STA, 6 February 2019 - As the government is about to decide whether to follow in the footsteps of several other EU countries by recognising Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, the coalition are divided on the issue with the Social Democrats (SD) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) arguing parliament should be consulted first.

Before taking any unilateral action which would mean assuming responsibility under international law, the government should discuss it with parliament, Milan Brglez, an MP for the SD and former speaker of parliament, told reporters on Wednesday.

He believes that Slovenian legislation is clear and that the National Assembly needs to take a decision on the matter, while he said that it would be very unpleasant if it had to discuss the matter subsequently.

He expressed concern about the hardship of the people of Venezuela, including Slovenians living there, who he said should be taken care of by the Foreign Ministry as a matter of priority.

Considering Venezuela's constitutional categories, a president's self-declaration could not have happened. "If this held true in Catalonia and Spain, I don't know why it wouldn't in such a case," said Brglez.

If in Catalonia's case "the constitutional constraints were those which wouldn't warrant direct application of international law over self-determination, I cannot see why it would be different this time around and why we would apply double standards in our foreign policy".

DeSUS leader Karl Erjavec, the former foreign minister now serving as defence minister, told the STA that the situation was a highly delicate one.

He believes that Foreign Minister Miro Cerar's proposal for Slovenia to recognise Guaido as interim president should be debated by the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee before the government took its decision.

Like Brglez, he warned that such decisions by the international community could have grave consequences for Venezuela and there was a serious risk of a civil war.

Erjavec believes that the solution for Venezuela is to hold an early democratic election. Whether Guiado's recognition could lead to such an election is in his view a very complicated question, but he said that it increased the danger of internal unrest.

Erjavec also noted that there was a very thin line as to whether recognising the interim president was interference in Venezuela's internal affairs. He believes that international organisations should exert pressure in order to have the country hold an early election.

Asked about whether the decision on recognising Guaido should be taken by the government or parliament, the Modern Centre Party (SMC) of Foreign Minister Cerar noted that in 2011 the government recognised the National Transitional Council as the legitimate representative of Libya's people and in 2013 the government recognised the Syrian national coalition in the same way.

"We trust that the government will dedicate due attention to the matter and justify its decision. The important thing is that Slovenia stands by a position that is clear and right: that a free and democratic election should be held as soon as possible," the party stated on its website.

The LMŠ party of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec would not comment on the matter officially but unofficial information indicates that there is coordinated communication on the issue between the Foreign Ministry and Šarec's office.

The Foreign Ministry will brief the government on the situation in Venezuela on Thursday and the LMŠ will take steps based on the discussion.

The Left, the minority government's partner in the opposition, is strongly opposed to recognising Guaido with the party's MP Miha Kordiš saying the question of recognition "is the question of whether we'll break international law" and indicating it could impact on the Left's cooperation with the government.

"Guaido is a self-styled American appointee; as Slovenia we certainly cannot benevolently recognise someone who declared himself as one," Kordiš said, adding that Emmanuel Macron's presidency in France could be called into question because of the gilets jaunes.

The opposition Democratic Party (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) support recognising Guaido with NSi MP Jernej Vrtovec commenting that the recognition must lead to a democratic process starting with a writ of a snap presidential election.

He believes that the government can take the decision on the matter itself but that the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee should also discuss the issue.

SDS MP Žan Mahnič said the party favoured an earliest possible recognition of Guaido as an interim president and a snap election. He said it was up to the government whether the issue would be discussed by the Foreign Policy Committee but he did deem every discussion on the issue useful.

STA, 4 February 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar announced on Monday he would propose to the government that Slovenia recognise the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan Guaido, as Venezuela's interim president with the intention of Guaido calling an early presidential election. The government is to decide on the proposal on Thursday at the latest.

Cerar made the announcement after a closed-door session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, which was to be briefed on Slovenia's lawsuit against Croatia over the border arbitration situation at the EU's Court of Justice.

Cerar spoke of a dramatic situation in Venezuela, which is experiencing a serious economic, social and humanitarian crisis. Three million people have emigrated in the last five years and human rights are not respected, he told the press.

He said that the recognition of Guaido would be "exclusively for the purpose of ... calling a new, fair, free and democratic election", and added that the final decision remained to be made by the Marjan Šarec-led cabinet.

"It's a fact that Mr. Maduro did not win in such an election. He won in an undemocratic election, meaning unfair, not free and lacking transparency," Cerar said.

Thus Slovenia needs to join the EU in helping in humanitarian efforts as well as, if necessary, step up sanctions against the current power holder.

"Above all, Slovenia needs to react in the right way. This means recognising the power holder that can and wants to call new elections as soon as possible, so that people can be helped, so that the rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights are restored."

He argued this would help restore peace and stability and help make sure that "people will not be without medicine and food, that they will not flee or fear state violence".

Cerar added that while the EU was united in the points listed, it is not the domain of the EU as a whole, "or this has not been the usual practice so far", to recognise power holders in individual countries". "This is now being left to individual countries to decide," he said.

TWEET

Meanwhile, the press was also addressed by Foreign Policy Committee chair Matjaž Nemec, who said that he in a way identified with Cerar, but that at the same time he saw himself confronted with a number of questions.

"Remembering how democracy was used as a pretence to approach the situation in Ukraine or the Arab Spring ... or the situation in Syria, I fear and warn that this could mean a new hot spot in South America. There are major interests involved," Nemec said.

While agreeing that the current leadership in Venezuela is incapable of governing, Nemec fears what the alternative could bring.

Several European countries recognised Guaido, the parliamentary speaker, as interim president today after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected the ultimatum to call an election by Sunday. Spain, Great Britain, France, Austria and Germany were among the first to do so.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="sl" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/vladaRS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vladaRS</a> bom predlagal, da <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Slovenija?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Slovenija</a> prizna predsednika Nacionalne skupščine <a href="https://twitter.com/jguaido?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jguaido</a> za začasnega predsednika Venezuele, z namenom izvedbe svobodnih, poštenih in demokratičnih predsedniških volitev. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Venezuela?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Venezuela</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MZZRS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MZZRS</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q9DdsCMjD0">pic.twitter.com/Q9DdsCMjD0</a></p>&mdash; dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiroCerar/status/1092477936177954818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></blockquote>

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STA, 4 February 2019 - Slovenia believes it can achieve sustainable public finances without having to hinder economic growth, the Finance Ministry told the European Commission on Monday, as it sent clarifications of its 2019 budgetary plans to Brussels.

The government sent to the Commission the draft supplementary budget for this year after it adopted it on 24 January.

However, last Friday the Commission requested clarifications about whether the 2019 budget plans were in line with EU rules.

In the document sent to Brussels today, the Finance Ministry said the government would carry on with activity designed to keep public finances sustainable, which would be done so as not to hinder economic growth.

The ministry explained that the fiscal rule had been the main guiding principle the government had taken into account in forming economic policies.

In doing so, it strived to preserve a nominal surplus, and consequently sustainable public finances in the medium term.

In this sense, Slovenia pursues an adequate ratio between the stability of public finances, and the care for its citizens and the country's development.

Slovenia will therefore continue with the activity designed to achieve long-term sustainability of public finances in line with the rules so that it does not hinder economic growth.

It will not lower expenses nor investments, but at least keep them at the current levels, at the same time facilitating a certain level of social security.

"For Slovenia, it is vital to preserve economic activity and raise productivity while keeping the general government debt at an adequate level."

In asking Slovenia to provide clarifications about its 2019 budget plans, Brussels acknowledged the planned surplus was to stand at 0.55% of GDP and that due to solid economic growth public debt was to drop to 66% of GDP by the end of the year.

But what worried it was the fact that the budget also envisaged a 4.5% nominal growth in public spending, which exceeds the recommended 3.1% growth ceiling.

The 0.55% of GDP figure refers to all public finances - the state budget, the health and pension purses and municipal budgets, whereas the surplus for the state budget alone is planned at 0.4% of the GDP.

Brussels said today it had received the Slovenian response, but would respond to it as part of the European semester winter package, expectedly at the end of the month.

STA, 4 February 2019 - Most public sector employees will benefit from a rise as they get their January payslips this month. However, the pay deal struck at the end of last year will also result in costlier public services.

Citing higher labour costs, some of the retirement homes and kindergartens have already hiked up the prices of their services, while higher wages may yet translate into higher supplementary health insurance premiums and in-home support services. However, not all hikes can be blamed on higher wages.

Prices of services at retirement homes are as a rule adjusted once a year, that is on 1 March. An additional adjustment is possible if labour costs have gone up by more than 1.5% since the last adjustment.

The Labour Ministry says that labour costs resulting from annexes to collective bargaining agreements increased by about 4% from 1 January on. These costs "represent about 50% in the price structure, which at 4% pay rise translates into 2% higher price of services".

According to ministry data, 60% of service providers opted for adjustment of prices of their services as of 1 January, following the ministry's recommendation that the average price increase should not exceed 2%.

However, they will be able to introduce additional hikes on 3 March due to changes in other elements of the price such as the costs of material, services, investment maintenance, amortisation and financing.

The ministry expects that the providers who did not adjust their prices at the beginning of the year, will do so now by an average of between 2% and 3%. Those who did would be able to increase prices by a further 1% on 1 March.

Nursery school fees are also going up. City councils in municipalities such as Ptuj, Velenje and Kranj, have already given the go ahead for price hikes of between 3% and 10%.

Ptuj Mayor Nuška Gajšek has linked the rises directly to the public sector pay deal, noting that labour costs represent more than 80% of the fee at nursery schools.

She says that municipalities are underfunded even without the burden of the latest pay rise, so part of the increase in costs would have to be covered by parents.

"If we wanted to subsidise the increase in prices, it would cost the municipality more than 400,000 euro a year, on top of the 3.4 million we already allocate for the purpose."

Velenje will allocate an additional EUR 500,000 for the increase in the cost of nursery schools. The increase in fees affecting the parents will depend on their income and the age of their child.

Parents in the median wage bracket will be paying EUR 14.92 more a month for first age group children, EUR 11.67 more for children in combined age groups classes and EUR 11.08 more for oldest children. The lowest income parents will pay EUR 3-4 more and top income parents up to EUR 32.84 more.

Several other municipalities are considering raising nursery school fees, while Maribor and Ljubljana will wait for calculations after the kindergartens have paid out January pay, before taking decisions.

The Education Ministry says prices of nursery school fees go up at different rates from one municipality to another and that they are not affected by higher wages alone.

The ministry is thus considering amending the pricing rules to "align individual elements of the price and thus prices", however it will also need to consider the position of local communities and nursery schools.

Similarly, one of the trade unionists who agreed the pay rises, Branimir Štrukelj of the KSJS confederation, says that some of the providers have used the pay rise to increase the prices of their services in order to deal with their problems.

He told the STA that some private providers used the increase in the minimum wage to hike up their prices by 20%. He rejected the reasoning that trade unions could be responsible for the growing prices in any way.

Fellow trade unionist Jakob Počivavšek noted that the government had committed to cover the higher pay costs for the services which are paid for from the budget directly or indirectly.

The Labour Ministry said it was seeking to agree an increase in the funds that the public health insurer pays to retirement homes for health services.

Local communities also urged the government to secure additional funds to municipalities to cover for higher labour costs. They want the per capita funding to increase beyond the EUR 20 agreed in November 2018.

The government responded by saying that the November agreement included a commitment for the government and municipalities to assess the impact of the public sector pay rise on municipality finances in mid-year.

The government has also appointed a taskforce comprising representatives of government departments and municipality associations to examine municipality legislation and their responsibilities and to draw up measures to reduce their costs.

STA, 31 January 2019 - The Ljubljana District Court heard Gratel owner Jurij Krč back Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovič on Thursday in a case in which the mayor stands accused of taking a bribe to the benefit of the city. Much like Janković last week, Krč said the donation to Ljubljana Castle was no bribe but a payment in line with the contract.

The indictment says that soon after becoming mayor in late 2006, Jankovič demanded that Gratel pay a donation of half a million euro to the municipality to be allowed to continue digging roads to install optic cables for telecommunications company T2.

The prosecution argues Jankovič had unjustifiably revoked the permit for temporary road closures Gratel had received from his predecessor just before the 2006 local elections and then made a new contract with the company.

But he added a damages clause, thereby assuming powers of the city's traffic department, which is in charge of issuing permits for road closures, according to the prosecution.

Janković told the court last week he had annulled the permit signed by his predecessor Danica Simčič because it was illegal, as it should have been issued by the city's traffic department. He said legal expert Rajko Pirnat confirmed this.

"We had an agreement on how to come to the site, whom to inform, who must be present. The deal also had a provision on damages for making a spatial intervention that exceeds the one outlined in the permit for temporary road closures," Krč said today.

"We had an agreement with the mayor to pay the damages and we did," he added.

According to Krč, Janković did not set the donation as a condition for the continuation of works. As Gratel owner Krč said he did not feel there was something wrong with the payment because it was in line with the contract. "We would have to pay one way or another," he said.

Janković said the deal was that the company either pays damages or makes a donation. The money was allocated to the same purpose any way, he said.

Former T2 adviser Miran Kramberger also took the stand today, saying that T2 was in the middle of negotiations for a loan with a consortium of banks at the time and that any interruptions in the construction works would have affected the process.

All our stories on Mayor Janković can be found here

STA, 29 January 2019 - Peter Svetina, a 53-year-old special education expert and social entrepreneur, was overwhelmingly endorsed as Slovenia's fifth human rights ombudsman in parliament on Tuesday as 89 MPs voted in favour and none against. He succeeds Vlasta Nussdorfer, whose five-year term ends on 23 February.

"I never expected such strong support," Svetina commented on the vote, pledging to perform this important and responsible job to the best of his abilities to serve humaneness.

He would not say what his priority areas would be because "they are all equally important and interconnected, so it's hard to set one of them apart". But he said his priority would be the cases open at the ombudsman's office.

He said the team working at the Human Rights Ombudsman's office numbered many able professionals, while he would also consult members of the civil society.

In endorsing Svetina, deputy factions invariably praised his wealth of experience and professional background that allowed him to learn really well about the needs of vulnerable groups of the population.

Svetina is a social entrepreneur who has been working with persons with special needs for all his professional life both practically and theoretically.

He graduated in special education from the Ljubljana Faculty of Education in 1989, and after graduation worked as a primary school teacher for several years.

He moved to Austria's Klagenfurt in 1995 to work as a teacher in a Slovenian minority association to get acquainted with the issues of the Slovenian community in the province of Carinthia. He was also a member of the local association of teachers.

Svetina returned to Slovenia in 1999 to work in institutions for persons with physical and mental disabilities, also cooperating with their parents, relatives, caretakers and NGOs. In 2007-2008 he was an adviser in the office of the minister of the environment and spatial planning.

Since June 2015, he has been running Grunt, a social entrepreneurship establishment in the countryside, based in Komenda, north-west of Ljubljana. He is also a co-founder of the non-profit, established in 2014.

Since 1999 he has also been mentoring students at various colleges in Ljubljana and Maribor. He has co-authored several handbooks on work with persons with special needs and participated in the drafting of legislation in the field of their employment and work.

When President Borut Pahor opted to nominate Svetina as one of nine candidates, his office said he had "a lot of practical and life experience in working with vulnerable groups and is characterised by compassion to fellow human beings".

"He is firm in his beliefs, but ready to accept arguments which manage to convince him. He is a person of dialogue, but he is relentless when people suffer injustice," the office added.

Pahor said that Svetina was a person with a high degree of integrity and public reputation, and with proper expertise, arguing that he would "perform the post honourably, responsibly, professionally and independently."

Before the vote in parliament, Svetina presented his vision for the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman to the media, saying would be a proactive ombudsman. He said that in his jobs so far, he had always pursued one goal - respect for human beings.

The newly-appointed human rights ombudsman said he had dedicated his entire life and career to working with vulnerable groups, mostly people with mental and physical disabilities.

"I've always made an effort to give people dignity," he said, noting he had tried to enable people to be as independent as possible, including financially.

Svetina said he had constantly stumbled upon violations of human rights of vulnerable groups and their families, fighting small battles against the violations.

He believes he will be able to continue on this path, but he does not think the ombudsman should protect only the rights of vulnerable groups, so he pledged to promote humanity and justice for all.

Svetina mentioned the link between labour rights and poverty, and pointed to environmental issues or children's rights. He stressed though that those who had been waiting to be tackled for a long time should be addressed first.

He also believes the ombudsman needs to speak up against violations, at the same time being open to different proposals and opinions and not shying away from criticism.

Svetina also deems it very important to work closely with the civil society and experts from various fields, so he would like to take the cooperation to a higher level.

STA, 28 January 2019 - President Borut Pahor and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić confirmed the friendly relations between their countries as they met in Belgrade on Monday, highlighting the good business cooperation. Pahor expressed Slovenia's support for Serbia's efforts to join the EU.

Addressing the press after their meeting, the pair stressed that Slovenia and Serbia had friendly relations which were developing well, in particular in business. Annual trade went up from EUR 500m to EUR 1.3bn in the last ten years, they noted.

Pahor asserted Slovenia supported Serbia's efforts to join the EU, for which Vučić expressed gratitude. Vučić noted that the relations between Belgrade and Prishtina would be crucial in this context, while Pahor urged leaders to further "reconciliation, trust and respect" irrespective of how difficult relations were.

Vučić was asked by the press to comment on last week's statement by Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar that the latest events in Serbia - a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and weeks of anti-government protests in Belgrade - raised questions in the EU about whether Belgrade was still persisting on a European path.

Uradni obisk predsednika Republike Slovenije Boruta Pahorja v Republiki Srbiji. https://t.co/LUCASYGt19 pic.twitter.com/VaRV0kd1k8

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) January 28, 2019

"I couldn't believe that he said that. Who knows what got into him that morning, perhaps he got up on the wrong side of the bed," Vučić said about the statement made at a session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee.

He stressed that Serbia stayed on a European path while it simultaneously maintained good relations with Russia, which it would continue to do.

"As you can see, I answer to you, who come from the EU, the same way I answer to Putin, to the Americans and all the rest. Serbia doesn't have two policies, only one, and this is the policy of Serbian interests ... which are being on the European path and speeding up our development, our economy," Vučić said.

The presidents also discussed the summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process which is to be held in Albania's Tirana on 7 and 8 May. According to Vučić, this will be an important meeting for the entire region.

Moreover, the pair touched on the status of the Serbian community in Slovenia, with Pahor saying that "Slovenia will do all it can to allow these citizens of Slovenia to preserve their identity".

He said Slovenia was big enough to be a homeland to everybody but added that "changing the constitution because of this is neither necessary nor possible".

While suggesting this was not an issue in bilateral relations, Vučić said Serbia would of course wish for Serbs in Slovenia to have more rights, pointing out that - contrary to Serbs in Slovenia - the 4,033 Slovenians living in Serbia are recognised as a national minority, with Serbia "striving to help them feel well".

V izjavi sta predsednika poudarila, da so odnosi med državama prijateljski in da verjameta, da bo obisk dodal nov zagon poglabljanju odnosov na vseh področjih. Posebno pozornost sta sogovornika namenila srečanju voditeljev držav procesa Brdo-Brijuni, ki bo maja v Albaniji. pic.twitter.com/Fg8b5SL8SF

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) January 28, 2019

Meanwhile, Pahor is accompanied by a business delegation featuring around 100 representatives of companies interested in digitalisation of business and administration.

They met Serbian executives at a business forum, which featured around 600 participants and was opened by Pahor and Vučić after their meeting.

Boštjan Gorjup, the president of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the STA that the forum, focusing on SMEs and the fields of digitalisation, the circular economy and tourism, had been a success.

Elaborating on cooperation in the circular economy, Gorjup pointed in particular to Slovenian waste processing companies, which see an opportunity in the additional EU funds headed to Serbia to improve this field.

"Our companies can be good partners in the exchange of best practice, in joint investment and sale of technologies," Gorjup told the STA.

The tourism debates revolved a lot around positive experiences with glamping, another field where Slovenian and Serbian businesses could join forces.

Meanwhile, Pahor also met National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojković as well as representatives of all parliamentary parties and addressed Serbian MPs at a session held especially in his honour.

In his address, he urged cooperation and trust among all the countries in the Western Balkans and those on its edge, saying in the context of the region's EU ambitions that "no other power or even super power can do this in our place".

Pahor understands Serbia's right to independently choose its security policy and thus also respects its cooperation with Russia.

However, he added that such circumstances meant that the pace and success of Serbia's negotiations with the EU would also depend on the settling of relations between the EU and Russia.

As to the Belgrade-Prishtina situation, Pahor said negotiations needed to be conducted peacefully, without threats or use of force and bring a result that will allow peaceful implementation without collateral security consequences in the region.

The Serbian press agency Tanjug reported that several opposition MPs boycotted the session, protesting not Pahor but the manner in which the session was convened as well as some of the statements made by Vučić after the meeting with the Slovenian counterpart.

Pahor will wrap up the official visit on Tuesday by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Mt Avala.