News
The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 09 August
Mladina: Socio-economic divide feeding irrationality in US, Britain
STA, 9 August 2019 - Reflecting on the reasons behind the irrational choices of voters in developed countries like the US and Britain, the latest editorial of the left-leaning weekly paper Mladina highlights the neoliberal dismantling of public healthcare and education. It also expresses serious concern about the future ramifications of aggressive individualism and hate speech.
Drawing on Willaim Davies's book Nervous States: How Feeling Took Over the World, Mladina's editor-in-chief Grega Repovž speaks of a coalition between an impoverished and ill-educated class and an increasing number of elderly people experiencing psychological and physical pain.
The exploitation of this anger and pain by populists with fascist tendencies and the disastrous consequences this leads to shows how important it is for societies to fight poverty and above all preserve a high level of public education and healthcare, Repovž says in the commentary entitled Consequences.
Also belonging on this essential list is the need to ruthlessly fight hate speech. While the US and Great Britain are already paying a high price, politically and socially, for the neoliberal destruction of public education and healthcare, "the long-term consequences of hate speech are not clear yet".
"We can't even begin to imagine what kind of society lies in store for us once the majority will feature generations which are growing up with a language that is hateful and brutal and which see this brutality as something entirely normal."
Repovž also speaks of an extremely ego-driven new generation growing up on social networks, "which is not a reproach, since this is truly becoming a condition for an individual's social positioning, this is the way friendships and love are made today, this how jobs and life goals are sought".
Reporter: Staffing at state-owned enterprises
STA, 5 August 2019 - The right-wing magazine Reporter writes about staffing at state-owned companies in the latest editorial under the headline Dream Job, arguing that dream jobs in Slovenia are still those at state-run enterprises.
Silvester Šurla writes that no government has been unable to resist the temptation to name its people to top positions in state-owned companies.
"The supervisory board gets replaced, then the management and new positions and jobs are given to the loyal and deserving."
As one case in point Šurla names Telekom Slovenije, which it says involves too many interests to be privatised; the company will obviously remain state-owned until the government is forced by the strained situation in the market, to sell it, as was the case with Gorenje.
He writes that the upcoming shareholders' meeting on 30 August will appoint two new supervisory board members, and the supervisory board will appoint the new CEO.
"Even though an UAE tax resident, the notorious businessman Andrej Vizjak, whom his ex-wife is accusing in the media of not paying alimony for their daughter, is very keen on becoming a new supervisor or even the chief supervisor, the proposal for his appointment has been withdrawn.
"This way the plan fell through to appoint as new Telekom boss Matej Potokar, formerly the CEO of the Slovenian subsidiary of Microsoft."
Šurla goes on to write about Petrol CEO Tomaž Berločnik's dealings and recent replacements at the Bank Assets Management Company, Slovenian Sovereign Holding and the energy group HSE, among others.
"Since the government coalition comprises as many as five parties and each one of them wants its share of the pie, this makes the staffing jigsaw puzzle quite complicated. Apart from politicians', there are also the interests of lobbies, various PR agencies such as Pristop and other influential big shots like Gregor Golobič ... There are more similar opportunists, also on the right. These are people who cannot survive in the market and depend existentially on dealings with state-owned companies."
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What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
FRIDAY, 2 August
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian central bank said that its macro stress tests had shown the country's banking system is stable. "In the baseline as well as stress scenario, the Slovenian banking system has been shown to have appropriate capital adequacy," it said.
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty between Russia and the US. It said Slovenia was committed to maintaining and strengthening effective international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons for mass destruction.
LJUBLJANA - Karl Erjavec said he had decided to bid for yet another term as the leader of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) at the 17 January congress. Erjavec, who has been running DeSUS since 2005, told the STA that he would campaign for the party's return to it roots, that is the fight for pensioners, the disabled and the elderly.
LJUBLJANA - The opposition New Slovenia (NSi) protested against what it believes are inadmissible practices in major state-funded infrastructure projects and requested a session of the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission to ask for explanations and plans from the responsible officials.
GORENJA VAS - Environment Minister Simon Zajc called for coexistence between humans and wolves as he visited the Cerkljansko region, where wolf attacks on livestock have become increasingly frequent. He pointed to measures that protect humans and their property from wolves.
KOPER - The operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port of Koper hosted a delegation from Nagoya, the largest Japanese port, for talks on how to expand cooperation. Koper has no direct commercial maritime link with Japan, while it does cooperate with the Japanese Ocean Network Express.
LJUBLJANA/MALMÖ, Sweden - Slovenian sides Olimpija and Domžale failed to advance in the second-tier Europa League, narrowly losing on aggregate despite both securing 2:2 draws in the first leg. Olimpija lost 0:1 against Turkish club Malatyaspor, while Domžale lost 3:2 against Malmö.
SATURDAY, 3 August
NAZARJE - BSH Hišni Aparati, the Slovenian subsidiary of the Bosch and Siemens Home Appliance Group, saw its profit, revenue and the number of employees decrease in 2018 compared to the year before. The company generated EUR 318 million in revenue last year, 8% less than in 2017, while its net profit decreased by almost EUR 750,000 to EUR 11.4 million.
SUNDAY, 4 August
KRŠKO - The Krško Nuclear Power Plant announced that that the project of digitalising its processes as part of safety upgrades launched in the wake of the 2012 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster were more than half completed. Most of the company's business processes have already been digitised.
ZREČE - GKN Driveline, a British-owned car industry supplier, said it increased its production by almost a third last year to generate EUR 107 million in revenue, up 30% compared to 2017. On the other hand, net profit was down by 17% to EUR 4.8 million.
ZREČE - Unitur, the tourism branch of tools maker Unior, said it generated EUR 19.7 million in revenue last year, 5% more than in 2017 and nearly 3% above plans. The operator of the Rogla ski resort and the nearby Terme Zreče spa was EUR 750,000 in the red at the end of 2018, 25% less than the year before.
MONDAY, 5 August
LJUBLJANA - Opposition New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin presented the party's plans for the autumn congress, announcing an "overhauled and fresh" platform. The party wants to position itself in the political centre as it feels this is where it belongs.
KOPER - Primorske Novice reported that four men from Koper had been sentenced to a total of more than 11 years in jail for transporting illegal migrants who crossed into Slovenia from Croatia. The group went into the business of smuggling migrants early in 2018, joining forces with a Croat who got in touch with a Koper man.
LJUBLJANA - The management board of Gen Energija, the state-owned energy utility that owns the Slovenian half of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, has been expanded by a member, as director general Martin Novšak was joined by Danijel Levičar at the beginning of August, the company announced.
LJUBLJANA/LONDON, UK - The business daily Finance reported that Slovenia's 10-year bonds recently traded at sub-zero rates on the secondary market for the first time ever, whereas the country had a hard time selling its bonds at as high a rate as 7% during the financial crisis in 2013.
LJUBLJANA - The banking SKB Group said it generated EUR 34.2 million in net profit in the first half of 2019, which is 40% more than in the same period last year. This is due to good operating results and the easing of provisions and impairments. The group saw its operating profit rise by 18% to EUR 31.3 million.
LJUBLJANA - It was reported that Jure Cekuta, a painter best known as one of the few individuals convicted of corruption in one of the biggest arms scandals in Slovenia, had died aged 67. Sentenced to four years and four months in prison in 2014, Cekuta spent the last years of his life in jail.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Slovenian freediver Alenka Artnik reached a new milestone as, by plunging 111 meters into the Caribbean with a monofin, she beat the world record in the discipline by four metres to become the first woman to descend bellow 110 metres.
TUESDAY, 6 August
LJUBLJANA - A civil initiative providing advocacy for asylum seekers warned about allegedly unbearable conditions at Ljubljana's Vič Asylum Centre, accusing some security guards of intimidation and even alleging some of them are involved in organised smuggling of asylum seekers. The security firm in question, Varovanje Galekom, denied all the accusations.
LJUBLJANA - Lekarna Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest pharmacy chain, was forced to close down all of its shops due to computer system problems, experienced as a result of a ransomware attack. It was able to restore its IT system on Thursday.
LJUBLJANA - The lawyer of Sergej Racman, an erstwhile successful businessman who is wanted in Slovenia under an Interpol Red Notice alert for his alleged role in a prostitution ring, said that Racman had expressed willingness to make himself available for proceedings running against him. He is reportedly abroad.
LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Večer said that the Environment Agency will have to examine again whether the Šoštanj power station (TEŠ) requires an environmental impact study for importing coal, after it decided it did need one. The ministry has annulled the agency's initial decision in response to an appeal by environmental NGOs.
LJUBLJANA - The government announced it had picked the Riko engineering company and the KTNK architectural design firm to build Slovenia's pavilion at the global show Expo 2020 in Dubai. Riko and KTNK were the only ones to submit their bid for the project, valued at EUR 2.45 million, before the deadline.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The latest Eurobarometer survey showed Slovenians are the strongest supporters of the euro is the entire EU, with as many as 88% of those polled favouring it. Slovenia is followed by Estonia and Portugal (both 85%).
WEDNESDAY, 7 August
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Janez Lenarčič, the candidate for the Slovenian member of the European Commission, held informal introductory talks with the newly elected Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. The pair talked about the challenges that await the new Commission and about the importance of respect for the EU's fundamental values.
LJUBLJANA - The government decided to extend the deployment of auxiliary police to help the regular force cope with a spike in illegal migration on the Schengen border with Croatia and with other duties. Auxiliary police will be deployed until the end of the year to help patrol the border and stand in for absent regular officers.
LJUBLJANA - 2TDK, the company managing construction of the new Divača-Koper rail track, annulled a public tender for the first of several planned bridges after weeks of public controversy that renewed concern about the financing of the mega project. It turned out that the selected bidder had apparently forged its prior experience.
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Ajda Cuderman the director of the SPIRIT investment promotion agency. Cuderman, who has been served as acting director since February, will start her five-year term on 16 August. She previously worked at energy company Petrol and sales consulting group Mercuri International.
BRASLOVČE - Scottish sawmiller BSW Timber still has not been able to start with the construction of what will be the biggest sawmill in Slovenia. The main reason has been delays in the adoption of the needed spatial plans, said Braslovče Mayor Tomaž Žohar, adding that he expected them to be ready by the end of the year.
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian subsidiary of the Italian banking group Unicredit said it posted EUR 16 million in consolidated profit in the first half of the year, a marginal increase of 0.3% on the same period a year ago. Operating revenue rose by 7.2% to EUR 42 million and net interest revenue was up 1.3% to EUR 23 million.
LJUBLJANA/VRHNIKA - The facilities that chemical waste processing company Kemis has extensively renovated after a major fire hit the plant in 2017 were found to be illegal construction. Building inspectors ordered Kemis to stop using the facilities immediately and remove them by 30 June 2020. In response to the decision, Kemis stopped accepting waste, the next day.
MARIBOR - Maribor are in a two-goal hole after the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League after losing to Norway's Rosenborg 1:3 at home on Wednesday. The Slovenian football champions are looking at a virtually impossible mission of advancing to the last round as they are hosted by Rosenborg in Trondheim next week.
THURSDAY, 8 August
LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court set an important precedent in a case involving hate speech against the Roma. It ruled that public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance is a crime not only when it threatens public peace and order, the way the legal provision has been interpreted until now, but also in case of threats, abusive language or insults per se.
LJUBLJANA - Swedish furniture giant Ikea obtained a building permit for the shop it plans to build in Ljubljana's BTC City shopping district. Construction works are expected to start soon. Vladislav Lalić, regional property and expansion manager at Ikea South East Europe, said the store was expected to open about a year after the start of construction.
LJUBLJANA - Adacta Holding, the parent company of a leading Slovenian ICT company, was revealed to have sold its Adacta Services Business, a leading Microsoft Dynamics, Qlik and Cornerstone partner in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, to BE-terna, a company owned by the German Deutsche Private Equity (DPE) fund.
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana-based coach group Nomago said it had signed an agreement to take over its Brežice-based counterpart Integral Brebus in a bid to expand its business in Croatia, where it wants to acquire at least 30% market share.
Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also ollow 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
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia's exports, imports up in first six months
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's trade in goods continues to grow, with exports in the January-June period amounting to EUR 16.83 billion, up 9.2% over the same period last year. Imports reached EUR 16.78 billion, a rise of 11.2%, which puts the country's export-import ratio at 100.3%, the Statistics Office said. Slovenia's exports to EU countries in the January-June period topped EUR 12.73 billion. Imports from EU members almost reached EUR 12.47 billion, and from non-EU countries EUR 4.32 billion. In June, exports and imports grew by 3.3% each year-on-year. Exports amounted to EUR 2.81 billion and imports to EUR 2.68 billion. The external trade surplus in June was the highest this year.
National councillor wants PM prosecuted over bear and wolf attacks
LJUBLJANA - National councillor Branko Tomažič filed criminal complainants against Environment Minister Simon Zajc and Prime Minister Marjan Šarec due to their failure to act in the face of bear and wolf attacks on domestic animals. Tomažič accused the two officials of negligence and too slow implementation of the emergency bill allowing the culling of the beasts. Šarec's office said the accussations were unfounded, as the government was actively engaged with the issue. The move comes after two commissions of the upper chamber called for faster implementation of the emergency bill on Thursday. Moreover, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina joined the fray today by calling on the environment and agriculture ministries to join forces and find solutions to protect human lives.
Industrial output growth slowing down
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's industrial output in the first half of 2019 grew by 3.7% compared to the same period in 2018, the slowest semi-annual growth figure in the past six years, while monthly data released by the Statistics Office shows output declining. In June output was down 1.6% compared to the month before, the second consecutive drop this year at the monthly level, while at the annual level, it increased by 1.1% - the slowest growth rate recorded this year. In the first half of 2019 output rose most significantly in manufacturing (by 3.9%), followed by mining (2.1%) and electricity and gas supply (1.1%).
Mercator selling a dozen shopping centres
LJUBLJANA - Retailer Mercator has initiated the sale of 13 shopping centres, one in Slovenia and twelve in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, as it continues implementing its strategy of offloading real estate to reduce debt. Having already sold ten Slovenian shopping centres to Austrian developer Supernova last year, Mercator is now selling its Koper mall, four properties in Croatia, six in Bosnia-Herzegovina and two in Serbia, Dnevnik reported. All the properties are being sold under the leaseback principle. The company had a financial debt of roughly EUR 667 million at the end of March, down EUR 148 million from the year before.
Youth trade union calls for improvements in apprenticeship programme
LJUBLJANA - Mladi Plus, the youth section of the ZSSS trade union confederation, called on the government to make it easier for the youth to enter the labour market. Talking to the press ahead of International Youth Day, observed on Monday, Mladi Plus union president Tea Jarc said that a better apprenticeship system could help. The union is suggesting that a web portal be set up to make accessible all the relevant information and that the mentorship system be overhauled so as to guarantee that the mentors have enough time for apprentices.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
We often report on Slovenia’s demographics at TSN, with regard to an aging population, the growing proportion of immigrants, and so on, but how does the country compare with the rest of Europe when it comes to overall size and the next 30 years?
Using data from a variety of sources, Facts Maps has put together a clear map of the projected changes in population for 41 countries in Europe. For copyright reasons we’ll just embed a small version here, which you can then click on to see the full sized version.
This suggests that quite dramatic changes are set to take place in Slovenia over the next 30 years, with the country forecast to see a 23.18% fall in population, from 2.079 million in 2017 to just 1.597 million in 2050. These figures predict that Slovenia will see the 5th biggest fall in population, in percentage terms over the coming three decades, “beaten” only by Estonia (-29.41%), Latvia (-35.86%), Lithuania (-37.65%) and Moldova (-44.16%). Of the 41 countries listed, only 14 are projected to see a growth in population, headed by Luxembourg (+48.37%), Ireland (+33.04%) and Iceland (+21.49%). Interestingly, two of Slovenia’s neighbours are also expected to grow: Austria (+4.27%) and Italy (+3.47). Both Croatia and Hungary will see declines, of -7.73% and 12.66%, respectively.
What are the causes? Facts Maps doesn’t say, but one can image a falling birth rate (see Slovenia’s Population Falls for 2nd Year Running, with More Deaths than Births) and emigration, although with regard to the latter it should be noted that net migration remains positive in Slovenia (and non-Slovenes now represent 6.9% of the population).
Slovenia’s aging population 1971 - 1961, in graphic form - see more here
And what about the implications? A smaller population, and a smaller one of working age, in particular, will put pressure on the tax base of the country while spending on pensions and healthcare will rise (see Population Ageing & Shrinking Present Serious Problems for Slovenia’s Future). One the positive side, at least for some, housing prices could fall along with demand.
You can see more details on this map at Fact Maps, which also has many other fascinating maps of Europe (and beyond) to explore.
STA, 9 August 2019 - Victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment or rape in Slovenia usually knew the perpetrator from before, and a majority of abuses happened while they were still minors, show more than 150 anonymous testimonies a local NGO has collected since March 2018 under the #JazTudi campaign.
When the victims spoke up about the abuse, they were usually met with silence, the 8 March Institute said as it presented the testimonies to the press on Friday.
The majority of the testimonies came from women, but also six men and a transsexual, with the youngest victim aged 17 when they told their story and the oldest one 63.
"Many of the victims told their story for the first time. They did not do so to spread anger but to spread the word so that such things do not happen again," Nika Kovač, who heads the 8 March, said.
Half of the participating victims said they had experienced a sexual assault before the age of 18, and some 25% were sexually abused before they turned 15.
While a quarter of the victims were raped, the abuse the majority experienced was inappropriate touching. There were also several cases of flashing in public.
Sexual harassment is also rather common, and is most often related to precarious forms of work. "The higher post the perpetrator has, the worse sexual harassment," said Kovač.
Since more than half of the victims knew the abuser from before the assault, the testimonies debunk the myth that sexual violence happens mostly in dark streets, according to Kovač.
It happens between the walls of their homes, and "it is worrying that when the victims tell about it to their family members, they get no support."
They are usually met with silence, receiving support from their relatives only in 15% of the cases.
At the beginning of 2019, the 8 March Institute launched an online petition demanding legal changes to how rape is defined, having collected more than 5,500 signatures.
Under the Penal Code, rape occurs when a perpetrator coerces the victim into sexual intercourse with force or with serious threats.
"But rape is everything that involves sexual intercourse without consent," said Mojca Lukan from the 8 March.
She said initiatives for sexual crimes not to get stature-barred are important, but the main issue is the legal definition of rape.
The Justice Ministry has already set up a task force to draft changes, but no NGO has been invited to take part, Lukan stressed.
Ex-Yu Aviation, the best site for news on flights in the region, reports that Wizz Air will end its service between Charleroi, Belgium and Ljubljana for the winter season. The last scheduled flight is on 26 October. This will leave the budget carrier with just one service to the Slovenian capital, connecting Ljubljana with London’s Luton Airport, although this will be upgraded with the use of a 230-seat A321 instead of the current 180-seat Airbus A320.
All our stories on flights to and from Slovenia are here
STA, 8 August 2019 - Demand for new workers in the April-to-June period was the strongest in construction, when the sector's job vacancy rate - showing how many vacancies were advertised by employers - reached 6.2%.
Around 3,800 vacancies were advertised in construction, which was followed by manufacturing (over 3,700) and commerce (over 2,500), latest Statistics Office data show.
Meanwhile, the overall job vacancy rate decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 2.3% over the previous quarter and by 0.3 points over the second quarter in 2018.
This means that the number of job vacancies dropped by around 1,400 to slightly more than 18,500 from the January-to-March period.
Demand for new labour force decreased the most in manufacturing and trade, by around 300 job vacancies in each of them (-0.4 points).
On the other hand, the number of occupied posts has continued to rise ever since the second quarter of 2014, the figures released on Thursday show.
Around 772,100 posts were occupied in the second quarter, 5,700 more than in the first one. 81.5% of all occupied posts were at companies with 10 or more workers.
The number of occupied posts increased the most in construction (+1,500) and trade (+1,000).
More details on this data can be found here, while all our stories on employment in Slovenia are here
August 9, 2019
On the second day of the CMAS World Championship in Roatan, Honduras, Alenka Artnik successfully reached her announced depth and returned back to surface with a white cloth in her hand to prove it. Only ten minutes later Artnik’s success was repeated by Alessia Zecchini. The two competitors now share the World Championship Gold as well as the World Record in constant weight, the so-called royal discipline of freediving, which allows any fin technique (competitors usually opt for monofin) two rope pulls (at the bottom and at the top) and no weight removal on the way back to the surface.
In the Diveye livestream of the competition the two winning dives of the women were wonderfully reported by Samo Jeranko, who just a bit earlier elegantly dived to 108 metres, earning a bronze which he shares with American diver Daniel Koval. The competition was won by the incredible Alexey Molchanov, who dived to the World Record depth of 125 metres, while Andey Matveenko was in the second place with 115 metres, both from Russia.
Another Slovenian diver, Neža Cec, was set to dive to 74 metres, but she turned back at 62 metres. As the second part of the competition was taking place from two platforms with only one Diveye available, Neža’s dive wasn’t filmed under water.
Diveye, an underwater camera that follows the diver into the depths and streams real-time footage to the surface and online, was first tested in 2017. This innovation has finally opened freediving to a global audience, which until very recently was not really a spectator sport. This is perhaps the reason why such an exciting event has been live streamed on Facebook instead of being shown by the national broadcaster. Nevertheless, curiosity about the rules and excitement expressed by many of the 38,000 viewers suggests this might soon change.
Footage from the Championship’s is available here, Samo Jeranko dives at about 1:00:00, Alenka Artnik at about 1:21:00 and is followed by Alessia Zecchini, Andrey Matveenko and Alexey Molchanov.
The competition is not over yet. What remains is the constant weight bifins discipline on Saturday, August 10. The discipline is similar to monofin, only that the efficient dolphin move is not allowed. The current World Record holder for women is Alenka Artnik at 92 metres.
STA, 8 August 2019 - The Supreme Court has set an important legal precedent in a case involving hate speech against the Roma by holding that public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance is a crime not only when it threatens public peace and order but also in case of threats, abusive language or insults.
The case involves a comment posted by a Dolenjsko man in February 2011 on the web portal of a local radio station in the comment section below an article about a spate of break-ins and thefts targeting a local businessman.
"A couple of ammonal sticks, a couple of M75 grenades and a couple of AK-47s just in case, I don't think it can be done any other way. Or one by one... Can I have a music request: Where did all the gypsies go by Korado & Brendi," wrote the accused, according to the newspaper Dnevnik.
The man was initially given a suspended sentence of one month by the Novo Mesto Local Court in early 2013, but he was acquitted by a higher court which agreed with the defence's appeal.
The higher judges held that the comment did not amount to a crime because the amended Article 297 of the Penal Code meant that only acts that may be a threat to public order and peace in concrete circumstances qualify as a crime of public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance.
Dnevnik reports that such an interpretation of hate speech has often been cited in the past as the reason why intolerant and hateful incitement cannot be prosecuted.
However, five years after the Dolenjsko man was acquitted, the Office of the State Prosecutor General filed an appeal on a point of law, and the Supreme Court recently upheld the prosecution's interpretation. Although the ruling does not affect the acquittal it is seen as an important legal precedent.
The Supreme Court held that in cases when the act is committed by means of a threat, abusive language or insult, with other legal indications of a crime, the act does not necessarily need to potentially jeopardise public order and peace in order to be treated as crime.
The comment, which was one of many at the time calling for use of arms against the Roma, is "threat per se", the court said, adding that the comment had all the elements of crime, so it did not need to meet an additional condition that the act could lead to a disturbance of public order and peace.
The court said that prosecution of public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance did not protect only public peace and order but also human dignity. It also noted that the Constitution guarantees the Roma additional protection and positive discrimination.
While the Office of the State Prosecutor General - whose expert council had only last November opted against changing the 2013 guidelines of hate speech prosecution that were also applied in the Dolenjsko man ruling - has not yet commented, the Justice Ministry as well as human rights groups have welcomed the development.
The Justice Ministry said it "is constantly stressing the role of courts in the interpretation of laws" and highlighted the importance of the decision as a precedent that does away with the narrow interpretation of Article 297 and can help form case law.
"We are aware of the increasingly severe problem of hate speech, which has an extremely negative effect on society and social discourse," it wrote.
The ministry also pointed to warnings by the Council of Europe's anti-racism commission regarding problems in Slovenia "with the understanding of legal issues pertaining to hate speech and problems with the social response to the spreading of hate speech".
Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Miha Lobnik also pointed to warnings from abroad and spoke of "an important turning point". He noted the prosecution of hate speech had been on the decline even though the phenomenon had been spreading in the public.
Andrej Motl of the online watchdog Spletno Oko (Online Eye) said the decision would significantly affect the prosecution of public incitement of hate, violence and intolerance, while Spletno Oko also expects the Office of the State Prosecutor General will change its guidelines accordingly.
Motl, who said hate speech had moved into the realm of the normal in recent years, also highlighted the report of the CoE's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).
The report was released two months ago and spoke of the need to bridge, as a matter of priority, the "impunity gap in hate speech cases" in Slovenia that has resulted from an excessively strict interpretation of relevant legal provisions.
Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also ollow 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
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Supreme Court sets important precedent in hate speech case
LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court set an important precedent in a case involving hate speech against the Roma by holding that public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance is a crime not only when it threatens public peace and order, the way the legal provision has been interpreted until now, but also in case of threats, abusive language or insults as such. The case involves a comment posted by a Dolenjska man in February 2011 on the web portal of a local radio station. The court said that prosecution of public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance did not protect only public peace and order but also human dignity.
Japan's foreign minister due in Slovenia next week
LJUBLJANA - Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono will visit Slovenia next Wednesday to meet President Borut Pahor and Slovenian counterpart Miro Cerar. This will be the first visit of a Japanese foreign minister in Slovenia, which in itself shows that the two countries want to strengthen bilateral dialogue, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said. The visit will focus on bilateral cooperation in economy and science, as well as multilateral cooperation and international issues. Kono and Cerar will visit the Japanese Yaskawa robotics plant in the southeastern town of Kočevje, which opened in April. Moreover, they will also meet a Slovenian-Japanese business council in Kočevje.
Chemical waste company Kemis stops accepting waste
VRHNIKA - Hazardous waste processing company Kemis will decide within 15 days whether to appeal against a decision by building inspectors to remove the facilities it has built after it was hit by a devastating fire in 2017. Nevertheless, it will stop accepting waste today. The facilities Kemis renovated extensively after the May 2017 fire were found to have been built illegally. Kemis stopped receiving the waste of its business partners in Vrhnika a day after it received the decree to stop using the facilities immediately and remove them by 30 June 2020.
Qualified opinion issued for 2018 budget closing account
LJUBLJANA - Like in the past, the Court of Audit has issued a qualified opinion on the draft of the 2018 budget closing account and regularity of budget implementation, discovering salary and expenditure irregularities as well as failure to fully comply with regulations. "We think that certain errors and irregularities should be prevented in the future by changing systemic regulations, in particular those in the public finance act and accounting act, to provide more transparency in displaying performed transactions," the court said.
Lekarna Ljubljana restores information system after ransomware attack
LJUBLJANA - Lekarna Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest pharmacy chain with more than 50 units, was able to gradually restore its information system after a ransomware attack seriously crippled its operations for two days. The gradual reconnecting to the information system came after Monday's attack forced Lekarna Ljubljana to close all of its pharmacies on Tuesday. The details of the attack remain unclear, but Lekarna Ljubljana said the incident had been reported to the law enforcement authorities.
Ikea gets building permit for its shop in Ljubljana
LJUBLJANA - Swedish furniture giant Ikea obtained a building permit for the shop it plans to build in Ljubljana's BTC City shopping district. Construction works are expected to start soon. Vladislav Lalić, regional property and expansion manager at Ikea South East Europe, said the construction would be conducted in several phases, but the store was expected to open about a year after the start of construction. Ikea is expected to open the shop in 2020. The project has been estimated at EUR 80m and is expected to create around 300 jobs.
Adacta sells part of its business to German company
LJUBLJANA - Adacta Holding, the parent company of a leading Slovenian ICT company, was revealed to have sold its Adacta Services Business, a leading Microsoft Dynamics, Qlik and Cornerstone partner in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, to BE-terna, a company owned by the German Deutsche Private Equity (DPE) fund. By acquiring a part of Adacta's business and its 300 employees, BE-terna Group is taking the first step to realizing its long-term business strategy to become the leading global IT service company, Adacta said in announcing the deal.
Nomago taking over Brežice peer to facilitate Croatia reach
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana-based coach group Nomago said it had signed an agreement to take over its Brežice-based counterpart Integral Brebus in a bid to expand its business in Croatia, where it wants to acquire at least 30% market share. In a written statement, Nomago said that the takeover was part of its strategy of geographic growth and expansion of Nomago InterCity links, occasional transfers, on-demand services and travel services. The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of the year pending the approval of the competition watchdog.
Two biggest insurers taking over top private diagnostics centre
LJUBLJNA/BLED - Insurance group Sava Re has acquired Diagnostični Center Bled, the country's biggest private medical diagnostics centre. Sava Re signed a purchase agreement for an 80% stake in the centre with Cypriot company Cinxro Holdings today, thus acquiring 100% of voting rights. The value of the deal was not revealed. It also signed an agreement with Zavarovalnica Triglav, the biggest insurance group in Slovenia, under which Triglav will be able to acquire a 40% stake in the centre, or 50% of voting rights. This transaction is pending regulatory approval.
Demand for workers in Q2 strongest in construction
LJUBLJANA - Demand for new workers in the April-June period was strongest in construction, when the sector's job vacancy rate - showing how many vacancies were advertised by employers - reached 6.2%. Around 3,800 vacancies were advertised in construction, which was followed by manufacturing (over 3,700) and commerce (over 2,500), latest Statistics Office data show. Meanwhile, the overall job vacancy rate decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 2.3% over the previous quarter and by 0.3 points over the second quarter in 2018.
Maribor in a two-goal hole after first leg with Rosenborg
MARIBOR - Maribor are in a two-goal hole after the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League after losing to Norway's Rosenborg 1:3 at home on Wednesday. The Slovenian football champions are looking at a virtually impossible mission of advancing to the last round as they are hosted by Rosenborg in Trondheim next week. All goals were scored in the second half, with Rosenborg's Mike Jensen sealing the deal with a goal in the 71st minute. The return leg with the Norwegian champions is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Freediver Artnik shares world record, title with arch-rival
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Slovenian freediver Alenka Artnik has set another world record and won the world championship title in monofin, but she has to share both with her Italian rival Alessia Zecchini. At the Freediving World Championships in Honduras, Artnik dove to 113 metres, improving the world record set by the Italian just a week earlier by one metre. But Zecchini struck back, like Artnik plunging to a depth of 113 metres.
Guide to Slovenian Mountain Trail now available in English
LJUBLJANA - One of the oldest long-distance trails in Europe, the Slovenian Mountain Trial is hugely popular among Slovenians and increasingly also among foreign hikers, who will now be able to hit it with an English guide book in their pocket. More than 10,350 people have completed the entire 617-kilometre trail traversing Slovenia, among them 866 foreigners, the Slovenian Alpine Association (PZS) said in launching the English version the guidebook.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
While the most visible part of the work Ljubljana Pride (Društvo Parada Ponosa) does is the annual parade, which comes at the end of a few weeks of activities, the group works all year to make everyone feel at home in Slovenia. One of its current projects it the Culture of Humiliation, which I first came across on the related Facebook page. Curious to learn more, and to help spread word of the project, I sent some questions to Mateja Morić, who was kind enough to reply.
What problems does the Culture of Humiliation project want to address?
This project is aimed at a quite specific target group – young LGBTIQ+ individuals who experienced some form of (cyber)bullying. That group faces serious challenges but lacks institutional support in Slovenia. The reality of the Slovene context is that there is a big stigma around LGBTIQ+ identities, and LGBTIQ+ people are faced with institutional discrimination and oppression. Furthermore, discussion about (cyber)bullying is not recognised as important by the general public, and there are no systematic and strategic support or attempts to tackle it; it is not even recognised as a big problem.
"Abuse is easily internalised when you're young and it's all you've ever known"
"I'm Fine" by Verity Ritchie
How common is such bullying is such bullying in Slovenia?
Research conducted in 2017 showed that its very widespread: most of the young LGBTIQ+ people questioned faced violence and/or discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity from peers during their education, and in almost same percentage the institutional responses to such attacks failed. Such stories are also reflected when talking to other members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Usually it starts in the form of so-called micro aggressions. Using hateful language, comments rooted in misogyny and sexism, racism… Most of the time this behaviour is normalised and not looked at as anything special, and then it slowly progresses. The thing is, if you don’t react at this first level then you’re silently giving the attackers permission to proceed. Which they usually do.
How are schools dealing with the problem?
Schools are not ready to tackle it, especially if we’re talking about any kind of violence based on someone’s (perceived) sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. LGBTIQ+ identities are still mostly taboo in schools, and the support young people get there depends on the support they get from their friends, and sometimes a teacher who will try to help.
"I suppose what gave me the inspiration to draw this picture is the idea that love should always prevail in the end. It’s hard to stay positive when you’ve got so much negativity surrounding you all the time, whether it’s at school, at work, or at home and it’s definitely hard to not give back the same hate that you receive. But there is bravery in staying soft in a world full of hate. Being bullied may have given me thicker skin but it did not make me hard. It did, however, make me well aware of how words can hurt a person but also of how they can raise a person up. And I’d pick making someone smile over making them insecure any day. Because at the end of the day, it feels so good to be good". Anna Marie Strmecki
How does the Culture of Humiliation try to help?
This project empowers young people to express themselves through art, opening the possibility to not only offer them art as a method which might help them to deal with their own experience of violence, but also opportunities to influence and help others by promoting the strong anti-violence messages. Art is the most powerful media, because anyone can use it to express themselves; it is a language everyone understands. Also, art shows the emotions, the state of the person who created it. It is personal and intimate – making it easier for others to empathize with the cause presented. It builds understanding on a completely different level.
Another very important step in that process is inclusion of LGBTIQ+ youth – supporting them, giving them the independence they so often lack and offering them a powerful tool. By including LGBTIQ+ youth to tackle the challenges that are happening to young people in general, we are giving them space in society where their values, skills and needs are recognized and appreciated. Also, by aiming at such a specific and challenged group, we put focus on their inclusiveness and diversity – by giving them a voice.
After working on this project for a few years now, we have realized that nothing makes people more interested in a new topic than hearing about it from a personal experience. A personal story allows them to connect with someone and put themselves in their shoes. Storytelling allows us to do just that, and to open diverse new topics in a way that is accessible to our audience and allows them to be touched by our stories. So this year, based on the idea of our volunteers and people active on the original project, we decided to expand our project in one more direction: empower young LGBTIQ+ people to tell their own stories through the use of storytelling techniques.
Daniel Arzola
Where can people see the exhibitions?
Over the last two years, an exhibition featuring the art of Daniel Arzola and Anthony Karadzoski, two amazing artivists we collaborated with (the latter being an initiator of the Culture of Humiliation project) has been set up in numerous places: youth centres, schools and gallery spaces around Slovenia.
The second exhibition, that came as an upgrade of the original idea, featured exhibits made by local LGBTIQ+ young people, and had its official opening during the Ljubljana Pride Festival 2019, in the Glass Atrium at the City Hall. From September onwards, this exhibition will also be available for travelling, with the preference to exhibit it in spaces where young people meet, as they are the one who it is at for.
Can you say something about the online part of the project?
The online part we use for showcasing the art of the LGBTIQ+ youth and raising awareness of the general public. We are currently introducing the young LGBTIQ+ artists whose art was featured on the last exhibition in our Culture of Humiliation fb page. There is also a project website, www.cultureofhumiliation.org, where you can read more about the background of the project and its beginnings, get to know more about bullying and get support if you need it.
How can people get involved?
If you are an LGBTIQ+ person, you can still apply to join the storytelling training we are organising in August, between 22nd and 25th in beautiful Rakov Škocjan (the application deadline is 15th Auustg). We will explore into different topics that concern us, such as bullying, family rejection, and discrimination based on gender/sexuality, but also exploring our identities, coming out, community, working and volunteering for LGBTIQ+ organizations, or anything else people want to share. The training will be in English and Slovene. More information and an application can be found here.
On the project website there is also a possibility to share your art based on your personal experience with discrimination, (cyber)bullying, hate speech… And if you feel inspired after hearing about all this then please get in touch, or contact us if you would like to host the exhibition at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All our stories about LGBTIQ+ issues are here, and if you'd like to add to them, please get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
