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STA, 16 December 2019 - Slovenian Consul General in Italy's Trieste Vojko Volk has condemned the posters on which an Italian neo-fascist movement labelled five Slovenian victims of fascism as terrorists. The provocation happened in two Italian towns on Saturday, on the eve of an event commemorating the victims.
The five patriots - Pinko Tomažič, Viktor Bobek, Simon Kos, Ivan Ivančič and Ivan Vadnal - were executed on 15 December 1941 after being sentenced to death by a fascist court in what is known as the "second Trieste trial".
On the eve of the 78th anniversary of their execution, Casa Pound put up posters in Opicina and Longera, saying they were not victims but terrorists, Primorski Dnevnik, the newspaper of the Slovenian minority in Italy, reported two days ago.
The neo-fascist campaign was immediately condemned by the Slovenian minority party - Slovenian Community (SSk) and by the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Association, an umbrella minority organisation.
Related: Ethnic Slovenes in Italy Concerned about Neo-Fascist Rally in Trieste, Saturday (Videos)
TIGR Primorska, an association cherishing the memory of the first anti-Fascist fighters in the area Italy occupied after WWI, also condemned the incident, urging Slovenian senior officials to respond.
It called on President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, Foreign Minster Miro Cerar and Consul Volk to ask Italy's officials to publicly distance themselves from such acts.
Responding to the appeal, Volk said today the provocation was meant to undermine the achieved level of cooperation and trust among the Slovenian and Italian nations.
He noted that in 2020, 100 years will have passed since the National Home in Trieste was burnt down by Fascists, on which occasion the Slovenian and Italian presidents will be in Trieste for a commemoration. Talks are also under way for the National Home to be returned to the Slovenian minority.
"These processes contribute to reconciliation and coexistence among the nations and direct us towards the future at concrete and symbolic levels", which Volk believes some far-right groups in Italy find disturbing.
"But it is up to us to respond to political provocations calmly and resolutely," he wrote in his response, noting yesterday's commemoration in Opicina was exactly such a response.
The diplomat stressed a lot of people turned out, and Trieste Mayor Roberto Dipiazza as one of the speakers strongly condemned the provocation and urged tolerance.
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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Mlinar becomes Slovenian citizen, formally nominated minister
LJUBLJANA - Angelika Mlinar was formally nominated for the minister without portfolio for development and cohesion policy as Prime Minister Marjan Šarec submitted the candidacy to parliament. The nomination came after Mlinar, an Austrian citizen of Slovenian descent, was first granted Slovenian citizenship on ground of national interest, whereupon Austria granted her request to hold dual Austrian-Slovenian citizenship. The committee hearing is scheduled for Tuesday while the plenary vote at the National Assembly is expected on Thursday. While not all opposition parties support her, it is not clear if she enjoys support of all coalition parties.
Šarec says Slovenia unlikely to found new national carrier
LJUBLJANA - The founding of a new airline in full or partial state ownership after flag carrier Adria Airways went into receivership is not very likely, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told reporters. This was considered one of the ways to keep Ljubljana connected to the world after Adria went into receivership at the end of September. "There are no major changes, because risks are very high. I think it's not very likely that we get our airline at this point," Šarec said.
Šarec sees nuclear as key to Slovenia's carbon neutrality
LJUBLJANA - The government appears prepared to making construction of a new nuclear reactor a cornerstone of Slovenia's plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in line with EU goals. "The fact is ... that if we don't build a second reactor at the nuclear power station and if we close coal-fired power stations, we will not achieve environmental goals," Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said during questions' time at the National Assembly.
Commissioner Lenarčič wants European Green Deal to succeed
LJUBLJANA - European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič urged the implementation of the European Green Deal, outlined by the European Commission last week, as he met Slovenia's senior officials. He believes Europe should continue to play a leading role in the global fight against climate change. He would like the Green Deal, under which the EU aims to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050, to be a success story. He also believes environmental issues are one of Slovenia's major challenges for the future.
Lenarčič wants EU better prepared to tackle crises
LJUBLJANA - European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič is confident that in five years, the EU will be better prepared to rapidly provide humanitarian aid in the event of crisis. Preparedness must be improved, he told a debate on crisis management co-organised by the STA during his official visit to Slovenia. The Slovenian member of the European Commission pointed out that climate change would increase the intensity and frequency of natural disasters. "Without action, the consequences of these phenomena will be unmanageable."
Cerar presents Slovenia's view on multilateralism in Madrid
MADRID, Spain - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar presented Slovenia's stance on multilateralism and its efforts related to climate change, sustainable development and gender equality on the final day of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Madrid, where he also held several bilateral meetings. In his address, he stressed the need for cooperation in the tackling of global challenges and the importance of strengthening multilateralism, noting Slovenia remained committed to the system of multilateralism that is based on UN values, to the rule of law and human rights. He also called for rapid implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Slovenian consul worried about neo-fascist campaign
TRIESTE, Italy - Slovenian Consul General in Italy's Trieste Vojko Volk condemned the posters on which an Italian neo-fascist movement labelled five Slovenian victims of fascism as terrorists. The provocation happened in two Italian towns on Saturday, on the the eve of an event commemorating the victims, executed in 1941. The neo-fascist campaign was immediately condemned by the Slovenian minority SSk party and by the SKGZ umbrella minority organisation, with TIGR Primorska, an association cherishing the memory of the first anti-Fascist fighters, urging Slovenian senior officials to respond. Volk said the incident was meant to undermine the achieved level of cooperation and trust among the Slovenian and Italian nations.
Report: Militia leader's prison deferral request not granted
MARIBOR - The District Court in Maribor threw out a request by Andrej Šiško, the self-styled leader of a militia that calls itself the Štajerska Guard, for deferral of a prison sentence he received for incitement to subversion of the constitutional order earlier this year. This means the court's decision that he has to go to prison became final two days ago, so he will have to go to prison, POP TV and TV Slovenija reported, but said no arrest warrant had been issued against him. Šiško was sentenced to eight months in prison in March, but has already served around seven months while being in detention before and during the trial.
PM announces tightening of vaccination law
LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec announced legislative changes to prevent an increasing number of parents citing health reasons to avoid their children getting the compulsory vaccinations. Amendments to the contagious diseases act will be ready by April and will bring changes to long-term administrative procedures related to refuse inoculation out of medical reasons, Šarec told MPs in questions' time about a law that he said was often abused.
Salaries up in October
LJUBLJANA - Average take-home pay paid out in Slovenia for October amounted to EUR 1,122, up 1.6% in nominal terms and 1.5% in real terms compared to the month before, and 3.3% nominally year-on-year. Fresh data from the national Statistics Office showed that average gross pay for October was 1,742, up 1.7% in nominal terms and 1.6% in real terms compared to September's and up 3.9% compared to that for October 2018.
European Blockchain Hub declares bankruptcy
LJUBLJANA - Just over a year after its launch, the Ljubljana-based European Blockchain Hub, a cooperative designed to act as a platform bringing together blockchain stakeholders, has declared bankruptcy. Founded in October 2018 with the aim of facilitating the development of blockchain technology and start-ups based on "European values and principles of good corporate governance", the cooperative never really took off. Director Blaž Golob said the main reason why the cooperative had to enter bankruptcy was because some stakeholders had failed to deliver.
Slovenian painter wins Eugene Boudin Award in France
PARIS, France - Slovenian painter Gregor Pratneker has won the Eugene Boudin Prize at the Salon de Beaux Arts in Paris, a major international art showcase. He received the honour for his oil painting Spring in Mountains. Pratneker, a Maribor native, makes exclusively oil canvasses and has lately been focusing on landscapes.
Slovenian Tea Jarc to head European youth union group
LJUBLJANA - The Youth Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) elected Slovenian Tea Jarc its president, making her the first Slovenian to elected president of a European trade union confederation. Jarc heads Mladi Plus, a part of Slovenia's biggest trade union confederation, the ZSSS, and represents secondary school students, students, the young unemployed, and youths in precarious jobs.
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
Only a handful of politicians understand the influence of the social media today and are able to use it successfully. One of them is certainly the Slovenian President Borut Pahor.
Borut understands that social media is one of those tools that can reach an audience who might never read a newspaper or watch a news report, and should therefore not to be bogged down with much serious or complex content, but should match striking images with easy to digest text, along with plenty of hashtags.
The medium thus fits perfectly the President’s propensity to happiness, his vast array of hobbies, and last but not least his refined sense of visual aesthetics and rugged good looks.
In 2019 President Pahor also received a local Instagram celebrity award, and so we present part one of our selection of “the best” of his Instagram posts for the year, and hope to show how well he managed to use this new medium in his own favor.
- January 7th: Borut Pahor on an important telephone mission.
- January 21: Borut likes Rock and roll.
- January 30: Borut’s cute socks
- February 2: Stay composed no matter what.
- February 9: The three topics journalists want to hear about.
- February 19: Just don’t touch the hair.
- March 11: Quiz question
- March 11: Quiz answer
- March 12: Presidential nightmare.
- March 17: This is about the pants, not legs, you dirty minds!
- March 24: Making Instagram friends is harder than we thought. But it’s worth it.
- April 14: Wrong trousers.
- April 17: When vanity tricks you into eating too much.
- May 6: Borut into every Slovenian phone!
- May 13: A good photo saves the world.
- May 17: Girls managed to control themselves this time.
- May 29: Right trousers.
- June 12: Limelight? -Yes, please.
- July 14: Saying no to alcohol, while saying yes to beer.
- July 21: Flat landing?
- July 25: Hipster Accessories: Renault 4 aka Katra #1
- July 31: wet & cute swimmer Borut
STA, 16 December 2019 - Just over a year after its launch, the Ljubljana-based European Blockchain Hub, a cooperative designed to act as a platform bringing together blockchain stakeholders, has declared bankruptcy. The District Court of Ljubljana called on creditors to report their claims by 13 March.
Founded in October 2018 with the aim of facilitating the development of blockchain technology and start-ups based on "European values and principles of good corporate governance", the cooperative never really took off.
Its demise mirrors the general fortunes of blockchain itself, a technology that was seen as holding vast potential but became mired in fraud and unfulfilled promises.
This is despite the cooperative having been backed, at least in the initial stages, by 13 supporters, including the Slovenian government, educational and research institutions, and shopping mall operator BTC City.
Director Blaž Golob said the main reason why the cooperative had to enter bankruptcy was because some stakeholders had failed to deliver.
"One of the partners would have had to push ahead, the Tolar HashNET team, but that never happened. BTC was the best partner and invested EUR 50,000 in the project, but it did not want to be the only one," he told the business daily Finance.
Tadej Slapnik, former advisor to the government and long the main proponent of blockchain in government, meanwhile told the paper that stakeholders disagreed with Golob's management and stepped down from positions at the organisations one after another other.
STA, 16 December 2019 - The government appears prepared to making construction of a new nuclear reactor a cornerstone of Slovenia's plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in line with EU goals. Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told parliament on Monday that without unit two at the Krško nuclear power station, the goal would not be achieved.
"The fact is ... that if we don't build a second reactor at the nuclear power station and close coal-fired power stations, we will not achieve environmental goals," Šarec said during questions time. "Things are very simple or very complicated, depending how you look at it."
In summer, Šarec re-ignited a long-simmering debate about the replacement of the existing reactor at Krško, which is currently slated for closure in 2043 but whose useful life could yet be extended.
At the recent EU summit he reiterated the commitment to carbon neutrality and said achieving it would require preserving nuclear and abandoning coal; Slovenia has only one coal-fired power station, in Šoštanj, and a backup gas-fired power station in Brestanica.
The dilemma whether or not Slovenia should go for nuclear is expected to be resolved in the long-term climate strategy until 2050 and the national energy concept, key documents laying out Slovenia's energy future, which have both been delayed for years.
Šarec defended the delay today saying that it was "impossible to change in a year what had not even been under consideration for twenty years before."
All our stories on nuclear power in Slovenia are here
Two years ago, December 2017, blockchain mania reached its peak as the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high. This pulled up the valuations of a dizzying number of other tokens and start-ups, a fair few based in Slovenia – with the country receiving over 5% of global investments in blockchain projects – and introduced the wider world to terms such as FOMO, HODL and “to the moon”. The mass hysteria may have waned as prices fell and observers became more familiar with terms such as "buy the dip", "exit scam" and SFYL, but the underlying technology is still around, and Slovenia is still punching above its weight on the scene.
Ljubljana is the home of BTC City, which is and isn’t “BTC City”, as the name is unrelated to the abbreviation for Bitcoin, but it does still promote itself as a brick-and-mortar location where such “money” can be spent, as well as hosting the European Blockchain Hub...which today (16 December 2019) declared bankruptcy.
The latest news in this regard is last week’s announcement, made by the Government Communication Office, that the country has launched a national test blockchain infrastructure, SI-Chain, which will enable testing of existing and new applications for the public and private sector. Not only is Slovenia the first EU Member State to establish such infrastructure, but the only the second in the world, after China.
SI-Chain was set up by the Hashnet in cooperation with Telemach in November. Hashnet owns one of the fastest and most energy-efficient distributed ledger technologies in the world, and the managing director of the Slovenian branch, Tadej Slapnik, has said that the goal of the project is to integrate the technology into the business models of companies and public services.
The news is related to the 2018 call from the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology for demo/pilot projects in 2018 that would receive support from €73 million of EU funds, with the foci being on blockchain, AI and other converging technologies (IoT, big data, ML, predictive analytics, AR, VR, MR, 3D and so forth). Some of the aims in supporting these projects will be to help the government create regulatory solutions for specific industry verticals using blockchain, the introduction of smart contracts into Slovenian corporate law, and with regulation of digital entities and regulatory sandboxes for different fields of industry and the public sector.
All our stories on blockchain in Slovenia are here
STA, 15 December 2019 - The National Assembly will start its December session with question time on Monday. The most interesting item on the week's agenda will likely be an investigative report on the arbitration wire taps in 2015 and the second reading of a proposal to abolish voluntary top up health insurance.
The top up insurance abolishment will be discussed on Thursday, with nearly seven hours planned for the debate.
It is unclear whether the changes, proposed by the opposition Left and later reshaped by the parliamentary Health Committee, will garner sufficient support.
Moreover, coalition parties have lodged a number of amendments to the changes, while the Health Insurance Institute has said that the contribution planned to substitute the premiums in the existing system would generate a EUR 70 million shortfall a year.
The coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) is also sceptical of the changes, and wants the document taken off the National Assembly's agenda. DeSUS, similar to the National Party (SNS), also wants to wait for a comprehensive reform promised by the Health Ministry.
But perhaps the most interesting discussion is likely to take place on Wednesday, when the MPs are to talk about a report by the parliamentary Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services looking into the wire taps of communication between Slovenia's agent and Slovenia-appointed arbiter in the border arbitration procedure with Croatia.
The report largely pins the blame on former agent Simona Drenik Bavdek, who has turned to the Administrative Court demanding that the National Assembly remove the report from its website and from the National Assembly's agenda.
The MPs are planned to start discussing the confidential part of the report first, while the session will be opened to the public once the National Assembly starts discussing the publicly accessible part of the report, which is also available on its website.
The MPs will also discuss legislative changes introducing a lump sum aid for families in which the mother is unemployed when she gives birth. The changes would cost EUR 13.5 million, which has not been earmarked in the budget.
On Wednesday, the MPs will also go over the second reading of the bank guarantee bill for the second rail track towards Koper and the third developmental axis, a road project connecting the Koroška and Dolenjska regions.
STA, 15 December 2019 - The December Vox Populi poll shows the coalition Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ) at the top of the party rankings with the support of 20.2% of respondents. The opposition Democrats (SDS) are in place two with 16.6%. Moreover, 50.4% of the respondents believe the government is doing a good job.
While the government's approval rating grew by 5.8 percentage points over November, LMŠ's support dropped by 1.1 percentage points. On the other hand, the support for the SDS increased by 3.1 percentage points.
Similarly, the support for the Social Democrats (SD), in place three, also went up this month, reaching 9.7%, while a month ago it was at 7.1%.
The opposition Left is in fourth place this month with 6.5% (6.6% in November), followed by New Slovenia (NSi) with 5.3% (7.4% in November) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) with 3.1% (3.2% in November) and the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS) with 2.8%.
Excluding the undecided voters from the poll (23.1%), the SLS would make it into parliament, according to Vox Populi. The rest of the parties would not make it across the 4% parliamentary threshold.
President Borut Pahor continues to top the popularity rankings, followed by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and MEP Tanja Fajon.
The Vox Populi poll was commissioned by newspaper Dnevnik and broadcaster RTV Slovenia and conducted by pollster Ninamedia between 10 and 12 December, including 700 people.
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.
A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Environment minister disappointed with Madrid climate conference
LJUBLJANA/MADRID, Spain - Slovenia's Environment Minister Simon Zajc said after the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid ended in a compromise with a two-day's delay that the event was "a disappointment, as expected". The negotiations in Madrid were very demanding and protracted, noted Eva Černigoj, a member of the Slovenian delegation. Countries wanted progress but at the end their positions were just too different, she said.
Foreign Minister Cerar in Madrid for ASEM meeting
MADRID, Spain - Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar arrived in Madrid to attend a meeting of European and Asian foreign ministers discussing ways to strengthen multilateralism and boost sustainable cooperation. A number of global and regional issues are also on the agenda. Cerar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Ljubljana a day before the 14th ASEM foreign ministers event, with the pair calling for protecting multilateralism.
LMŠ tops newest Vox Populi poll, govt rating up again
LJUBLJANA - The December Vox Populi poll showed the coalition Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ) at the top of the party rankings with the support of 20.2% of respondents. The opposition Democrats (SDS) are in place two with 16.6%. Moreover, 50.4% of the respondents believe the government is doing a good job. President Borut Pahor continues to top the popularity rankings, followed by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and MEP Tanja Fajon.
AMZS receives top international award for its road assessment procedures
LONDON - The Slovenian Automobile Association (AMZS) has won the Prince Micheal Road Safety Award for its road assessment procedures it has been performing as part of the EuroRAP programme since 2008. The AMZS was also recognised for the national road assessment consortium it established recently. The consortium brings together state road authorities, motorway authorities, police, and the interior and the infrastructure ministries.
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
Kris Zudich is showing signs of progress, including sitting on his own for about four minutes, his parents report from Los Angeles, where their son is under medical supervision after receiving a one-time genetic treatment earlier in November.
Kris is a little boy with a genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1, which affects children at an early age and has an extremely grim prognosis. A drug has recently been developed that has not yet been approved in the European Union which changes the genetic composition of the cells, hence removing the problem at its source. The drug under its trademark Zolgensma is currently available at EUR 2.3 million, which makes it the world’s most expensive single treatment drug. The money for Kris’ treatment has been raised in one of Slovenia’s most successful campaigns of this kind.
Kris in October 3, 2019 Photo: Go Help Kris, Facebook
It was a story that seemed to originate in the African football media, and then bounced back to Slovenia and beyond, but the man at the centre of it all, Donatus Edafe, has now dismissed reports that he was fired from ND Gorica for getting the daughter of the club's president pregnant.
Speaking to brila.net, a Nigerian-based sports site, the 26-year old attacker is quoted as follows:
Thank you for contacting me, I don’t know where the story emanated from. I was shocked when I read the report where they said I impregnated my former president daughter, I left Nova Gorica in 2018 and returned to Nigeria at the end of my contract. I can assure you that all is fine between me and the Club, and the president has no daughter. The story is completely false and it must be discouraged.
