Proposal abolishing special welfare bonus cleared for plenary in close vote

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Labour Committee nodded late on Thursday night after a long and heated debate to a government proposal that abolishes a special bonus for welfare recipients engaged in part-time work. The proposal was rendered fit for plenary debate in a 6:5 vote that saw the opposition Democrats (SDS) siding with the coalition, which remained without the support of the junior coalition SocDems and the government's tentative opposition partner, the Left. Labour Minister Ksenija Klampfer defended the proposal by saying it was time to scrap the bonus introduced in 2012 as a corrective to a situation where the general welfare allowance only stood at EUR 230 net.

Left threatens to stop supporting govt, SNS signals support

LJUBLJANA - The Left issued a strong rebuke to the Marjan Šarec minority government, announcing that the tax package put forward by the cabinet, coupled with the go-ahead for a bonus for welfare recipients engaged in work on the parliamentary Labour Committee "marks the end of cooperation" with the coalition. Left's leader Luka Mesec accused the government of leading anti-social policies, and forming alliances with the opposition National Party and Democratic Party (SDS). Meanwhile, Zmago Jelinčič indicated that his SNS party would support budget documents for the coming two years in parliament, despite some grievances, saying the decision was guided by "common sense".

Trade unions stress they are against proposed tax tweaks

LJUBLJANA - The ZSSS trade union confederation stressed it did not support the package of changes to tax legislation adopted by the government on Thursday with the purpose of reducing taxes on labour. The largest trade union confederation in the country wrote that Finance Minister Andrej Bertocelj's claim after the government session that the unions found the package acceptable was "clearly misleading". Moreover, "the reports of some media that the tax changes had been coordinated on the Economic and Social Council (ESS) are a lie", the ZSSS wrote.

DeSUS sets new demands for pension indexation

LJUBLJANA - The junior coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) filed on an amendment to the recently endorsed government bill that envisages an extraordinary 1% indexation of pensions in 2020 under the condition of 3% GDP growth for this year. DeSUS proposes that the indexation be carried out if GDP growth reaches 2.5% as the bill, part of the budget documents package to be fast-tracked through parliament, is to be debated on Monday. "We're talking about EUR 50 million," said DeSUS head Karl Erjavec, who expects other deputy groups to back the amendment. But first responses from the coalition parties point to the contrary, suggesting that it runs contrary to the coalition agreement.

Šuc takes over as Slovenia's ambassador to Croatia

ZAGREB, Croatia - Career diplomat Vojislav Šuc presented his credentials to Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Thursday, taking over as the new Slovenian ambassador to the country. According to the office of the Croatian president, Šuc was among the 12 new ambassadors who presented their credentials to Grabar-Kitarović. Having been endorsed by the host country in August, Šuc is assuming the post at a time of strained relations between the countries. He succeeds Smiljana Knez, who now serves as an international relations advisor to President Borut Pahor.

Guilty verdict against militia leader Šiško upheld by Higher Court

MARIBOR - The newspaper Večer reported that the Maribor Higher Court had upheld a guilty verdict against Andrej Šiško, the leader of Štajerska Guard militia. In March, he was found guilty of trying to subvert the constitutional order through armed resistance and sentenced to eight months in prison, but has since been released after having served much of the sentence in detention. Šiško threatened the then PM Miro Cerar in January 2017, established the "state of Štajerska" and founded the Štajerska Guard militia in September 2018. He was tried alongside Matej Lesjak, who was found guilty of aiding Šiško and given to a suspended sentence of three months in prison.

Forum in Ljubljana seeks to deepen Slovenia-Japan cooperation

LJUBLJANA - A Slovenia-Japan business forum heard that economic cooperation between the countries is good, but there is still ample room to deepen it, for instance in the industrial sector, in energy and in ICT. Participants stressed Slovenia's location at the crossroads of transport corridors and its tech innovation capabilities. representatives of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), which organised the forum together with the Economy Ministry, the SPIRIT agency and Japanese parrners, expressed hope more Japanese companies will recognise Slovenia as a reliable partner.

Judge found guilty of stalking former partner

MARIBOR - Maribor Labour Court president Stanko Omerzu was been given a suspended sentence of six months in prison with a two-year probation period for having stalked his former partner. The trial marred by delays ended on Friday after almost two years, as Omerzu had been avoiding court mail and hearings, citing ill health. He had also demanded the presiding judge be excluded and then filed a criminal complaint against her. The ruling is not yet final, and his defence has already announced to appeal against it.

NGO at risk of paying enormous tax on funds raised for toddler's treatment

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian association which has raised EUR 3.8 million for treatment of a 19-month-old Slovenian boy in the US and the recipients of the funds are at risk of having to pay a combined EUR 1.9 million in income tax because the association is not registered as a charity, several media outlets report. Efforts to avoid paying the tax are under way, with PM Marjan Šarec saying on Facebook "it is definitely not in the interest of any normal person to collect this tax at all costs". The Financial Administration (FURS), the country's revenue service, said a solution is actually on hand by means of transferring the raised funds to a charity.

Koper narcotics officer arrested for alleged drug trafficking

KOPER - An officer of the Koper Police Department who was, according to unofficial media reports, the head of the district's narcotics task force, has been arrested on charges of drug trafficking. He was sacked and banned from possessing his duty weapon at the end of September and is currently in house arrest. The officer, arrested on charges of illegal drug production and trade, was put in preventive detention on Sunday evening. Upon appealing against the decision, he was put under house arrest today and will remain under it until further developments.

Slovenian film about female salt harvesters wins COPEAM award

BUCHAREST, Romania - A documentary about women salt harvesters made from archive material by Helena Pirc was rewarded on Thursday by COPEAM, the Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisual Operators, bringing together the biggest audio-visual players from Europe, the Balkans, North Africa and Middle East. Pirc, a contributor to the education programme of the public broadcaster TV Slovenija, won in the category Making a Story From Archives, which this year focused on the heritage of women and girls in the Mediterranean.

Protest held in support of Kurdish activist detained in Koper

KOPER - A group of protesters gathered in front of the Koper prison to express their support for Kurdish activist Ismet Kilic, who has been detained for weeks by the Slovenian authorities on the basis of Turkey's international warrant. The protesters expect the activist's case to be fast-tracked and him to be released as soon as possible.
Kilic was detained while he was on his way back to Germany, where he lives, after spending holidays in Croatia. The protesters believe Kilic is being persecuted for political reasons.