STA, 13 September 2019 - Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar proposed that Slovenia and Austria form joint police patrols to police the Slovenian-Austrian border, as he hosted his counterpart Wolfgang Peschorn for a visit in Ljubljana on Friday.

Peschorn, saying it was a good proposal, announced the Austrian government would examine it to see if it could fully contain the migration pressure.

Slovenia has recently introduced similar police patrols with Italy.

Poklukar reiterated Slovenia's stance that Austria's border checks with Slovenia had a negative impact on local population on both sides of the border, causing economic damage and long lines of vehicles on the shared border.

He said this was the reason why he had suggested Austria eliminated border checks and set up mixed police patrols with Slovenia.

The Austrian minister said the government planned to take a new decision on the border checks in mid-October.

Austria introduced checks on the border with Slovenia, which is an internal EU border, at the peak of the 2015 refugee crisis, and has been extending them ever since.

Poklukar also announced Slovenia would soon send its police attache to the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Both ministers said they supported effective control of the EU's external borders and a comprehensive solution to the migration issue at the EU level.

The Salzburg Forum, meeting in Vienna in November, will thus discuss initiatives for a more efficient asylum and migration policy.

A message needs to be sent out that illegal migrations and human smuggling do not pay off, the Austrian minister stressed, adding that this applied to the Balkan route as well as other routes in the Mediterranean.

Poklukar acknowledged that illegal migrations have been increasing for four years, but he said there was "no cause for concern". "Slovenia is a safe country and Slovenian police are managing the situation."

As Poklukar noted, Slovenian police had apprehended roughly 9,800 illegal migrants so far this year, with the majority returned to Croatia; Austria, meanwhile returned only 62 persons to Slovenia.

"This data shows that Slovenia conducts effective control of its southern border."

Both officials also commented on the threat by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will open Turkey's borders and let Syrian refugees into Europe.

Peschorn said "announcements are commonplace in polit
On the sidelines of the visit, he decorated two Slovenian police officers wiics, but it is always important what happens," but stressed that the situation on the Turkish-Greek border would inform Austria's decision on whether to extent police checks.

Poklukar said that the 2016 deal the EU struck with Turkey in 2016 helped significantly reduce migrations from Syria and the Middle East. Slovenia's position is that the deal is very important.

STA, 16 September 2019 - Indian President Ram Nath Kovind will be in Ljubljana on Monday as the first Indian president to visit the country. He will be received with military honours by President Borut Pahor, will have a working lunch with Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and meet parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan.

Following the reception ceremony in Congress Square, Kovind will lay a wreath at the monument to victims of wars, after which the presidents will hold talks behind closed doors.

Talks between Slovenian and Indian delegations will be attended by Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, after which several cooperation agreements will be signed. The presidents will hold a joint press conference just before noon.

Kovind will also have a working lunch with Šarec and meet Židan in the afternoon.

This will be followed by a Slovenian-Indian business conference, one of the key events organised as part of the visit. The conference, organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), will see the signing of a cooperation memorandum.

Before dinner, to be hosted by Pahor, the two presidents will visit the Ljubljana-based International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), where they will unveil a Bench of Friendship.

Official portrait of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, Wikipedia

Background to the visit

STA, 14 September 2019 - Ram Nath Kovind, the president of India, will pay his first official visit to Slovenia on Monday for talks with his host, President Borut Pahor. The pair is to discuss bilateral cooperation, the priorities of Slovenia's EU presidency in the second half of 2021, and the situation in India. A business forum will also be held.

Cooperation between Slovenia and India is versatile and also has a legal basis, but the presidential visit is to further enhance these ties, especially political dialogue and business cooperation, according to Pahor's office.

The two countries traditionally have good relations. Pahor paid an official visit to the country with a strong business delegation in 2011 at the invitation of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Pahor and Kovind are also expected to express strong support for multilateralism under the sponsorship of the UN, and discuss the situation in India and the wider region of South Asia. Cooperation between India and the EU will also be on the agenda.

India is Slovenia's third most important foreign trade partner in Asia after China and South Korea. Bilateral trade in 2018 was the highest in the last five years, reaching EUR 361 million or 34% more than in 2017.

Slovenian and Indian companies have recently set up several join ventures specialising in car parts, construction materials and abrasives.

Kovind will be accompanied by a business delegation, compiled by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), which will attend the Slovenian-Indian business forum.

Several agreements are expected to be signed as part of the forum, which will be a continuation of efforts for cooperation initiated during a visit by a Slovenian delegation from transport and logistics in Mumbai and Chennai this April.

Pahor and Kovind will also unveil a bench of friendship in front of the Ljubljana-based International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE).

Slovenia opened an embassy in new Delhi in 2002 but sent its first ambassador to the country, Janez Premože, only in September 2009.

India in turn opened its residential embassy in Ljubljana in March 2008, when Indian Foreign Minister Ananda Sharma paid a visit.

The first Slovenian president to pay an official visit to India was Janez Drnovšek in January 2007. He attended an international conference marking the 100th anniversary of the Mathama Ghandi peace movement in New Delhi and met top officials.

In February 2004, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel visited.

More recent exchanges include a working visit by President Danilo Türk in February 2010, a visit by Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec in 2013 and a multi-day visit by National Assembly Speaker Milan Brglez two years later.

All our stories on Slovenia and India are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 13 September

Mladina: Energy sector suffers from excessive pay

STA, 13 September 2019 - The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary that the government does not want to make order in the energy sector and reduce the excessive wages there as the sector is highly politicised, with each political party having their piece of the pie.

"The world of energy in Slovenia is a distinctively political matter. The entire sector could be called a small political paradise," editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says under the headline EUR 100,000 a Month.

According to him, energy should be a competitive business in which the state does not and must not have any connection, because otherwise it does not function under the economic principles.

"It is supposed to be a serious business, with competition, market, large players, fierce fights for every consumer. But it is not. In reality, it is a completely state-owned system, but excluded enough from the state that the public sector rules do not apply to it."

At the same time, it is included in the state enough that politics can influence it. When it comes to distributing influence in the energy sector, political parties are able to make agreements and they cooperate well.

"There is a code of silence among parties and each new party which enters the government quickly gets its own 'energy district'," Repovž adds.

As energy companies in Slovenia are mainly public companies, it would be right if they get completely subordinated to the rules of public sector "in the field of wages for starts. Slovenia has one unusual feature: the highest wages are not paid out in the banking sector, but in energy."

However, Mladina does not believe that the current government has the courage or even the intention to do something about that. "It seems that a majority has already forgotten about their high-flying election promises," concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Slovenia should learn from Estonia

STA, 12 September - The right-wing weekly Demokracija praises Estonia for its break with Communism, while Slovenia opted for a gradual transition and never really broke with the regime. "Communism was an occupation and Slovenia will not be able to step out of its shadow by ignoring its remnants. The snake needs to be decapitated or it will bring us down once more."

The weekly comments on Thursday on an interview Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid gave the broadcaster TV Slovenija last week in which she specifically said that the country had been occupied by the Soviet Union and did not join the union willingly.

Slovenia and Estonia are similar in many ways, sharing similar fates after World War II. "Both had been occupied, in both countries the Communists first killed most of the bourgeois intelligentsia, industrials and entrepreneurs, and sent the rest to labour camps."

In both countries, power was in the hands of foreigners: in Slovenia in the hands of Serbs and in Estonia in the hands of Russians. They experienced Communist dictatorship and the countries stagnated for half a century.

But after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the independence of the two countries, their ways diverged. Slovenia opted for a gradual transition to market economy and never got rid of its socialist mindset, while Estonia broke off with Socialism overnight.

Slovenia could learn a lot from Estonia. The latter was a much poorer country when it became independent, but is now on Slovenia's tail, the paper says under the headline Why Estonia Became E-stonia.

The different mindsets were the most pronounced in the 2008 crisis, when Slovenia decided for Keynesian measures, while Estonia let the market sort itself out.

Although unemployment in Estonia was higher than in Slovenia during the crisis, the levels are similar now. But Estonia's debt amounts to only 8% of GDP, while Slovenia's is at over 70% of GDP.

All our posts in this series are here

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.

This summary was prepared by the STA:

FRIDAY, 6 September
        LJUBLJANA - Representatives of all three branches of government taking part in a debate on the state of the rule of law in Slovenia agreed that the separation of powers was key for the implementation of the rule of law. Judges were critical of interference in the judiciary and failure to implement Constitutional Court rulings.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest banking group, NLB saw its half-year-net profit fall by 10% year-on-year to EUR 94.3 million despite higher interest and non-interest income. Profit before impairments and provisions was up 13% to EUR 116 million.
        LJUBLJANA - The German-owned Slovenian carrier Adria Airways reached a deal with pilots to prevent a series of strikes that were due to begin in two days, agreeing a draft of a new collective bargaining agreement, which now needs to be endorsed by members of the pilots' trade union.
        LJUBLJANA - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek denied the allegation that she personally interfered in a procedure to appoint the CEO of SODO, the state-owned electricity distribution system operator, while defending the government's decision on 14 August to change the SODO articles of association so that the supervisory board needs the government's consent to appoint or dismiss the CEO.
        BILBAO, Spain - Slovenia proved a cycling tour superpower as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) won the 13th stage of the Vuelta ahead of Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who increased the overall lead. In the all-Slovenian finish on the hellishly steep final climb, Pogačar won his second stage victory to advance to the 3rd spot overall and put on the best young rider's white jersey.

SATURDAY, 7 September
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign companies accounted for 5.6% of all companies in Slovenia in 2017 but created over 27% of value added, roughly on a par with 2016. These companies employed almost 26% of all workers, and allocated 39% of their expenses in Slovenia for R&D, the Statistics Office's data show.

SUNDAY, 8 September
        ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar - Pope Francis visited Akamasoa, a village founded by the Slovenian missionary Pedro Opeka in Madagascar as part of his south African tour, meeting Opeka and several other Church dignitaries along with several thousand people.
        METLIKA - Several thousand firefighters and other visitors gathered to celebrate the 150th anniversary of organised firefighting in Slovenia. In his keynote, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, himself a volunteer firefighter, stressed that the umbrella Firefighters' Union was the biggest humanitarian organisation in the country.
        PODLESJE - A mass and commemoration were held on the site of a short-lived forced-labour camp near Kočevje at which post-war Communist authorities interned women. It was in operation from July 1949 and October the same year and held 800 women and girls, either suspected of having been associated with the anti-Communist Home Guards or deemed politically dangerous.

MONDAY, 9 September
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - Coalition party officials and government members conducted the last joint debate on the budget for 2020 and 2021 before the government submits budget documents to parliament. Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj said the government would wait until a fresh economic outlook is released on 19 September. Public spending in 2020 is capped at EUR 10.45 billion.
        LJUBLJANA - National Assembly Speaker Dejan Židan hosted his Latvian counterpart Inara Murniece for talks, after which the pair called for a strong and effective EU where the voice of each member counts. The Latvian speaker, who also met President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, thanked Slovenia for taking part in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Latvia.
        LJUBLJANA - A poll by Delo gave the government an average rating of 2.96 on a 1-5 scale in September, up from 2.91 in August and 2.16 when it took office a year ago. The improvement in the government rating was also reflected in higher ratings for PM Marjan Šarec's LMŠ party, which gained more than two points to 18.9%, over 5 points ahead of the opposition Democrats (SDS).
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia exported EUR 3.962 billion worth of goods in July, the highest monthly value on record as the trade surplus hit a record level of EUR 937 million. Merchandise exports were 46.3% higher than in July 2018 and imports rose by 16.4% to EUR 3.025 billion, the Statistics Office reported.
        LJUBLJANA - Lek, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, inaugurated new development laboratories at the Slovenia development centre in Ljubljana. Valued at EUR 7.5 million, the investment will allow development sterile solid dosage forms to treat cancer patients.
        VRHNIKA - The Environment Ministry annulled the August decision by the building inspectorate which forced hazardous waste treatment company Kemis to suspend its operations. Kemis can resume business, while the inspectorate need to decide on the matter again.
        LJUBLJANA - History of Love (Zgodovina Ljubezni), a meditative drama by Sonja Prosenc, was picked as Slovenia's candidate for the nomination for the 2020 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film by a judging panel of the Association of Slovenian Filmmakers.
        LJUBLJANA - The national football team scored a third consecutive win in the qualifiers for the 2020 Euro by defeating Israel at home 3:2 to advance to second place in Group G behind the leading Poland, whom they beat 2:0 in Ljubljana on 6 September.

TUESDAY, 10 September
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - President-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the distribution of posts in the new commission, assigning the crisis management portfolio to Slovenia's commissioner-designate Janez Lenarčič. First political reactions indicate the portfolio is perceived as lightweight, although the opposition Democrats (SDS) leader Janez Janša said it was one of the hardest and most thankless because it involved dealing with the controversial issue of migration.
        MOSCOW, Russia - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec paid an official visit to Russia with a sizeable government and business delegation. After talks, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev suggested Slovenia should help in the restructuring of now mostly Russian-owned Croatian conglomerate Agrokor and its Slovenian subsidiary, the retailer Mercator. Šarec also attended the unveiling of a monument to Slovenian soldiers who perished on Russian soil in both world wars. Accompanying Šarec, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar commented that the visit was important from the economic aspect, but he did not think it would affect Slovenia's relations with the US or the EU.
        MOSCOW, Russia - The energy company Petrol signed cooperation contracts with Russia's T Plus Grupa and Schneider Electric on the sidelines of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's visit. The projects will focus on optimisation of district heating.
        CELJE - The 52nd International Trade Fair got under way, hosting more than 1,500 exhibitors from over 30 countries and almost all continents until 15 September. A sizeable delegation came from Montenegro, this year's partner country, headed by Economy Minister Dragica Sekulić.
        LJUBLJANA - The latest survey by temping agency Manpower put Slovenia's seasonally-adjusted net employment outlook for the final quarter of the years at 17%, one of the most upbeat forecasts in the region and level with a year ago.
        KOPER - The 34th Vilenica International Literary Festival got under way with an event featuring the Vilenica Prize winner Dragan Velikić, one of the most esteemed Serbian authors, and the Slovenian author in focus, rebel poet Esad Babačić. The festival brought together more than 20 authors from 15 countries.

WEDNESDAY, 11 September
        LJUBLJANA - A group of 28 scholars urged President Borut Pahor to resign or be impeached over his comments at the Bled Strategic Forum which suggested that Turkey and Ukraine should not count on full-fledged EU membership. Pahor's office said the stance on a special status of Turkey and Ukraine within the EU had been known at home and abroad for several years, while Foreign Minister Miro Cerar reiterated that Slovenia supported Turkey's accession to the EU.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Defence Committee green-lighted the national security strategy resolution for the plenary discussion, but passed an amendment of the opposition Democrats (SDS) to throw out a provision granting additional powers to the SOVA intelligence service.
        LJUBLJANA - The government and public sector trade unions launched a fresh round of talks aimed at reforming the public sector pay system toward a more performance-based remuneration system. One of the government's proposals is that employees could get up to 30% higher pay based on performance, but it would also slow down their promotion to higher pay brackets, which is now all but automatic.
        LJUBLJANA - The EU's statistics office Eurostat projected that Slovenia's population will decrease by 13% to below 1.8 million in 2100. Almost a third of the population is projected to be aged 65 or older at the end of the century.

THURSDAY, 12 September
        LJUBLJANA - The government's economic think-tank, IMAD, downgraded Slovenia's GDP growth forecast for 2019 by 0.6 points to 2.8% for 2019 and by 0.1 points to 3% for 2020. In response, Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj announced cuts in planned budget expenditure in 2019 and 2020.
        LJUBLJANA - Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, started an official visit to Slovenia ahead of a two-day conference of the chiefs of defence from NATO member countries. Meeting Chief of the General Staff, Major General Alenka Ermenc, President Borut Pahor and PM Marjan Šarec, the officer commended Slovenia and its armed forces on their 15 years of contribution in support of the alliance's values and mission.
        LJUBLJANA - On the back of the news that the Supreme State Prosecution had asked the Constitutional Court to examine whether the parliamentary inquiry into prosecution of former Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler may be in breach of the constitutional provision of division of power, the Judicial Council said it would do the same, arguing that the legislative branch overstepped its powers.
        LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed Dragica Hržica as chief environment ans spatial planning inspector, replacing her with Dragan Matić, a former MP of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC). Hržica's office had been criticised over its allegedly faulty oversight of waste processing facilities.
        LJUBLJANA - The commercial broadcaster POP TV said it had sacked a sports journalist after he was arrested by police on the border with Croatia on suspicion of smuggling illegal migrants to Slovenia.
        LJUBLJANA - Despite slightly improving its economic freedom, Slovenia remained 67th among 162 countries in the latest Economic Freedom of the World report, compiled by the Canadian libertarian Fraser Institute.
        MARIBOR - Andrej E. Skubic won the Večernica Prize for best youth and children's book, conferred by the newspaper publisher Večer, for Grandma Does's Have Phone Any More, the second part of his book series Trio Golaznikus.
        LJUBLJANA - The Men's European Volleyball Championship got under way in Slovenia, one of four host countries. Slovenia hope to win the tournament, an improvement on the 2015 silver medal.

STA, 12 September 2019 - Parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan received on Thursday Yang Chuantang, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, for talks that focused on bilateral parliamentary cooperation.

The officials highlighted good bilateral relations that have grown stronger in recent years with the increased frequency of visits, the National Assembly said in a press release.

Skupaj s poslancema @LidijaDM in @MatjaNemec sem sprejel podpredsednika Nacionalnega odbora Kitajske ljudske politične posvetovalne konference (CPPCC) Yanga Chuantanga.

Rezultat naporov preteklih let je tudi večje gospodarsko in turistično sodelovanje. pic.twitter.com/WhBkoMTcXP

— Dejan Židan (@ZidanDejan) September 12, 2019

Acknowledging that cooperation has been particularly intense in agriculture, Židan and Yang said ties could be deepened in other fields as well, in particular in education and culture.

Yang said deep cooperation with the EU was very important for China, which sees Slovenia as an important partner in Western Balkans markets and in the Chinese-led Belt and Road initiative.

He also highlighted close political ties between the two countries and expressed satisfaction at increased trade, the National Assembly said.

Yang is paying a multi-day visit to Slovenia at the invitation of National Council President Alojz Kovšca and is also scheduled to hold talks with Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek.

All our stories on China and Slovenia are here

STA, 12 September 2019 - The Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) has downgraded its projection of Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year to 2.8%, down 0.6 percentage points compared to its spring forecast, which will seriously affect government budget planning.

 The government's macroeconomic think tank has also downgraded by 0.1 points its GDP growth forecasts for 2020 and 2021, to 3% and 2.7%, respectively.

IMAD said the downgrade was the result of a slowdown in Slovenia's major trading partners, in particular Germany, which will affect exports and capital spending; consumer spending is expected to remain robust.

"Confidence indicators in the international environment have been deteriorating since the start of last year, which has had a negative impact on export orders and demand. The prospects until the end of the year are worse than we expected in spring," IMAD director Maja Bednaš said.

Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj noted at a press conference after the government session that the government had prepared the supplementary budget for 2019 based on the spring forecast, which had projected the economy growing at 3.4%.

The minister added that the new projection had been downgraded based on the second quarter of the year, when there had been major changes in inventories. The situation is expected to improve somewhat in the third and fourth quarters.

"Let me be clear and say that growth of either 2.8% or 3% is very solid economic growth, which is still more than double of the eurozone average," Bertoncelj said.

The minister stressed that the downgrade should be followed by appropriate measures. The government has already frozen the budget, with all major expenditures by ministries needing to get the stamp of approval from the Finance Ministry.

"I have called on the ministers to save money and cancel non-essential measures," said the minister, who believes that a part of the drop in the expected revenue could be compensated by austerity measures.

He added that the ministries had been saving money since last September. "I'm not talking about obligations under the law, but about non-essential measures. One needs to act responsibly these days and limit expenditure in this segment."

For 2020, the minister will reduce the amount of planned expenditure by EUR 100 million to EUR 10.35 billion. "The 2020 and 2021 budgets will be drafted in accordance with the fiscal rule," Bertoncelj added.

"I don't want to sound pessimistic. We have solid economic growth, we follow IMAD forecasts, but I expect that a correction might take place, and if necessary, we will adjust immediately."

The minister explained that the expected EUR 100 million cut would be made in a linear fashion, with each department losing around 1% of the funds.

Bertoncelj noted that the state budget returned to the black in August to record a surplus. A surplus of 0.8% of GDP is planned for next year, and a 1.2% surplus in 2021.

"It's important that we maintain the trend of budget surplus, further reduce general government debt and go for structural balance in these three years," he said, adding that this was also important for credit ratings.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said the IMAD downgrade had been expected and would require reducing budget expenditure, which the government will do to comply with the constitutional balanced-budget rule.

And although he said each department would have to sacrifice one percent of its budget, he indicated that generous social benefits would have to be restructured to make the budget more sustainable.

"Denmark has a high standard of welfare but our social transfers are 25% higher. We're absolutely going to have to change some things to survive in the long term," he told Radio Slovenija in an interview.

In his first reaction to the announcement, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek stressed that growth remained robust and was above the eurozone average.

He said he remained an optimist, since Slovenian companies are less indebted than they had been before the previous crisis, they are also more innovative and export-oriented.

STA, 12 September 2019 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, started an official visit to Slovenia on Thursday, commending the country and its armed forces on their 15 years of contribution in support of the alliance's values and mission.

 The British air chief marshal will chair a conference of the chiefs of defence from NATO member countries as part of the NATO Military Committee, held in Slovenia on Friday and Saturday.

Sir Stuart was formally received by the chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF), Major General Alenka Ermenc, with a guard of honour, after which he delivered a lecture to senior SAF staff.

According to a press release from the Defence Ministry, he described NATO as a flexible organisation, one continuously adapting to modern security challenges in order to be able to jointly make decisions, command and act, which he said made the alliance unique, effective and exceptional.

The alliance is strengthened and enriched by every joint task, "which is why Slovenia's experience makes us all richer", the officer was quoted as saying.

He noted the work of Slovenian Lieutenant Colonel Matjaž Bizjak, whom he decorated with a medal for his exceptional contribution in his work at the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade.

The NATO official was also received by President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Marjan Šarec today.

According to the president's office, Pahor and Peach talked about NATO's role in maintaining security and stability in the future, as well as about NATO's 70th anniversary and 15th anniversary of Slovenia's membership.

On the occasion, the senior most NATO military officer again acknowledged Slovenia's contribution to the alliance and praised Slovenian troops' engagement in missions abroad.

Peach thanked Pahor for Slovenia's hosting the NATO Military Committee's annual conference. In his capacity as the SAF supreme commander Pahor will address the chiefs of defence at Friday's dinner.

Pahor and Peach also talked about Slovenia's role in providing peace and security in the Western Balkans and the chief marshal inquired about the president's view of the situation in the region.

The conference of NATO's top military authority in Ljubljana on Friday and Saturday is expected to be attended by some 400 participants.

The Military Committee forms consensus-based advice to the North Atlantic Council and the Nuclear Planning Group on military policy and strategy, and provides guidance to the two strategic commanders - supreme allied commander Europe and supreme allied commander transformation.

As such, it is an essential link between the political decision-making process and the military structure of NATO.

NATO chiefs of defence meet three times a year. Two of these conferences take place in Brussels, while one each year is hosted by a member state.

The SAF takes it as a great honour to host the meeting in the year when NATO is observing its 70th anniversary, as well as 15 years since Slovenia joined the alliance.

STA, 11 September 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar does not believe PM Marjan Šarec's official visit to Russia could worsen Slovenia's relations with allies, either the US or the EU. The visit is very important, especially from the economic aspect, Cerar told the STA on the margins of the prime minister's first visit to Moscow.

The visit, during which Šarec has already met his counterpart Dimity Medvedev, is a follow-up to the story which began at July's session of the Slovenia-Russia commission, which plans joint business projects, said Cerar.

"We can see these projects already bringing concrete results," Cerar said, noting Slovenian energy company Petrol signed two contracts with Russian partners on Tuesday.

"In this way we preserve geopolitical relations and create room for our businesspeople. Slovenia is a responsible and trustworthy EU member and joined the sanctions [against Russia], but our business, cultural and political ties must live on."

???? V okviru obiska PV v Rusiji sem se danes sestal z ruskim ministrom za digitalni razvoj Konstantinom Noskovom, s katerim sporedsedujeva Medvladni slovensko-ruski komisiji za trgovinsko-gospodarsko in znanstveno-tehnično sodelovanje. @MZZRS

➡️Več: https://t.co/6F1aEi8LkJ pic.twitter.com/v0QTBghEZG

— dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) September 10, 2019

In this context Cerar highlighted the role of a memorial to all Slovenians who died in the territory of Russia in WWI and WWII which Šarec and Medvedev inaugurated yesterday. "This is a very important element which brings us closer together in a historical, cultural and human manner."

The minister rejected second thoughts voiced by some that the high-profile Russia visit, featuring three ministers in Šarec's entourage, could in any way deteriorate relations with Slovenia's allies.

He stressed that as foreign minister in the Šarec government, he set himself a goal of balancing relations with the US, after Slovenia's foreign policy had been criticised for favouring Russia under his predecessor Karl Erjavec. "I've made an effort to intensify relations with the US."

Cerar also stressed the US was still the third largest investor in Slovenia, the two countries cooperated in many fields, and were allies in NATO.

He believes the visit does not worsen Slovenia's relations with either the US or other allies in any way. "On the contrary, I think that with a successful foreign policy in business diplomacy and through many contacts, we have opened Slovenia to all parts of the world."

As for Russia's annexation of the Crimea, Cerar said that "despite the amicable relations with Russia, we are critical towards it whenever it comes to the respect for international law".

Cerar notes other EU states also had very intense political and economic relations with Russia. "We are no exception here. And we do it with a feel for our EU allies. Slovenia is doing absolutely nothing wrong."

He said he was pursuing the policy he had started as prime minister in 2014-2018 to be in close contact not only with Germany, France and Italy, but also with the Benelux countries as some of the core EU members, so he sees the Russia visit could not jeopardise Slovenia's position in the EU in any way.

All our stories on Slovenia and Russia are here

STA, 11 September 2019 - A group of 28 Slovenian scholars has urged President Borut Pahor to resign for his recent statement suggesting that Turkey and Ukraine should not count on full-fledged EU membership. Should he fail to do so, parliament should impeach him.

At the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) last week, Pahor made "an inappropriate, unreasonable and xenophobic statement, a statement that is extremely harmful for Slovenia politically and diplomatically", the group writes in the open letter.

By making such statements, Pahor contributes to Slovenia's foreign policy's credibility being further undermined, says the group, featuring Slavko Splichal, Boris Vezjak, Svetlana Slapšak, Niko Toš, Maca Jogan, Vlado Miheljak and Rudi Rizman.

"I would make a difference between Western Balkans on one side and Turkey and Ukraine on the other side. I would go with a special status as far as Turkey and Ukraine are concerned and full membership as far as countries in Western Balkans are concerned," Pahor told the BSF.

Responding to the appeal, Pahor's office said the stance on a special status of Turkey and Ukraine within the EU had been known at home and abroad for several years.

During Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 2015 visit to Slovenia, Pahor said that "given how slow the negotiating process is, it would also be worth thinking about a sui generis status. But as long as EU law does not envisage such a status, Slovenia will advocate Turkey's EU membership," the office said.

It explained that such a stance is an attempt to find a solution to the slow pace, unclarity and absorption incapacity on the part of the EU in the enlargement process, particularly in relation to large countries.

Pahor has excellent relations with Turkish and Ukrainian leaders exactly because he is politically in favour of the two countries, which has however sometimes earned him even criticism in Slovenia, according to his office.

The intellectuals, however, believe such views could also be a reason why Slovenia has not been assigned the enlargement portfolio in the new European Commission.

Pahor's statement does not only deny his previously expressed support for Turkey's EU prospects, it also considerably exceeds "his presidential powers", the says.

He has once again proved to be a completely untrustworthy politician who cannot enjoy the trust of Slovenian citizens or European and international partners.

The group also believes that every European country meeting EU membership criteria deserves to join the EU.

It notes that closing the EU door encourages a rise in authoritarianism in the countries which lose the prospect of joining the bloc.

Pahor is also accused of bypassing the declaration and strategy on Slovenia's foreign policy, which were passed in parliament and which Slovenia's political representatives are bound to respect.

He is moreover accused of neglecting the document on Slovenia-Turkey strategic partnership which he signed with Turkish President Erdogan in 2011.

"As many times before, Pahor showed that instead of serving ... in a responsible, respectful and dignified way, he opted for populism modelled on Trump, Johnson or Salvini."

By making this statement, Pahor not only degraded the office of the president yet again but directly jeopardised the security and welfare of Slovenia and its citizens.

"This is the reason for which he should irrevocably resign as president of the republic.

"If his sense of responsibility lets him down again, the National Assembly must launch a constitutional impeachment against him, because in doing his job, he overstepped his powers from Article 107 of the Slovenian Constitution," the letter says.

Pahor's office also said that at the BSF, the Turkish foreign minister told Pahor that Erdogan would wish to visit Slovenia soon.

At a recent brief meeting in Warsaw, Pahor and new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also agreed to meet soon.

"So it is possible that both Erdogan and Zelensky will pay official visits to Slovenia at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2020," the office announced.

STA, 10 September 2019 - Economic relations topped the agenda as Prime Minister Marjan Šarec paid an official visit to Moscow on Tuesday. Ways to increase trade were discussed and investments were also broached, including the politically sensitive expansion of the Krško nuclear power station, a project of interest to Russian investors.

 Šarec and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev came out of talks calling for a strengthening of cooperation, noting that bilateral trade could increase despite ongoing EU sanctions against Russia.

Merchandise trade rose by nine percent last year and similar results are expected this year, Medvedev said. Both prime ministers said that it should be diversified

Both said investments should be strengthened as well, with Šarec noting that Russia is Slovenia's fifth largest destination for outward foreign investments, the goal being that it climb even higher.

Predsednik vlade @sarecmarjan je na srečanju ?? in ?? gospodarstvenikov poudaril, da je ?? za nas pomembna gospodarska partnerica. Izrazil je zadovoljstvo, da ga spremljajo predsedniki uglednih ?? podjetij, ki so poznani na ?? trgu in v svetovnem merilu. https://t.co/5WeB5nsnYO pic.twitter.com/A81vo1xLfp

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) September 10, 2019

Šarec was told Russian investors are interested in rail projects in Slovenia and the planned construction of a second unit at the Krško nuclear power station.

"The Russians are interested in participating. Russia is already building a nuclear power station in Hungary. I told them that we have a long procedure ahead with regard to the second unit at the nuclear power station, a process that may take as much as ten years," the prime minister told Slovenian reporters.

Šarec refused to say at whose initiative nuclear energy was broached, and when quizzed how it might affect Slovenia's relations with the US if Russia was to build unit two at Krško, he said: "Slovenia is neither pro-American nor pro-Russian, Slovenia is pro-European and pro-Slovenian."

Another major issue on the agenda was Slovenian retailer Mercator and its parent company Agrokor. The healthy assets of Agrokor are in the process of being transferred onto a new entity, Fortenova, and the Russian bank Sberbanka is among the largest creditors.

Medvedev suggested Slovenia should help in the restructuring of Agrokor, saying that "it would be good if we agree how to proceed."

Šarec said Slovenia would not oppose Mercator being transferred to Fortenova "under the condition that Slovenian suppliers remain within the system".

The government "can play its role within the bounds of the legislation and its jurisdiction... All the conditions must be fulfilled, bearing in mind that we are part of the European legal order. The Slovenian government will not oppose what is in line with the law."

While both Šarec and Medvedev acknowledged that economic cooperation was hampered by the sanctions introduced by the EU after Russia annexed the Crimea, both voiced the conviction that they would not significantly impact bilateral economic ties.

Šarec also said Slovenia and Russia did not see eye-to-eye on such issues, but stressed that dialogue needed to be preserved.

In a press release circulated after the meeting with Medvedev, Šarec's office emphasised that the two countries had diverse relations across a range of fields.

It said the prime ministers had discussed topical foreign policy issues and events in the international community, with Šarec stressing that Slovenia supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and the Minsk agreements.

He called for dialogue between all those involved and welcomed the recent prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, stressing that it was necessary to build on the creation of trust.

"The prime ministers also touched on the situation in Western Balkans and the Middle Eastern region, focusing in particular on Syria. They exchanged views on the state of the Middle East peace process and the implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal," Šarec's office said.

As part of the visit, a monument to Slovenian soldiers who perished on Russian soil in both world wars was unveiled at Moscow's Victory Park, in a gesture seen as having great symbolic importance.

Both Šarec and Medvedev stressed the importance of history and the preservation of memory of Russian and Slovenian soldiers in their respective countries.

???? Predsednik vlade @sarecmarjan je v okviru uradnega obiska skupaj s predsednikom Vlade Ruske federacije @MedvedevRussiaE odkril spomenik slovenskim žrtvam v obeh svetovnih vojnah na območju današnje Ruske federacije. pic.twitter.com/Mh6Tyl3DsP

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) September 10, 2019