STA, 1 August 2021 - After securing a place in the quarter-finals of the basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Slovenia continued their winning strike on Sunday by beating Spain 95:87 in the third game of the tournament, in which Slovenia remains undefeated. Slovenia will face Germany in the quarter-finals.

Slovenia's Vlatko Čančar scored 22 points, Mike Tobey had 16 scores and Klemen Prepelič 15. Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić was not dominant, having scored 12 points, 14 jumps and nine passes.

The two teams, the reigning 2017 European champions and 2019 World Champions, were neck and neck.

In the first quarter, Slovenia's plans were marred by Dončić's third personal foul, which cost him a few minutes on the bench, so he only scored eight points in the first half.

What an honor to represent this country❤️❤️❤️?????? pic.twitter.com/wYqK7IXRTq

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) August 1, 2021

Spain scored eight 3-pointers, and the result after the first half was 41:44. After the break, Spain was in the lead 55:43 after less than three minutes of the game, but then Slovenia started to play more aggressively in the defence and got organised in the attack to make up for the loss in the third-quarter (68:68).

Čančar scored 20 points in the first 30 minutes, and Dončič 12 points and 11 passes.

But the winner was decided in the final minutes of the game. Slovenia caught up with Spain (82:76) in the 37th minute (83:82).

Tobey's scoring 100 seconds before the end of the game turned things around for Slovenia (88:85), and Prepelič's two free throws 13 seconds before the end again brought three points of advantage to the Slovenian team. Ricky Rubio's missing a 3-pointer for Spain, finally tipped the scale in Slovenia's favour.

Slovenia head coach Aleksander Sekulić said he truly enjoyed the game. "I'm proud of the performance of our team against world champions, a great coach and basketball players whom we forced to play a zone defence for 40 minutes. I think they are the first world champions who played zone for 40 minutes, and against Slovenia. We can be proud of that," he said.

"We've expected a zone, two or three players on me, but not the entire 40 minutes. I was looking for free players with a free shot and we were successful. Unfortunately, we missed a lot but we won in the end. That's all that counts here. We must stay focussed, but I know we're ready for any opponent," said Dončić.

The Slovenian team continues to the quarter-finals as the best team in its group C. After winning against Argentina, Japan and Spain it remains the only undefeated team along with France and Australia.

Slovenia's opponent in the quarter-finals on Tuesday will be Germany, which was determined in today's draw today between Italy and Germany, which ranked second and third in group A, respectively.

If they win that match, Slovenia will face Italy or France in the semi-finals.

STA, 31 July 2021 - Long tailbacks of traffic have built up at crossings on the Slovenian-Croatian border as holidaymakers from northern Europe hit Croatian coastal resorts.

Data by the national traffic information centre for Saturday midday shows waiting times of more than two hours at all major crossings for vehicles entering Croatia.

The situation is currently worst at small border crossings such as Vinica, where those entering Croatia can expect to wait for up to six hours.

At major crossings such as Obrežje/Bregana, Gruškovje/Macelj and Jelšane/Rupa, the waiting times are between two and four hours.

Traffic in the opposite direction has gotten just as bad. Most crossings report waiting times of more than two hours to enter Slovenia, but on coastal crossings waiting times of up to four hours are currently expected.

The situation on the border with Austria has deteriorated as well. At the biggest crossing, Karavanke, there is currently a four-kilometre tailback.

You can always find the latest traffic news at the official site, promet.si, while the current waiting times at Slovenia’s borders can be found here

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: 

Minister sees Slovenia as geopolitical broker

KRANJSKA GORA - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek offered up Slovenia as a broker in geopolitical issues as he addressed an annual ceremony dedicated to Russian prisoners of WWI. Slovenia can play an active role in the resolution of geopolitical issues. "Our country has enough knowledge and even more economic results to get actively involved in the game of big player," he said.

Seven-week high of 135 cases confirmed on Friday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 135 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, up more than 45% over the week ago a seven-week high. The positivity rate was 8.1%, a full percentage point higher than the day before and a level last seen during the tail end of the third wave in early June. Hospital figures remained stable.

Discuss thrower Čeh fifth in Olympic debut

TOKYO, Japan - Discuss thrower Kristjan Čeh crowned his maiden appearance at the Olympic games with fifth place. The 22-year-old had been considered one of the top contenders for a medal given his impressive record in the last season, but he seemed to take it in his stride. "This is my first Olympic appearance, I was fifth, this is awesome," he said.

Career highlight for Dvoršak at prestigious shooting event

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian shooter Živa Dvoršak achieved her best ever result at Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the rifle three position. The rifle three position is considered the most prestigious shooting event and Dvoršak's seventh place is a marked improvement over her 30th place finish in Rio de Janeiro and 36th in London.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 30 July 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: New right-leaning party is being formed

STA, 30 July 2021 - The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest editorial that Prime Minister Janez Janša is working hard for a new right-leaning party that would present itself as centrist at the next general election. It says that the most likely candidate for leading such a party is Health Minister Janez Poklukar.

Despite the appearance that a new party is to emerge on the left, much more intensive work for a new party is under way on the right end of the political spectrum, says the paper, noting that Janša will need a third coalition partner besides New Slovenia if his Democrats (SDS) win the election.

Thus Janša is looking for a person that would seem different enough from him and acceptable to less engaged voters. Someone would give the impression he is willing to overcome the left-right divide.

"Increasingly many signs suggest Janša has already found such a person. Partly by chance, and partly it was planned: this is most probably the current health minister, Janez Poklukar, whom the previous Marjan Šarec-led coalition appointed the head of the Ljubljana UKC hospital."

He has experience in business, is a leader, a man who sees the public sector as a kind of company. His rhetoric significantly differs from the rudeness of other SDS politicians.

He has quickly climbed the popularity rankings and strikes people as a trustworthy person already because he is a doctor. He seems kind, moderate, acceptable.

He is not incompetent, as he has led UKC Ljubljana well, and is working hard as health minister.

However, Poklukar seems to have not even the slightest reservation towards Janša's actions in other fields. On the contrary, he faithfully serves Janša, and seems to have no problems with his interfering with the rule of law, harassing of certain groups of the population, Hungarisation, intolerance, attacks on the civil society and media.

The creation of a new party led by Poklukar has undoubtedly been backed by private insurers that are already leading the efforts for further privatisation of the Slovenian healthcare through his legislative proposals.

Creating Poklukar's party is thus a serious project that can succeed and that Janša is dependent on. If voters are fooled, the consequences will be very serious, warns Mladina in the commentary entitled New Party.

Demokracija: EU of overreach, betrayal of ideals

STA, 29 July 2021 - Looking at EU action against Hungary over its LGBT+ law, the right-wing weekly Demokracija argues in Thursday's commentary that this is about more than Hungary. "All EU countries will be punished if they resist," the magazine says in Bukovsky Was Right.

"The declaration of 'war' on Orban is merely a test for others who are in the cross-hairs just because of their conservative world view and because they dare to preserve the segment of their sovereignty that was never transferred to Brussels elites.

"This is why they face accusations of attacking minorities (sexual, racial), 'independent' media, divergence from the rule of law and other fabricated imputations," the commentator says.

Demokracija argues that fundamental EU documents clearly state that European culture is built on Christian foundations, whereas the new member states joined the bloc predominantly for economic reasons.

"What they are doing today at the Berlaymont is usurpation of power and a betrayal of the Europe of nations that is unprecedented in the history of the old continent.

"Core EU members (whatever that may mean) are far from the ideal of democracy and freedom as seen by countries that had spent decades suffering under Communist dictatorship."

All our posts in this series are here

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

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FRIDAY, 23 July
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič rejected the accusation by Prime Minister Janez Janša that he was acting against Slovenia's interests, as he arrived for an EU ministerial, saying "Slovenia is being harmed by those who undermine the rule of law and media freedom, rather than those of us who warn of such conduct being problematic".
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - After an informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs, Slovenian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič noted that it had been agreed that the EU must be integrated and coordinated in the time of crises. The pair also stressed the importance of cooperation with the Western Balkan countries.
        LJUBLJANA - Franci Matoz, a prominent lawyer best known as a long-time legal representative of PM Janez Janša and his Democratic Party (SDS), was named chairman of the board of directors of the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), Slovenia's bad bank, just a day after the government appointed him a non-executive director to replace a director who stepped down last week.
        LJUBLJANA - Organisers of public events and gatherings became obligated to check visitors' Covid certificates. A mobile app was released and not long after deleted due to privacy concerns and a new one is in the works. Hospitality providers in Slovenia have been required to check guests' Covid certificates from Monday.
        LJUBLJANA - Web portal Necenzurirano reported that PM Janez Janša had been holidaying in Mauritius for almost 20 years, playing golf and socialising with lobbyist Božo Dimnik and entrepreneur Andrej Marčič, representatives of the largest healthcare suppliers in Slovenia. Part of the opposition demanded a debate in parliament.
        LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry made EUR 65 million available for the reduction in waiting times for health services. More than 20,000 patients are expected to benefit, according to Health Minister Janez Poklukar.
        LJUBLJANA - Fresh statistics showed Slovenia's tourism is picking up with visitor numbers and nights spent at accommodation facilities rising substantially year-on-year in June. Arrivals were up by 54.7% to over 375,000 and nights spent rose by 66.7% to over a million, data from the Statistics Office showed.
        NOVO MESTO - Revoz, Renault's Novo Mesto-based assembly plant, said it would have two sets of collective leave this summer due to a shortage of chips that has plagued the automotive industry worldwide. The company said it would be difficult to meet production targets.

SATURDAY, 24 July
        TOKYO, Japan - Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar won the bronze medal in the men's cycling road race at the Tokyo Olympics in what was the first Olympic medal in cycling for Slovenia and the first medal for Slovenia at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
        BOVEC - Addressing the annual gathering of the ruling Democrats (SDS), the party leader, Janez Janša, called on the party members to step up in the 2022 election campaign. The PM said the party had been successfully steering Slovenia through the Covid-19 epidemic for almost a year and a half.
        LJUBLJANA - A EUR 15 million contract on the purchase of a multi-purpose helicopter for the police was signed by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and representatives of Italy's Leonardo Helicopters. The contract also includes delivery and maintenance of the AgustaWestland AW169, a twin-engine, 10-seat multi-purpose transport helicopter.
        ORMOŽ - Yummy, a 2019 Belgian comedy horror by Dutch director Lars Damoiseaux, won the Vicious Cat award as the 17th Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival came to a close.

MONDAY, 26 July
        TOKYO, Japan - Canoeist Benjamin Savšek convincingly won the men's C-1 slalom to earn the first gold medal for Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the second overall medal for the country.
        TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić scored 48 points as the basketball team cruised past Argentina to open their campaign at the Olympics with a 118:100 win. The first Olympics win for Slovenia came against the runners-up from the last World Cup.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU finance ministers endorsed another four national recovery and resilience plans, including Slovenia's, which the European Commission approved at the beginning of the month. Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said Slovenia would get the first funds, EUR 231 million of the EUR 2.5 billion plan, in September at the latest.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian state-owned development bank SID, its Croatian counterpart HBOR and the European Investment Fund (EIF) signed an agreement to establish a regional technology transfer platform under which universities and public research institutions will be able to tap on EUR 40 million to start up and commercialise their development projects.
        LJUBLJANA - An inquiry into police handling of an incident in front of the Parliament House in which several MPs were harassed by a group of anti-maskers in early July has found several flaws, including a lack of coordination and a plan of response and subsequent failure to protect the site.
        
TUESDAY, 27 July
        TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian judoka Tina Trstenjak won the silver medal in the 63kg category at the Tokyo Olympics. The second-best-ranked in the category had to concede to the top-ranked Clarisse Agbegnenou of France in what was a replay of the gold medal match from the previous Olympics where Trstenjak won.
        LJUBLJANA - Matej Oštir and Tanja Frank Eler, the candidates picked by the State Prosecution Council for Slovenia's two European delegated prosecutors before the nomination process was annulled by the government, also applied in a repeat call for the posts. The Justice Ministry later confirmed it had received two applications for the posts.
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry shared on Twitter a statement by the EU condemning Turkey's unilateral steps regarding the town of Varosha in Cyprus. Slovenia supports all endeavours towards a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue in line with UN resolutions and European Union values, the ministry wrote.

WEDNESDAY, 28 July
        TOKYO, Japan - Bouncing back from difficulties in the Olympic road race, cycling star Primož Roglič outclassed the competition by more than a minute in the men's Olympic time trial to win the second gold for Slovenia in Tokyo and the second medal for Slovenian cycling at the ongoing Games.
        LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana's landmarks designed by architect Jože Plečnik (1872-1957), including the Triple Bridge, Congress Square and Žale Cemetery, have been included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in line with a decision adopted by the World Heritage Committee.
        LJUBLJANA - The annual ceremony in memory of Russian POWs who died building the Vršič pass during WWI that will be held on Saturday will mark a number of anniversaries, including 30 years of Slovenia's independence. Slovenian president Borut Pahor and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to declare the day of the annual ceremony Slovenia-Russia Friendship Day.
        LJUBLJANA - The list of countries whose PCR and rapid antigen tests for coronavirus are recognised by Slovenia was expanded to include Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tests from countries not on the list will be also accepted if they are of the standard compatible with tests in EU and Schengen countries.
        LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Finance Ministry official Janez Mravljak to head the newly founded Recovery and Resilience Office as acting director starting from 2 August. The office was founded on 3 June under the Finance Ministry to coordinate and manage the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plan.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian PEN centre expressed support to the Montenegrin PEN centre and called on the international community, the EU and Slovenia's EU presidency to condemn what it sees as the violence inflicted on the Montenegrin nation and culture by the current Montenegrin government in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and pro-Serbian players.
        
THURSDAY, 29 July
        NOVO MESTO - Pharma group Krka Group saw its net profit rise by 11% to EUR 177.4 million in the first six months on record sales revenue of EUR 808.6 million, according to unaudited data. Sales revenue was up by 1% compared with the same period last year and up 6% from the first half of 2019.
        LJUBLJANA - The group Telekom Slovenije generated EUR 317.6 million in sales revenue in the first half of the year, down 1% from the same period in 2020. Net profit was up by 44% to EUR 21.3 million.
        JESENICE - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec and his Austrian counterpart Leonore Gewessler took part in a ceremony marking the reopening of the Karavanke railway tunnel following a safety and technical upgrade. Vrtovec noted the upgrade would improve Slovenia's link with Austria. The ministers said that railways represented the backbone of the future of mobility.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's ILO-compatible survey unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in June, down 0.2 percentage points from May and half a point down from June a year ago, showed data released by the Statistics Office.
        TOKYO, Japan - Slovenia made it to the quarter-finals of the basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating the hosts Japan 116:81 for what is their second win in as many matches. Led by the NBA All-Star Luka Dončić, Slovenia were in the lead throughout the game.

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: 

Joint patrols back on Slovenian-Italian border

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian and Italian police resumed the joint patrolling of the border in a bid to prevent illegal migrations on the Balkan migrations route, the Slovenian police said on. Joint patrols had been suspended more than a year ago due to Covid-19. Now, officers are also allowed to use unmanned aerial vehicles.

116 coronavirus infections confirmed on Thursday

LJUBLJANA - The gradual rise in the new coronavirus infections in Slovenia continues, as 116 new cases were confirmed on Thursday in 1,686 PCR tests, according to fresh data provided by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). The estimated number of active infections rose from 916 to 970.

New Covid certificate scanning app available as of Friday

LJUBLJANA - The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) announced that a new, much delayed mobile app for checking the validity of EU digital Covid certificates is available to event organisers and service provider as of Friday. The app scans QR codes on EU digital Covid certificates and checks whether the person has been tested for, recovered from or vaccinated against Covid-19 without getting access to personal or health information of the person.

Two doctors face consequences due to anti-vaccine sentiment

LJUBLJANA - Proceedings have been launched against two doctors by the Medical Chamber tribunal due to their contentious statements about Covid-19 vaccination and vaccines, the chamber has told the STA. Unofficially, one of them is a member of a prominent anti-vaccine doctors' movement. Hearings in both cases are expected to be held in late August.

Budget with EUR 1.9bn deficit in first six months of 2021

LJUBLJANA - In the first half of the year the national budget recorded a EUR 1.946 billion deficit, which is slightly more than in the same period in 2020, when it reached EUR 1.917 billion, the Finance Ministry said. Contributing the most to the increased deficit was an 18% growth of expenditure, which was mitigated by a 25.3% growth of revenue.

Annual inflation in July at 2% due to more expensive fuel

LJUBLJANA - Annual inflation in Slovenia in July ran at 2%, mostly on the account of more expensive petroleum products, the Statistics Office reported. Petroleum products accounted for 1.2 percentage points of the annual inflation rate in July, as the prices of liquid fuels were up by 25.2%, diesel by 29.2% and petrol by 24.4%.

EU Commission issues warning to Slovenia over two directives

LJUBLJANA - The European Commission has urged Slovenia to notify it about the transposition of the EU directives on copyright and TV and radio programmes into its national legislation. Slovenia has two months to respond or take action. The National Assembly passed changes to the audiovisual media services act at the beginning of the month, but the upper chamber vetoed them on 16 July.

STA, 30 July 2021 - Proceedings have been launched against two doctors by the Medical Chamber tribunal due to their contentious statements about Covid-19 vaccination and vaccines, the chamber has told the STA. Unofficially, one of them is a member of an anti-vaccine doctors' movement.

The vast majority of health workers, including doctors, have been highlighting the importance of vaccination and other preventive measures against Covid-19, however a handful have taken a different stand, airing their anti-vaccine views on social media and via certain media outlets.

Unofficially, one of the doctors against whom the chamber has initiated proceedings is a member of the Slovenian Doctors' Initiative, a movement that has been present online since last autumn and is among the most prominent anti-vaccination groups on social media in the country. The movement also questions some preventive measures such as testing and mask-wearing.

The chamber, which is keeping a close watch on its members' public posts, making sure they are not unprofessional or unethical, has confirmed that it has received a number of complaints against doctors, most of whom are members of the initiative.

The chamber's committee in charge of legal-ethical issues has processed seven cases so far. More serious ones have been referred to the tribunal, which is currently investigating two cases.

According to unofficial information obtained by the STA, the other case involves Nada Hiti, a GP with the Domžale Health Centre who published a recording on social media after diluting an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine with water and urine and sending the sample to the laboratory for analysis.

Hearings in both cases are expected to be held in late August.

STA, 30 July 2021 - The National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) has announced that a new anonymous mobile app for checking the validity of EU digital Covid certificates is available to event organisers and service provider as of Friday.

The app is intended for organisers of cultural and sport events and public rallies, as well as providers of hospitality services and accommodation, who in line with the government decrees need to check Covid certificates of attendees and guests.

It scans QR codes on EU digital Covid certificates and checks whether the person has been tested for, recovered from or vaccinated against Covid-19 without getting access to personal or health information of the person.

The app for mobile devices, available on the e-health zVem portal, checks whether the issuer of the certificate is valid and placed on the list of valid issuers and whether the content of the certificate is valid in line with the relevant rules in Slovenia.

STA, 29 July - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec and his Austrian counterpart Leonore Gewessler took part in Thursday's ceremony marking the reopening of the Karavanke railway tunnel following a safety and technical upgrade. The ministers said on the occasion that railways represented the backbone of mobility of future. 

After taking a train ride through the Karavanke rail tunnel with Gewessler, Vrtovec told the press that the upgraded tunnel was a major step in securing greater traffic flow capacity between Slovenia and Austria.

This also brings better conditions for the economy and passengers, the Slovenian minister said, noting that the modernisation of the 8-km tunnel eliminated a bottleneck in rail transport between Slovenia and Austria and represented a major hub.

Rail transport in the tunnel will be speeded up, as instead of the maximum of 50 km/h, trains will now be able to travel through it at speeds of up to 120 km/h. The upgraded safety of rail traffic also means greater safety for passengers, Vrtovec said.

The location of the tunnel. Image: gov.si

As part of works that took some 10 months, the two-track railway line, constructed in 1906, has been replaced with a single track, damaged parts of the tunnel tube have been repaired, the entry portal has been reconstructed and drainage and fire safety has been improved.

The project was financed both by Slovenia and Austria, with its cost estimated at EUR 79 million, of which more than EUR 49 million was chipped in by the European Cohesion Fund.

"Railways are the future both for passenger and freight transport," Vrtovec said, adding that they "must become the backbone of passenger and freight transport and play a key role in decarbonisation of transport."

According to the national recovery and resilience plan, Slovenia is to invest EUR 280 million in grants in railway infrastructure, and this year alone EUR 509 million is expected to be earmarked from the national budget for this purpose.

Slovenia took the opportunity of the closure of the tunnel to upgrade almost the entire railway section between Kranj and Jesenice, which according to the minister is expected to be reopened next month. "This will connect Slovenia and Austria in an even faster and more efficient way."

The Austrian minister of climate action, environment, energy, mobility, innovation and technology added that the joint task of Slovenia, Austria and other EU member states was to prepare infrastructure for the future. "With projects such as this we build the future of mobility in Europe."

Gewessler agreed that "trains will be the backbone of climate-friendly future", adding that Austria intended to invest EUR 17.5 billion in railway infrastructure in the next six years to get "modern railway tracks, stations and trains."