Politics

22 Feb 2022, 07:53 AM

STA, 21 February 2022 - Virtually all Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted in Slovenia on Monday except for the wearing of masks and hand sanitising indoors. Proof of recovery, vaccination or negative test (PCT) will only be required in hospitals, care homes and prisons.

Under the decisions taken by the government on Saturday, there will no longer be a cap on gatherings or the number of people allowed inside shops, hospitality and other services establishments.

Meanwhile, cultural institutions await more detailed instructions by the government to ascertain whether a distance of 1.5 meters will still have to be heeded at cultural events.

Also scrapped are restrictions on the opening hours of hospitality establishments, and night clubs can reopen. Unseated guests will still be required to wear face masks indoors and hand sanitising remains in force like in other activities subject to easing.

At outdoor public events, masks are recommended when a distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained.

The Covid pass or PCT requirement remains mandatory for staff and service users at hospitals and those undergoing certain procedures such as endoscopy or oral surgery, but it is not mandatory at health centres. It also remains in place at social care institutions, prisons and other correctional facilities, except for those aged up to 15.

Students will no longer need to self test at schools, but face masks remain obligatory under the same conditions as so far.

Free self-tests and rapid antigen tests are no longer available, except in certain cases. The government will pay for the costs of tests in activities where testing is still compulsory.

Rapid antigen testing remains free of charge for those who get a positive self-test result, those with Covid-19 symptoms and those who would like to end self-isolation early after a seven-day period.

Since Saturday, contacts of infected persons are no longer required to quarantine, but those who test positive still need to self-isolate.

The infected are also urged to notify those with whom they have been in close contact within 48 hours before testing positive of the risk of infection.

Their contacts are advised to take a test or self-test 7 days after the last risk contact and to avoid unnecessary contacts with other people for 14 days since being in contact with the infected person.

Since Saturday, the Covid pass is no longer required to enter Slovenia.

The near universal PCT requirement has been in force since 15 September last year with further restrictions such as the curfew on bars and restaurants imposed in early November.

21 Feb 2022, 16:02 PM

STA, 21 February 2022 - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has cleared Prime Minister Janez Janša over his socialising with a well-known lobbyist and a businessman while holidaying on the island of Mauritius when he was still an opposition leader.

The commission said today it had found no breach of anti-graft legislation in Janša's socialising with lobbyist Božo Dimnik and businessman Andrej Marčič in Mauritius, so it closed the case. Nor did it establish violations in public contracting in the case of Marčič's IT company, but it did issue some recommendations.

Photos showing Janša in the company of the pair in Mauritius in 2003 were published last summer by the news web portal Necenzurirano. The commercial broadcaster POP TV later released photos showing Janša on Marčič's yacht in 2016. Janša was an opposition leader on both those occasions.

The media speculated the socialising may have been contentious because Marčič's company Integralis in 2020 won the contract awarded by the government secretariat to overhaul a database and supply specific systemic and IT equipment. Dimnik is a prominent lobbyist, whose daughter owns a major supplier of medical product.

The commission, which can only handle cases not older than five years, said it did not find any violations of the integrity and prevention of corruption act in Janša's contacts with the two businessmen, contracting with Integralis or relocation of the headquarters of the consulate in Mauritius.

The watchdog said not every contact between public and private officials can automatically be defined as lobbying. It has also not received no complaint about suspected lobbying against Janša or other concrete information in that respect.

However, the watchdog has established certain corruption risks and a suspicion of violation with respect to the National Review Commission's powers in the case of public procurement by the government secretariat.

19 Feb 2022, 18:09 PM

STA, 19 February 2022 - Covid pass will no longer be required in Slovenia as of Monday, except in healthcare and social care institutions, and in prisons, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press after today's correspondence session of the government. Students at schools will no longer need to self test either.

In line with the latest government decisions, free self-tests and rapid antigen tests will thus no longer be available. The state will only cover for the costs of tests in activities where testing will still be required.

Students will no longer need to self test at schools, but face masks remain obligatory under the same conditions as so far.

Poklukar urged the citizens to continue to act responsibly despite easing of the measures.

This comes after the government last night decided to abolish the quarantine requirement after high-risk contact with an infected person, and the Covid pass for entry to Slovenia, effective today.

19 Feb 2022, 10:00 AM

STA, 18 February 2022 - The government has decided passengers entering into Slovenia will no longer have to produce a Covid pass after having abolished the requirement that those in high-risk contact with an infected person no longer have to quarantine.

The decree enters into force one day after it has been published in the Official Gazette. It is not yet clear when the next Official Gazette will be published.

The Government Communications Office said Covid-19 was "no longer considered a quarantine disease" which is why there is no need for passengers to show proof of vaccination, reconvalescence or testing.

No further easing of restrictions yet

STA, 18 February 2022 - The government was expected to start easing coronavirus restrictions this week, but the only step it has decided to take is to waive the quarantine requirement for those in high-risk contact with an infected person effective on Saturday and end contact tracing.

"We will ease the restrictions gradually and thoughtfully," Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press after a cabinet session on Friday.

He said a new round of consultations with experts would be completed before the government reconvenes to take a decision, which he said would hopefully come "as soon as possible".

While he admitted the situation was rapidly improving, the minister said hospitalisations were still high and Slovenia had the second highest number of Covi9-19 patients per capita in the world.

At a meeting earlier this week, the government's medical advisers proposed the gradual abolition of the Covid pass for shops, banks, post offices and administrative units, and the abolition of quarantines in case of high-risk contacts as well as contact tracing.

19 Feb 2022, 09:46 AM

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

If you’d like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.

FRIDAY, 11 February
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court stayed, pending its final decision, the implementation of a provision in the latest Covid relief law that raises the pay ceiling in the single public sector wage system only for the benefit of doctors and dentists and had angered other groups of public sector trade employees.
        LJUBLJANA - Economist Jože P. Damijan, the author of the idea for the Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL), was joined by more than two dozen former officials as well as businessmen, scientists and other professionals in launching a centre-left development agenda that they plan to implement in collaboration with existing political players.
        LJUBLJANA - The International Press Institute released a report on Hungarian investments in foreign media that suggests the Hungarian model of government control of the media is being transposed to Slovenia. It says this is important in light of Slovenia's upcoming general election.
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - The Slovenian women's ski jumping team, men's basketball team, cross-country skier Anamarija Lampič and former para athlete and sports official Peter Ozmec were declared the winners of the 2021 Bloudek Prizes, the highest national awards for current and lifetime achievements in sports.
        
SATURDAY, 12 February
        LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša said that Slovenia was monitoring with concern the concentration of the Russian troops on the border with Ukraine as he spoke on the phone with Ukrainian counterpart Denis Shmygal to express support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and the right of every country to choose its alliance.
        FRANKOLOVO - President Borut Pahor called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in north-eastern Europe, saying that peace should be protected and everything should be done for dialogue to continue, as the addressed a memorial ceremony after laying a wreath at the monument to the Frankolovo victims.

SUNDAY, 13 February
        BEIJING, China - Žan Kranjec won silver in the men's giant slalom in what was his first Olympic medal and the sixth for Slovenia at the Beijing Olympics. After placing 8th in the first run, he put on a dream-like second run as conditions were tough due to snowing, to improve on his 4th place from the 2018 Games.
        LJUBLJANA - Nika Kovač, the founder and head of NGO the 8 March Institute, was named the Slovenian Woman of the Year 2021 by the women's magazine Jana and its readers. The NGO has been very vocal for several years now, warning of inequalities and the problems of the most vulnerable.

MONDAY, 14 February
        LISBON, Portugal - President Borut Pahor and his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis and urged for a faster EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, as they met at the outset of Pahor's two-day official visit to Portugal.
        VIENNA, Austria - Slovenia, a new member of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), submitted a draft resolution calling on the international community to step up efforts to prevent the use of illicit drugs in particular among children and youth. The CND will debate the resolution at its 65th session in mid-March.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition Social Democrats (SD) proposed scrapping the recovered, vaccinated, tested rule in all activities except health and social care, as well as abolishing mandatory quarantine for contacts of infected people. They believe people should be free to decide whether to wear masks and self-test or not.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) set out its platform for the 24 April general election with solidarity and green transition as one of the cornerstones with priorities such as stabilisation of public finances, restoration of the rule of law and improving the status of pensioners.
        LJUBLJANA - The steel group SIJ signed an agreement with a consortium of banks headed by NLB on a EUR 230 million syndicated loan with seven-year maturity to refinance existing loans, secure additional liquidity reserves for its long-term development, and finance investments into environmental efficiency.
        BEIJING, China - The Slovenian men's ski-jumping team, made up of Lovro Kos, Cene Prevc, Timi Zajc and Peter Prevc, won silver at the Olympics for Slovenia's seventh medal at the Beijing Games.

TUESDAY, 15 February
        LJUBLJANA - Health experts outlined a gradual easing of measures against the Covid-19 epidemic at a consultation with the government, proposing the abolition of the Covid pass for shops, banks, post offices and administrative units, and the abolition of quarantines in case of high-risk contacts.
        DUBAI, UAE - Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable development and food systems as Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek held talks with Emirati Environment and Climate Change Minister Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri.
        LISBON, Portugal - President Borut Pahor was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Lisbon at a special ceremony, being honoured for his efforts to promote dialogue and his continued commitment to fundamental European values.
        LJUBLJANA - Aleksandra Pivec, the president of Our Land, announced that the party had collected more than 1,500 signatures of voters, so it officially entered the election race. She said the party's platform would mainly address vulnerable groups, adding that it was too early to speak about post-election alliances.
        LJUBLJANA - Cultural institutions and association addressed a letter to decision-makers to fully reopen cultural venues in Slovenia, and lift all coronavirus restrictions which govern organising and visiting cultural events by 21 February at the latest. The appeal was signed by 70 organisations.
        LJUBLJANA - The average gross pay in Slovenia rose by 6.1% in nominal terms in 2021 to EUR 1,970, the fastest pace in five years. The increase was almost equally driven by the public and private sectors, showed the latest Statistics Office figures.

WEDNESDAY, 16 February
        LJUBLJANA - Nurses, staff at social care institutions and pharmacies staged a one-day strike after failing to make meaningful progress at talks with the government either on a rise to tackle pay disparities or work standards. Some 50,000 staff were on strike and many non-urgent health services were suspended for the day.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia extended two bonds in the total amount of EUR 750 million, adding EUR 350 million to the bond due in March 2032 and EUR 400 million to the bond due in October 2050. The treasury also earmarked US$582.7 million and EUR 15 million for repurchase of dollar- and euro-denominated bonds due in 2023 and 2024.
        LJUBLJANA - The Left withdrew its motion for a consultative referendum on changes to the income tax act, as the government had indicated the referendum could be held on the same day as the general election. Left coordinator Luka Mesec said the party did not want to enable the government to build its election campaign on "promises of higher wages."
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's banking system generated an after-tax profit of EUR 527.3 million last year, an increase of 17.1% compared to the previous year. Pre-tax profit rose by about a fifth to stand at EUR 564.7 million, shows a report releases by the central bank.
        LJUBLJANA) - Pensioners will get 4.4% higher pensions at the end of the month in line with regular annual adjustment with wages and consumer prices. Back rise for January will be paid out as well. The adjustment will cost the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute EUR 268 million at the annual level.

THURSDAY, 17 February
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Prime Minister Janez Janša expressed "full support for EU efforts for de-escalation" after EU leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine. He lauded the EU's unity on the issue, which he said would make it harder for Russian President Vladimir Putin to play his game. Defence Minister Matej Tonin announced Slovenia would help Ukraine with equipment such as mobile kitchens, heated tents and dual-use equipment, but no weapons.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is still among the NATO countries with the lowest defence spending. It ranks 25th in terms of efforts to have 2% of GDP allocated for defence and 26th when it comes to defence investments, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said after a NATO ministerial. This year, Slovenia will allocate 1.3% of GDP for defence and in 2023 and 2024 this will rise to 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Defence Minister Matej Tonin said that Slovenian soldiers remained in Mali for now and continued training Mali troops, after France announced its troops would withdraw from the country. Tonin noted that a formal decision on the EU mission there had not yet been adopted yet.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor turned down a call by the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) not to sign a decree appointing new ambassadors ahead of the general election. He said a postponement would be unjustified and harm the country's foreign policy interests in the international community.
        LJUBLJANA - The new US Ambassador to Slovenia Jamie L. Harpootlian presented her credentials to President Borut Pahor. She said her goal was to open avenues for working together and strengthening the countries' partnership.
        KOMENDA - Slovenian company PharmaHemp started building an EUR 11 million facility to produce and process hemp products in Komenda, north of Ljubljana, in what it said would bring together the broadest range of services in the field of hemp in Europe.

18 Feb 2022, 16:39 PM

STA, 18 February 2022  - School and kindergarten teachers will start a general strike on 9 March after the members of the teachers' trade union SVIZ overwhelmingly endorsed the action. The union demands higher pay for teaching and non-teaching staff alike plus bonuses for extra work connected with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"We knew that employee dissatisfaction was widespread, but the result nevertheless surprised us," SVIZ secretary general Branimir Štrukelj told the press on Friday.

SVIZ sent out questionnaires to all of its 32,000 members plus other staff. It received responses from almost 41,000 staff, of whom more than 90% voted in favour of the strike.

Schools will shut down when the strike starts and will remain closed until the union has reached a strike agreement with the government, though Štrukelj said the exact scope of the school closures will be adjusted as necessary after the first day.

"The first day of the strike is 9 March, we wish it will also be the last day of the strike," Štrukelj said.

He is convinced the mass support for the strike is the result of the government's "utterly disrespectful attitude to the extreme efforts that employees have been investing in keeping kindergartens and schools open" during the most recent wave of Covid.

The government should now form a task force to respond to the union's demands. "As far as we are concerned, we can start negotiating this very moment, the ball is in their court," he said.

The action was prompted by the government's decision to offer doctors a higher top pay bracket, which has angered other public sector trade unions.

Nurses and workers in social services staged a one-day strike earlier this week for the same reason.

Štrukelj said the latest data on public sector wages showed that the work of educators was being "systematically devalued" as wages in education have grown by far less than in some other segments of the public sector.

"The fact that nobody wants to talk to us despite this was simply the final straw."

The Education Ministry expressed regret at the decision given that talks are still ongoing. It said the action was "unnecessary" given that schools had received additional staff to cope with the extra workload and that hazard bonuses to the tune of EUR 70 million had so far been paid out to staff.

18 Feb 2022, 13:38 PM

STA, 18 February 2022 - Prime Minister Janez Janša will meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban in Lendava on Monday to sign an agreement on cooperation in the development of the regions with mixed Slovenian-Hungarian population, Janša's office confirmed on Friday. Bilateral relations will also be discussed, the office said.

The meeting was also confirmed by Budapest, with the Hungarian press agency MTI reporting that the PMs will sign an agreement to set up a joint fund for the development of Prekmurje and Porabje, the border regions populated by the Hungarian and Slovenian ethnic minorities.

Janša and Orban are to talk about ways to encourage economic and social development of the two regions with the signing of the agreement in Lendava being the main event of Orban's visit.

Based on the agreement, a development programme will be formed securing additional funding in the 2022-2026 period for promoting economic development and minority media, cultural and education institutions.

As part of the visit, Education Minister Simona Kustec and Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister Levente Magyar will sign an agreement on cooperation in education, culture and science for the 2022-2025 period.

According to Janša's office, the Slovenian government stresses the need for improving the material situation of the Slovenian community in Porabje.

Young generations in particular need to be given opportunities to preserve the language and culture of their community, and find job and business opportunities in their local environment, it said.

Slovenia and Hungary have had intensive dialogue on all levels, which was confirmed when the two countries' governments met in Celje in September 2021, the prime minister's office said.

Economic cooperation has also been picking up, as Hungary is Slovenia's seventh most important trade partner.

Slovenia has been implementing development programmes in areas inhabited by the Hungarian ethnic minority since 2017, while Hungary launched a development programme in Porabje in 2020.

All our stories on Slovenia and Hungary

18 Feb 2022, 11:36 AM

STA, 17 February 2022 - Slovenia is still among the NATO countries with the lowest defence spending. It ranks 25th in terms of efforts to have 2% of GDP allocated for defence and 26th when it comes to defence investments, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said in Brussels on Thursday as a two-day NATO ministerial drew to a close.

NATO defence ministers, meeting to discuss the Russian threat to Ukraine, also reviewed the implementation of the key defence goals of the alliance, which Tonin said had been very unpleasant for Slovenia.

NATO countries committed at a summit in Wales in 2014 to raise their defence spending to 2% of GDP in ten years and to spend 20% of defence funds on investments.

According to the latest data, Slovenia's efforts towards achieving these two goals put her on the 25th and 26th place within the alliance, respectively. "So much about the much talked about excessive spending of Slovenia, of which we hear at home," Tonin said.

This year, Slovenia will allocate 1.3% of GDP for defence and in 2023 and 2024 this will rise to 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively. Nine NATO countries already meet the 2% goal and about half of them expect to reach it in 2024, he said, adding that "unfortunately, Slovenia will not be among them".

Ministers stressed during debate in Brussels that it was not fair that economically weaker countries were paying for the security of the economically stronger countries. "Solidarity is not without limits," he said.

As for the goal of having 20% of defence money spent on investment, Slovenia has made significant progress in the past five years, increasing the share from just 5% to 17% last year. This year, this is to rise to 22% and next year to 23%, Tonin said.

He noted that NATO charts showed somewhat different figures as data was collected in October when Slovenia was still in the process of passing the budgets.

Last June, Slovenia's defence spending amounted to 1.28% of GDP, which was among the smallest shares in NATO, and allocated 15.7% of defence funds for investment, which was the lowest share of all NATO countries.

Asked whether US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin commented on Slovenia's defence spending at a bilateral meeting, Tonin said Austin had noticed Slovenia's efforts.

He said Austin had acknowledged that the Slovenian government had achieved a lot in this term and that progress was visible. He also expressed the wish for Slovenia to continue on this path.

18 Feb 2022, 11:30 AM

STA, 17 February 2022 - Slovenia will respond to Ukraine's request for military and economic aid by providing technical equipment such as mobile kitchens, heated tents and dual-use equipment, but no weapons, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said in Brussels on Thursday after a two-day NATO ministerial.

Tonin stressed that NATO's intelligence and satellite footages did not confirm Russia's claims of withdrawal and reduction of military presence along the Ukrainian border, so NATO believed Russia was misleading the public.

The current situation is foremost harming the country's economy, so Ukraine asked for military and economic assistance, Tonin said, adding the country did not expect NATO countries to fight on its behalf. They are prepared to fight themselves if necessary.

Since the Ukrainian ambassador to Slovenia said the country needed mobile kitchens and heated tents, this is what Slovenia will provide, the minister said.

Ukraine has also requested additional aid as part of the European mechanism for civil protection. In the first phase, Slovenia will donate sleeping bags, boots, diesel generators and gloves in the total value of EUR 62,000.

"Slovenia currently has no plans to send weapons to Ukraine, but we will send dual-use equipment," Tonin said.

The main topic of the two-day meeting of NATO defence ministers was the planned strengthening of the presence of allied forces in SE Europe in response to Russia's threat.

Slovenia currently participates in the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia under Canada's command, which was set up as a response to the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

Slovenian troops serve in a contingent together with members of the Montenegrin army.

Tonin also attended in Brussels today a meeting of countries participating in the mission. He said that the contingent in which there was currently some 50 Slovenian and ten Montenegrin troops would be joined by nine or ten Macedonian soldiers in June.

According to Tonin, Slovenia is ready to increase the number of its troops in Latvia, in any other existing mission or in potential new ones. The problem with increasing the number of Slovenian soldiers is limited capacity, he said.

The minister also noted that representatives of the Defence Ministry had recently paid a working visit to Lithuania, where the Enhanced Forward Presence is led by Germany. Slovenia is prepared to increase cooperation in the future "but first we need to see what the future brings", Tonin said.

17 Feb 2022, 11:50 AM

STA, 17 February 2022 - Slovenia's coronavirus curve keeps falling both in terms of new cases and hospitalisations. A total of 4,542 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday, just over a third of the figure reported a week ago.

Government data shows a total of 513 patients were being treated in hospitals for Covid-19 as their main condition this morning, including 108 in intensive care units.

Hospitalisations thus fell by another 16 from yesterday where the number of ICU cases is down by two.

The overall number of patients with confirmed coronavirus infection in hospitals also fell, by 21 to 890.

This was after another 14 patients died yesterday after testing positive for coronavirus.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people fell by 572 to 4,945 and the seven-day average of new cases by 1,077 to 5,581.

An estimated 104,310 people are actively infected in the country, which is a decrease of more than 12,000 from yesterday's estimate.

The latest infections were picked from 2,446 PCR tests and 91,353 rapid antigen tests.

More data on Slovenia and COVID

16 Feb 2022, 15:42 PM

STA, 16 February 2022 - Pensioners will get 4.4% higher pensions at the end of the month in line with regular annual adjustment with wages and consumer prices. Back rise for January will be paid out as well.

The adjustment will cost the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ) EUR 268 million at the annual level, said ZPIZ official Andraž Rangus after the council endorsed the rise on Wednesday.

The lowest pension as of 1 January will be EUR 294.78, the guaranteed pension EUR 653.75 and the lowest disability pension EUR 409.70.

Under the pension act, pensions are adjusted once a year of which 60% to the growth in average gross monthly pay in the past year, and 40% to growth in consumer prices.

Average gross monthly pay rose by 6.1% last year and consumer prices rose by an average 1.9%.

Pensions have already been raised once this year, to make up for the lag in pensions when those were frozen during years of austerity. In January those who retired by 2010 benefited from a 3.5% rise, those retiring in 2011 got a 1.7% rise and everyone else a 1.1% rise.

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