Politics

18 Jul 2020, 11:15 AM

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 July
        OTOČEC - In a meeting focusing exclusively on the countries' efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, the prime ministers of Slovenia and Croatia, Janez Janša and Andrej Plenković, agreed epidemiologists would be in contact about the situation on a daily basis. Plenković assured Slovenian tourists they were safe in Croatia, while Janša commended Croatia on its efforts to contain the virus.
        OTOČEC - PM Janez Janša told TV Slovenija he was a realist about the border dispute with Croatia and that the two countries would be able to take a step forward here once Croatia had an approximate plan for solving its border issue with other neighbours.
        LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša said he had asked Aleš Hojs to reconsider his decision to step down as interior minister. He told a TV interview Slovenia needed an interior minister who is operational 24 hours a day. Hojs later said he would rethink his decision and definitely stay on until he faces a no-confidence vote in parliament, presumably in September.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian agreed in a phone call to boost political dialogue in anticipation of the countries' successive spells at the presidency of the Council of the EU. Logar also expressed Slovenia's interest in enhancing the existing strategic partnership with France.
        LJUBLJANA - New Slovenia (NSi) MP Jožef Horvat revealed that his personal data kept by the police had been accessed on several occasions between November 2019 and May 2020. While he alleges he was under a kind of police surveillance under the Marjan Šarec government, police officials explained that police officers could access such files only for the purpose of doing their job. Several other MPs came forward with the same accusation, as did Foreign Minister Anže Logar.
        LJUBLJANA - After the management of the state-run motorway company DARS resigned, the supervisory board appointed a new management board, with vice-president of the coalition New Slovenia (NSi) Valentin Hajdinjak becoming the new CEO. DARS said the management stepped down by mutual agreement.

SATURDAY, 11 July
        LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša rejected claims by the State Prosecutors' Council that he was undermining state prosecutors' independence by protesting with the state prosecutor general about the absence of prosecution targeting anti-government protesters who use the slogan "Death to Janšism". Janša said prosecutors needed to observe the general instructions on criminal prosecution policy drawn up by the body in charge of this.
        NOVO MESTO - Cavers exploring the karst caves in the Kočevski Rog woods in south-eastern Slovenia have found what appears to be another mass grave in what is an area containing the remains of several thousand people killed in summary executions after the end of World War II. The chair of the government commission for mass graves, Jože Dežman, said that the chasm contains the remains of at least 35 people, while dozens more are expected to be exhumed.
        LJUBLJANA - The CEO of railways operator Slovenske Železnice told the STA the company planned to lay off 1,000 people this year, reducing total headcount to 6,000. He also said Slovenia needed a long-term infrastructure fund.

SUNDAY, 12 July
        LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša became the target of criticism after implying on Twitter that the Srebrenica massacre would not have occurred had post-WWII summary executions been adequately condemned. Oslobođenje, a leading Bosnian newspaper, wondered whether the statement was "an attempt to amnesty criminals who perpetrated one of the biggest genocides in this region", while Slobodna Bosna said it was a "morbid provocation not becoming of a statesman". Janša later defended his statements saying that as long as it is possible to kill with impunity in the name of one ideology and be condemned when doing it in the name of another ideology, genocides will happen in the world.

MONDAY, 13 July
        TRIESTE/BASOVIZZA, Italy - National Hall, a Slovenian centre in the heart of Trieste, was formally handed over to the Slovenian minority in Italy. A document on its ownership transfer was signed at an event attended by the Slovenian and Italian presidents, Borut Pahor and Sergio Mattarella, exactly 100 years after it was torched by Fascists. Before the ceremony the presidents laid wreaths at two memorials in Basovizza, one to the 1930 Slovenian victims of Fascism and the other to the Italian victims of post-WWII killings.
        LJUBLJANA - The coronavirus contact tracing app, which Slovenia will develop using the German open source solution, will be voluntary for everyone, Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik announced. The government previously sought to make installing the app mandatory for those with confirmed infections and those sent into quarantine.
        LJUBLJANA - During questions time in parliament, PM Janez Janša said it was necessary to depoliticise the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), saying that the NBI "was set up as a political project carrying a great burden of corruption from the get-go". He also suggested the NBI investigator cherry-picked their cases and were "outside the system".
        LJUBLJANA - The Infrastructure Ministry is drawing up changes that will allow ride hailing services through a digital platform in the manner provided by US giant Uber. Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec expects the government to discuss the proposal in the autumn.

TUESDAY, 14 July
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly formally initiated a parliamentary inquiry into the procurement of medical and personal protective equipment before and during the coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia. The move comes at the request of the coalition, which wants to determine political responsibility of public office holders as of 1 February, a period which includes the last month and a half of the previous government's term.
        LJUBLJANA - Wrapping up a discussion on the situation in Slovenian care homes during the Covid-19 epidemic, the parliamentary committees on health and social affairs urged the government to provide nursing hospitals and improve conditions at care homes. The committees dismissed all the proposals tabled by the opposition Left which would proclaim that Slovenia did not successfully protect care home residents during the epidemic and that the ministries should amend the strategy on fighting the coronavirus in these facilities.
        ZAGREB, Croatia - Slovenia and Croatia confirmed revised programmes for the decommissioning of the Krško nuclear power station and the storage of radwaste, as the ministers in charge of energy chaired a session of the intergovernmental commission on the management of the jointly-owned power station. The revised programmes reflect the decision to extend the plant's operation by 20 years beyond its originally planned shutdown in 2023, and the decision that each country will build its own radwaste repository.
        LJUBLJANA - Parliament appointed tax expert Ivan Simič and former long-serving chairman of insurer Grawe Božo Emeršič as supervisors of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the custodian of state assets. The pair will join the other three supervisors for five years after the terms of Duško Kos and Damjan Belič expires on 17 July.
        VELENJE - Home appliances maker Hisense Gorenje decided not to lay off several hundred production workers as originally planned. It will instead employ soft methods to reduce the workforce, since orders have grown in recent weeks and June was the first profitable month this year. The in-house trade union welcomed the latest development.
        LJUBLJANA - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina handed his office's annual report for 2019 to PM Janez Janša and Speaker Igor Zorčič, urging politicians to take action so that the ombudsman's recommendations are implemented. The report makes nearly 160 concrete recommendations to a variety of state bodies and expresses concern that as many as 200 recommendations made by Svetina's predecessors are yet to be implemented.

WEDNESDAY, 15 July
        LJUBLJANA - Several hundred journalists and media workers gathered to protest against a media reform planned by the government in front of the National Assembly, where the parliamentary Culture Committee discussed changes to three media laws that were broadly condemned by key domestic and international groups. Following outcry from the likes of the European Broadcasting Union, CoE human rights commissioner and the European Federation of Journalists, the government decided to extent the public debate until 5 September, even as government officials suggested at the committee debate they were not willing to change the main tenets of the plan.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission discussed a report which shows that the 7 May incident in which two Slovenian soldiers stopped a civilian in the woods near the border with Italy had happened and had not been orchestrated. The incident was not orchestrated and the two hikers were not members of the Antifa terrorist organisation as alleged by Prime Minister Janez Janša, commission chair Matjaž Nemec of the opposition SocDems said.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia voiced disappointment with the latest proposal to cut the EU's 2021-2017 budget to EUR 1.074 trillion and would like more money to be allocated for cohesion funds, according to Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan, who took part in a video meeting of ministers in charge of EU affairs. He urged a prompt deal on the recovery funding.
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court decided to stay legislation allowing construction projects to be sped up in part also by restricting the powers of environmental NGOs in the process of environmental permit procedures. The court was petitioned by several NGOs.

THURSDAY, 16 July
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly endorsed at first reading a bill that would provide EUR 780 million for investment in the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) between 2021 in 2026, the bulk for the acquisition of armoured personnel vehicles to set up a battalion battlegroup, plus an aircraft and two helicopters. The coalition was in favour, while the left opposition was against or abstained.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly was expected to pass legislation that would close all but the smallest shops on Sunday but ended up merely sending the bill into third reading. This defers the final decision to September at the earliest. The government does not support the bill.
        LJUBLJANA - Four hospitals will receive coronavirus patients from nursing homes in order to make it easier for nursing homes to organise, the Health Ministry announced, in what marks a change from how such patients were treated during the first wave of the epidemic. A total of 50 beds will be available at special nursing departments at both university medical centres in Ljubljana and Maribor and the general hospitals in Novo Mesto and Nova Gorica.
        LJUBLJANA - The number of new infections remained steady throughout the week with 19 reported for Wednesday for a total of 121 in the last seven days. The number of people in hospital rose by two to 18, with one patient in intensive care. No new deaths due to Covid-1' have been reported since 31 May.
        LJUBLJANA - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch urged the Austrian minister in charge of ethnic minorities, Susanna Raab, to take action after Grafenstein, a municipality in Carinthia, recently decided to effectively abolish bilingual education. The decision is being examined by Carinthia's regional office for constitutional affairs.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian museums and galleries recorded a financial shortfall of around EUR 650,000 due to coronavirus restrictions. The revenue loss will be impossible to offset, said the Slovenian Museum Association

All our posts in this series are here

18 Jul 2020, 09:30 AM

STA, 17 July 2020 - Anti-government protests were held in several Slovenian cities for the 13th week running on Friday. The messages remained broadly the same.

In Ljubljana people flocked to Prešeren Square to protest "reign of terror and dictatorship", as an invitation posted in one of the largest protest groups on Facebook said.

The protest culminated with a "people's assembly" in a bid to formulate clearer demands.

In previous weeks anti-government protesters were disrupted by counter-protests staged by a pro-government group that calls itself "Yellow Vests" whose members wear high visibility vests.

This time the group, some of whose members were outed by leftist media as supporters of Neonazi causes, decided to eschew protesting.

Instead they announced they would mix in with the crowd and covertly snap pictures and films of as many anti-government protesters as possible in order to identify and out them.

There was however a sort of anti-protest prompted by the actions of an individual who last week heckled an accordion player who is a famous permanent presence at Prešeren Square.

Several dozen accordion players gathered there today in support playing Slovenian tunes.

17 Jul 2020, 13:22 PM

STA, 17 July 2020 - President Borut Pahor discussed Monday's return of National Hall in Trieste to the Slovenian minority, and his and Italian President Sergio Mattarella's visit to two memorials in Basovizza in an interview he gave to Mladina weekly. He said Italy transferring the centre's ownership onto the minority should not be taken for granted.

After the law on the Slovenian minority was passed in 2001 setting down the return of the former commercial and cultural centre to the minority, Italy had been considering leasing it to the minority, according to Pahor.

The president said the final decision to claim ownership was taken in mid-May when he had a video call with the heads of the two Slovenian minority organisations in Italy and the Slovenian consul general and ambassador to Italy.

"We were discussing whether to risk going all the way to claim National Hall ownership, or to accommodate for some other solution, for instance merely leasing it from Italy."

He said they had decided at the videoconference to reject Italy's proposal to return the centre just to be used by the minority and to insist on its ownership.

Related: President Borut Pahor: Best of 2019 Instagram, Part 1

Only after this decision was made had a debate started on a ceremony accompanying the restitution event as well as on Pahor and Mattarela's visits to the memorials to the anti-Fascist victims and to the Italian victims of post-WWII killings, said the president.

Pahor thus rejected the notion of "quid pro quo" bargaining in that Italy would not have returned National Hall had he not visited the Foiba of Basovizza memorial.

He indicated that questions surrounding his and Mattarella's visit to the foiba memorial were hard issues, "but if I rely on my moral compass, I'm at peace".

"Both me and Italian President Mattarella felt all the way that we were doing something good."

Pahor is also aware that this gesture would not be necessarily interpreted in the same manner in Slovenia and Italy.

He was asked whether Italy should not have accompanied Pahor's visit to the foiba memorial with some other more substantive gesture, such as "giving more weight to" the 2000 report on Slovenian-Italian relations in 1880-1956 which, was compiled by historians from both countries.

Pahor said that Slovenia did expect Italy to "more attentively read the report and foremost to take it into account".

He said he did not think, based on what we know, that there are actually the remains of those killed after WWII in the Foiba of Basovizza, as they are mostly in other caves.

But he also noted that for Mattarella as a jurist, visiting the Slovenian anti-Fascists memorial, was a legal issue, since under Italian law they are still terrorists.

"If Mattarella went there, then this is a kind of an act which implies rehabilitation" of the four anti-Fascists, executed in 1930, according to Pahor.

He also said that his family had suffered under Fascism and that his grandfather had taught him that "we have to be proud, but that the other side also needs to be allowed its pride".

"Without this historical knowledge, I would not have gone that far," said Pahor in defence of his visit to the foiba memorial.

He also told Mladina that he had been raised in the anti-Fascist spirit and that he would not shy of saying he is an anti-Fascist.

16 Jul 2020, 16:13 PM

STA, 16 July - In what upholds a relatively flat curve of new cases, 19 Sars-CoV-2 infections were confirmed in Slovenia in 1,032 tests conducted on Wednesday. The number of people in hospital rose by two to 18, with one patient in intensive care, show government data released on Thursday.

No new deaths due to Covid-1' were reported, meaning the death toll remains 111, while the total number of confirmed infections rose to 1,897.

The latest number of new cases matches Tuesday's, while ten infections were confirmed in Monday's testing after the previous two weeks also saw two spikes of 30 and 34 cases.

Meanwhile, four new infections were confirmed today in Hrastnik, which is being mentioned as a hotspot, having a total of 23 active infections, among them five elderly care home residents and five staff.

Hrastnik Mayor Marko Funkl told the STA that the four new cases detected today included a staff member and three residents of the elderly care home.

He added that a health inspector was in town today inspecting the situation at local pubs, the source of the outbreak that started last week.

Funkl also reiterated that the care home needed help from the government in ensuring sufficient health care staff. He said he was contacted by the Health Ministry about the issue today, but no help was promised as yet.

Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Janez Cigler Kralj told the press before the weekly government session that everything was going according to protocol at the Hrastnik elderly care home and that the home was in constant contact with the ministries of health and social affairs.

He also said that the government would provide aid in form of more staff to its best abilities.

...

Survey shows only 27% willing to use contact tracing app

STA, 16 July 2020 - Only about a quarter of Slovenians are willing to use a contact tracing mobile app designed to stop the spread of coronavirus, suggests a survey conducted on a sample of 566 persons between 10 and 13 July.

For the app to achieve its goal, it would have to be used by at least 50% to 60% of the population. However, only 10% of respondents told pollster Valicon that they would definitely install it to their devices, while 17% said they would likely do so.

While some 17% of the respondents said they were undecided, more than a half have said they are unlikely to install such an app or that they would definitely not install it.

The likelihood of installation is higher among those who are more cautious about their health, BUT most of the people in this group are also unlikely to use it.

The assessed likelihood of installation climbs to 58% in the case that the individual had contracted the virus or had been ordered to quarantine. Nevertheless, some 30% are unlikely to install the app even in this case.

More than a half of the respondents said they do not believe the app will be a success. Less than 25% believe it will have no effect, while a third said the app could not contribute sufficiently to stop the spread of the virus.

On the other hand, nearly two thirds believe that the app could have an effect, while only 4% said it could actually stop coronavirus.

The survey also indicates a low level of trust for the government's reassurances that the app would be anonymous and that it would not be tracing the user's whereabouts.

16 Jul 2020, 10:49 AM

STA, 15 July 2020 - The parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission discussed on Wednesday a report which shows that the 7 May incident in which two Slovenian soldiers stopped at gunpoint a civilian in the woods near the border with Italy had happened and had not been orchestrated.

The incident was not orchestrated and the two hikers were not members of the Antifa terrorist organisation as alleged by Prime Minister Janez Janša, commission chair Matjaž Nemec of the opposition SocDems told the press after the commission discussed the report, which is designated as internal, behind closed doors.

The report was compiled by the Defence Ministry's Intelligence and Security Service (OVS) following doubts whether soldiers had indeed been involved in such an incident and whether the incident had happened at all, and was today presented to the commission by OVS director Andrej Osolnik.

Asked whether police officers were patrolling the border together with the two soldiers, Nemec said he could confirm the media reports that only Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) members had been there upon instruction by the police.

The SAF is helping Slovenian police officers patrol the border to contain illegal migrants, but soldiers have no police powers, so they have to follow instructions of the police. There have been attempts by the Janša government to temporarily give SAF such powers to enable them to help the police more effectively.

Nemec said the OVS report had been sent to the district state prosecution, which will decide on further steps.

He now expects the interior, defence and foreign ministries as well as the prime minister to apologize to the two hikers - Daniel Malalan, a member of the Slovenian minority in Italy, and his girlfriend, and to the Slovenian minority daily Primorski Dnevnik, which broke the news about the incident.

Nemec said both hikers, the newspaper, and the opposition MPs who had demanded certain answers had come under fire after the incident from members of the government.

He now expects them to muster the courage to apologise, adding that some media outlets, especially those close to the ruling Democrats (SDS), portrayed Malalan in an negative manner and accused him of being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Nemec pointed a finger especially at Janša and his tweets which alleged the incident had been orchestrated by the deep state. He said this had caused great pain not only to Malalan and his girlfriend but to the entire Slovenian minority in Italy.

In his first response, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said the soldier had not pointed a gun at the hiker, had not asked him about his identity and had not arrested him, but had simply been doing his job in line with standard procedure.

"Following the investigation, it is time for the depoliticisation of the case to the benefit of Malalan and the soldier, who is an exceptionally experienced and decorated SAF member," Tonin tweeted, adding #truth_wins.

On 23 May, Primorski Dnevnik run a story about a 32-year-old Italian-Slovenian citizen with temporary residence in Slovenia who was stopped in early May at gunpoint by a uniformed man in the municipality of Hrpelje - Kozina near the border with Italy. When the man in uniform realised the civilian was not an illegal migrant when he spoke Slovenian, he was let go.

The story was followed by a series of speculations about its authenticity and the identity of the civilian, with Defence Minister Tonin immediately saying it could well be fake news.

The civilian later went public, disclosing his identity in a bid to support his story, and the SAF chief of the general staff announced the incident would be fully investigated.

15 Jul 2020, 19:20 PM

STA, 15 July 2020 - Several hundred journalists and media workers gathered on Wednesday to protest against a media reform planned by the government in front of the National Assembly, where the parliamentary Culture Committee is discussing the proposed changes to three media laws.

Convinced the reform would undermine the Slovenian public media's financial stability and independence, the protesters urged the independence and freedom of the media in their addresses as well as with banners and shouts.

In an 30-minute protest, addresses were delivered by representatives of the Slovenian Journalist Association (DNS) as well as by journalists and media workers from the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), other media outlets and journalist trade unions.

The bulk of the criticism was directed at the proposal to redistribute RTV Slovenija's licence fee among RTV Slovenija (92%) and the STA (3%) and allocate 5% to promote media plurality.

The proposal to transfer the appointment of STA supervisors from parliament to the government was severely criticised as well.

"Responsible journalism must always advocate and defend the foundations of democracy in all fields of society ... we must never allow for media freedom to be undermined," said DNS head Petra Lesjak Tušek, a newspaper Večer journalist and editor.

She said the journalist profession and the entire media industry in Slovenia were being devalued, whereas many European countries understand, especially during the coronavirus crisis, that "support for media is part of the solution" rather than a problem, she said.

In a statement read on behalf of STA journalists and editors, Mojca Zorko, home desk editor, wondered who is bothered by the existing provision that the STA must not become - de fact or de iure - dependent on any ideological, political or economic grouping.

"And who would welcome changing the STA leadership every year and a half, which is the average term of Slovenian governments in the past 10 years.

"And why would anyone want to reduce the staff's influence on the appointment of editor-in-chief. The answer is clear and the consequences as well: to destabilise and discredit the STA," Zorko said, stressing the proposed changes were a major step back in providing for the STA's autonomy and independence.

TV Slovenija journalist Miša Molk said the planned cuts in RTV Slovenija's funding entailed killing the public service and politics invading the people's right to information.

The Trade Union of Journalists criticised the government's attempt to interfere in public media and urged the Culture Ministry, which is in charge of media policy, to withdraw the planned changes to the three laws.

The amendments to the media, RTV Slovenija and STA laws have been met with much criticism at home and abroad for the changes they would bring and for a mere week-long public consultation period that was initially envisaged, but prolonged yesterday.

Today's session of the parliamentary committee was demanded by the four left-leaning opposition parties, which argued they were worried about the media reports about the changes to the RTV law which were being drafted by the Culture Ministry in haste and in secret.

All our stories on the media in Slovenia are here

15 Jul 2020, 10:33 AM

STA, 14 July 2020 - Slovenia and Croatia confirmed on Tuesday revised programmes for the decommissioning of the Krško nuclear power station and the storage of radioactive waste, as the ministers in charge of energy chaired a session of the intergovernmental commission on the management of the jointly-owned power station.

The revised programmes had previously been confirmed by the Slovenian government and the Croatian parliament and reflect the decision to extend operation of the plant by 20 years beyond its originally planned shutdown in 2023, and the decision that each country will build its own radwaste repository.

Vrbina, where Slovenia's share of the waste will be stored

"I am very satisfied that after a long time the two countries have finally implemented the commitment from the intergovernmental programme and confirmed the third revision... The programmes are crucial for the preservation of excellent and safe operations" of the power station, Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec was quoted as saying.

Croatian Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić likewise expressed satisfaction. "I'm glad we have successfully brought this long process to a conclusion," he said according to the Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry.

The next session of the intergovernmental commission is scheduled to take place in Slovenia in the first half of 2021.

Slovenia plans to store its portion of nuclear waste in Vrbina, close to the power station, a project which is already well under way. Croatia plans to build a repository in Čerkezovac, close to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, by 2024.

14 Jul 2020, 16:35 PM

STA, 14 July 2020 - Foreign ministers from Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia, known as the Central5, held talks in Budapest on Tuesday focusing on the opening of borders with third countries in the light of the coronavirus epidemic.

The EU's recovery instrument, multi-annual budgetary framework and the role of state subsidies in investments and regional economic cooperation was also on the agenda, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said it made sense for Central European countries to coordinate their policies and help each other, noting that this was a region with strong historical, economic and human ties.

He stressed that strong cooperation was necessary to overcome the current health crisis, Austrian press agency APA reported.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Central European countries had successfully worked together to introduce protective measures against the virus, and they have decided to maintain their cooperation amid upsurges in several neighbouring countries, Hungarian press agency MTI reported.

The group of five countries decided to establish the Central5 format in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. The first meeting was held in Vienna on 16 June.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar invited his counterparts to a meeting in Slovenia. The tentative date is 15 September, the Foreign Ministry said.

14 Jul 2020, 13:52 PM

STA, 14 July 2020 - The Association of Journalists and Commentators (ZNP) has expressed support for the government-sponsored changes to the media legislation, including a planned distribution of the public broadcaster subscription among other media and the change of STA supervisory board appointment powers from the National Assembly to the government.

Related: Slovenian Press Agency Concerned About Changes to Media Law

The ZNP, the smaller of two national associations of journalists, said in a press release on Tuesday it did not matter whether the supervisors of the STA were appointed by the government or the National Assembly. It believes the changes should also limit the supervisors and the general manager to two terms.

Under the current legislation, the supervisory board is appointed by the National Assembly with an absolute majority. The supervisors, in turn, appoint a general manager in a call for applications.

The ZNP believes the changes should also include provisions under which the government or the National Assembly would not be able to dismiss supervisors before the end of their terms, barring extraordinary circumstances.

It also supports the proposal to distribute 3% of the RTV Slovenija subscription fee to the STA and 5% to other media. RTV Slovenija, on the other hand, would make up for the loss by scrapping its advertisement limitations, under the changes.

The association believes this would force RTV Slovenija to become more commercially-oriented. However, advertising should still remain limited to a certain extent so as to prevent the broadcaster becoming too commercial.

It says that the STA would get more funds under the proposed funding model and could "focus better on its basic mission, which is to inform the public about important topics".

The STA is currently forced to get a large share of the funds need commercially, which the ZNP says eroded its basic task. Moreover, more funds would also mean more money for salaries, which have remained virtually unchanged in the past decade.

The ZNP also support the idea that 5% of the RTV Slovenija subscription fee go to other media for performing public interest services, as it does not matter whether the funds come from the budget of the subscription fee, both being public funds.

The association did say, however, that tax relief measures would have been better than subsidies for the media.

The association has also welcomed the changes to the correction rules, under which media would only be obligated to run a correction if it meant a correction of a false statement and not if somebody simply wanted to add a comment, which is possible under the current legislation.

European Broadcasting Union calls for more discussion before changes

STA, 14 July 2020 - The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service media organisations, has addressed a letter to the Slovenian authorities expressing concern over the future of Slovenian public service media. It urged the government to enable proper time for discussion on the proposed media reform in line with EU standards.

The letter, addressed to the Slovenian government, parliament, Culture Ministry and relevant parliamentary committee, points out that public broadcaster RTV Slovenija "has been exposed to a series of hostile and frequently unsubstantiated comments over the last months".

The EBU is also concerned over "the exceptionally short time envisaged for public debate on potential changes to the legal and financial frameworks of Slovenia's national public media".

The alliance goes on to highlight that the broadcaster plays a vital role in society and continued to play it during the Covid-19 crisis.

RTV Slovenija remit "requires adequate, stable, and predictable funding to serve all segments of society and offer programmes for all groups and minorities with a high level of commitment and professionalism," says the EBU, highlighting that the proposed changes to the act governing the broadcaster would also result in a budget cut of EUR 13 million.

"This significant change requires appropriate debate with all relevant stakeholders, in line with common democratic practice in Europe."

The alliance notes that RTV Slovenija licence fee has been "unchanged since 2012, whereas content and quality demands have constantly increased in a fast-developing economic, social and technological environment".

The EBU urges the relevant authorities to provide proper time for discussing the proposed media reform as well as allow for appropriate debate on public media's role in society and the resources needed to fulfil their remit.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) joined the EBU's warnings and calls saying that they were most concerned over the proposed changes to the funding of public service media in Slovenia and the extremely short period of five days for public discussion.

EFJ director Renate Schroeder said in a joint statement of all the three organisations that RTV Slovenija's independence would be at great risk if the changes were implemented without any further amendments. The Covid-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the key role of public media, she added.

SEEMO secretary general Oliver Vujović pointed out that in these challenging times, a well-funded, independent and strong Slovenian public broadcaster was needed more than ever. "We need an open public discussion according to international standards, and all important stakeholders who may be affected by the change should have their say in the process."

Last Thursday, the ministry unveiled a media reform blueprint involving extensive changes to the media act, the act on RTV Slovenija and the act on the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). The changes are subject to public debate until Wednesday.

The amendments as well as the short time provided for public consultation have triggered strong criticism, including from the Journalists' Association (DNS), trade unions representing the workers of RTV Slovenija, the STA management and staff, and the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA).

14 Jul 2020, 11:02 AM

STA, 13 July 2020 - The STA (Slovenska tiskovna agencija) editorial board has expressed concern with the changes planned by the government to Slovenia's media legislation. Changes to three media-related laws would not only change the STA's funding and give the government more influence on management appointments, but also divide the public broadcaster licence fee among other media outlets.

The STA's editorial board says in a statement addressing the public in Slovenia, as well as abroad, that the changes planned to the three main media-related laws are an attempt to push political interests into a field where they have no place.

"Handing appointments back into the hands of the government would be a massive setback for the autonomy and independence of the STA," the editorial board says as regards the changes planned for the 2011 law on the STA.

Currently, the agency's supervisors are appointed by the National Assembly with an absolute majority, and they in turn appoint the general manager through an open call for application.

"This guarantees that a plurality of interests are represented in the process. The proposed changes, however, open the doors to attempts at direct influence on editorial policy at each change of government, destabilising editorial policy.

"It is notable that Slovenia has had six different governments since the Slovenian Press Agency Act took effect in 2011, but the agency has remained stable, following a clearly outlined editorial policy and development course."

The editorial board also says that the legislative changes would constitute a significant interference in the public funding of the STA and in its governance. "The STA would no longer be funded directly from the budget, a source that has come to represent an decreasing share of its total funding, but would receive a part of the RTV Slovenija licence fee."

"The existing legislation ensures full transparency of operations and finances, with the agency's annual business reports having faced no criticism in either chamber of parliament ever since the law took effect," the board notes.

It also expresses concern about "interferences planned in media legislation in general, above all in independent public services, which includes the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija" as regards the changes planned to the acts on RTV Slovenija and on the media in general.

"Subordination of the media to the politicians currently in power ... is a clear cause for alarm in 21st-century Europe, especially considering scenarios that have already played out in other countries."

The STA editorial board also says that the agency had not been informed about the changes nor involved in the process any other way. "Neither was the broader public, while the government decided to limit the public consultation period to only five working days."

The statement also notes that under the changes, the law would no longer state that the agency must not, under any circumstances, be affected by influences and views that would compromise the accuracy and integrity of its reporting.

If the state in its capacity of the owner of the STA and of RTV Slovenija wanted to ensure long-term stability of STA's operation and help other media, it should increase budget funding for the public service, and help other media with fiscal policy measures and solutions put in place in other countries, the statement also says.

In the afternoon, the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) addressed a letter to President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Janez Janša and Speaker Igor Zorčič, recommending that Slovenia "refrain from the plans to change the STA's governing legal framework," adding that these could have severe consequences for the reputation and the business of the STA.

"The STA has been a member of EANA for many years now, and its independence as an organisation of Slovenia's national news infrastructure has always been undoubted. The now planned changes could alter that perception fundamentally."

Signed by EANA president and CEO of the German press agency DPA Peter Kropsch and EANA Secretary General Alexandru Giboi, the letter also underlines that "independence from any third party influence is a cornerstone of the reputation of the news agency. The degree of independence is strongly related to its acceptance as a source of unbiased news within the international media scene."

13 Jul 2020, 22:14 PM

STA, 13 July 2020 - National Hall, a Slovenian centre in the heart of Trieste, was formally handed over to the Slovenian minority in Italy, as a document on its ownership transfer was signed on Monday with Slovenian and Italian presidents Borut Pahor and Sergio Mattarella on hand exactly 100 years after the original building was burnt down by Fascists.

The document sets down a timeline of the full handover, which will take several years, as the centre currently hosts one of the Trieste University schools.

It was signed by representatives of Italian authorities at various levels, the university's chancellor and the heads of both minority organisations, the SSO and KGZS.

Slovenian and Italian politicians hailed it as a milestone for the Slovenian minority as well as Slovenia-Italy ties, but also for Europe, testifying to its values.

President Pahor labelled it a historic event and an act that happens once in a hundred years. "The injustice has been remedied, justice has been done," he said in his address.

"What we're witnessing today is the forbidden dream coming true." At least for a day and metaphorically, Trieste is the capital of the EU because it celebrates the finest of values which are the foundations of the EU, he said.

His Italian counterpart Mattarella said that history could not be erased and the hard experiences people had experienced in this area could not be forgotten.

"This is why the present and the future call us to act in a responsible manner," he said, adding he and Pahor took a major step towards a dialogue of two cultures.

Slovenian Trieste-born writer Boris Pahor, who witnessed the torching of National Hall as a seven-year old, attended the event and was on the occasion decorated with Slovenia and Italy's highest state orders.

President Pahor then visited National Hall, saying today's events can serve as an inspiration "for our common European home" and further encouragement of the co-existence between Slovenia and Italy. They are unprecedented in the history of both nations, signalling "a new era".

Apart from attending the National Hall restitution event, Pahor and Mattarella went to the town of Basovizza to lay wreaths at the memorials to Slovenian victims of Fascism and to Italian victims of post-WWII killings, and jointly meet representatives of the Slovenian and Italian minorities, in what is the first such meeting.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar, who attended the National Hall event together with Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch, spoke of a new page in the common future of the two nations, not only in Trieste but also in the EU.

His ministry also took the opportunity to again urge Italy to adopt a report on Slovenian-Italian relations in 1880-1956 which a commission of Slovenian and Italian historians compiled in 2000, and to take its findings into account when interpreting the periods of history the report covers.

National Hall was build in 1904 by the prosperous Slovenians from the area of Trieste as a unique state-of-the-art centre of commerce and culture.

Members of Italian Fascist and nationalist groups set it to fire on 13 July 1920, burning it to the ground, and then attacked another 21 Slavic institutions in Trieste.

The arson severely affected the political situation in the region, fuelling ethnic hate between Italians and Slovenians. After the Fascists came to power in 1922, ethnic minorities, including the Slovenian one, became a target of severe assimilation.

The centre was later nationalised, the minority claimed it back, but Italy committed to return it only in the 2001 law on the safeguarding of the Slovenian minority.

The restitution event was more modest than planned due to Covid-19 and the main cultural event marking the centenary of the arson was rescheduled to 13 July 2021.

Meanwhile, at the memorials in Basovizza Pahor and Mattarella held hands while standing in front of them in sign of reconciliation.

The Memorial to Basovizza Heroes is a site of the execution of three Slovenians and one Croat whom the Fascist authorities killed in September 1930.

The men were members of an illegal organisation set up in 1927 to organise a fight against the Fascist regime and its violent assimilation policy.

The Foiba of Basovizza is meanwhile a Karst chasm which the Italians have chosen as their symbolic memorial site for the victims of post-war killings.

Italy believes the communists threw the executed Italians in it, whereas some historians say it has been proven empty.

Pahor's visit to the foiba memorial recently stirred controversy in Slovenia, with some fearing it would give the Italian revisionists of history a fresh impetus.

Some 150 protesters gathered at a border crossing to protest against Pahor's act and a group appeared at the Memorial to Basovizza Heroes after the commemoration, accusing Pahor of treason.

The head of the 13 July Not In My Name civil initiative, Mauro Dornik, said Pahor paid his respects at a chasm which historians proved was empty.

By doing so, he "confirmed that we are a genocidal nation which went about killing Italians just because they were Italians", not because they were Fascists, and thus sided with Fascists.

He said that Mattarella had not posthumously amnestied the Slovenian anti-Fascists killed in Basovizza, which proved both presidents' tribute to the Slovenian victims of Fascism was not sincere.

There was also some opposition to the restitution of National Hall on the Italian far-right, with the CasaPound movement staging a small protest in Trieste.

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