STA, 7 January 2022 - The government endorsed at Friday's correspondence session several changes to the decree on temporary measures aimed at preventing the spreading of Covid to cut the duration of quarantine and validity of tests, and cut the number of passengers in public transport in line with the guidelines from the National Institute of Public Health.

The changes will enter into force on Monday, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said.

The quarantine after a high risk contact or when entering the country without meeting the required conditions will be cut from ten to seven days.

Under the new rules, to avoid quarantine when entering Slovenia, passengers will need to present a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours and a rapid test no older than 24 hours.

The rules regarding vaccination and reconvalescence remain the same.

The quarantine ordered at the border can still be cut short with a negative PCR tests at least five days after the arrival.

The government also lifted the stricter rules that have so far been in place for arrivals from some South African countries because of Omicron. The list of these risky countries has also been scrapped.

As of Monday, buses will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as the vehicle has been registered for with the seats right from the driver and behind the driver empty.

Passengers will be allowed to stand in city buses if the distance between them is at least one metre, except from persons from the same household. The standing spots must be clearly marked.

Passengers will only be allowed to enter at the front door, while other bus doors will only be used to exit the bus.

Trains will be allowed to accept only as many passengers as they have seats, while the same rules as for buses will be in place for standing.

Special transport vehicles with up to eight seats will accept only six passengers, with the seat right from the driver free.

Public transport services providers have until Monday to prepare for the new rules, UKOM said.

STA, 5 January 2022 - Education Minister Simona Kustec is aware that with Covid infections rapidly rising in the country, the situation at the end of this week or the start of next will be hard, but she does not expect schools to switch to distance learning.

The Education Ministry's stance is that instruction should take place at schools in person in a safe manner, and she hopes that strictly adhering to protective measures will result in schools and kindergartens being able to proceed with in-person education, Kustec told the press in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

She said that medical experts will be asked to propose tightening anti-coronavirus measures before proposing closing schools.

"We are aware that difficult days are coming and that some schools could have problems due to their staff falling ill with Covid or having to quarantine. If need be, only individual schools would switch to distance learning."

Kustec said that the ministry was following the situation very closely, and was constantly in contact with the National Institute of Public Health.

She also said that around 1% of the school population did not come to school as their parents opposed rapid testing or mask wearing in classroom. As for grading these children, she said they cannot be graded at the moment because they do not come to the classroom.

Kustec commented on the Advocate of the Principle of Equality's finding that the ministry had violated a ban on discrimination by not awarding a special-needs student an assistant for the period of home schooling while she had had one while in classroom.

The minister regretted this had happened, saying the case concerned "a very difficult individual story". She added that similar cases should be addressed in a humane manner to find optimal solutions, saying she could comment in more detail only once she receives a report she asked for.

Kustec meanwhile declined to answer a question about her future political career or whether should she stand in the general election in the spring, saying she would limit herself to topical issues at the news conference that was dedicated to achievements of Slovenia's EU presidency.

STA, 5 January 2022 - Slovenia logged 4,068 coronavirus infections that are picked up through testing on Tuesday, the highest daily case count since mid-November, as the Omicron variant fuels another wave of infections. The 7-day average of daily cases topped 2,000 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people exceeded 1,000, show fresh official data.

Data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) show the 7-day average increased by 311 to 2,058, and the 14-day incidence currently stands at 1,086, up by 133.

Hospitalisations increased by 11 to 542 on the previous day. A total of 160 Covid patients needed critical care this morning, down by two, shows the government's coronavirus dashboard. Another six people with Covid died.

A total of 23,041 people are estimated to be actively infected, up by some 2,800 compared to yesterday's estimate.

The test positivity rate stood at about 38% yesterday, up by some seven percentage points week-on-week, as the number of new daily cases more than doubled compared to Tuesday a week ago

See the latest data here

STA, 3 January 2021 - Due to enhanced spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus all Covid measures are on the table and will be discussed this week, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press on Monday, adding that the best solutions for the health system and society in general would be sought. 

If the measures are not socially acceptable they do not serve their purpose, Poklukar said.

He noted that a rise in the number of quarantine orders was expected in the coming days due to the quick spread of Omicron, which could hinder work processes not only in healthcare but in other areas as well.

Since data show that the average Omicron's incubation period is 2.5 days, the minister asked epidemiologists whether the quarantine could be cut from ten to five days if the person tests negative for coronavirus.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) told the STA the epidemiologists had discussed the matter last Friday, agreeing that cutting the quarantine short would not make sense at this point, as Delta is still the predominant variant.

But talks on this will probably continue this week, the NIJZ said.

Poklukar also expects the rules on quarantine to probably change because of Omicron in the coming days and weeks.

As for the quarantine for children, who cannot receive booster shots yet and can thus not avoid quarantine, Poklukar said he had held informal talks with the NIJZ regarding this, but for now the rules remain the same.

Although different information about the new variant is coming from other countries, including that Omicron causes fewer hospitalisations than Delta, Poklukar warns that hospital capacities are not as occupied in many countries due to higher vaccination rates, while in Slovenia 173 Covid patients were in intensive care this morning, two-thirds of the fourth-wave peak.

Although Covid vaccines offer slightly lower protection against Omicron, the minister stressed that vaccination was still sensible.

Latest research shows that cell immunity remains also after vaccination with viral vector vaccines, so the rise in hospitalisations may not be as big as it initially seemed, he said.

Asked whether obligatory vaccination may be introduced and the recovered-tested-vaccinated rule changed to recovered-vaccinated, Poklukar said he was waiting for guidelines from experts.

"When we receive guidance, we will discuss their implementation with other segments of the society," he said.

The college of epidemiologists at the NIJZ unanimously decided last week that they cannot support the introduction of mandatory vaccination for now, citing an absence of legal basis and questions about implementation.

Under the communicable diseases act, the health minister could put vaccination against Covid into the list of obligatory vaccinations at the proposal from the NIJZ.

The NIJZ stresses the importance of testing and the availability of free self-testing kits for the entire population.

STA, 3 January - Prime Minister Janez Janša has managed to subjugate several media this term, most notably the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, and the consequences of that were on display last week when the broadcaster interviewed first him and then the opposition, Reporter magazine says in Monday's commentary The Mollycoddling of Janez Janša.

"While Lidija Hren 'butchered' the presidents of parties, the prime minister was having a friendly chat with Jože Možina. Janša probably cannot remember ever having such a fanning interviewer and we have not seen him so smiling and relaxed on TV Slovenija for a long time," the paper says.

"Televised debates start in a few months and Janša is certain to participate in a few. Will he once again answer Možina's questions, or will they have the courage to 'plant' someone like Hren? ... If anyone, the prime minister deserves a nagging interviewer, not mollycoddling that is an affront to the viewers."

Reporter mentions another media development in the making, alleged plans by the state-owned Telekom Slovenija to boot the biggest commercial channels, POP TV and Kanal A, from its TV offering, a move it says would be "drastic but not unprecedented" given that Telekom already removed a package of sports channels offered by a rival provider a few years ago.

"Wrath by sports fanatics had undoubtedly led many to cancel their subscriptions, but that was a hit Telekom was able to take. The most watched Slovenian television going dark would make many more people irate."

"Whatever you may think about POP TV or Kanal A content, their cumulative reach is so large its exclusion would constitute yet another attempt by Janša at subjugating the media. The viewers would not just grumble and then concede to the new situation," the paper says.

STA, 31 December 2021 - As the Slovenian EU presidency is about to end, Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Friday he considered the six-month stint a success. The project has been both a great challenge and tremendous opportunity, and a number of important steps have been achieved, he said.

The year that is drawing to a close has been special, as Slovenia celebrated 30 years of independence and was at the helm of the Council of the EU for the second time since joining the bloc, the prime minister said.

Above all, the presidency has been an opportunity for the country to show and prove to itself, as well as to others, that it has "the ideas, know-how and ambition to actively contribute to shaping Europe's present and future", he said in an address published by the Slovenian presidency on its website.

"We find that we have seized this opportunity. The presidency project has been a success," he said, adding that despite Covid-19 most of the planned events, including those at the highest level, had taken place in-person. "The organisation of the events was of a high standard and the guests left Slovenia with a positive impression," he added.

Janša pointed out that during the Slovenian presidency there had been numerous and significant steps achieved. "The priorities we set at the start of the presidency have proved to be well-thought-out, while we have also had to respond to many unforeseen crisis situations," he said.

The prime minister also noted that the presidency had been a team project. "We have proved that together we can do it," he told his colleagues, thanking them all for their efforts.

"May your pride and confidence in the successful completion of the project be a guiding light for the further development of our homeland and for Slovenia's sovereign position in the European Union and the world," he said.

Slovenia is wrapping up its second EU presidency today with France taking over tomorrow, on New Year's Day.

STA, 1 January 2021 - Slovenia will spend much of 2022 in campaign mode as voters will head to the polls three times in what has been described as a super election year. A general election is scheduled in spring, in April at the earliest, followed by presidential and local elections in autumn.

Crowded field for general election

There has been a flurry of activity in the final months of 2021 as parties staked out their positions by adopting election manifestos. The centre field in particular is crowded as parties attempt to distance themselves from the more radical positions of the ruling Democrats (SDS) and Left on either end of the political spectrum to appeal to moderate voters.

Alliances are being built left and right, some as a counterweight to the long dominant SDS, others in order for parties to have a better shot at achieving 4% at the general election, the threshold to enter the National Assembly.

Four parliamentary centre-left opposition parties - LMŠ, SD, Left and SAB - signed a pact on post-election cooperation in September. They plan to contest the campaign individually, whereupon the best-performing party would nominate the prime minister-designate.

There have been mounting calls for the four to also forge a closer pre-election coalition, with some analysts arguing that this was the only way to defeat Prime Minister Janez Janša's SDS and potentially deflect challenges by up-and-coming alliances.

One such forthcoming alliance, called Connect Slovenia, features parties including Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek's Concretely and the party of former Maribor mayor Franc Kangler. They are in talks several smaller local lists to broaden their appeal.

Two green parties are also on the horizon, an attempt to capitalise on the increasing importance of green policies and finally bring green back into the mainstream, from which it has been absent for more than two decades. One was formed by Jure Leben, a former environment minister, the other was announced by two prominent green activists, Uroš Macerl and Urška Zgojznik.

Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič, meanwhile, has announced he will form a liberal democratic party and has entered into talks with several prominent mayors. The party is expected to be formally established soon.

One major unknown for now is the trajectory of Robert Golob, the ousted CEO of energy trader Gen-I. Early polls show he currently enjoys significant support, but it remains unclear whether he will enter the election with a party or join an existing group. He has been coy so far, saying that he would get politically active through a broad movement.

Another party that early polls indicate might have a shot as well is Our Land, created by Aleksandra Pivec, a former agriculture minister who was swept away by an expenses scandal.

Presidential election wide open

The presidential election, to be held in autumn, will be wide open since Borut Pahor, the incumbent, is term limited and will not contest the election.

Parliamentary parties remain tight-lipped about potential candidates as they focus on the general election, and it remains unclear whether some parties will join forces or field their own candidates at least in the first round of voting.

The name most often mentioned by the media as a serious contender is Ljudmila Novak, the MEP for the Christian democratic New Slovenia (NSi), who has overtaken Pahor in popularity rankings this year. She has not made any announcements yet and it is not certain that she would even be considered by her own party given significant differences with the party's young leadership.

Local elections scheduled for 20 November

Local elections have a fixed date on the third Sunday of November but for all intents and purposes campaigning has already started as municipalities traditionally ramp up local investments in the final year before ballots are cast.

The local votes rarely reflect political realities at the national level as many candidates in Slovenia's 212 municipalities are elected from local lists without a firm party affiliation, or from smaller parties that are not represented in parliament. In the last election, the People's Party (SLS) ended with the largest number of mayors despite being absent from national politics since 2014.

One major factor affecting local ballots will be how many mayors decide to enter the general election. MPs are prohibited by law from serving as mayors and whoever is elected to parliament must give up their mayoral office.

National Council finishing its five-year term

Elections to the National Council, the upper chamber of parliament, are typically below the radar since councillors are elected indirectly by interest groups representing employers, trade unions, farmers, craftspersons, non-commercial activities and, most notably, local communities.

The National Council does not have the kind of powers that upper chambers have in true bicameral systems, but during its current term it has shown it can strongly affect politics nevertheless with its veto powers.

While it wielded the veto liberally during the term of the previous government, it was more accommodating to the current government in pre-emptively giving up veto powers when the National Assembly passed any of the ten Covid relief bills, so that the legislation could take effect immediately.

The reason its veto power has mattered more is that both the present and the previous government were minority governments in a hung parliament, making it very difficult to muster the absolute majority that is required in a re-vote.