News

19 Aug 2020, 18:13 PM

STA, 19 August 2020 - The EU's primary concern is that the fundamental rights and freedoms of Belarusians, including the right to free and fair election and self-determination about their international connections, are respected, Prime Minister Janez Janša told a virtual EU summit on Wednesday. He said Russia should recognise these rights as well.

"Slovenia knows about stolen elections from its own experience and it thus understands and supports the democratic demands by the Belarusians," the prime minister's office quoted Janša as saying.

The Slovenian prime minister believes that only a new presidential election with a strong presence of observers of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) can lead to stabilisation of the country and ensure peace.

Slovenia also agrees that sanctions should not be directed towards Belarusian citizens and the economy, but target individuals in the country, the release says.

This way, the EU would boost support to the democratic forces in Belarus, but the EU should also commit to helping Belarus economically after the end of the crisis, Janša said.

The EU leaders at the summit agreed that the recent presidential election was neither free nor fair, that the government's response to the protests with force is unacceptable, and that the Alexander Lukashenko regime should stop it.

Janša also endorsed the initiative from Lithuania to establish a EU fund for aiding the victims of repression in Belarus and the proposal by Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhely to send a fact-finding mission to Minsk.

19 Aug 2020, 14:38 PM

STA, 19 August 2020 - Slovenia plans to put Croatia on the red list of countries from which travellers must undergo a 14-day quarantine. Those already in Croatia have until the end of the week to avoid quarantine, those travelling there as of Friday will have to quarantine, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Wednesday.

The decision to red-list Croatia will formally be made at Thursday's cabinet session and published in the Official Gazette the same day.

It will also be clear tomorrow how long exactly those who are currently in Croatia will have to return without quarantining, with Kacin saying the deadline may be extended to Monday if necessary.

"Fact is that the situation in Croatia is deteriorating dramatically. Data on infections show that the situation is really bad," Kacin said after the government meet epidemiologists to discuss the way forward.

He said Croatia was likely to today exceed 40 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in over a 14-day period, the threshold in Slovenia for putting countries on the red list.

Can I transit Slovenia? Find out from the police...

"We don't have any other choice but to urge our citizens to return from the dangerous country as soon as possible, regardless of what kind of arrangements they have. The situation is deteriorating rapidly and will get much worse," he said.

The decision comes after the government started issuing increasingly stern warnings to Slovenian holidaymakers in Croatia that the situation was getting out of hand, in particular due to beach parties at several popular tourist resorts in Dalmatia.

Almost half the new cases Slovenia registered on Monday were imported from Croatia, and most of the infected persons are young, under 35, raising fears that a surge in infections could derail the start of the school year.

Unofficial information indicates several options were under discussion in recent days, including mandatory quarantine just for those under 35 or a waiver of quarantine for those who own boats and property in Croatia.

These considerations appear to have been shelved now, although Kacin said boat and property owners would get a chance before winter to sort things out.

"This will be a one-off opportunity, strictly limited and expressed in hours, in order to prevent people heading to Croatia this weekend and making traffic even worse," he said.

Several exemptions will be available in order to facilitate cross-border commerce and transport, but Kacin did not elaborate what they would be.

The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countriesAll our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

19 Aug 2020, 12:18 PM

STA, 19 August 2020 - The number of new Sars-CoV-2 infections reached a new four-month high on Tuesday, as 37 out of 1,092 tests came back positive. There were no deaths, meaning the death toll remains at 129. Presently 17 patients need hospital treatment, with three receiving intensive care.

There have so far been 2,493 confirmed Sars-CoV-2 infections in Slovenia with 285 of them active infections, according to the national tracker covid-19.sledilnik.

Tuesday's tests confirmed 14 infections with individuals aged 15 to 24 years, seven in the 25-34 age group, six among 35- to 44-year-olds, five in the 45-54 category and three among 55 to 64-year-olds. One person was older than 85.

The infections were again very much dispersed regionally, involving 22 municipalities, with by far the largest number of active cases, 70, being reported for Ljubljana.

Among Tuesday's 37 new infections, three were established with foreign citizens.

The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countriesAll our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

19 Aug 2020, 11:49 AM

STA, 18 August 2020 - Slovenian home appliance manufacturer Gorenje is hiring some 600 temporary workers to cope with a record number of orders. Orders until the end of the year are by more than 30% higher for each month than last year, while a 15-20% increase is also expected for early 2021, the company told the STA on Tuesday.

Since 10 August, Gorenje has already hired 240 workers on a fixed-term contract, and is looking for another 350, to be employed by 1 September.

Some of the new workers will be hired until the end of October, but the majority until the end of the year, said the company, which is part of the Chinese group Hisense.

"While a rise in orders is typical of this time of year due to the seasonal nature of production, we have an absolute record number of orders for this period now."

When the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring, Gorenje's new owners were planning massive layoffs.

Orders for August to October then rose significantly and June was the first profitable month this year.

The changed situation prompted the Hisense Gorenje management to resort to soft methods to improve efficiency in production at Gorenje.

Due to the pandemic, Gorenje has introduced a number of measures to boost sales, cut costs and increase production efficiency.

19 Aug 2020, 11:40 AM

STA, 18 August 2020 - Slovenia's leading insurance group, Triglav, has reported EUR 33.5 million in net profit for the first half of 2020, a 3% decrease year-on-year. The group posted a total of EUR 673.4 million in consolidated gross written premium, up 7% compared to the same period in 2019, said insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav on Tuesday.

The group's net revenue earned from insurance premiums increased by 7% to EUR 523.1 million. The group generated EUR 40.6 million in profit before tax, 3% down year-on-year.

Net underwriting expenses amounted to EUR 338.3 million, up 2% compared to the first half of 2019. Average premium growth was meanwhile 4% in Slovenia and 8% in markets abroad. Growth was recorded in all three insurance segments; 17% increase in health insurance, 6% in non-life insurance and 3% in life and pension insurance.

"In the first half of the year, premium income recorded growth, whereas the generated profit was adversely affected by the deteriorating situation in global financial markets and partly by major CAT and other one-off events. The pandemic has radically changed the way we do business and we have adapted effectively to this situation," said chairman Andrej Slapar as quoted in the unaudited report.

Profit before tax from underwriting activities amounted to EUR 34.6 million, 3% up year-on-year, and the part earned from financial investments totalled EUR 5.3 million, a decrease of 17% year-on-year.

"Broken down by insurance segment, 85% of total profit (vs. 89% last year) was generated by the non-life insurance segment. In addition to good results from premium income, it was influenced by lower rates of return on investment and the creation of additional provisions."

The pandemic and its financial ramifications prompted a lower return on Triglav's investment portfolio worth EUR 3.3 billion. "Its value decreased by 5% in the first quarter of 2020, and at the end of the second quarter it returned to approximately the same value as at the end of 2019."

The volume of assets under management in the group's mutual funds decreased by 4% to EUR 979.4 million compared to the 2019 year-end, while discretionary mandate assets stayed roughly level at EUR 82.5 million.

Meanwhile, the consolidated gross written premium of Zavarovalnica Triglav grew by 4% to EUR 399.9 million and net revenue from premiums increased by 2% to EUR 283.2 million.

Profit before tax was down by 4% to EUR 31.6 million and net profit decreased by 4% as well to EUR 26.4 million. Net underwriting expenses were up by 3% to EUR 187.8 million.

Owing to the precarious situation in the financial markets, triggered by the pandemic, the group cannot make any sure projections on profit figures at the end of the year. According to Slapar, the profit before tax was planned between EUR 95 million and 105 million and based on the April assessment the annual profit before tax will likely decline by 10-25% compared to the planned figures.

The annual written premium and the combined ratio of the group are meanwhile forecast to be within the planned figures - around EUR 1.2 billion and below 95%, respectively.

Zavarovalnica Triglav supervisors also appointed Andrej Andoljšek chief supervisor today.

19 Aug 2020, 04:16 AM

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:

Quarantine for travellers from Croatia may be introduced by week's end

LJUBLJANA - The government's Covid-19 spokesperson Jelko Kacin said a decision on imposing quarantine on persons returning from Croatia would be made at Thursday's government session. The measure is expected to kick in by the start of the next week, with enough time given to people to return home before its implementation, said Kacin. There are believed to be some 160,000 Slovenian citizens in Croatia at the moment and people holidaying there - in particular those attending parties, have been responsible for a number of imported cases of Covid-19.

All primary and secondary school students to return to classrooms on 1 Sept

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Education Minister Simona Kustec announced that all primary and secondary school children are to return to school as the new year begins in September. "But if the epidemiological situation worsens considerably in the next 14 days, we will have to take that into account," the minister said, adding that the situation should be clearer after Thursday's government session, at which Health Minister Tomaž Gantar will present the epidemiological situation. Kustec expects that based on that assessment of the situation, "the best possible solutions" will be adopted.

After voluntary contact tracing app, Slovenia mulling mandatory app as well

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has successfully deployed a voluntary contact tracing app to help curb the coronavirus epidemic, but in the event the situation deteriorates it might also develop an app whose use will be mandatory for some, Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik indicated. The current Slovenian app is voluntary to use and has been downloaded almost 5,000 times less than a day after it was available in Google's Play Store. But the government has recently put in place a legislative provision that would allow it to make use of a mobile app mandatory for those with confirmed infections and persons who have been ordered to quarantine.

27 coronavirus infections confirmed on Monday in 1,143 tests

LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,143 tests for the novel coronavirus were performed in Slovenia on Monday, resulting in 27 confirmed new cases. The number of persons hospitalised for Covid-19 was meanwhile down by three to 16, with three persons being in intensive care, the government said. There were no Covid-19 deaths yesterday, so the overall death toll remains at 129. The total number of cases in Slovenia reached 2,456 with 266 of them active infections, according to the national tracker covid-19.sledilnik.

Leaders of Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Serbia expected at BSF

LJUBLJANA - The prime ministers of Croatia, Czechia, Hungary and Poland, and the president of Serbia have been confirmed as speakers at this year's Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), which takes place on 31 August. Half a dozen foreign ministers and the EU's foreign policy chief will also be among the panellists, BSF secretary general Peter Grk told the STA. The president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, International Monetary Fund (IMF) director Kristalina Georgieva and Bettina Cadenbach, NATO assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, will address participants via video link.

Pahor, Steinmeier stress importance of unity in facing issues

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier held a telephone conversation to stress the importance of European unity in facing the Covid-19 pandemic and in relation with other strategic challenges in the EU. The EU should also be united in tackling challenges in its immediate neighbourhood, with an emphasis on the situation in Belarus and the Western Balkans, as well as in the international community. Steinmeier said that he had been monitoring closely Pahor's recent meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Trieste, held on the 100th anniversary of the Fascist arson of a Slovenian building in the city, and noted the importance of such meetings for Europe.

Triglav group H1 net profit down 3% to EUR 33.5 million y/y

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's leading insurance group, Triglav, has reported EUR 33.5 million in net profit for the first half of 2020, a 3% decrease year-on-year. The group posted a total of EUR 673.4 million in consolidated gross written premium, up 7% compared to the same period in 2019, said insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav. The group's net revenue earned from insurance premiums increased by 7% to EUR 523.1 million. The group generated EUR 40.6 million in profit before tax, 3% down year-on-year. Net profit for the core company decreased by 4% to EUR 26.4 million. The results were released as Zavarovalnica Triglav supervisors appointed Andrej Andoljšek chief supervisor.

Gorenje hiring temps as orders surge

VELENJE - Slovenian home appliance manufacturer Gorenje, part of the Chinese group Hisense, is hiring some 600 temporary workers to cope with a record number of orders. Orders until the end of the year are by more than 30% higher for each month than last year, while a 15-20% increase is also expected for early 2021, the company told the STA. Since 10 August, Gorenje has already hired 240 workers on a fixed-term contract, and is looking for another 350, to be employed by 1 September. When the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring, Gorenje's new owners were planning massive layoffs. Orders for August to October then rose significantly and June was the first profitable month this year.

Teršek withdraws appeal seeking annulment of constitutional judge nominee vote

LJUBLJANA - Jurist Andraž Teršek, who failed to get elected a Constitutional Court judge by parliament in mid-June, has withdrawn his appeal to the Constitutional Court that asked it to annul the vote and order a new vote on his bid. He said there was not enough time for the court to decide on the appeal over invalid ballots before the deadline for new bids. He also said he would not like to complicate the procedure for the appointment of new candidates with his appeal.

Lunar stone on display at Noordung centre

VITANJE - A piece of a lunar rock, brought from the Moon in 1972, has been handed to the Herman Potočnik Noordung Centre of Space Technologies in Vitanje by the US Embassy in Slovenia and NASA. The stone was put on display until the end of 2020 and is to be joined by a replica of the space suit worn by Neil Armstrong in 1969. The US Embassy described the lunar stone, collected by astronaut and geologist Harrison "Jack" Schmitt during the Apollo 17 mission, as a symbol of a joint dedication to the exploration of outer space.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

18 Aug 2020, 20:52 PM

STA, 18 August 2020 - The government's Covid-19 spokesperson Jelko Kacin said on Tuesday that a decision on imposing quarantine on persons returning from Croatia would be made at Thursday's government session. The measure is expected to kick in by the start of the next week, with enough time given to people to return home before its implementation, said Kacin.

Given the rising numbers of imported coronavirus cases from Croatia in the past week, restrictions have to be implemented to curb that, said Kacin, adding that it was yet to be seen whether there would be any potential exemptions from the measure based on age, region or a negative coronavirus test.

On Wednesday, the government is to meet experts at Brdo pri Kranju to discuss the details of mandatory quarantine for travellers from Croatia and come up with a final strategy. Kacin called for a targeted measure.

On Thursday evening, the government will then endorse the measure, giving people a couple or a few days to return to Slovenia from Croatia in time to avoid the mandatory quarantine.

Kacin expects the measure to enter into force during the weekend. Police officers will be required to issue a quarantine order for everyone returning from Croatia, he added.

Until Monday, the Health Ministry issued 50,500 such orders. The average time of issuing the order at a border crossing is about 14 minutes, the ministry told the STA on Tuesday.

The bulk of quarantine orders is issued to persons coming from countries deemed highly Covid-19 risky. Contacts with those infected with the virus may also prompt such a measure.

There is no detailed data on the number of Slovenians currently holidaying in Croatia though. According to the country's figures, there are some 160,000 Slovenian citizens in Croatia at the moment, said Kacin.

Croatia has recorded 914,000 arrivals of Slovenian tourists since the beginning of 2020. Slovenians have been topped only by German tourists in terms of generating overnight stays in Croatia's tourism this year, creating 7 million overnight stays, said the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport.

Kacin said that the government was daily monitoring the coronavirus situation in Croatia and other hotspots in the Western Balkans. The new cases imported from Croatia mainly stem from the country's southern regions and mostly involve persons aged between 15 and 35. On Monday, 12 infections were confirmed in persons who had returned from Croatia.

Kacin pointed out that the young were attending parties on Croatia's coast. They get infected and do not disclose who else was with them, adding that it was likely many were not detected and kept on spreading the virus.

Asked whether Slovenia would later upgrade Croatia from the red list of countries, which signals high risk in terms of coronavirus contagion, to the yellow list, which does not require mandatory self-isolation for Slovenian travellers, if Croatia closed nightclubs, Kacin said that Slovenia would welcome any measures stemming the spread of the virus.

He pointed out that the number of imported cases had a great impact on Slovenia's epidemiologic status. The effective reproduction number, showing to how many people the infected person transmits the virus, would stand at 0.68 if there would be no imported cases. As it is, the number is 1.24.

18 Aug 2020, 12:47 PM

This is an emerging story, and updates may be added later today

STA, 18 August 2020 - As things stand now, all primary and secondary school children will return to school as the new school year begins on 1 September, yet all preventive coronavirus recommendations will have to be observed, Education Minister Simona Kustec announced at a news conference at Brdo pri Kranju on Tuesday.

"But if the epidemiological situation worsens considerably in the next 14 days, we will have to take that into account," the minister added.

She said the situation should be clearer after Thursday's government session, at which Health Minister Tomaž Gantar will present the epidemiological situation.

Kustec expects that based on that assessment of the situation, "the best possible solutions" will be adopted.

"I myself will back all the decisions leading to a safe return to school for all primary and secondary school pupils."

The development comes after four scenarios were prepared taking into account various Covid-19 situations and following calls for all children to return to classroom.

The Education Ministry-prepared models for the coming school year envisage fully opened and fully closed schools as the two extreme options.

The two middle options would see a combination of lessons in class and distance learning, with younger children being prioritised for the former.

At today's conference of head teachers at Brdo pri Kranju, the ministry presented a special publication with the four possible models for 2020/21 with instructions of how to act when applying either of the models.

It is model B that envisages the return to classrooms for all primary and secondary school children while recommendations to prevent infections are simultaneously observed.

The space and staff restrictions imposed as part of model B are such as to still allow for schooling in classroom, Kustec believes.

Social distancing for pupils from different classes will have to be maintained, hands regularly washed and classrooms regularly aired.

Classes are recommended to be divided into smaller groups, if possible.

Face masks will not be obligatory in classroom for pupils, whereas teachers will have to wear them if an adequate distance could not be maintained.

Pupils will have their morning meal in the classroom, while lunch will be served in the dining hall with the maximum number of pupils allowed to be in it at a time to be set.

Parent-teacher meetings should be held remotely.

Kustec said that if some of the restrictions, which had been harmonised with all stakeholders, proved unrealistic, they would be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

National Education Institute director Vinko Logaj believes the recommendations are feasible, but he admitted that some would require much more communication and coordination.

Both urged all stakeholders, including parents and pupils, to help create the optimal conditions for the full return to school. Kustec said that only healthy children and teachers should come to school.

18 Aug 2020, 11:30 AM

STA, 17 August 2020 - The Slovenian contact tracing app #OstaniZdrav (#StayWell) has been green-lit by relevant authorities and is already available to be installed in GooglePlay, said Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik on Monday, announcing more details would be unveiled on Tuesday.

The minister moreover shared a link where the app can be installed free of charge on Android mobile devices.

More details are to follow tomorrow at the daily coronavirus briefing.

Government Covid-19 spokesman Jelko Kacin said more than a week ago that the app would be available in AppStore for users of devices running on the iOS mobile operating system by the end of August.

The app has been localised on the basis of the German Corona-Warn-App under the contract the government signed with developer RSteam. It has been deemed operational and tested by the Public Administration Ministry and the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

The app is voluntary, although it was initially planned that it would have to be installed by all persons with confirmed infections and those ordered to quarantine.

You can get the Android app hereThe latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countriesAll our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

18 Aug 2020, 11:24 AM

STA, 17 August 2020 - The council of the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) has postponed the vote on whether president Aleksandra Pivec should further enjoy the party's confidence, following the conflict of interest allegations, to next Tuesday. The session had been planned for this Thursday.

Speaking for the STA on Monday, DeSUS council president Tomaž Gantar, the health minister, said that a government session had been scheduled for Thursday, which was the reason why the council session had been postponed.

Next Tuesday is the deadline for the session to be held as requested by the DeSUS deputy group, which called on 10 August on Pivec, the agriculture minister, to resign as party leader after she had failed to provide adequate explanations to a series of recent revelations that raised questions about her ethical standards.

Pivec come under intense scrutiny following reports of semi-private trips, featuring her family and party members, being covered by a wine maker and a municipality.

The things got complicated when the executive committee of the coalition party called on the council to leave Pivec's dismissal for an extraordinary congress, which should be held as soon as possible and at which Pivec would ask for a vote of confidence.

The committee also took note of a legal opinion on the matter, which unofficially says that the council cannot dismiss the president. It was agreed that a party vice-president will serve as a liaison with the deputy group until the congress.

Gantar meanwhile insists that the council has the power to take a no-confidence vote in the party leader. He said on Friday that he would also get a legal opinion and would not put the dismissal to vote if the opinion contradicted his position.

He added at the time that the party congress was not intended for deciding on a vote of no-confidence in the president, and that under the party's statute, this is something that the council could do between two congresses.

According to the newspaper Delo, Pivec has announced that she would fight until the end, and is accusing Gantar of trying to steal the mandate away from her together with some other party members.

She said that Gantar offering himself to head the party was unlawful and a conscious violation of the statute, in reference of Gantar saying he was willing to take over until the congress if the council members decided so.

In response, Gantar said that no one had invented the scandals Pivec had entangled herself in, and noted that the low approval rating of the party following the recent turmoil in the party did not surprise him.

Pivec was also critical in the statement for Delo of deputy group leader Franc Jurše, saying that he did not understand politics.

She said that he had stood by the side of the former DeSUS president Karl Erjavec during all scandals, and "now he is calling on me to resign even if I haven't done anything illegal and no Slovenian suffered a euro in damage".

A poll carried out by Mediana and run by the newspaper Delo today meanwhile showed that around 59% of those polled said Pivec should resign as party leader and as minister.

The survey, which polled 505 adults between 12 and 13 August, also showed that over 50% think that pensioners need their own political party.

18 Aug 2020, 03:55 AM

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:

13 new Covid-19 cases, quarantine considered for holidaymakers

LJUBLJANA - Thirteen new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in 393 tests in Slovenia on Sunday, show the data released by the government. Nineteen people were in hospital on Sunday with three requiring intensive care. No new deaths were reported. The total number of cases since the start of the epidemic has reached 2,429 with 248 of them active infections, according to national tracker covid-19.sledilnik. Health and government representatives were scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss measures aimed at gaining control over an increasing number of cases among Slovenian holidaymakers returning from Croatia. Health Minister Tomaž Gantar said he was personally in favour of quarantine.

Contact tracing app available

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian contact tracing app #OstaniZdrav (#StayWell) has been green-lit by relevant authorities and is already available to be installed in GooglePlay free of charge, said Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik, announcing more details would be unveiled on Tuesday. The app was localised on the basis of the German Corona-Warn-App under the contract the government signed with developer RSteam. The app is voluntary, although it was initially planned that it would have to be installed by all persons with confirmed infections and those ordered to quarantine.

Greek ship with infected crew expected in Slovenia

KOPER - A Greek ship, carrying iron ore from South America, is to arrive in Slovenia in the night to Wednesday carrying at least two persons infected with the coronavirus, according to a report by public broadcaster TV Slovenija. The ship will be anchored in the middle of the bay, and a decision to allow it to sail into the port will be taken only after all 32 members of the crew - mostly Philippine and Greek citizens - have been tested. If only some test positive, the ship will be allowed to sail into the port and unload the cargo. Should a larger number prove infected, the ship will be unable to continue its journey. The National Institute of Public Health has already prepared a relevant protocol, while the ship is said not to pose a threat to public health in Slovenia.

DeSUS council postpones vote on party leader to next week

LJUBLJANA - The council of the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) postponed to 25 August the vote on whether party leader Aleksandra Pivec should further enjoy the party's confidence, following the conflict of interest allegations. The session had been planned for this Thursday. Speaking for the STA, DeSUS council head Tomaž Gantar, the health minister, said the reason for the postponement was a government session scheduled for Thursday. He insists that the council can take a vote of no-confidence in the party president, whereas a legal opinion on the matter unofficially says the council cannot dismiss the party leader.

Poll shows drop in support for govt, Pivec

MARIBOR/LJUBLJANA - The latest survey commissioned by the papers Večer and Dnevnik showed that more than half of respondents believe Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Aleksandra Pivec should resign in the wake of unclarity about who paid for her part-business, part-private trips. Support for DeSUS in the monthly survey by the pollster Ninamedia has been dropping for three consecutive months to hit 1.8%, a point less than in July and well below the 4% parliamentary threshold. The government's approval rating also dropped; for the first time since it was sworn in in March, more than half of those polled have been unhappy with its work.

Supreme Court criticises Janša's reaction to Radonjić suspension

LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court reacted to PM Janez Janša's criticism of the temporary suspension of Ljubljana District Court judge Zvjezdan Radonjić. It said the persistent encroachment of one branch of power upon the powers of another branch could undermine the principle of division of power and lead to "political supremacy over the rule of law". Radonjić, a vocal critic of the Slovenian judiciary, was recently suspended for what the court said were grave disciplinary violations. In a tweet, Janša questioned the independence of judges and said "the chicanery" against Radonjić called for an investigation. He also retweeted several tweets alleging the suspension was revenge for the acquittal of Milko Nović in a high-profile murder case.

Police says review of NBI cases to be ready by 15 October

LJUBLJANA - The General Police Department said that a report on the oversight of police work in certain already closed high-profile National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) cases, ordered by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, would be sent to acting Police Commissioner Andrej Jurič by 15 October at the latest. The police wrote that the review needed to be conducted by 30 September and then a report sent to Jurič within 15 days. However, a first report, outlining the actions planned as part of the review, would be sent to the minister today.

Long-term care bill to be unveiled this week

LJUBLJANA - Health Minister Tomaž Gantar announced that a draft bill on long-term care would be sent into public consultation before the end of this week, but would not disclose any details about the bill that has been in the making for years. He said the goal was to make all basic services, including healthcare services, accessible to everybody without additional payments. However, he acknowledged the issue remained open of where to find funding for the accommodation side of long-term care, a cost estimated at EUR 360 million.

Prekmurje Reunification Day celebrated

MURSKA SOBOTA/LJUBLJANA - Slovenia celebrated Prekmurje Reunification Day, a national holiday marking the day when the country's eastern-most region was united with the rest of the nation after more than a millennium. The main ceremony was held on Sunday at the monument in Murska Sobota that was unveiled at last year's 100th anniversary of the reunification. Prekmurje was united with the rest of the nation in 1919, after WWI and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Ljubljana, a monument dedicated to the centenary of reunification was unveiled in Prekmurje Square.

Average pay up 5.5% in June

LJUBLJANA - The average monthly wage in Slovenia was EUR 1,813 gross in June, an increase of 5.5% on the year before. The average net wage rose at an even faster pace, up 6.1% to EUR 1,175, the Statistics Office said. The annual increase comes despite a marked drop compared to May, the final month of special bonuses for working through the epidemic.

Study confirms recent presence of endangered dolphin in Slovenian waters

PIRAN - A study has shown that an endangered subspecies of the common dolphin visited the Gulf of Trieste between 2009 and 2012, after a long period of absence due to systematic culling and lack of food. The marine mammal association Morigenos made the discovery based on direct observations and found carcasses. It says at least four specimens appeared in Slovenian territorial waters between 2009 and 2012.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

Photo galleries and videos

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