STA, 25 February 2021 - Any gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region from Saturday and travel between this region and others is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, the government decreed at Thursday's correspondence session. The current level of restrictions remains in force in the rest of the country.

The exemptions from the restriction on inter-regional movement in the case of the coastal region include commute to or from work, travel for business purposes, commercial farming and forestry work, or travel required to deal with direct threats to health, life or property.

Travel to or from the coastal region is also allowed to maintain contacts with one's children, to care for or help a person in need or a family member or to access health and spa services and pharmacies if needed.

People visiting foreign diplomatic or consular offices, or accessing emergency services or judicial and administrative services will also be exempt from the ban.

Other exemptions include those seeking services for people with special needs, people seeing to a property, people transiting the coastal region to cross the border or travel to their home region and people who need to perform urgent maintenance work on a grave.

The exceptions also apply to close family members or members of the same household when travelling together.

The region in question

Provided they heed precaution protocols, crossing the borders of the region is also permitted for people with a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, a negative coronavirus test, PCR or rapid, no older than 48 hours, or a document attesting they tested positive more than 21 days but less than six months ago, or a GP's confirmation that the person has recovered from Covid-19 earlier than half a year ago.

The test results are valid if they were produced in EU member states or Schengen countries or by third country organisations or individuals cleared by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food.

In other regions, gatherings of up to ten persons remain permitted. The 9pm-6am curfew remains in force across the country.

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This summary is provided by the STA: 

852 new infections confirmed, seven Covid-19 patients die

LJUBLJANA - A total of 4,565 PCR tests were performed in Slovenia on Wednesday, resulting in 852 new infections, government data show. The number of positive tests was down by 237 compared to Tuesday and the positivity rate decreased by almost two percentage points to 18.7%. Hospitalisations remained at 546, out of whom 103 required intensive care, which is two persons fewer than yesterday. The national seven-day average of new cases was down from 766 to 763. Another seven Covid-patients died yesterday to increase the total death toll in Slovenia to 3,809. Slovenia remains in the orange tier, while the situation in the south-western region of Obalno-Kraška has deteriorated in the past week and it has been placed in the red tier.

Movement restriction and ban on gatherings in coastal region from Saturday

LJUBLJANA - Gatherings are banned in the coastal Obalno-Kraška region from Saturday and travel between this region and others is restricted to work- and health-related reasons, the government decreed at Thursday's correspondence session. The current level of restrictions remains in force in the rest of the country. The list of exceptions is the same as it was in place for all regions in the country before 15 February.

Slovenia urged to appoint its European delegated prosecutors

LJUBLJANA - European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders recently urged the Slovenian government to swiftly appoint the country's members of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, so that the new institution could start operating in Slovenia on 1 March as planned. Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič has put forward Matej Oštir and Tanja Frank Eler after they have been proposed by the relevant bodies, bur the candidates have not received the government's clearance. Radio Slovenija said, citing unofficial sources, this was because PM Janez Janša opposed them due to some old procedures. The government has meanwhile adopted a bill related to the appointments.

Počivalšek discusses implementation of industrial strategy with peers

LJUBLJANA - Attending a virtual informal session of EU ministers in charge of the internal market and industry on Thursday, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek discussed with his colleagues the role of national recovery and resilience plans as instruments of implementing the industrial strategy. Corporate tax transparency was also on the agenda.

Deep concern expressed as UKOM suspends STA funding again

LJUBLJANA - The Government Communication Office's (UKOM) rejection to pay a bill for the STA's public service has prompted strong reactions from STA employees and from several journalist organisations at home and abroad as well as MPs from the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), and the opposition Left, Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS). The move is seen as another attempt at destabilising the press agency after its funding was first suspended in late 2020.

Opposition requests inquiry into political interference in police

LJUBLJANA - A group of opposition parties has requested a parliamentary inquiry into alleged political interference in police work during a period from 13 March 2020, when the Janez Janša government was sworn in, to the launching of the inquiry. The petition was signed by 39 MPs of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), Left and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), urging an investigation to establish "the actual situation and potential political responsibility of public officials for unacceptable political interfering in the work of the Slovenian police, its investigative bodies, investigative teams and autonomous investigative units due to suspicion of political influence on the phases and/or the outcome of pre-trial and other procedures".

Govt adopts changes redefining rape

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government adopted on Wednesday evening changes to the penal code redefining rape. Under the changes, rape will no longer have to involve force, as the changes incriminate interference in sexual integrity without consent. Victims will no longer have to prove that they had put up a fight. Under the changes, those involved must express consent to the sexual act either implicitly or verbally, the government said. NGO the March 8 Institute was critical of the government's move today seeing it as overriding the efforts of numerous volunteers and voters collecting signatures to push for a similar redefinition, campaigning under the slogan Only Yes Means Yes.

Natural gas-powered vehicles to be exempt from excise duties

LJUBLJANA - The government has drafted legislative changes under which drivers of motor vehicles powered by natural gas will be exempt from paying excise duties until the end of 2025, in a bid to pursue Slovenia's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transport. The Government Communication Office (UKOM) said on Wednesday that the changes aimed at encouraging the use of natural gas in transport. "This would result in competitive prices of natural gas for motor vehicles in Slovenia in comparison with the prices and rate of taxation in neighbouring countries," UKOM added.

Govt appoints new acting director of Financial Administration

LJUBLJANA - The government appointed on Wednesday Simon Starček the new acting director general of the Financial Administration (FURS) to replace Irena Nunčič, who has been the acting director general since September 2020. Starček, who is currently the deputy director general of FURS, will take over on 1 March for not longer that six months. A call for applications for the full-fledged director was initiated in January, but was unsuccessful, as only one candidate applied. That candidate subsequently withdrew the bid. According to the public Radio Slovenija, the only candidate was Nunčič.

Papež in for another term as boss of ZPIZ pension insurer

LJUBLJANA - The council of the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ) unanimously confirmed the appointment of Marijan Papež as director-general for another four-year term. If the government clears the appointment, this will be Papež's fifth term at the helm of the ZPIZ. The 59-year-old was the only candidate to have applied for the post. His current term ends on 11 April.

Cantarutti appointed GZS director general

LJUBLJANA - Former Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti will take over as Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) director general on 1 April. He was appointed for four years by the GZS management board as it met for an online session on Thursday. Presenting his bid to the board, Cantarutti said his term would be dominated Slovenia 5.0, the GZS's agenda aimed at raising awareness about the role of industry.

Ski jumper Ema Klinec wins World Championship in Oberstdorf

OBERSTDORF, Germany - Ema Klinec won a ski jumping event at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany becoming the first Slovenian female ski jumping world champion. The defending champion, Norwegian Maren Lundby, won silver, while Japanese Sara Takanashi won bronze. "I can't believe it! I want to thank all of you who believed in me," said the 22-year-old winner. "After the final jump I didn't feel I could win. But I did the best I could, and I made it," she told the organisers.

Lampič wins cross-country sprint bronze at world championships

OBERSTDORF, Germany - Slovenian cross-country skier Anamarija Lampič won the bronze medal in the women's classical sprint at the Nordic World Ski Championships, missing out on the silver medal by a mere 0.02 seconds. The gold went to Jonna Sundling of Sweden, who was followed by Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway (+2.32 seconds). This is a second world championships medal for Lampič, coming after the silver in the team sprint in 2019. Lampič, the 2020 Slovenian female athlete of the year, has already been awarded the small crystal globe as the overall World Cup winner in sprint as the season has been cut short.

Ikea store opens in Ljubljana amid and despite epidemic

LJUBLJANA - Swedish furniture group Ikea opened its much-anticipated first store in Slovenia. "Although this is not an opening we expected, we are grateful to be here today," Sara Del Fabbro, the CEO at Ikea South East Europe, said at today's inauguration event in Ljubljana's BTC shopping district amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of shoppers is capped at 700 with Ikea estimating that they will spend roughly two hours on average browsing around the store. Once the epidemiological situation normalises, the Ljubljana store is expected to attract around two million visitors a year. The store with some 22,000 square metres of the shopping area stocks about 9,500 products. It was originally scheduled to open at the end of 2020.

Fire destroys mountain lodge in Golte

MOZIRJE - A fire completely destroyed the Mozirska Koča mountain lodge near the Golte ski centre in the Savinja-Kamnik Alps on Wednesday. The fire was put out already last evening, with a group of firefighters and police officers staying there overnight to watch the fire site. TV Slovenija reported that the fire was caused by an explosion. There lodge was closed when it caught fire. Celje police are now investigating the site to establish the cause of the fire. This is the third mountain lodge in the area covered by the Celje Police Department to completely burn down in the last three years.

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STA, 25 February - The government adopted last night changes to the penal code redefining rape. Under the changes, rape will no longer have to involve force, as the changes incriminate interference in sexual integrity without consent.

Victims will no longer have to prove that they had put up a fight. Under the changes, those involved must express consent to the sexual act either implicitly or verbally, the government said after the session in a press release.

Consent is defined as the consequence of free will, which means it cannot be subjected to any sort of duress. The changes also include the condition that a person must be capable of making such a decision. This excludes victims under the age of 15, who are presumed not to be in condition to consent to sex.

The Ministry of Justice started thinking about changes following several rulings that followed the rule that a sexual act can only be considered rape if the perpetrator used force.

Meanwhile, the March 8 Institute is collecting voter signatures to push a similar redefinition, campaigning under the slogan Only Yes Means Yes.

The feminist NGO was critical of the government's latest step today because, it believes, the authorities bulldozed the efforts of numerous volunteers and voters by pushing the amendments even though they knew that the NGO had collected the required 5,000 signatures in less than a week.

The March 8 Institute was planning to table its proposal today, but the government has beaten it to it.

Even though the government's move makes it seem as if all efforts had been in vain, that is not true since a sea change has been witnessed in societal attitudes towards rape and sexual abuse, the organisation said, highlighting that it planned to back any proposal that would enforce the affirmative model of consent.

The opposition Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ), SocDems (SD), Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) and the Left also criticised the government today for what they see as an unfair step in relation to civil society and self-promotion, noting that the adoption of changes had not been on the agenda of yesterday's government session. The parties submitted the NGO's proposal today since they had not been aware of the government's move yet.

The Justice Ministry told the STA that the yes-means-yes model had been adopted in the government-sponsored changes despite different stances on the issue in the past. Hence, during the parliamentary procedure both proposals could be merged, the opposition confirmed.

STA, 24 February 2021 - The Giro d'Italia, one of the three iconic Grand Tour cycling races, will take a detour through Slovenia this year. The 15th stage will take the riders to the winemaking region of Goriška Brda and the city of Nova Gorica in the west of the country on Sunday, 23 May.

With the start and finish in Italy, the stage will run from Grado to Gorizia and will be perfect for sprinters, the organizers said at the presentation of the 104th Giro in Milan on Wednesday.

The world's second biggest stage race after the Tour de France, the Giro will set off in Turin on 8 May to finish in Milan on 30 May, visiting 14 out of Italy's 20 provinces and crossing into Slovenia and Switzerland on the way in a total of 21 stages.

The municipalities of Brda and Nova Gorica attributed the credit for the Giro visiting Slovenia to Edy Reja, an Italian football coach of Slovenian descent, and the excellent cross-border relationship.

They described the rolling hills of Brda and the surrounding area as a "real treat" and magnet for cyclists year-round.

The Giro has visited the region before, 20 years ago.

It is seen as yet another success for the border region after Nova Gorica won its bid to host the 2025 European Capital of Culture with its Italian counterpart Gorizia.

STA, 24 February 2020 - The Government Communication Office (UKOM) has suspended the financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) again, declining to pay it for the services provided as a public service in January on the ground that the parties have not yet signed a contract for the year.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, UKOM said it had met all its obligations to the STA under the agreement to perform the public service for 2020 on 27 January.

UKOM said that STA director Bojan Veselinovič had failed to submit the required documents, which it said he should have done under the agreement signed with UKOM under the previous director.

UKOM argues that with the last payment, any contractual relationship between UKOM and the STA has ended, so it "appears almost unbelievable that Veselinovič should issue an invoice for EUR 169,000 for the activities in January to UKOM".

"UKOM has obviously no legal basis based on which it could pay invoices sent by companies it has no valid contractual relationship with", which was why the payment had to be denied.

In response Veselinovič noted that a provision in the 7th coronavirus relief package, passed at the end of 2020, set forth that budget funds be provided to the STA for performing a public service for 2021 in line with the STA business plan, regardless of whether a contract with the founder has been signed or not.

Veselinovič called the development the launch of a new offensive against the STA, describing the excuse that there is no legal basis for the payment as "an outright eerie pretending of ignorance".

UKOM said it was willing to prepare a new contract should Veselinovič recognise UKOM as a "representative of the founder", adding that Veselinovič had expressed no interest for the contract to be signed.

UKOM refused to pay the monthly instalment for the public service provided by the STA for October and November, along with the payment of separate invoices for market-based services that the STA performs for state institutions.

Financing was suspended after the STA management declined to deliver all the documents and information UKOM requested, having assessed that delivery of some of the requested documents might compromise the agency's editorial independence, while others could only be accessed by the government acting as the sole shareholder of the STA.

Among other things, UKOM demanded pay data for all agency employees, all contracts for the STA's market services for several years, as well as explanations about the choice of interviewees and length of interviews.

After the National Assembly adopted a special amendment to the economic relief law stipulating that any overdue payments must be made within seven days after the entry into force of the act, UKOM turned to the European Commission with a query whether such financing of the STA was in compliance with state aid rules.

After the European commissioners for competition and values and transparency said the European Commission's approval in this case was not required, the government on 14 January temporarily approved payments to the STA.

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This summary is provided by the STA: 

PM proposes cooperation agreement, invites all parties to join

LJUBLJANA/BRDO PRI KRANJU - PM Janez Janša invited all parliamentary parties to sign an agreement on cooperation in addressing "fundamental development challenges". The invite came only hours before a meeting of party heads, with most opposition parties declining it. The meeting resulted in the decision that they will meet again in March in a bid to find a common ground on the exit strategy and restructuring of healthcare needs in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, President Borut Pahor announced.

DeSUS to act as moderate opposition

LJUBLJANA - The Pensioners' Party's (DeSUS) executive council decided that the party would act as moderate opposition in the future, party leader Karl Erjavec said after the meeting. The party will not sign the prime minister's cooperation agreement and it will also not remain a member of the opposition's Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL). The party will endorse the coalition's proposals that are in line with its manifesto, especially those in the field of the long-term care and rights of the elderly, said Erjavec.

Slovenia reports 1,089 new coronavirus cases, hospital numbers improving

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 1,089 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, a slight increase over the week before, as the situation in the west of the country deteriorated further. Hospital numbers continued to improve. There were 546 patients in hospital, down 21 on the day before, of whom 105 were in intensive care, two fewer than on Monday. The national seven-day average of new cases was 766, a slight improvement over yesterday.

More virulent variants not widespread in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The more virulent variants of coronavirus appear not to be very widespread in Slovenia yet. Two labs which conduct genetic sequencing have so far identified 35 cases of the UK variant and not a single case of the South African or Brazilian variant, said Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, the head of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food. Both labs currently sequence 5-10% of all positive tests.

Foreign minister discussing resilient Europe efforts in Luxembourg

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Foreign Minister Anže Logar was in Luxembourg, to talk about creating a resilient Europe with counterpart Jean Asselborn, a topic that will be one of the priorities of Slovenia's approaching EU Council presidency. The pair also discussed the Western Balkans situation and Covid measures. Logar also visited the headquarters of the European Investment Bank (EIB) where he met its president Werner Hoyer, discussing the recovery of the European economy in the wake of the pandemic and EIB-funded projects in Slovenia.

Logar extends terms of six heads of mission

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar has extended the terms of six heads of mission - in Berlin, Brussels, Bratislava, The Hague, Tehran and Trieste, Dnevnik reported. The terms of all six diplomats would have expired in the summer. The ministry confirmed the report for the paper, while State Secretary Gašper Dovžan declined to comment at a session of the Foreign Policy Committee. He said these were confidential procedures.

NLB to pay out EUR 92m in dividends this year

LJUBLJANA - The bank NLB may pay out EUR 92 million in dividends this year and a total of some EUR 300 million in three years, the bank's board said in an online financials presentation. The results released last week show a significant increase in profit, owing greatly to the acquisition of the Serbian Komercijalna Banka. Chairman Blaž Brodnjak said that the group acquired nearly a million new clients in the acquisition. NLB's market share in Serbia has gone from below 2% to over 12%.

STA financing suspended again

LJUBLJANA - The Government Communication Office (UKOM) has suspended the financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) again, declining to pay it for the services provided as a public service in January on the ground that the parties have not yet signed a contract for the year. In response STA director Bojan Veselinovič noted that a provision in the 7th coronavirus relief package set forth that budget funds be provided to the STA for performing a public service for 2021 in line with the STA business plan, regardless of whether a contract with the founder has been signed or not. He called the development the launch of a new offensive against the STA, describing the excuse that there is no legal basis for the payment as "an outright eerie pretending of ignorance".

EP Democracy Group hearing on Slovenian media scheduled for next week

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša and other Slovenian officials have been invited for a virtual exchange of views on the media in the country with the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group on 5 March. The group's head, Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew), confirmed for the STA that invitations had been sent out, although she did not name the invitees. The MEP told TV Slovenija a few days ago that apart from the prime minister, the country's culture minister and the director of the Government Communication Office and representatives of the media would be invited for an exchange of views.

New interim manager takes over at UKC Ljubljana hospital

LJUBLJANA - Jože Golobič was named acting director general of the Ljubljana University Medical Centre (UKC) to succeed Janez Poklukar, who was appointed new health minister on Tuesday. Golobič has so far served as chairman of the UKC Ljubljana council. He will serve until a new director general is appointed but not more than a year, under a decision taken unanimously by the UKC Ljubljana council.

Slovenia's Lampič wins Cross-Country World Cup sprint globe

OBERSTDORF, Germany - Slovenian cross-country skier Anamarija Lampič has been awarded the small crystal globe as the overall World Cup winner in the women's sprint discipline as the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to cut the season short. After seven World Cup sprint events, the Slovenian has 402 points, well ahead of Nadine Faehndrich of Switzerland (296) and Linn Svahn of Sweden (275).

Business sentiment improves in February

LJUBLJANA - The business sentiment indicator for Slovenia was up by 3.3 percentage points in February over January as some coronavirus restrictions were relaxed and sub-indicators for the majority of activities increased. Still, the indicator was down by 8.1 percentage points year-on-year, and was 2.4 percentage points below the long-term average.

Bilingual signposts vandals arrested in Carinthia

KLAGENFURT, Austria - The Austrian police have apprehended individuals who are suspected of vandalising bilingual city limit signs in Carinthia in January by spray-painting the Slovenian place names. A 20-year-old from Klagenfurt has confessed to the crime, saying he did it along with his 21-year-old friend, the Austrian Press Agency (APA) reported. Both had been members of the conservative Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) until today's revelation after which they were kicked out of the party. Gernot Darmann, the regional FPÖ head, has condemned the incident.

Giro d'Italia to visit Slovenia

MILAN, Italy - The Giro d'Italia, one of the three iconic Grand Tour cycling races, will take a detour through Slovenia this year. The 15th stage will take the riders to the winemaking region of Goriška Brda and the city of Nova Gorica in the west of the country on Sunday, 23 May. With the start and finish in Italy, the stage will run from Grado to Gorizia and will be perfect for sprinters, the organizers said.

13 Iraqis rescued from hidden compartment in a lorry

LJUBLJANA - During a check of a cargo vehicle registered in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the Obrežje border crossing with Croatia, Slovenian police and customs officers rescued on Tuesday 13 citizens of Iraq who had been transported in a secret compartment in the vehicle. Some of them required medical attention due to lack of air and dehydration.

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STA, 24 February 2021 - The government has established a task force for hemp management that will assist it in looking for solutions for regulating the growing and processing of hemp for medical purposes. It will also look to enable demographically endangered areas in Slovenia develop this activity into revenue-making business.

The task force has been formed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, which told the STA on Wednesday that it would consult with external stakeholders about the efforts to regulate growing and processing of hemp for medical purposes.

It will be also coming with concrete proposals, including for developing this activity into revenue-making business in "demographically endangered areas, with which new jobs will be created."

"This will help stop people moving from these areas and lead to them actually gradually moving there," the ministry added.

Regulation of growing and processing of hemp for medical and industrial purposes is part of the coalition agreement.

Prime Minister Janez Janša said last November that the Slovenian legislation in that part was "perhaps too rigid." He agreed that Slovenian growers are being put in a position that makes them non-competitive, and that the field needed to be regulated.

Janša said that changes to two relevant regulations were in the making that would introduce the possibility to grow hemp with seedlings and to grow hemp in greenhouses, and determine conditions for growing of seedlings intended for sale or further processing. They are expected to be adopted this spring.

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STA, 24 February 2021 - During a check of a cargo vehicle registered in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the Obrežje border crossing with Croatia, Slovenian police and customs officers rescued on Tuesday 13 citizens of Iraq who had been transported in a secret compartment in the vehicle. Some of them required medical attention due to lack of air and dehydration.

As the vehicle was stopped at the border crossing for a routine check, police and customs officers found out that the vehicle was modified, and that it contained a secret compartment in which the Iraqis were being transported illegally.

They were taken out of the vehicle and provided first aid on the spot. Two persons needed to be taken by ambulance to the local hospital, the Novo Mesto Police Department said in a press release on Wednesday.

It added that the foreigners had been running out of breath, with some of them already losing consciousness. They were severely dehydrated and very scared. The 13 persons rescued included two children aged eleven and six.

Investigators subsequently established that the Iraqis had entered the vehicle in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the diver's help, and that they had travelled from there to the Slovenian-Croatian border for several hours.

They were crammed in the compartment measuring 250x80 centimetres and, when they started running out of fresh air, they called the driver for help. He allegedly did not respond.

The police detained the 52-year-old driver and the 48-year-old fellow passenger, who are both citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They will be charged with the criminal act of prohibited crossing of state border or territory.

Police procedures with the rescued Iraqi citizens are still under way.

STA, 24 February 2021 - The National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) has announced that a total of 25,200 doses of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines for Covid-19 are expected in Slovenia on Thursday.

More than 232,000 doses are expected to be delivered in March - 99,450 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 30,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 102,885 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the NIJZ told the STA on Wednesday.

This week, Pfizer already delivered 22,230 doses, and a slightly larger shipment of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccine is expected tomorrow.

Moderna is expected to deliver 8,400 doses, half of which is to be used for second shots, while AstraZeneca is to deliver 16,800 shots, all of which will go for first shots, the NIJZ said.

As for March, Pfizer is expected to deliver shipments of almost 20,000 doses every Monday. AstraZeneca is to deliver its vaccine in five shipments, the first coming on 4 March, when 3,700 doses are expected.

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STA, 24 February 2021 - Slovenian cross-country skier Anamarija Lampič has been awarded the small crystal globe as the overall World Cup winner in the women's sprint discipline as the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to cut the season short after seven sprint events being held, with Lampič leading the standings.

After seven World Cup sprint events, the Slovenian has 402 points, well ahead of Nadine Faehndrich of Switzerland (296) and Linn Svahn of Sweden (275).

Lampič is only second Slovenian ever to win a small crystal globe in the Cross-Country World Cup, after Petra Majdič won it in the sprint discipline three times - in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Her previous best was third place last season.

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The 25-year-old, who was declared the 2020 Slovenian female athlete of the year, will also be one of the main favourites at the Nordic World Ski Championships, which opened today in Germany's Oberstdorf.

She will appear in her first competition in Oberstdorf on Thursday as the women's classic sprint is on schedule.

"Medal is the goal. Only that counts at world championships. I will not be very devastated if I don't get it, but I will do everything to at least make it to the finals, and then a podium finish will be possible," Lampič said.

Lampič, who was second in the World Cup sprint event at the same course last year, is coming off a World Cup win in team sprint in pair with Eva Urevc in Sweden on 7 February. The pair was also third in a December World Cup race in Dresden.