News
Lockdown leads Sam Baldwin – founder of BREG Apparel – to a pastoral world, where he finally gets his ‘priden’ badge from The Matriarch of Breg.
Other posts in this series can be read here
It started with a virus. Then followed the excitement of the lockdown-high. I had zoom calls with long-lost friends and was added to a zillion new WhatsApp groups. Then came the come down. Winter returned, life was cold and isolation felt strange.
Now, a month after running to the hills of Koroška, and I have found a certain peace. We humans have the ability to adjust to our situation, no matter how strange, and I seem to have reached a gentle contentedness to living more simply, more frugally and more physically than before.
This has been achieved by turning to a more pastoral way of life. In addition to working on various home improvement projects, (I spent two weeks with a chainsaw and chisels, making traditional wooden rain gutters for my house from tree trunks) I have been helping my neighbours – forty-something Štefka and her 74-year old mother Ančka, Breg’s Matriarch – work their land. They have a mountainside farmstead (think Heidi landscape); a couple of cows, two pigs, a few chickens, some alpine pasture and a scattering of plum and pear trees. And with each new season, there are new tasks to be done.
Assisting them was the least I could do considering their extreme generosity. They have been bringing me a hot, homecooked meals, to the point where I had an excess of food and had to protest. And that is just their most recent act of kindness. Ever since I bought Breg house in 2007, Štefka, Ančka and Jaka (God rest his schnapps-drinking soul) have been nothing but the best of neighbours to me.
I spent two afternoons raking dried leaves and dead grass from the meadows with Štefka. It had the instant gratification of cleaning a dirty window with a squeegee. It was a simple, even mundane task, yet I enjoyed it immensely. With this simple act of raking, we were helping to maintain the meadow and hold nature in stasis by preventing the forest from reclaiming the ground. No tractors, no machines. Just hand rakes, exactly as it has been done here for the last 300 years.
I have come to enjoy all this physical work. There’s wood to split, logs to bring in, the fire to light. There’s a fence to repair, a pipe to be fixed, a stone wall to build. I have found pleasure and fulfilment to the slowness of lockdown life. I am never bored. I become completely absorbed in my tasks. I forget all other worries and lose awareness of time passing. I feel fitter, more focused and more content.
I recently watched a documentary about the Amish. They believe that daily physical labour is a joy in itself. This is why they shun modern-day labour-saving devices as these would, in their eyes, reduce the amount of hard work required, and thus reduce the quality of life. I’m not about to swap my car for a horse and buggy, and grow a weird beard, but my pastoral BREGxit lockdown has made me realise that perhaps the Amish are on to something.
It is also through interaction with my neighbours that I have been able to practise speaking Slovene on a daily basis. Which is ironic. Because in my normal Ljubljana life, when I see far more Slovenian people, I speak far less Slovene. Though my level remains crude, we have been able to converse to an interesting-enough level. And I have discovered more about their lives as we have toiled together.
“My brother would have been 50 today” Štefka told me, as we pulled our wide rakes towards us, gathering hay and leaves at our feet.
Though I knew she had a long-deceased brother, I knew nothing of the circumstances of his death. I decided it would be an appropriate time to enquire.
“He hung himself. His girlfriend left him for someone else.”
A little later, Ančka arrived with a can of cold beer and two glasses.
“She’s come to check on our work!” Štefka joked.
We took a seat on a wooden bench, sipped the beer and looked out over the mountains and Meža valley below, now in the golden sun of spring. I asked them if they knew everyone who lived in the farms we could see, perched on the sides of the surrounding hills. Štefka proceed to point out each farm, recount the family name and the number of inhabitants of each.
“Do they ever come here?” I asked.
“Yes, once or twice each year.”
“Do you ever go there?”
“No!” – Ančka said, shaking her head, as if the idea of her leaving Breg was absurd.
Indeed, Ančka does not leave Breg. Incredibly for a Slovene, she has never seen the sea. She has no desire to visit lands beyond her borders. She believes she has everything she could want right here on the planina of Breg.
If you want to see Ančka, you must come to her. And come they do; she has no shortage of visitors. Despite living 850m up a mountain, the gravity of this Matriarch is strong. There is always someone popping in for a kava or schnapps – be it the snow-plough driver, a relative or one of their many friends. No matter how busy, there always seems to be time for a little malica.
The difference between their worldview and mine, perhaps makes our friendship an unlikely one. I have jumped at chances to leave my own country and go far beyond its borders. I have lived in Asia and North America, and visited exotic lands: Beirut, Beijing, Burma and Kashmir. Back home in the UK, I had never spent so much time with such deeply rural people. But I seem to have an affinity for rural folk in secret corners of the world. Indeed, amongst others, it was the lives of the farmers, fisherman and other local characters of rural Japan that fascinated me most, during my two years living there. There’s something appealing to me about those who still live the ‘old way’.
It’s thanks to Štefka and Ančka that I have met many other Slovenes in the area. But I have returned the favour too. Whenever friends come to visit me in Slovenia, I always take them to Štefka’s and Ančka’s. So ironically, Ančka, who rarely leaves the borders of Breg, let alone her country, has shared her kava and klobasa with people from America, Scotland, France, Iran, England, Austria, Ireland and New Zealand – and she seems to enjoy such visits.
--
Štefka and Ančka run a tight ship up here in Breg and keep a critical eye on my projects. After I have finished any given construction or garden task, Ančka soon arrives to inspect my work. My wooden gutters met with her approval, but at the same time she remarked on my untidy garden. She approved of my new vegetable plot, though instructed me to make a fence to keep out the deer.
Often when I am working away outside, Ančka will suddenly appear. Normally, I would rely on Štefka to translate her mother’s heavy Koroškan dialect into more understandable Slovene for me. However, a few days ago, Štefka was absent, so for the first time ever, I had a long, one on one conversation with Ančka, and to my surprise (and joy) I found we could communicate. We talked about the number of eggs the chickens are currently laying (seven or eight a day) when the cows will go out to pasture (late May), if they’ll be any plums this year (last year there wasn’t) and when it’s time to start planting the vegetable garden (first of May). I also learned that despite their ample supply of eggs, Ančka doesn’t eat them, and for all the plums they pick, she never drinks schnapps. Instead, such commodities are used as currency; gifted to friends who visit and help out on the land.
As lockdown goes on, I have started to go the way of Ančka, becoming almost allergic to leaving Breg. When I had to make a trip down to civilization this week for supplies, I didn’t enjoy the strange, new COVID-mask world, and I was glad to get back to the sanctuary of Breg.
And so, I have been settling into the rural Slovene life, working with my hands and working outside. Global lockdown makes it easier to appreciate this simple life. Because for now, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has been cancelled. One thing we can all be sure of right now, is that there IS nothing to miss out on. And this allows us to gain contentment from life’s more simple pleasures.
--
This morning it was ‘casually suggested’ by Štefka (likely she was delivering orders from up on high) that it was time I got my flower beds in order (which I confess, have been neglected for more than a decade). So, I spent an hour weeding them, and as I raked in the last of the cow-manure compost, Ančka appeared. She siliently watched my progress, whilst leaning on her stick.
I awaited her ruling nervously. Had I done enough to please The Mighty Matriarch of Breg? Finally, she put me out of my misery:
“OK, now your house is beautiful.”
It’s taken me over ten years, but I think I just got my priden* badge.
*Priden is a Slovene word meaning ‘diligent/hard-working and seems to be a Slovenian trait to aspire to.
Sam Baldwin is the founder of BREG Apparel – Slovenia inspired t-shirts, writer of Slovenia: Life in the SLO Lane blog, and author of For Fukui’s Sake; Two years in Rural Japan.
Other posts in this series can be read here
The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 17 March 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here
Mladina: How the SDS is like the Communist Party
STA, 17 April 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina takes a look at what it sees as Janez Janša's Democrats' (SDS) obsession with Communism, pinpointing several SDS features which in fact make it resemble a true Communist Party.
It is really oppressive and depressing to listen to the lies about Communism which the SDS is constantly serving to the public.
It's 2020 and they are still going on about Communist media and Communist leaders, the weekly magazine says on Friday.
This could partly be understood if almost all former Slovenian Communist Party officials who are still active in politics were not in the SDS.
Editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says there are currently three former Communist Party officials in the upper echelons of Slovenian politics.
They are Modern Centre Party (SMC) leader Zdravko Počivalšek, who was not a very ambitious Party member, President Borut Pahor, who was ambitious, and Janša, an ambitious and inquisitive young Communist whose character was not entirely to the Party's liking so it expelled him.
The SDS obviously believes that obsessing with Communism will make it win some legitimacy abroad, whereas it only disgraces itself.
All serious people know that only populists, converts and those having a hard time reconciling with reality are promoting "this East European litany".
"Nevertheless, we are grateful to PM Janša, postmen Uroš Urbanija [acting Government Communication Office boss], and FM Anže Logar for the cable sent to the Council of Europe [about Slovenian media with a Communist bias], because we do not have to explain abroad any more what kind of government is in power in Slovenia."
Mladina says the SDS has several features in common with the Party, listing among other things the hounding of those who disagree with it and the personality cult.
It argues the SDS is a movie-like version of the Communist Party the SDS portrays in its cables and descriptions of the situation in Slovenia.
Whenever the SDS has come to power it seems that when Slovenia left Communism behind to embrace democracy, the SDS did not actually want democracy but merely to take power away from the Communist Party.
The SDS is right in that whenever it comes to power, Slovenia returns 30 years back, Mladina concludes the editorial And When Will We Have "Youth Day"?
Demokracija: The pitfalls of green policies exposed by Covid-19
STA, 16 April 2020 – The right-wing Demokracija magazine makes a case against green policies promoting renewables, saying on Thursday the coronavirus crisis has shown how attempts to make urban areas green, including by promoting public transport as opposed to cars, are misguided.
Wanting to turn urban centres into countryside-like places is a time bomb in that bringing wildlife to cities increases the chances of viruses being transmitted to humans.
Although the novel coronavirus is not necessarily such a case, such behaviour represents a highly risky interaction between nature and urban areas, to which the majority of national and global officials who want to build a green agenda with billions in taxpayer money turn a blind eye.
"The zeal to make urban areas green has reached psychopathic proportions in the fight against global warming," says editor-in-chief Jože Biščak.
He says that the expulsion of personal vehicles from city centres forced many people to use public transport amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths recorded in Madrid, Milan, Paris or New York, yet media agitators and progressive politicians continue to wave the green flag.
"Those who use public transportation know the effect of being packed like sardines; immense crowds using public transport services have proved to be a deadly variant of exaggerated green thinking," the weekly says under the headline The Effect of Packed Sardines.
Nevertheless, the European Commission launched a public debate on the strategy of sustainable finance as part of its multi-billion euro Green Deal.
But Biščak says the smart EU countries have not responded to it, because they know the recession to stem from the pandemic is a much bigger threat to people's prosperity.
Demokracija says the EU's energy policy based on renewables will have to change because no EU country will probably be able to afford the green luxury after the economy contracts, especially because the western civilisation's prosperity is built on cheap fossil fuel, which is right now emerging as a straw that could help restart the economy and save jobs.
All our posts in this series are 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:
Govt ordered to check justification of restrictions on movement every week
LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court ordered the government to immediately verify the justification for restrictions on the movement of persons put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus, whereupon it must examine the justification every week. The decision refers to the most far-reaching government decree to combat the crisis, which was adopted on 29 March and put the entire country into lockdown. The court suspended Article 7 of the decree, which determines that the measures will be in place "until the cessation of the reasons". The suspension will remain in place until the judges reach a substantive decision, until which time the government must check the justification weekly.
Coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia seen as under control
LJUBLJANA - The coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia is believed to be under control allowing public life to gradually re-start, said the government's chief medical adviser for the coronavirus epidemic, Bojana Beović. "The curve has now turned downwards and we can therefore start talking about a gradual relaxation of measures and steady normalisation of life," she said. Beović presented estimates by several groups of researchers showing that the reproduction rate, which shows how many people one patient infects on average, had dropped to below one, which epidemics experts see as a point at which an epidemic starts to subside.
MOT tests and some forms of public transport to resume Monday
LJUBLJANA - The government decided to further ease lockdown restrictions by allowing annual vehicle roadworthiness tests and other procedures associated with registration of motor vehicles, and some forms of public transport to resume from Monday. Such transport can be organised by businesses or local communities in order to get people to work. The number of passengers will be limited to up to a third of the seating capacity.
Govt discussing new stimulus measures
BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government started discussing amendments to improve the first, EUR 3 billion stimulus package designed to help businesses and people cope with the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. It also started debating a draft of a planned second package. "One of the key goals of the second package is to secure liquidity for companies once restrictions start to be relaxed," Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told reporters, promising the government would try to help all the affected companies. The legislation is to be rushed through parliament.
Pahor also sympathising with France over Covid-19 emergency
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor has expressed his and Slovenia's solidarity with the French nation in the joint fight against the novel coronavirus in a video message to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The message, posted on Pahor's Twitter account, was made in French. Pahor already made similar messages of solidarity via Twitter to the Italians and their President Sergio Mattarella, Britons and Queen Elizabeth II and the Spanish nation and King Felipe VI. He addressed all of them in their languages.
Officer initially tipped for army chief appointed to PM's office
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed three new state secretaries to the office of Prime Minister Janez Janša, including Brigadier Bojan Pograjc, who media reported had been Janša's favourite for the new chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, a job that went to Brigadier Robert Glavaš instead. Pograjc is to be responsible for the military and NATO in the prime minister's office. Also appointed to the office was former SMC MP Marjan Dolinšek and Katja Triller Vrtovec, who was replaced as acting head of the Government Office for Legislation by jurist Miha Pogačnik.
Govt urged by EBU to refrain from pressurising RTV
LJUBLJANA - The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) called on the Slovenian authorities to refrain from exerting undue political pressure on the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija in the challenging times of the coronavirus epidemic. In Thursday's statement published on the EBU website and cited by RTV Slovenija on Friday, the organisation said that "RTV Slovenija is playing a critical role in helping the state fight the Covid-19 pandemic and is currently stretched to its limits."
Covid-19 prompts cancellation of national exams for primary schools
LJUBLJANA - As schools are closed due to the coronavirus epidemic, the Education Ministry cancelled nation-wide primary school exams for the first time since they were introduced for sixth and ninth grade students 20 years ago. Headteachers welcomed the decision, which Education Minister Simona Kustec said was taken on the basis of an assessment made by key education stakeholders. The head of the Association of Primary and Music School Headteachers, Gregor Pečan, said he was "grateful that common sense has prevailed".
Prosecutors challenge 30% pay cut in court
LJUBLJANA - The Association of State Prosecutors and individual state prosecutors are filing requests for constitutional review of the part of the anti-corona legislative package which temporarily cuts prosecutors' salaries by 30%. They argue that the move undermines the fundamental constitutional values and the functioning of criminal justice. The association argues the cut encroached upon the constitutional law relationships between the branches of power.
Port fees reduced by 50% to help Luka Koper
KOPER - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec approved a 50% reduction in port fees for Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's only sea port, to make it more competitive. Talking to the press as he visited the port, Vrtovec said the "discount" would remain in place until September and would be extended if necessary. He also announced subsidies for railway transport in short, similar to other countries. Meanwhile, Luka Koper announced it had selected Kolektor Koling and its partners Adriaing and Grafist to extend pier 1 at the cost of EUR 45.66 million.
Pipistrel helps secure 100,000 masks from China
AJDOVŠČINA - Ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel helped secure a donation of 100,000 medical face masks from China through its Pipistrel Asia-Pacific subsidiary and the city of Jurong where it is located. A total of 30,000 medical masks and 300 thermometers, donated by Jurong, were symbolically handed over by China's Ambassador Wang Shunqing to Ajdovščina Mayor Tadej Beočanin. 60,000 masks donated are already in Slovenia, 10,000 more are expected in coming days along with 1,100 testing kits.
Pahor thanks Novartis for humanitarian aid in coronavirus crisis
MENGEŠ - President Borut Pahor visited a Novartis facility in Mengeš, where the pharma giant is producing a sanitizing preparation that it is donating to health centres, care centres and local communities. Pahor thanked the company for its humanitarian assistance to Slovenia, said the president's office and Lek, part of Novartis. Novartis has so far donated over 8,300 litres to more than 35 institutions in the country.
Prison sentences in Taiwanese call centres case
MARIBOR - Five suspects charged with running illegal call centres operated by trafficked Taiwanese were found guilty of human trafficking by the Maribor District Court. The Slovenian ringleader Allen Cvek was sentenced to four years in prison and the rest to two months less. Allen and Tomislav Cvek and Taiwanese nationals Chen Wei Chung, Tzu Hsiang Hsu and Peng Syuan Hong were found guilty of unlawfully detaining at least 63 people, mostly citizens of Taiwan, in several underground call centres in Slovenia and Croatia between 2015 and 2018 when they were arrested.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook
We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian and Slovenia-based artists. Today it’s |Andy Green. You can see more of his work here.
Confirmed infections up by 36 to 1,304, death toll by 5 to 66
Coronavirus situation in Šmarje pri Jelšah stabilising
Govt ordered to check justification of restrictions on movement every week
After lockdown, Slovenians to visit relatives, get their hair done
Confirmed infections up by 36 to 1,304, death toll by 5 to 66
STA, 17 April 2020 - Slovenia recorded five new Covid-19 deaths on Thursday for a total death toll of 66, while the number of confirmed infections after 1,193 more people were tested was up by 36 to 1,304. The number of new cases is in line with the trend of a flat curve with occasional dips.
The number of hospitalised patients was down by four to 95 on Thursday, while the number of intensive care cases decreased by three to 28. Nine Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital.
"The data on the epidemic in Slovenia are encouraging. We'll be able to preserve the positive trend if we continue observing the measures and keep the focus that we've all demonstrated in the past weeks," the government's coronavirus spokesperson Jelko Kacin told the press on Friday.
A total of 39,330 people have been tested in Slovenia so far. 182 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospital.
Coronavirus situation in Šmarje pri Jelšah stabilising
STA, 17 April 2020 - Good news is coming from one of the coronavirus hotspots in the country, Šmarje pri Jelšah in the north-east, where the local care home saw the biggest outbreak of Covid-19. Just over a month since the first infection was recorded in the municipality, the situation seems to be finally stabilising, according to Mayor Matija Čakš.
Šmarje pri Jelšah was the first town in Slovenia to close its primary school on 12 March after two employees tested positive for coronavirus. After that, the number of infections in the municipality rose quickly, and the virus spread the most in the town's care home, which reported of the first infection on 18 March.
Until this Wednesday, 155 people from the municipality got infected, data from the National Institute for Public Health show. Most of them are residents of the care home, but the exact figure is not known.
The number of infections rose by six in a week, having stood at 149 on 8 April.
According to the mayor, all of those who died from Covid-19 in the municipality - their number stood at 25 on Wednesday - were residents of the care home.
Outside the home, the number of infections does not particularly stand out, Čakš said. The number of coronavirus cases is slightly higher in Šmarje compared to other municipalities because of the number of cases tested, he added.
He said there had been no major problems because of Covid-19 outside the care home, as citizens accepted restrictions, and now the situation seems to be stabilising. "The situation is also stabilising at the care home," he asserted.
The mayor said there were many theories about the outbreak of coronavirus in the municipality but the fact was that the Šmarje primary school is the fourth largest in the country, and that many families had been holidaying abroad.
The employees of the care home who first tested positive for the virus are not local residents, so the infection has come from elsewhere, the mayor added, noting that there was no sense in investigating this now.
Govt ordered to check justification of restrictions on movement every week
STA, 17 April 2020 - The Constitutional Court has ordered the government to immediately verify the justification for restrictions on the movement of persons put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus, whereupon it must examine every week whether the government decree imposing these restrictions is still justifiable.
The decision, released on Friday, refers to the most far-reaching government decree to combat the crisis, which was adopted on 29 March and amended on 14 April and effectively put the entire country into lockdown, allowing only limited exemptions to the prohibition of movement, including going to work, the grocery store or the nearest park.
The court has now suspended Article 7 of the decree, which determines that the measures will be in place "until the cessation of the reasons", a provision which gives the government the discretion to decide when to end the measures. The suspension will remain in place until the judges reach a substantive decision.
In the meantime, the government must verify the justification for the extension of the measures every week based on expert opinion to verify "whether the measures are necessary for the achievement of the objectives". The first such assessment must be made as soon as the decision is formally served to the government.
The court says it realises that the decree will cease to apply at some point anyway, but it says that it admitted the application nevertheless since it raises "important issues concerning constitutional law".
Interestingly, it has not been revealed who petitioned the court, as the petitioner requested the Constitutional Court that the petition be anonymised. The court said that conditions for this had been met and the petition was thus anonymised.
The government previously said that the petition had no grounds and asked the court to reject it to avoid irreparable consequences for public health. Interior Ministry said in a statement today that it supported the court's decision, adding that this is already being done daily.
"We did the right thing! The suspended segment is not problematic," tweeted Interior Minister Aleš Hojs. "The government will simply have to determine regularly whether the decree is still needed, extending or abolishing it, as dictated by the Constitution."
The opposition welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court, with the Social Democrats (SD) saying that Hojs's statement was misleading, as it was clear that the Constitutional Court had not yet discussed the contents of the decree.
The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) questioned the sensibility of the movement restrictions, saying that the "lively Saturday", when people allegedly flocked from the cities to tourist destinations and was the reason for the restriction, had not been so lively after all, judging by the number of new infections.
The party was also critical of President Borut Pahor and interior and defence ministers Hojs and Matej Tonin, for ignoring social distancing rules while visiting the southern border earlier this week.
"Their excuse is that it was a slip. But when ordinary people slipped this way... they did not get a chance to apologise and do better next time. They were punished immediately: with the movement restriction, some also with fines," LMŠ said.
The Left also welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision, adding that it will petition the court on Monday to examine coronavirus stimulus package provisions giving more powers to the police.
The Left also intends to ask the court to review the government decree adopted in Wednesday, which the Left says restricts movement between municipalities on the basis of the mentioned act.
After lockdown, Slovenians to visit relatives, get their hair done
STA, 17 April 2020 - One out of three Slovenians believes life will get back to normal after 1 June, a poll conducted by Aragon suggests, with most respondents planning to visit their close relatives and friends.
The latest of Aragon's weekly polls, conducted between 9 and 13 April among 1,027 respondents, shows a third of those questioned expecting life after the lockdown to get back to normal after 1 June.
Meanwhile, 16% believe life will return to normal after 1 July, whereas 12% do not expect the situation to return to the way it had been before the epidemic until 2021 or even later.
Asked about their short-term plans once stay-at-home measures are lifted, half of respondents plan to visit their close relatives first, and one out of three will visit their close friends.
One out of four will call on their hairdresser as soon as the quarantine is over, or take a day trip and socialise at picnics or parties.
There is more gloom when it comes to the prospect of holidays with 60% saying they did not think they would be able to take their summer holidays as they used to.
The poll also ascertained a decline in public apprehension about coronavirus with those concerned about Covid-19 falling to 37% from 51% in the last week of March.
The Slovenian Tourist Board recently predicted a 60-70% fall in related business for 2020, and with no word yet on when cafés, restaurants, spas and hotels will be reopening there’s a profound sense of gloom within the travel, tourism and hospitality sector, even as the days get longer and warmer.
But things will eventually recover, or evolve, and one focus for the rebirth of tourism in Slovenia is the fact that in 2021 the country will take its place as a European Region of Gastronomy. The culmination of many years’ efforts, and a key achievement of the 2017–2021 Strategy for the Sustainable Growth of Slovenian Tourism project (PDF), which aims to expand the areas people travel to, and the range of activities they try.
To prepare the ground for 2021 the Slovenian Tourist Board has been publishing a series of brochures and books, the latest of which is an 84-page guide to the country in its emerging role as culinary destination. It’s a beautifully photographed and well-designed guide to Slovenian gastronomy, as broken down into four broad regions: Alpine, Mediterranean & Karst, Ljubljana & Central, and Thermal Pannonian.
It not only presents an overview of the variety of food and drink on offer in each of these areas – themselves encompassing 24 gastronomic regions – but also gives details of the best chefs, restaurants and inns, culinary events, souvenirs you can eat and drink, and so on. The free pdf is available here in English, German, Italian, French and Slovenian, with the latter making the publication an ideal dual text if you want some colourful learning material going over all the terms you’ll need to talk about food and drink in Slovenia and beyond.
If you’d like to go a little deeper into Slovenian cuisine, then the Tourist Board has also produced this pdf guide to all 24 of the country’s gastronomic regions, with more great photos and descriptions of the many dishes and delicacies you can find in this small nation. Note that there are, however, no recipes, for which your best bet is probably the Cook Eat Slovenia cookbook, or even our own list of recipes. Wine lovers are also directed to another more extensive guide from the Tourist Board, which goes into far more depth with regard to the country’s wine-growing areas, with a focus on Slovenia’s wine roads.
What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
If you’d like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.
FRIDAY, 10 April
LJUBLJANA - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj hailed the agreement reached by EU finance ministers on a fiscal package to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic as a step in the right direction. Šircelj said member states had different views but managed to close ranks and forge a compromise.
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor commented on a cable sent by Slovenia to the Council of Europe (CoE) in response to a warning about pressure on the media by saying it made sense to wait for an official explanation by the prime minister and foreign minister to see if the letter's content was in fact Slovenia's official position.
LJUBLJANA - Reviewing cooperation between Slovenia and the Holy See, Foreign Minister Anže Logar and Apostolic Nuncio Jean-Marie Speich agreed that bilateral relations should be deepened. Logar pointed to the importance of spiritual care in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
LJUBLJANA - The public health insurer ZZZS said it expects the coronavirus crisis to slash its revenue by around EUR 215 million this year, while higher expenditure is expected on top of that, to the tune of EUR 30 million due to higher sick leave costs alone.
BRNIK - More than twenty tonnes of protective equipment, including face masks for medical staff, was delivered from China to the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, one of the largest such shipments since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
LJUBLJANA - A new regulation entered into force requiring consumers above the age of 65 to prove their age with an identity card to enter grocery shops during dedicated opening hours.
SATURDAY, 11 April
LJUBLJANA - Alojz Uran, who served as the Archbishop of Ljubljana in 2004-2009, a time of significant financial turmoil for the Church, died at the age of 75. Uran was named the Archbishop of Ljubljana in October 2004, succeeding Archbishop Franc Rode, and resigned in November 2009, officially due to health problems.
BRDO PRI KRANJU/LJUBLJANA - The government met to discuss guidelines for additional measures to mitigate the effect of the coronavirus epidemic on the economy, with PM Janez Janša announcing that put all measures for securing liquidity of companies would be combined into a single package.
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a decree which shortens the quarantine period for persons entering Slovenia to one week from two weeks. They can spend the time at home or at a location agreed with the civil defence. The decree entered into force on 12 April.
LJUBLJANA - About a month after the government of Janez Janša was sworn in, a poll commissioned by the newspaper Delo showed that more than 43% of the respondents assessed the government's work as positive. But the high support did not reflect in support for the coalition parties.
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor told Dnevnik in an interview that he intended to end his political career after his term ends in 2022.
SUNDAY, 12 April
LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Police Officers appealed to Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and acting Police Commissioner Anton Travner to immediately recall face masks that had been supplied to the police due to their questionable efficiency in protecting against COVID-19 infection after police has concluded the supplies are not certified protective shields but hygienic masks meant for non-medical purposes.
MONDAY, 13 April
BRNIK - A new shipment of protective equipment from China was delivered to the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, including 20 tonnes of protective masks, goggles and suits for medical staff, and protective gloves. The delivery was made by Public Digital Infrastructure, a company owned by gaming millionaire Joc Pečečnik, under a EUR 30 million-plus contract with the state.
TUESDAY, 14 April
WASHINGTON, US - The IMF forecast Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) to shrink by 8% this year compared to 2019 as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic in what is a drastic downgrade compared to the projection from last autumn, when Slovenia was forecast to record 2.9% GDP growth.
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed lawyer and security expert Janez Stušek the new director of the SOVA intelligence and security agency, effective on 15 April. The five-year term comes with the option of re-appointment.
LJUBLJANA - The government's chief medical advisor for the coronavirus epidemic, Bojana Beović, said Slovenia would not be able to start relaxing lockdown measures this week as yet, stressing the easing would depend on when the health authorities determined the epidemic was tailing off.
LJUBLJANA - Figures released by the National Institute of Public Health showed that more than 80% of people who died of coronavirus in Slovenia were older than 75 years and almost 60% were older than 85. All the deceased were older than 45, but the number of deaths rose with age.
LJUBLJANA - A contentious letter sent by the government to the Council of Europe (CoE) to claim the majority of the main media in Slovenia stem from the Communist regime was defended by Foreign Minister Anže Logar in parliament as it was discussed by the foreign policy and culture committees. The letter was a response to an alert issued by the CoE Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists after PM Janez Janša tweeted that the public broadcaster was misleading the public and indicated that some of its staff should lose their jobs.
LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs indicated the coalition could tighten asylum legislation, including by using some of the proposals of the Miro Cerar government and mindful of a European Court of Human Rights's ruling that migrants who do not enter the country lawfully could be turned back.
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) said it expected the tourism sector to see a 60-70% contraction this year if the relaxation of lockdown measures starts in June. If the restrictions last longer, the contraction is expected to be even sharper, STO director Maja Pak said.
LJUBLJANA - Several companies, including household appliances maker Gorenje and sports goods maker Elan, which had suspended their production due to the coronavirus epidemic started gradually restarting operations and joining those that have only partly shut down or have not closed shop at all.
WEDNESDAY, 15 April
ČRNOMELJ - President Borut Pahor and the defence and interior ministers, Matej Tonin and Aleš Hojs, visited the southern border area along the Kolpa river to call for the military to be given limited police powers, arguing that stronger joint border patrols were supported by the army and police, and the locals in the area.
LJUBLJANA - Miroslav Petrovec, the head of the Institute for Microbiology and Immunology, announced a random population testing for coronavirus on a sample of 1,000-1,500 residents to get a reliable estimate of the scope of the coronavirus epidemic in the country. The nation-wide testing is expected to begin next week.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The coronavirus crisis has shown Slovenia urgently needs a transport plane, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said after a videoconference of NATO defence ministers. The ministry has already initiated procedures, requested input from the military and formed a working group that will examine all acquisition options.
LJUBLJANA - Interior Ministry State Secretary Franc Breznik offered his resignation after he was caught speeding and drunk driving on 2 April. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs accepted the resignation the following day.
LJUBLJANA - The Interior Ministry proposed that the National Public Health Institute share citizens' personal data with the police to help contain the coronavirus epidemic. If the motion is endorsed, the police will be privy to the information about the quarantine duration and other anti-COVID-19 restrictions imposed on the individual.
LJUBLJANA - A majority of the eight-member contingent of the Slovenian Armed Forces serving in the European Union Training Mission in Mali returned home after training tasks there were suspended and focus put on containing the spread of coronavirus. Five soldiers returned home three days after one infected Slovenian soldier had been airlifted home.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia sent a package of aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic. The package included ten tents, 60 field beds, 50 sleeping bags, ten heaters, 1,500 blankets, 100 pieces of cutlery and 20 waste bag stands.
THURSDAY, 16 April
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Brigadier Robert Glavaš the new chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF).
LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs told the press that the government plans to deploy soldiers if needed despite the fact that it was unable to muster the two-thirds majority in parliament to grant soldiers limited police powers to patrol the border. It plans to use a different legislative provision that allows a more limited form of deployment.
LJUBLJANA - The government decided that hardware shops, car repair shops and showrooms will reopen on 20 April and hair and beauty salons on 4 May.
LJUBLJANA - Police recorded 1,835 illegal crossings of the border in the first three months of the year, which is 6.5% more than in the same period last year. Most migrants came from Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan.
MARIBOR - NKBM, Slovenia's second largest bank, reported a EUR 62.5 million net profit at group level and EUR 67.4 million at the level of the core bank for 2019, down EUR 10 million and EUR 8 million respectively on 2018.
LJUBLJANA - The state-owned power group HSE reported EUR 29.7 million in net profit for last year, bouncing back from a EUR 11.8 million loss the year before after its subsidiary, the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant (TEŠ), posted its lowest loss since the contentious unit 6 became operational in 2015.
LJUBLJANA - Economist and cultural studies expert Andrej Srakar said he was not thrilled with the government's measures taken so far to help the culture sector recover from the Covid-19 crisis but was nevertheless optimistic that the sector could recover within a year.
MURSKA SOBOTA/LJUBLJANA - Hungary has donated seven pallets of protective equipment to the Murska Sobota hospital, including surgical masks, hazmat suits and disinfectants. Huawei Technologies provided 30,000 protective face masks and 100 tablet computers for disadvantaged children.
LJUBLJANA - Amnesty International said in its latest report on human rights that Slovenia has failed to respect and protect the rights of migrants, while also pointing to what it believes is an inappropriate definition of rape, inadequate elderly care and treatment of the Roma.
All our posts in this series are here
STA, 17 April 2020 - The insurance group Sava has adjusted its expected net profit for this year as a result of the crisis, saying on Friday it is likely to be about 15% to 20% lower than the initially planned EUR 45 million.
Sava originally projected this year's profit to miss last year's record mark of EUR 50.2 million by 10%. While it generated EUR 584.9 million in operating revenue last year, the plan for this year had been set at EUR 610 million.
The changed circumstances, which include an expected 6-8% drop in GDP, lockdown measures that could remain in place until the end of May and a major decrease in car insurance revenue, are likely to impact profit by 15-20% and revenue by 5-7%, the company said.
The assessed impact on the solvency ratio, initially expected to stand at 203% at the end of the year, is 10 to 15 percentage points.
STA, 17 April 2020 - Nation-wide primary school exams have been cancelled due to the coronavirus situation, the Education Ministry announced on Friday. This is the first time the exams for sixth and ninth grade students have be cancelled since their introduction 20 years ago. Headteachers have welcomed the decision.
The decision not to hold the exams as schools are closed and children learning at home was taken on the basis of an assessment made by key education stakeholders, Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec said in a release.
Nevertheless, the nation-wide tests will be made available online for teachers and students to reinforce what students have already learned.
Sixth graders take exams in mathematics and Slovenian (Italian and Hungarian for minority members in bilingual areas) as well as in a foreign language, which is English or German. Ninth graders also take the exams in maths and mother-tongue plus in a third subject which varies.
The exams, which are not compulsory, are taken in early May. This year's exams for third garde students, which were introduced in the 2017/2018 year, were cancelled already last month.
A decision to hold Matura - the school-leaving exam for secondary school students - has already been taken recently. But Kustec said in an interview for the newspaper Dnevnik, which will be fully run on Saturday, that it will be held in a somewhat changed format.
Students will write the Slovenian language essay on 1 June instead of 5 May, which is a major difference from the standard schedule.
Just like every year, however, secondary school students in their last year will end school on 22 May and all the others on 24 June.
The minister, however, was unable to say earlier this week when kindergartens and schools could reopen, stressing it would depend on an expert assessment that this could be done safely.
The government has already started to relax some of the restrictions imposed after the epidemic was declared on 12 March, but schools are very unlikely to reopen soon.
In his first reaction to the news, the head of the Association of Primary and Music School Headteachers, Gregor Pečan, said that while schools were yet to be formally notified of the decision, which he expects today, he is "grateful that common sense has prevailed".
"I absolutely agree the primary school national exams are cancelled, because it would be impossible to provide for credible exams in this situation," he said in a statement for the STA, adding it would make no sense to hold them for their own sake.
All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia are here
STA, 16 April 2020 - DIY shops, shops selling cars and bicycles, dry cleaners and some repair shops such as tyre replacement shops will reopen on Monday as the government has further eased lockdown measures.
Meeting for a session on Thursday, the government added new exceptions to the restrictions on shops and services imposed in Slovenia on 16 March, allowing hair salons and beauty parlours to reopen on 4 May.
Already from Monday, shops selling mostly construction and installation materials, technical goods or furniture will be back in business.
Between 8am and 9:30am all those shops will be open for vulnerable groups of shoppers only, i.e. persons with disabilities, pregnant women and those above the age of 65. The latter group will not be able to enter the shops outside the dedicated opening hour.
Also reopening on Monday will be dry cleaners and repair shops for technical goods, motor vehicles and cars.
The government also allowed the reopening of services performed outdoors such as gardening services, roof and facade work, and takeaways involving minimum contact with customers.
Outdoor sports and recreational services will also be allowed from Monday provided a safe distance is kept between everyone involved.
More services will be available from 4 May, with reopening of hair salons, beauty parlours, dog and cat grooming salons and shops of up to 400 m2 sales space except for those in shopping centres.
The shops allowed to reopen will need to observe strict safety measures including obligatory wearing of masks or some other face coverings, hand sanitising, airing of premises and allowing 20 square metres per customer, and a two-metre distance between customers waiting in a line.
Only healthy staff and customers are allowed on the premises.
The government today also adopted a decree to include all doctors and dentists not yet licensed but involved in the health system as speciality trainees, interns or secondments in the measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic, along with graduate doctors and dentists.
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:
Brigadier Robert Glavaš appointed chief of general staff
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Brigadier Robert Glavaš the new chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF), Defence Minister Matej Tonin tweeted, saying that Glavaš had proven himself in the past weeks of crisis as exceptionally operative, committed and professional. Glavaš previously served as deputy chief of the general staff and was also interim chief of the general staff following the dismissal of Alenka Ermenc at the maiden session of the new government on 14 March.
Some non-grocery shops to reopen on Monday
LJUBLJANA - DIY shops, shops selling cars and bicycles, dry cleaners and some repair shops such as tyre replacement shops will reopen on Monday as the government decided to further ease lockdown measures. By adding new exceptions to the restrictions on shops and services imposed in Slovenia on 16 March, the government allowed hair salons and beauty parlours to reopen on 4 May. Already from Monday, shops selling mostly construction and installation materials, technical goods or furniture will be back in business. Between 8am and 9:30am all those shops will be open for vulnerable groups of shoppers only, i.e. persons with disabilities, pregnant women and those above the age of 65. The latter group will not be able to enter the shops outside the dedicated opening hour.
Soldiers may help police on border even without police powers
LJUBLJANA - Interion Minister Aleš Hojs told the press that the government plans to deploy soldiers if needed despite the fact that it was unable to muster the two-thirds majority in parliament to grant soldiers limited police powers to patrol the border. It plans to use a different legislative provision that allows a more limited form of deployment. This provision, allows soldiers to cooperate with the police in the "broader protection of the state border", albeit without police powers.
Info commissioner says focus must be on health, not surveillance
LJUBLJANA - Responding to the government's proposal that health authorities share citizens' personal data with the police to help contain the coronavirus epidemic, Information Commissioner Mojca Prelesnik said that the data must not be obtained en masse and stockpiled and that focus must not be redirected from health protection. The Interior Ministry argues that the data exchange is key for enabling police work in line with Article 103 of the anti-corona law, referring to police powers to search for persons and temporarily restrict their movement.
Interior minister accepts state secretary's resignation after DUI incident
LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs accepted the resignation of Franc Breznik, a state secretary at the ministry who was caught drink driving and speeding. Breznik, an MP for the ruling Democrats (SDS) before he was named state secretary, was driving a ministry car when he was pulled over by a patrol on the Ljubljana ring road on 2 April. The breathalyser test showed 0.44 milligrams of alcohol per litre of exhaled air, 0.20 mg above the acceptable limit. He was also driving 20 km/h above the speed limit.
Illegal crossings of border up 6.5% in first three months
LJUBLJANA - Police recorded 1,835 illegal crossings of the border in the first three months of the year, which is 6.5% more than in the same period last year. Most migrants came from Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan. Compared to the first three months of 2019, the biggest rise in the number of crossings was recorded in January and February, when they were up by almost 80%. The situation changed in March, when illegal crossings declined by almost 40% compared to the year before, which the police attribute to measures aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus.
AI points to treatment of migrants in 2019 report for Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - Amnesty International (AI) said in its latest report on human rights that Slovenia has failed to respect and protect the rights of migrants, while also pointing to what it believes is an inappropriate definition of rape, inadequate elderly care and treatment of the Roma. In the regional overview of Europe and Central Asia for 2019, the NGO pointed to shortcomings in at least four fields, but the Slovenian chapter noted that "this does not mean that there are no other human rights violations in Slovenia." The report says that numerous potential asylum seekers who had entered Slovenia illegally have been denied access to international protection by the Slovenian authorities.
Confirmed Covid-19 cases up by 21 to 1,269, death toll unchanged at 61
LJUBLJANA - The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Slovenia rose by 21 to 1,269 after 1,023 people were tested on Wednesday, while the number of deaths remained 61. The number of new cases was 28 the day before and when contrasted with days that saw comparable numbers of tests, both figures signal a decline in the curve that was flattened in the past two weeks.
Nurses call for crisis bonus payment
LJUBLJANA - A trade union representing nurses and care workers urged paying staff at hospitals, health centres and care facilities as bonus for working during a crisis as stipulated by the collective bargaining agreement for the public sector. Those under the heaviest stress should also receive the allowance under the anti-corona stimulus package, the Trade Union of Health Care and Social Care told the press. The union said that not all hospitals, health centres and care facilities had paid their staff the allowance with the March salary, which they received in early April.
Minister says situation at care homes under control
LJUBLJANA - Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs Janez Cigler Kralj commented on the situation at care homes in the face of coronavirus, saying the elderly were receiving adequate care and treatment, and that in 90% of the homes nobody was infected with the virus. There are 102 care homes in Slovenia and in 90 of them there is no coronavirus infection at the moment. A large number of people have been infected in five of them and only a few cases have been recorded in others, said Rajko Vajd, a specialist in family medicine who is covid-19 coordinator for care homes in the Ljubljana area.
Charitable donations abound amid Covid-19 epidemic
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Beekeepers' Association donated EUR 20,000 to five homes for the elderly, and Caritas Slovenia has helped many precarious workers, chronically unemployed and the elderly as part of its nation-wide campaign, as the country is fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. Moreover, the Chinese multinational Huawei Technologies provided 30,000 protective face masks and 100 tablet computers intended for disadvantaged children so that they can participate in on-line learning. Hungary donated seven pallets of protective equipment to the Murska Sobota hospital, including surgical masks, hazmat suits and disinfectants.
Power group HSE returned to profit in 2019
LJUBLJANA - The state-owned power group HSE reported EUR 29.7 million in net profit for last year, bouncing back from a EUR 11.8 million loss the year before after its subsidiary, the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant (TEŠ), posted its lowest loss since the contentious unit 6 became operational in 2015. The group generated a record EUR 1.7 billion in sales revenue, up 16%, year-on-year, the company said in a press release after the annual report was endorsed by the HSE supervisory board. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 25% to just over EUR 160 million, a five-year high.
NKBM profit down slightly in 2019
MARIBOR - NKBM, Slovenia's second largest bank, reported a EUR 62.5 million net profit at group level and EUR 67.4 million at the level of the core bank for 2019, down EUR 10 million and EUR 8 million respectively on 2018. The total assets of the group, which was expanded with Abanka in February this year, amounted to EUR 5.1 billion at the end of 2019, up EUR 108 million from the start of the year, mostly on account of more lending to non-banking clients.
Substantial interest in seasonal farm work amid crisis
LJUBLJANA - The number of Slovenians interested in helping out with seasonal work on farms has been growing as some farms have been struggling to get by without seasonal workers. In just four days, nearly 400 people responded to an Agriculture Ministry call for help with seasonal farm work, after it became clear that seasonal workers, in particular from Romania, would not be able to help due to health concerns associated with the coronavirus epidemic. But some farmers are sceptical, while organisations promoting workers' rights are up in arms over the potential for abuse.
Novšak reappointed CEO of Gen Energija
KRŠKO - The supervisory board of GEN Energija unanimously reappointed Martin Novšak as CEO for a four-year term starting on 8 July. Novšak started serving his first term in 2005 and has been at the helm of Slovenia's largest energy utility since then. His reappointment is based on his extensive experience, energy industry know-how, positive business results and an ambitious plan for the future which puts safe, reliable and sustainable energy supply first, reads the company's press release.
Govt replaces three supervisors at public broadcaster
LJUBLJANA - The government made early replacements of three members of the supervisory board of RTV Slovenija, the country's public broadcaster. Matjaž Medved, Irena Ostrouška and Petra Majer were dismissed and are being replaced by Borut Rončević, Anton Tomažič and Drago Zadergal, the Government Communication Office announced. Rončević is a professor at the Nova Gorica School of Advanced Social Studies and Anton Tomažič is a jurist who served as MP for the DEMOS coalition in the early 1990s. The government appoints four out of eleven members of the RTV Slovenija supervisory board.
Analyst expects culture to rebound within a year
LJUBLJANA - Economist and cultural studies expert Andrej Srakar is not thrilled with the government's measures taken so far to help the culture sector recover from the Covid-19 crisis. He is nevertheless optimistic that the sector could recover within a year and also create new business models along the way. Srakar admits that the majority of Slovenian artists are still in a crunch. But unlike many economists, he does not expect a long recession because it will result from an external shock rather than from bad business decisions, meaning it will not be structural in nature.
Slovenia supports postponement of Dubai Expo
LJUBLJANA - The Ministry for Economic Development and Technology asked the government to support a postponement of World Expo 2020 Dubai at the upcoming meeting of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) because of coronavirus, the intergovernmental organization in charge of overseeing and regulating World Expos. The World Expo was scheduled to start in Dubai on 20 October, but the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has requested a postponement and proposed changing the dates to 1 October 2021 - 31 March 2022.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
STA, 16 April 2020 - The government on Thursday made early replacements of three members of the supervisory board of RTV Slovenija, the country's public broadcaster.
Matjaž Medved, Irena Ostrouška and Petra Majer were dismissed and are being replaced by Borut Rončević, Anton Tomažič and Drago Zadergal, the Government Communication Office announced.
Rončević is a professor at the Nova Gorica School of Advanced Social Studies and Anton Tomažič is a jurist who served as MP for the DEMOS coalition in the early 1990s
The government appoints four out of eleven members of the RTV Slovenija supervisory board.
One of the first tasks of the revamped board will be to vote on endorsement of the broadcaster's financial plan for the year.
Since the supervisors rejected the plan in December, the broadcaster's operations are being financed by means of provisional monthly budgets.
The broadcaster generated a loss of EUR 3.2 million last year, to be offset by surpluses from the past years.
