tax, only paid by companies which produce or import more than 15 tonnes of packaging. According to the Court of Auditor's data, as much as 53 percent of packaging waste is not included in this system.

For a while DROEs were required to collect all of the waste packaging until the Administrative Court reversed the changes to the environmental permits issued by the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARSO) in December 2019. Since January 1^st 2020, the companies have started to comply with the provisions of the original environmental permits, which only contract them to take care of the amount of packaging waste produced or imported by those who pay the aforementioned tax. Thus what is piling up in the yards of the utility companies is “orphan” waste packaging.

Although the discussion has dragged on since 2018, the problem of fair packaging payment still hasn’t been settled. Besides, packaging imports are very difficult to control and are also increasing because of the growth of online commerce.

The director of the Chamber of Public Utilities Sebastijan Zupan stated that the current 16,400 tonnes of stalled waste packaging could increase by 5,700 additional tonnes every month, and we could end up with 65,000 tonnes of unmanaged garbage by the end of the year.

According to Zupanc, utility companies are supposed to have a seven-day storage capability and in reality all sites have fourteen day storage capability facilities, but they don’t have a capability to store waste for months and months. For this reason waste packaging is being stored in inappropriate places and carried around by the wind, attracting birds, rodents and cockroaches and producing unappealing odours. The most worrying of all is that it presents a considerable fire risk.

However, Zupanc explained that the situation could be resolved by a new intervention law which would cost the country around € 8.7 million. As it has not yet developed a waste management strategy, the state will most likely have to address the situation with emergency laws and financial injections.

At the end of the press conference, Zupanc said that the problem does not reside in the sorting capacity of the waste packaging management systems in Slovenia. He mentioned that five workers had recently been laid off at such a facility in Grosuplje, and that waste packaging had to be imported from Austria in order to keep it going. He added that the capacity of the sorters is large enough for all the packaging we produce. The problem lays in the steps between the collecting sites and sorting facilities.

STA, 24 February 2020 - There were many cases of alleged animal neglect in Slovenia last year, with the Environment Ministry's Environment and Nature Inspection Service opening up inquiries into ten alleged instances of mistreatment of free-living animals, including monkeys, lions, bears, snakes and spiders.

Relevant inspectors dealt with an advert put on a Czech web page by a small Slovenian zoo aiming to sell a Barbary macaque infant and determined that the zoo kept 10 such apes which were acquired lawfully and were taken care of. The zoo cancelled the advert following the inspection though.

However, the black-tufted marmosets were found to be living in inappropriate conditions and were relocated to another zoo.

The inspection service took action in a case of two lions as well - the zoo had to implement additional measures to ensure the two animals could not escape their enclosed area.

Another case included an owner of two bears who was reminded to microchip them. Furthermore, an inquiry was opened into the conduct of an owner of a rhea and ostrich who can be spotted walking them in Ljubljana. He has also visited Venice with the animals. The case is still pending.

Regarding species protected under EU law, a sand martin bird was allegedly kept in captivity for more than three hours without a permit by bird identification officials working for the Slovenian Museum of Natural History. Following a report, the inspection service has opened up an inquiry into that.

A number of irregularities have also been found in cases of a commercial parrot breeder raising protected parrot species and a commercial breeder of snakes, spiders, amphibians and lizards, including protected species such as the veiled chameleon, ball python and tarantula. Both breeders have heeded the warnings and amended the situation.

There was also a case of an ara parrot found to be wearing an identification leg band belonging to an animal who died in 2013. The owner bought the ara wearing the leg band from a Hungarian dealer. The case is still pending.

Last week one of the palaeontologists overseeing the construction site of the second railway track between Divača and Koper spotted bones that appeared as white stone.

It turned out that at depth of about 20 metres the excavator uncovered bones of an ancient rhino, who lived in the area at least 120,000 years ago, and perhaps much earlier.

Astrid Schwar from the Karst Research Institute, who first spotted the finding, stated for Delo that the bones must have been laying in what was once a Karst cave, since parts of stalactites and flowstone were found nearby. While a full skeleton has not been found, there is perhaps enough to be eventually exhibited once it's excavated, examined and preserved.

Irena Debeljak from Ivan Rakovec Paleontological Institute examined the site last Thursday, and found about a four-centimetre-long tooth which she ascribed with some certainty to one of the three species of rhinos that lived in the area of the Karst in the Pleistocene era. She stated for Delo that the tooth might belong to a relatively rare species of rhino in that time and area, Stephanorhinus. But before any conclusions are made, Debeljak continued, the tooth needs to be carefully cleaned of flowstone and examined.

The works at the second track will now stall for a couple of weeks until palaeontologists complete their work. Adrijan Košir, from the Geological Survey of Slovenia, said that the rhino, especially in such a good condition, is a rare finding, but will not significantly delay the construction works.

STA, 23 February 2020 - As the novel coronavirus is spreading fast in neighbouring Italy, Slovenian health minister assured the public on Sunday that there was no reason for alarm. However, a medical official, speaking at the same press conference, said there was little doubt that the virus would appear in Slovenia as well.

Slovenia has not confirmed any case of infection with the novel virus as yet, Health Minister Aleš Šabeder noted at the press conference in Ljubljana.

How safe is Slovenia from coronavirus?

So far the only Slovenian to test positive for the virus that originated in China was a couple who contracted the virus, named Covid-19, on board the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Japan's Yokohama for over a fortnight. The couple have been admitted to a hospital in Japan.

Šabeder said that the government would call a session of the National Security Council secretariat for Monday to discuss the situation and take potential additional measures.

The minister does not want the virus to become a political issue. "This is a serious situation, unfolding not only in Europe, but also elsewhere round the globe," he said.

Is traveling to Italy from Slovenia safe?

He said that official data from Italian authorities showed that 124 had so far contracted the virus in Italy. Meanwhile, Italian media have reported the number has risen to over 150 with three fatalities.

Should Italian authorities establish that a Slovenian citizen has been in contact with those infected, Slovenia will be alerted right away, the minister said.

Health Ministry State Secretary Simona Repar Bornšek noted that part of Slovenia had just finished winter school break and that many would have spent it abroad.

With north of Italy being a popular skiing destination for Slovenians, the official advised all travellers who had returned from north Italian regions to monitor their condition and to contact their GP or duty service in case of a fever, cough or shortness of breath.

Hospitals prepare for coronavirus in Slovenia

All primary and secondary healthcare providers have been notified of the measures they need to take and the hospitals that could admit potential coronavirus patients have been urged to re-examine their contingency plans.

The state secretary said there was no confirmed coronavirus case in Slovenia, but that additional measures would be taken depending on the developments such as expanding testing.

She urged the public to follow information the website of the National Public Health Institute (NIJZ), which is being updated 24 hours a day, and not to fall for provocations.

Tatjana Lejko Zupanc, the head of the UKC Ljubljana Department of Infectious Diseases, said that there was almost no doubt anymore that the novel coronavirus would appear in Slovenia as well.

But she said that health institutions were getting ready for such a possibility. Their department sped up activities to be able to admit the first patient.

"All the paths have been agreed, which tests would be conducted. A few beds are ready, including at the intensive care unit. We'll have extra beds ready during the week," said Lejko Zupanc.

The department could admit 10 to 20 coronavirus patients at one of its units, theoretically even more. It is also capable of providing 10 intensive care beds, which "should suffice for a smaller outbreak".

In case of a massive outbreak, procedures would be quite different, involving the civil protection, among other mechanisms, said Lejko Zupanc.

She said everyone on the staff was willing to be involved in the effort in case of a potential outbreak, and if necessary military health staff could be engaged in case of staff shortages.

She said there were currently no suspected cases in Slovenia according to her information. She also said that Slovenia was well equipped for tests which were being conducted at three labs.

She said there was no need for panic or fear; if people "have been to what are epidemic hotspots at the moment", they should monitor themselves and seek advice from health services.

As prevention against potential infection NIJZ official Maja Sočan advised regular washing of hands, regular surface cleaning and measures generally taken to prevent an infection spread.

Sočan said the four Slovenian passengers from the Diamond Princess, who have already returned to Slovenia, were feeling fine, as were the couple hospitalised in Japan.

There were a total of six Slovenians on the ship, three couples.

NIJZ has not advised against travel.

Matija Cevc from the Slovenian Medical Association noted that posters appeared in parts of the country calling for citizens on behalf of the association to take preventive tests.

He said the association had not issued such a poster, denouncing the campaign as "utterly abject". He supposes it was aimed at making money at a time when people are in distress.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia can be found here

The 14^th Mountain Film Festival is in Slovenia this week, with screenings, talks and more in Cankarjev dom Ljubljana, Metropol Celje, Mestni kino Domžale, Kino Radol’ca and Kino Slovensko Bistrica.

The festival has an excellent English website, with details of all the events, but be aware there’ll be lectures from the likes of David Debeljak, Jera Musič – the first Slovenian woman to hike the 3,500-km long Appalachian Trail, Jim Donini, Milan Romih and Tomaž Jakofčič, and the chance to buy books, hang out and talk about climbing and hiking, with appearances by many giants of the local scene.

Related: Alpine Warriors, A History of Modern Slovenian Alpinism

With regard to films there’s documentaries, long and short, with programmes that offer great variety while giving the rare opportunity to see these films on the big screen, where the power of the landscapes they celebrate is more readily perceived. Take a look at some (not all) of the trailers below, and see more details here.

CHOLITAS_trailer EN from Arena Comunicación Audiovisual on Vimeo.

Drømmeland - Trailer from Square Eyes on Vimeo.

Now that we know Ana Soklič will represent Slovenia at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest (Eurosong) in the Netherlands – with the final on 16 May – we can take a look at all the other important contents of this year’s Ema.

The show began with its host Klemen Slakonja performing last year’s winning Eurovision song Arcade by Duncan Lawrence. In the middle of the song, a lamp fell down, prompting Slakonja to hit his head on the piano and “damage” his “arcade”, an arch above the eye that tends to absorb the damage when things are not going as planned.

Slakonja’s injury gradually “healed” as the show progressed so that by the end he could perform impersonations of all 25 of Slovenia’s Eurovision entries so far.

Klemen Slakonja also appeared as Ema’s main host in 2011, 2012 and 2016, when he also became known to the international audience by his Putin Putout YouTube hit. Unlike in previous years, many voices could be heard on social media calling for Klemen Slakonja to be sent to the Eurovision contest next year, due to his obvious singing skills, stage presence and general likability.

But Eurovision is a serious contest with serious rules that need to be followed. Although people like to point out how political the event is, which becomes especially apparent during the vote casting, perhaps even more telling are the scandals that appear to be happening on its fringes but are in fact, as I believe, at the essence of its existence.

Last year, for example, Lea Sirk, the previous year’s Eurovision entrant, couldn’t hide her disappointment over the winning duo Zala and Gašper and dropped an F-bomb into a live microphone she was wearing. Eurovision might be Europe’s campest of events, but it is also a family-friendly affair, so no swearing, please.  

This year’s award presenters, Zala and Gašper – launching a new album this week with a performance at Kino Šiška under the name zalagasper –  were therefore reminded, as a joke, not to forget that their microphones were on so they should refrain from any bad language during the announcement of the winner.

They obeyed and Ana Soklič accepted the reward, visibly moved and surprised. Then she was invited to give the first comment. In brief translation, she said:

“In the end I always place it all on – I don’t know what the people will say – but only Jesus Christ is the one who leads us through the paths of our lives and no one should ever worry that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Despite all the hardships we face in the music industry, we cannot quit, there is no way to return.”

Slovenian social media exploded. Apparently, Ana Soklič thanking Jesus Christ is this year’s Ema scandal.

However, as we always wonder following the conclusion of Ema, can Jesus Christ draw enough attention to Slovenia at the higher, international stage of the competition?

We have to stay optimistic. Or as Slakonja appropriately responded to the words cited above, “We are moving towards the light!”.