STA, 6 February 2020 - The parliamentary Justice Committee voted on Thursday in favour of an amendment to the property code law that defines animals as sentient beings, taking a step further than the government proposal that upgraded animals from things to living beings.

The amendment, which is in line with the original proposal by the Justice Ministry that was rejected by the government, comes as the MPs of five left-leaning parties - the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), the SocDems, the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Left - sided with Justice Minister Andreja Katič on the matter.

The amendment was confirmed on the committee in a 7:1 vote, with Dejan Kaloh of the Democrats (SDS) also saying the SDS would not oppose the amendment, since society had accepted in recent years that animals are sentient beings.

Still, Kaloh believes it would have been better to specify this in the animal protection law as opposed to the property code law.

Reservations due to potential risks were also expressed by Dušan Verbič of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), but Justice Ministry representative insisted the proposed solutions were to the benefit of the citizens and creditors.

One of the worries expressed by the SMC in the past is that this could also lead to demands that animals as sentient beings are no longer eaten.

Meanwhile, Minister Katič explained that certain other laws, for instance the claim enforcement and security act, and the inheritance act, would also be changed in case today's amendment is passed.

STA, 6 February 2020 – The Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Aleksandra Pivec has received a death threat warning her against entering a coalition with the Democratic Party (SDS), the commercial broadcaster POP TV reported on Thursday.

Pivec, the minister in charge of agriculture, confirmed for POP TV that she received a letter with inappropriate contents on Wednesday.

The letter bore her name and was sent to Parliament House, said Pivec, adding that she handed it to the police immediately.

She did not want to elaborate on the contents of the letter due to safety measures being taken. The broadcaster however said that the letter was a very direct threat against her life if she took her party into a coalition with the SDS.

POP TV reported that Pivec had been placed under police protection. The police, however, has not confirmed this for the STA so as not to undermine the safety of protected persons.

The police indicated, indirectly, that an investigation had been launched.

On Friday, Pivec is planned to meet with SDS head Janez Janša, who is testing the waters to see whether parliamentary parties are willing to form a coalition with the SDS after Prime Minister Marjan Šarec resigned on 27 January.

STA, 3 February 2020 - The leader of the largest opposition party, Janez Janša of the Democrats (SDS), has invited the other parliamentary parties to talks on a new coalition this Friday, the STA has learnt from several parties.

Janša would like to meet each party separately, and if common ground is found, he would plan a second round of talks for Tuesday, 11 February.

The SDS has also invited the coalition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), which today invited all parties but the SDS to form a "project coalition" which would be in office until electoral legislation is reformed.

Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's LMŠ party and the opposition Left have already said they would not go to the SDS-led talks.

Friday's talks would try to establish whether the parties have compatible programmes for individual areas, or ministries.

The structure of a new government as well as suitable staff would also be discussed to form what the SDS terms For Slovenia coalition pledge.

In the invitation, Janša writes that Slovenia's greater prosperity is the basic goal after every election.

He believes that by forming a new coalition in this term at least some missed opportunities could be made up for.

Despite winning the 2018 election, the SDS was unable to form a government because it was snubbed by other parties, which Janša termed "irrational policy of exclusion".

He believes obstacles to the country's faster and balanced development should be eliminated, more freedom, security, responsibility and justice should be introduced, order restored in healthcare and strategic answers found to the ageing society. The new government should also help shape European solutions.

Janša stressed that the SDS was probably the only party fully ready for a potential early election.

Nevertheless, a new election could result in a similarly fragmented parliament, which would put it in a similarly difficult situation in terms of coalition-forming.

Janša also noted that by forming a coalition without going to elections would get Slovenia a new government as early as the start of the spring, as opposed to the end of the summer in case of an early election.

Šarec resigned on 27 January, 16 months after his government was sworn in, because he assessed he could not deliver on his promises with the minority government.

Tomorrow, President Borut Pahor is launching a three-day consultation with deputy group leaders on the way out of the current political crisis.

STA, 3 February 2020 - The situation in the police force is critical, president of the Trade Union of Police Officers (SPS) Kristjan Mlekuš told the press on Monday as union members staged a four-hour token strike. The action is a warning for Slovenia's next government that unless the situation is addressed, the police force will collapse due to understaffing, he said.

The SPS, one of the two police unions, was on strike between 8 am and noon both inland and on national borders.

Speaking to the press at the Obrežje border crossing, Mlekuš said that police officers from his union were present today near dangerous road sections, near kindergartens, schools and retirement homes.

Moreover, officers working on the border were conducting more thorough examinations of cars and cargo vehicles.

Their message is that police officers are present at the moment, but "irresponsible policies toward the police force" might change that, said Mlekuš.

Unless a downward trend in the number of police officers is reversed, the force will collapse due to understaffing, which will result in poorer security, he said.

The SPS claims that police leadership does not respect the strike agreement reached last year. Mlekuš has also denied claims by Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar that most demands have already been met or are in the process of being realised.

He said today that the trade union would not step up its strike, waiting instead for a new government to form.

STA, 31 January - A two-month-old baby has died in a Roma village which lacks basic infrastructure such as electricity and water near Ribnica, southern Slovenia, triggering finger-pointing between institutions and severe criticism by Amnesty International (AI) Slovenia.

The baby died of pneumonia a month ago in Goriča Vas, where the family with three children had lived in great poverty in a shack, sleeping on blankets on the floor.

Two days after the baby's death, the other children were placed in a crisis centre, with social workers citing the poor living conditions, lack of water and poor care for the children, the newspaper Dnevnik reported yesterday.

Ordered to improve the living conditions, the parents moved to a relative's house in a nearby village, but have not yet been reunited with the children.

There are several illegal Roma villages with inhumane living conditions in the Dolenjska region, two villages with 150 inhabitants in the Ribnica municipality alone.

The local Kočevje social work centre is in the process of taking seven children from their families, according to Dnevnik.

Amnesty International Slovenia has called for decent living conditions, saying inaction by local and national authorities leaves many Roma families without water and electricity.

It says on its website that several Roma people have complained to the European Court of Human Rights for having their universal right to water violated.

The NGO also says that Roma infant death rate is four times higher than in the rest of the country's population.

Its director Nataša Posel blames the situation on inaction by those who have power to change it, pointing a finger at several ministers in the outgoing government, mayors of municipalities with Roma villages, Office for Nationalities boss Stane Baluh and two directors of local social work centres.

AI Slovenia has thus urged the state to immediately provide housing units for families from illegal Roma villages as well as access to water, electricity and toilet facilities.

The state should also overhaul inefficient mechanisms to include Roma children in education and provide assistance to the entire community at all levels.

Ribnica, on the other hand, denies being inactive, but says funds for Roma housing and other basic infrastructure should be managed at national rather than local level.

Its official Tina Peček told the STA on Friday the Office for Nationalities had been notified of the situation in Goriča Vas last year, and several mayors had jointly urged the government to take action.

Although the Human Rights Ombudsman asked the municipality to provide the basic infrastructure in the village back in 2015, Peček said there was no legal basis for it.

The ombudsman then turned to the Office for Nationalities, saying the government should provide for human rights of the Roma when they are violated at local level.

The office, however, said today it had made great efforts to encourage Ribnica to be proactive.

It noted the good cooperation with one of its representatives, but regretted that despite encouraging prospects last year, no major progress had been made.

Slovenia is one of the three EU countries that is forbidden by their own constitutions to extradite their own citizens to non-EU countries, which the UK became last Friday, at 23:00 UK time, midnight on the Continent.

Although the European Arrest Warrant continues to apply during the Brexit Implementation Period that lasts until 31 December 2020, the three countries have notified the European Commission that complying with the treaty would be unconstitutional for them. This however only applies to each country's own citizens. UK citizens, or other EU nationals, could still be extradited under the European Arrest Warrant during the transition period.

This means that if a Slovenian national committed a crime in the UK before fleeing back to Slovenia, they would escape criminal prosecution in the UK. Slovenian law, however, allows for Slovenian citizens who have committed a crime abroad to be prosecuted in Slovenia.

STA, 31 January - Slovenian WWII veterans intend to ask the Constitutional Court to review the recently annulled 1946 guilty verdict of Leon Rupnik, a Nazi collaborationist general. The Association of WWII Veterans is also considering appealing at the European Court of Human Rights.

It said "several people have turned to us who were direct victims of the Domobranci militia's cruel terror dictated by Leon Rupnik in collaboration with the occupying forces of Slovenian lands".

The association said in a press release on Thursday that it had also urged Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina to take action to protect the victims' dignity.

Its president Marijan Križman called on Svetina last week "to not let the collaboration with the occupying forces be honoured in Slovenia".

Križman wrote to Svetina that due to the Supreme Court's unreasonable annulment of the verdict, the association members "feel hurt and expect action".

Pro-Nazi General Rupnik (1880-1946) was sentenced to death by court martial and executed in September 1946 for treason and collaboration with the occupying forces.

The Supreme Court, petitioned in 2014 by Rupnik's relatives, annulled the verdict for being insufficiently explained, and sent the case into retrial.

Rupnik's relatives could petition the Supreme Court on a point of law on the basis of changes to the penal code passed in the 1990s, after Slovenia gained independence.

The changes introduced an extraordinary legal remedy to rehabilitate those who were unlawfully or unjustly sentenced under the former communist regime before 1990.

However, the deadline for direct petitions by relatives has already expired. They can now send a request for legal remedy to the prosecution, which then decides if a petition is justified.

While Rupnik's is probably one of the last annulled verdicts from the communist regime, the state has received almost 700 claims for damages related to the annulments.

The State Attorney's Office has told the STA that the great majority of the claims were filed in 1995-2005 and have already been closed.

The majority have been settled out of court; a settlement has been reached in almost 460 cases and almost 165 claims have been rejected.

Of a total of 126 cases that went to court, 19 lawsuits ended to the benefit of the plaintiffs, while the plaintiffs were not successful in 37 cases, 16 cases ended in a settlement, seven lawsuits have been withdrawn and one rejected.

While the damages claims ranged from EUR 1,200 to EUR 2.5 million, the State Attorney's Office has not provided the figures about the actual damages awarded.

It has explained "the claims ended more than ten years ago" and gathering the data about them would entail time-consuming studying of archived documents.

But it has said the suits and claims for damages were related to a number of different situations, such as imprisonment on the Goli Otok island and at Stara Gradiška prison, both in present-day Croatia, or death sentences.

However, the amount of the damages awarded depended significantly on whether the claim had been made by the victim or their heirs, whether a prison or death sentence had been involved, in which prison the victim had served time and for how long, and to what extent the victim had managed to recover from the experience.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 31 January 2020

Mladina: Rejection of health insurance changes disgraceful

STA, 31 January 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary that the rejection of the proposal to abolish top-up health insurance in parliament was a disgrace, and that the result of the vote should be saved for future reference. What is even more problematic is that the vote has automatically become the foundation for a possible new coalition.

In the commentary headlined Someone Said Corruption?, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning weekly Grega Repovž notes that once it had become clear that a majority in parliament supported the bill, commercial insurers had launched a wide lobbying campaign.

Although it is not clear whether a new government will be formed, it is clear that one of the "largest lobbying campaigns in modern Slovenia has taken place in front of our eyes, and the formation of a new and the collapse of the current government is closely connected with this campaign."

Commenting on the vote, Repovž notes that the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) have been advocates of private health insurers for years, and the National Party (SNS) too, although not as openly.

"This week, the interest of private insurers was also publicly supported by three more parties: the Modern Centre Party (SMC), the party which relies on ethics, the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), which fights for common people, and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which fights for pensioners. This says it all."

The result of the vote should thus be put up on the wall because it is a list of people who voted that taxpayer money is transferred every month to some accounts, that someone there take their cut, and then transfer the money forward.

"The vote on the abolition of top-up health insurance has automatically become the foundation for the formation of a potential new government. This is what has brought them together. A good start. And it's only the beginning!"

Demokracija: Šarec alone to blame for coalition problems

STA, 30 January 2020 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its commentary on Thursday that it was clear from the beginning that the government of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec would not last a full term, and that the fault is Šarec's alone, although he pretends to be the victim, blaming coalition partners for the coalition's problems.

Under the headline The Slovenian Patient, Demokracija says that Šarec was the one who let himself be drawn into a game of exclusions even before the election of 2018, he was the one who (officially) put together the coalition, approved the ministers and was responsible for the government's work.

What is more, Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj, who resigned shortly before Šarec, and Health Minister Aleš Šabeder, who was also set to resign at any moment, were both "from the same nest".

"Šarec did not have problems only with coalition partners, but also with ministers nominated by [his own party] LMŠ. But above all, he had problems with himself, his narcissism and his tongue, which he used to create a smokescreen and hide his incompetence."

While he failed to do anything reform-wise, he was very brutal in political staffing, fighting ideological opponents, abusing power and spending budget funds, the paper says, liking the 16 months Šarec was in power to a long, dark winter.

During this time, the state has been worn out in the face of programmed social justice, socialist mythology and threats to people who think differently, as well as political correctness.

All of this was dictated by progressive activists who always found the right "partners" for Šarec, who was interested only in preserving the status quo and protecting his position.

As a result, ordinary people, patriots who work for a living and fear for safety, have been "covered with a layer of radioactive contempt".

"They say that bad governments are chosen by good people who do not vote," the weekly says, expressing hope that people will not be fooled by "leftist frauds" and fall for "stand-up comedians from the transition left's closet", ahead of the likely snap election.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 31 January 2020 - Janez Stanovnik, one of the most notable Slovenian politicians in the period leading up to independence and the face of the Slovenian WWII Veterans' Association after 2003, has died aged 97.

Stanovnik, who was among the first who joined the Partisan liberation movement during the war, was the last president of the Slovenian presidency under the former Yugoslavia between 1988 and 1990 after he served as a member from 1984 to 1988.

After World War II he worked in the federal Yugoslav government and in Yugoslav diplomacy, while he briefly also served as the dean of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics. He was the executive secretary of the UN's economic commission for Europe from 1968 to 1982.

Between 2003 and 2013 Stanovnik served as the president of Slovenian WWII Veterans' Association and after that he was its honorary president.

Stanovnik was the recipient of a number of honours and was also named an honorary citizen of Ljubljana.

Condolences are already starting to pour in, including from Slovenian President Borut Pahor, who described Stanovnik as an important personality of his era.

Pahor said Slovenians would remember Stanovnik as a Partisan, as strong-charactered, true to his convictions, as somebody with an open spirit and heart.

Parliamentary Speaker and SocDems president Dejan Židan wrote that Stanovnik had been the president of the Slovenian presidency during the pinnacle of democratic change and that he had promoted the values of the liberation movement throughout his life, seeing them "as a key part of our national identity".

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, 24 January
        ZAGREB, Croatia - Attending an informal meeting of EU home ministers in Zagreb, Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said that "mounting fully functioning Frontex operations in the Western Balkans as soon as possible and signing status agreements with the region's countries" was necessary for the effective management of migrations.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition-led parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services released a report finding that an acquaintance of PM Marjan Šarec was given special treatment when she was hired by the intelligence agency SOVA. The commission also found systemic flaws in SOVA staffing.
        LJUBLJANA - A group of NGOs, including Amnesty International Slovenija and the Legal and Information Centre, said that by handing asylum seekers over to the Croatian authorities, Slovenia was aggravating one of the most severe humanitarian crises in Europe and contravening the law.
        LJUBLJANA - In its first reaction to the controversy about the Supreme Court's decision to quash the 1946 conviction of collaborationist official Leon Rupnik, the Justice Ministry said that court decisions in appeals over post-war judgements were not denying the abject nature of concrete cases, nor did they rehabilitate perpetrators.
        NEW YORK, US - Luka Dončić was selected as a Western Conference starter for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the youngest European and the first Slovenian ever to be selected directly to play in the prestigious exhibition game.

SATURDAY, 25 January
        LJUBLJANA - Rajko Kozmelj, director of Slovenia's intelligence and security agency SOVA, told Delo he would insist the agency be given new powers to fight violent extremism as had been envisaged in the draft resolution on the national security strategy, which was however later amended to scrap the new powers that many found problematic.
        LJUBLJANA - Culture Minister Zoran Poznič said in an interview with Delo that Mladinska Knjiga, the country's No.1 publisher, would be transferred from the bad bank to Slovenian Sovereign Holding and labelled a strategic investment.
        MARIBOR - A statement encouraging people to seek role models in themselves won physician and humanitarian worker Ninna Kozorog the Spade of the Year award, presented by Večer for the statement that its readership believe best captured the zeitgeist of last year.

SUNDAY, 26 January
        POKLJUKA - France's Quentin Fillon Maillet won the men's 15km mass start event of the Biathlon World Cup meet at Pokljuka, finishing the the race ahead of Benedikt Doll of Germany and Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Boe. Hanna Oeberg of Sweden won the women's 12.5km mass start, ahead of Italian Lisa Vittozzi and France's Anais Bescond. The best Slovenian competitor was Jakov Fak, who finished 21st.

MONDAY, 27 January
        LJUBLJANA - PM Marjan Šarec announced his resignation after Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj stepped down, to some extend due to differences regarding a bill scrapping top-up health insurance. Šarec said he could not achieve what he had set out to do with the current minority coalition and called for snap election. Most parties agreed this would be the best scenario but indicated that all options were open, including the formation of a new coalition.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's coordination group for monitoring and managing contagious diseases discussed the coronavirus outbreak in China, announcing Slovenia was prepared for a potential outbreak.
        LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) protested against what it perceives as the state opening the door wide to builders from third countries. This brings disloyal competition to Slovenian companies and results in fewer jobs and lower wages for Slovenian workers, the GZS said.
        OSWIECIM, Poland/LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor, accompanied by Slovenian internment camp survivors, attended a memorial marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp.
        LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment in Slovenia stood at 4.1 percentage points in January, up 1.1 percentage points on December but eight percentage points below the January 2019 level. The second consecutive monthly increase comes after the sentiment index fell to 2.4 points in November, the lowest since late 2014, in what was the fourth consecutive month of decline.
        
TUESDAY, 28 January
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - A day after resigning as prime minister, Marjan Šarec denied the reason behind the move was that his own team was falling apart. But he admitted that to continue successfully as prime minister he would have had to carry out a broader government reshuffle, which would be "too risky" at the moment.
        LJUBLJANA - A poll conducted by Ninamedia for Dnevnik suggested that more than 60% of Slovenians want a new election after the resignation of PM Marjan Šarec. Šarec's arguments convinced more than half of the respondents.
        LONDON, UK - The British Home Office said that roughly half of some 5,000 Slovenians living in the UK had applied for settled or pre-settled status ahead of Brexit. Slovenian Ambassador to the UK Tadej Rupel said he expected the number of Slovenians in the UK to "drop somewhat, but not drastically".
        LJUBLJANA - Environment Minister Simon Zajc and Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek assured the public that the National Energy and Climate Plan, which sets out energy and climate change mitigation measures until 2030, would be adopted by the government by the end of February, despite PM Marjan Šarec's surprise resignation.
        LOGATEC - Lonstroff, the Swiss subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, announced it had launched elastomer production in Logatec this month. Currently, the facility employs almost 40 people, with the company planning to expand capacity and workforce over the course of two months.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian police reported busting an international drug ring in cooperation with police forces from Croatia and several other European countries, seizing 120 kilos of amphetamine and arresting 20 people in nearly 50 raids. The investigation uncovered the biggest synthetic drugs lab in Slovenia to date.

WEDNESDAY, 29 January
        LJUBLJANA - The government formally ended its term as the National Assembly took note of PM Marjan Šarec's resignation, relegating the cabinet to caretaker status. The end of the government term kicks off formal talks that will lead either to a new coalition or a snap election.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly failed to pass amendments that would abolish supplementary health insurance, a motion which had split the coalition and was one of the reasons why PM Marjan Šarec stepped down. The legislation was rejected in a 51:32 vote.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia expressed reservations about a Middle East peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, stressing that lasting peace and stability were only possible as a result of "direct, equal and comprehensive negotiations between Israel and Palestine".
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - After Brexit agreement was ratified in the European Parliament, Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) and Franc Bogovič EPP/SLS) expressed hope that London and Brussels would reach a good agreement on future relations, while Romana Tomc (EPP/SDS) said the consequences of Brexit would be felt both in the EU and in the UK.
        LJUBLJANA - UK Ambassador to Slovenia Sophie Honey told the STA that the rights of the estimated 800 UK nationals living in Slovenia were protected under the December EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, which also protected Slovenians in the UK. Arrangements for British people coming to live permanently in Slovenia after 2020 and vice-versa are yet to be decided.
        ROGAŠKA SLATINA - Glassworks Steklarna Rogaška announced it would lay off up to 200 of its 830 workers to increase efficiency in the face of constant changes in consumer habits and in the business environment.
        
THURSDAY, 30 January
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Armed Forces announced Slovenia had sent six army instructors back to Iraq as part of the international operation Inherent Resolve in Erbil to train Iraqi security forces, after the previous contingent was evacuated following Iran's missile attacks on Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops.
        LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS), Social Democrats (SD) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) initiated preparations for a snap election after the Marjan Šarec government collapsed. While the SDS said it had already shortlisted the candidates, it said all options remained open, including talks on a new coalition, a position also reiterated by SD and DeSUS.
        NOVO MESTO - The group around the Novo Mesto-based drug maker Krka generated EUR 1.49 billion in sales revenue in 2019, or 12% more than in the year before, while net profit was up 39% to EUR 242 million, according to an estimate released by the management board. Krka also announced that an internal inquiry had into suspected bribery at the company's Romanian subsidiary had shown that the allegations were unjustified as regards Krka Romania employees.
        LJUBLJANA - Radio Slovenija reported that NATO inspectors checking Slovenia's compliance with the alliances' targets at the end of last week concluded that Slovenia was becoming an increasingly heavy burden for the alliance, having for years now failed to meet the promises given. The Defence Ministry said the findings of such inspections were not public and that the final report would be drawn up for the June NATO ministerial.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor picked Robert Šumi, a teacher at the police academy, as the next head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. Šumi was one of four candidates short-listed for the job by a vetting commission to replace Boris Štefanec, who was also among the candidates.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar met UK Ambassador Sophie Honey a day before the UK leaves the EU. Tweeting after the meeting, Cerar said effective approach to implementation of the divorce agreement was necessary on both sides. Honey thanked Slovenia for being constructive and helping ensure UK citizens' rights in Slovenia.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's national motorway company DARS and Turkish builder Cengiz signed the master agreement on the construction of the second tube of the Karavanke motorway tunnel, a step that comes more than two years after the original tender was published. Works could start in March, weather permitting.

All our posts in this series are here