Politics

17 Dec 2021, 10:21 AM

STA, 16 December 2021 - The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on fundamental rights and rule of law in Slovenia which expresses concern over deep polarisation in the country and calls on prominent public figures to engage in a respectful and civilised public debate. The resolution was carried by 356 votes, as 284 voted against and 40 abstained.

The resolution sets out 18 points, one of which expresses "deep concern about the level of public debate, climate of hostility, distrust and deep polarisation in Slovenia, which has eroded trust in public bodies and between them".

It underlines that prominent public figures and politicians, including members of the government, have to lead by example and need to ensure a respectful and civilised public debate, free from intimidation, attacks, slurs and harassment.

It expresses concern over amendments proposed by the Justice Ministry to the state prosecution act that would allow retroactive changes to the appointment criteria for prosecutors, and lead to the risk of the two newly appointed prosecutors from Slovenia delegated to the European Public Prosecutor's Office being dismissed.

The resolution also calls on the Slovenian government to guarantee the editorial independence of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) and cease all political interference and pressure on the editorial policy of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia.

The document had been tabled by four political groups in the European Parliament, the socialists (S&D), liberals (Renew), Greens and the Left. The largest group, the European People's Party (EPP), which is also the political family of Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, did not sign on.

Unofficial information indicates the EPP tried to have the resolution withdrawn from the agenda as two key issues that prompted it, the delays in the appointment of Slovenia's delegated prosecutors and the financing of the STA, have been resolved.

Sources have also provided unofficial information that the EPP had decided at a meeting on Wednesday to vote against. The majority of EPP deputies did in fact cast nay votes, but 33 abstained and one voted in favour.

Other nay votes came from the moderately eurosceptical European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the far-right Identity and Democrats (ID) and several independent MEPs.

Votes by Slovenian parliamentarians reflect their party affiliation as four S&D and Renew MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, three from the ranks of the EPP voted against and one EPP deputy abstained.

The Renew members, Irena Joveva and Klemen Grošelj, said in a joint statement that the resolution unfortunately placed Slovenia among countries such as Hungary and Poland "where the authorities have transformed democracy into authoritarianism."

"Nobody wants another member state whose authorities are undermining the EU's legal order," they said as they noted the parliament was well aware of the violations of rule of law and democratic norms in the country.

S&D MEP Tanja Fajon said the document was "not political but a statement of facts," whereas her fellow MEP Milan Brglez said it highlighted "open problems that we have in Slovenia." He expects the authorities to do everything to resolve all the issues pointed out in the resolution.

EPP members meanwhile argued the resolution was an attempt by the opposition to denigrate Slovenia on the European stage, an attempt that Romana Tomc said "utterly failed" since both principal claims against the government, concerning delegated prosecutors and the STA, had been resolved.

Milan Zver said the content of the resolution "does not interest anyone. Everyone understands that this is a domestic issue transposed onto the European floor."

According to Franc Bogovčič, the document is "substantively inconsistent and vacuous" since both main issues have been resolved, while the recommendations were "so general they might as well apply to multiple other member states."

The resolution is the latest in a series of European Parliament actions on Slovenia, following a debate on the state of democracy at a recent plenary and a debate on the Civil Liberties Committee.

In spring there was a debate on media freedom at a plenary, and in June the delays in the appointment of delegated prosecutors were on the agenda.

17 Dec 2021, 10:11 AM

STA, 17 December 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša presented the results of Slovenia's six-month presidency of the EU Council after the summit in Brussels on Thursday. He noted it was the fourth presidency during the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing to the efforts to hold meetings in person, which contributed to successful closure of some difficult dossiers.

Janša, as is tradition, took part in a press conference together with the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, while also attending was French President Emanuel Macron, representing the next EU presiding country.

Council President Charles Michel thanked the Slovenian prime minister for the presidency and cooperation, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked Janša for the excellent cooperation and highlighted the "great successes of the presidency".

Macron, too, thanked Janša for cooperation and for important achievements in the field of health, digital dossiers and social affairs, and for his constant availability.

Janša noted the overall cooperation and thanked all participants in the outgoing EU Council presiding trio of Portugal, Germany and Slovenia.

The Slovenian prime minister said that a total of 21 trialogues with the European Parliament had been successfully completed, including on some difficult issues, expressing the hope that another one could be concluded by the end of the presidency.

There have been some unforeseen events, with Janša noting the migration crisis on the border with Belarus, withdrawal of the allied forces from Afghanistan, growing energy prices and tensions over the build-up of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border.

As strengthening resilience was an important priority of the presidency, Janša noted that the member states had adopted resolutions in November that had established strong foundations for further strengthening the resilience of the EU.

He also highlighted the December resolutions on food security, and major steps made in healthcare and digitalisation.

Janša noted the agreement on digital markets and services and the trialogue on the enhanced role of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the amendments to the regulation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Recovery was also an important priority, with 22 national recovery plans being approved during the Slovenian presidency, he said, expressing the expectation that the remaining five, including those of Poland and Hungary, would be approved as soon as possible.

Janša also noted the agreement on mobile roaming, the joint position for the Glasgow climate conference, the Conference on the Future of Europe, agreement on the key features of the European Sports Mode and decisions on Croatia's Schengen accession.

There has been no breakthroughs in negotiations on the new migration pact during the Slovenian presidency, though, but Janša said that this had not been expected.

The presidency has hoped that progress would be made regarding the EU fingerprint database (EURODAC), with Janša noting that there were many dilemmas related to this, so this would probably be a tough issue for the French presidency to resolve.

There will apparently be no progress in the EU accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania during the Slovenian presidency, either.

Nevertheless, Janša noted the "important signal of the EU-Western Balkans summit" in Brdo pri Kranju in October regarding the membership prospects of the countries in the region and the importance of the enlargement resolutions adopted on Tuesday.

Janša gives Macron Elan skis as Slovenia hands presidency over to France

STA, 17 December 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša gifted on Thursday folding touring skis produced by Slovenia's Elan to French President Emanuel Macron as Slovenia symbolically handed over the EU Council presidency to France.

The Ibex Tactix Carbon Ion 12 skis is a "top technological innovation from Elan, a global manufacturer and supplier of sports equipment that is committed to advanced design through advanced technologies", the government said.

Macron was also presented with folding ski poles along with the skis, the government said on Twitter, attaching a photo of Janša and Macron chatting.

The two leaders met as the regular December EU summit was held in Brussels yesterday, the last during Slovenia's six-month presidency of the EU Council, with France taking over for its half-year stint in January.

16 Dec 2021, 12:14 PM

STA, 16 December 2021 - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) has launched an investigation against Prime Minister Janez Janša on suspicion of a conflict of interest in management reshuffle at the bad bank.

The procedure was launched based on the watchdog's initial findings in regard to appointments at the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), which confirmed suspicion of a breach of the integrity and prevention of corruption act.

The investigation was launched to determine whether there has been indeed a conflict of interest in the appointment of a non-executive director at the bad bank, the KPK said on Thursday.

The prime minister has been notified of the developments and will have all the rights during the investigation procedure in line with the relevant regulations and will be able to explain his actions, said the watchdog, adding that it could not give more details as the investigation is ongoing.

The BAMC board of directors includes executive and non-executive directors. The board's chairman is Franci Matoz, who is also a non-executive director. Other non-executive officers are Gregor Planteu, Aleksander Lozej and Alenka Urnaut Ropoša.

The bad bank published an open call today seeking applications for an executive director post.

Matoz, a prominent lawyer, was appointed the chairman in July. Planteu was named a non-executive director on the same day. Matoz is known as a long-time legal representative of Janša and his Democratic Party (SDS).

The watchdog confirmed for the STA in August that it was looking into the circumstances of Matoz's appointment as the chairman of the bad bank's board of directors and other recent management reshuffles there. The inquiry was based on a report that the anti-graft body received in May.

Responding on Twitter, Janša accused the KPK of double standards, saying it did not deem the moonlighting by Court of Audit boss Tomaž Vesel for FIFA for EUR 20,000 corruption while it did find as such EUR 200 on the account of former Agriculture Minister and DeSUS leader Aleksandra Pivec when the need arose to bring down the government.

"Kos-Klemenčič-Štefanec-Šumi is a chain of double standards," the PM tweeted referring to the people who have so far headed the KPK.

16 Dec 2021, 11:13 AM

STA, 16 December - A total of 1,345 new coronavirus infections were reported in Slovenia for Wednesday, down by 20% week-on-week. The number of currently active cases has fallen below 20,000, show fresh official figures.

Hospitalisations continued to decrease as there were 776 patients in hospital this morning, down by 28 on the day before. The number of those in need of intensive care was up though - by six to 237, show government data.

According to an estimate by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), there are now 19,860 active cases in the country, down by 771 in a day.

Both the 7-day average of new cases and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population keep steadily declining - the first has decreased by 49 to 1,258 and the latter by 37 to 942.

The test positivity rate stood at some 27% yesterday, a weekly drop of about one percentage point.

All the latest data on Slovenia and COVID

15 Dec 2021, 11:37 AM

STA, 14 December 2021 - Crime investigators visited the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food (NLZOH) on Tuesday to interview director Tjaša Žohar Čretnik over verification of rapid antigen tests bought by the state late last year, according to the news portal Necenzurirano.

The portal obtained confirmation about the police visiting the premises from the NLZOH promotion and marketing department, which could not provide further information as the investigation is ongoing.

The portal says it is not clear whether any other NLZOH official except for Žohar Čretnik has been interviewed by the police.

The newspaper Finance quotes unofficial sources in reporting online that crime investigators have also visited Majbert Pharm, the company picked in December last year to supply test kits used for voluntary mass testing.

The tests were verified by the NLZOH but amid allegations of their not being up to standard the procurement has also been scrutinised by the opposition-led parliamentary inquiry looking into the government's handling of coronavirus outbreak.

In her testimony before the inquiry, Žohar Čretnik said the verification of the tests was based on WHO standards and she denied the allegation the lab sacked a senior microbiologist for speaking out about the tests and the verification being inadequate.

The microbiologist, Metka Paragi, told the inquiry the tests did not meet technical requirements but still did the NLZOH confirm their suitability and recommend for the government to use them.

Similarly, Viktorija Tomič, the head of the Health Ministry's task force for rapid tests, told the parliamentary inquiry the tests did not meet technical criteria to be used for screening.

The NLZOH told the STA it was actively cooperating in the investigation launched by the National Bureau of Investigation today.

All the requested documentation will be handed over to the investigators voluntarily, in line with a court's order, the national laboratory said, adding that it would keep cooperating with all competent authorities if need be. The NLZOH cannot comment on the content of the investigation at the moment, it noted.

The chair of the parliamentary inquiry, Robert Pavšič from the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), welcomed the investigation, saying that the system was working.

He is pleased "that things have moved on, that it will finally be established what is true, what is not true, what is criminal and what is permissible", noting that the inquiry can investigate only political responsibility in the matter, so other institutions should do the rest.

14 Dec 2021, 20:01 PM

STA, 14 December 2021 - Centre-left opposition MPs clashed with PM Janez Janša during Tuesday's question time in parliament over what they claim is mafia-style governance of the country by Janša, his SDS party and the government. Janša dismissed the allegations, while saying mafia-style governance indeed exists, has very deep roots, yet comes from the transition left.

According to the Left's Matej T. Vatovec, when Janša is in opposition he bills himself as the one who will eliminate corruption, but once in power, "the story flips upside down and in a few years or months, we have enough corruption scandals for a decade".

He pointed to scandals that broke out since Janša's government assumed office in March 2020, such as face masks, rapid antigen tests, purchases of ventilators from Janša's brother, the scandal involving the environment minister, etc.

The MP claimed that most of the cases become statute barred because the Democrats (SDS) know how to exert pressure on judges and take over the police force to "make sure everything is swept under the rug".

Dismissing all the allegations as "lies and insinuations", Janša said "you have actually more or less made up or twisted all this to avoid discussing the actual behind-the-scene criminal doings in this country".

As deputy groups presented their views, Robert Pavšič from the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) criticised the government for violating the constitutions and encroaching on laws, while he also took issue with "brutal staffing and interference in a number of the country's vital subsystems".

The Social Democrats' (SD) Marko Koprivc said anything is possible "under Janšism, including the dissolution of the rule of law", as he pointed to pressure on the media and attempts to undermine NGOs.

Unaffiliated MP Janja Sluga highlighted the complications with the appointment of European delegated prosecutors, Janša meeting medical suppliers and their lobbyists, the role of his lawyer Franci Matoz in state-owned companies, Hungarian millions spent on advertising in the SDS-owned media and the construction of the Koper-Divača rail track.

Marko Bandelli from Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) said this government "is drenched in corruption and applies mafia approaches, which is revealed in every scandal."

On the other hand, coalition MPs said Slovenia has seen mafia doings since its very beginning. "Even before the country became independent, the leftist political forces tried to prevent its independence," said Danijel Krivec from the ruling SDS.

Listing what he sees as mafia doings, Krivec highlighted former President Milan Kučan allowing in the spring of 1991 the Yugoslav People's Army to disarm Slovenia's Territorial Defence, the launch of the Patria defence scandal against Janša, a billion dollars in Iranian money laundered at the NLB bank to finance terrorism, etc.

Similarly, the SMC's Monika Gregorčič blamed it all on the non-transparent privatisation after Slovenian became independent, saying it resulted in a privileged elite, the so-called transition left, gaining political power.

This elite enabled systemic solutions to its liking to be adopted, while the economic power acquired in this way opened the door to all social subsystems, including the media. "The circle was thus completed, producing a system that could be termed a para-state or a deep state," said Gregorčič.

New Slovenia's (NSi) Andrej Černigoj also pointed to the TEŠ power station being overpaid by half a billion euro and to the bank shortfall of EUR 5 billion under centre-left governments.

Janša commented on many of the scandals mentioned by the coalition, criticising the opposition for not criticising violations when perpetrated by people from their own ranks. He dismissed the criticism about the judiciary saying candidates without experience or a graduation diploma could be appointed judges. "This is the state being run mafia-style."

A heated debate followed also after Janša left the session, with the LMŠ's Pavšič suggesting the session be closed to the public to present some confidential documents, which the MPs did not endorse in a secret vote. Finding it unimaginable the MPs would not want to discuss specific criminal dealings, he said the vote "proves we live in a mafia state".

14 Dec 2021, 12:08 PM

STA, 14 December 2021 - Slovenia has joined the list of countries in which the highly infectious Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 has been confirmed, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced during questions time in parliament on Tuesday. He said a cluster of infections with the variant had been detected in Ljubljana.

Miroslav Petrovec, the head of the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, whose lab detected the variant, told the press that the Omicron variant had been found in four samples, all of them in Ljubljana.

The period in which the samples were taken is 29 November to 6 December. One person with Omicron had already had Covid last year.

"The discovery of Omicron could announce a new wave," Health Minister Janez Poklular said at today's press conference, also pointing to the fact that the declining trend in new daily cases is slowing down.

He thus reiterated the call for vaccination, saying that the vaccination campaign would intensify in the coming days, including with the support of local communities.

He also urged all medical staff to send a clear message to the people that vaccination is safe and efficient.

According to Marta Grgič Vitek, the national vaccination coordinator, citizens are invited to get a booster jab after six months although the Covid pass for the vaccinated will be valid for nine months.

So far 1,171,573 people or 56% of the entire population have been fully vaccinated. An additional 351,684 people have had their booster jabs.

1,712 New Cases of COVID as Declining Trend Slows

STA, 14 December 2021 - Slovenia confirmed 1,712 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, down by about a tenth on the week before, as the decline in daily caseload appears to be slowing down. A further 14 Covid-19 patients have died.

Over the last month daily cases were declining by 20%-30% on a weekly basis, but Monday marked the second day in a row that the case count dropped by only a tenth.

The PCR test positivity rate was 33.5%, broadly in line with trend, show data from the government and the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population was down by 37 to 1,013, whereas the rolling 7-day average of daily cases was down by 34 to 1,352.

The figures come from the highest number of daily rapid antigen tests performed to date, almost 97,000.

Government data show Covid-19 hospitalisations dropping by 57 from yesterday to 817 this morning, as ICU cases declined by one to 235.

With an additional 14 fatalities, the total death toll from Covid-19 has climbed to 5,820, show the Health Ministry's data after being adjusted with those of the NIJZ.

All the latest data on COVID and Slovenia

14 Dec 2021, 12:04 PM

STA, 14 December 2021 - Vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 could start in Slovenia today as the advisory group on immunization at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) approved a proposal by paediatricians to recommend Covid-19 vaccination for children last evening.

The paediatricians recommended vaccination for children in this age group with chronic diseases, and for those who are in contact with higher-risk persons that cannot be effectively protected by vaccination. They also believe vaccination is reasonable and safe for other children between the ages of five and eleven, paediatrician Denis Baš told the STA on Monday evening.

The group had previously recommended vaccinating children over the age of 12 as well, especially those suffering from chronic diseases, following the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children in May.

Support for vaccinating children was also expressed by Slovenian paediatricians in a survey conducted between 25 November and 5 December, whose results have shown that 77% of them had already decided to vaccinate their own children against Covid-19, while another 9% planned to do so.

Baš said that vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 could start on Tuesday, when the vaccines in smaller and less concentrated doses specially adapted for children will become available at vaccination sites.

13 Dec 2021, 10:27 AM

STA, 13 December 2021 - The number of new coronavirus cases continues to drop in Slovenia, with 677 new cases detected on Sunday, the lowest daily count since mid-October. The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) estimates there are about 22,100 active cases in the country.

Government data show that a further 16 Covid-19 patients died yesterday. Hospitalisations totalled 874 this morning, down by nine on the day before, including 236 in intensive care, down by seven.

The youngest hospitalised patient is 19 years old, whereas the youngest person requiring intensive care is 20 years old.

The 7-day case average dropped by 13 to 1,386 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population by 16 to 1,050.

The number of active cases decreased by 358 to 22,129.

The test positivity rate stood at 38.7% yesterday, down by three percentage points from a week ago. The latest daily tally of cases shows a drop of some 13% in weekly comparison.

The latest data on COVID and Slovenia can always be found here

12 Dec 2021, 16:40 PM

STA, 12 December - The Health Ministry has approved five of the 34 applications for recognition of professional qualifications of doctors from third countries that have been submitted this year, and eight of the 42 applications submitted last year.

Under an emergency act that came into effect ten years ago, recognition of professional qualifications from third countries can be sped up where the Health Ministry sets the maximum number of job openings based on the health providers' demand.

The upper limit for job offerings for doctors from third countries in 2019 was set at 130, of which 55 for GPs. The cap was raised in response to excessive workload faced by family doctors.

Last year the ministry set the upper limit at 257, of which up to 70 slots were available for family doctors. Of the 42 applications received, the ministry has so far approved eight, only one of which was for family medicine.

Three of the applications have been rejected or procedure has been ended, while 31 are still being handled, the ministry has told the STA.

This year the cap for openings for doctors abroad has been set at 281, of which 72 for family doctors or GPs. Of the 34 applications submitted, five have so far been approved and 26 are still pending with the remaining three set aside.

12 Dec 2021, 12:02 PM

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 10 December 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Doctors in Slovenia

STA, 10 December 2021 - Under the headline Doctors, Mladina's latest commentary looks at the lack of respect in Slovenia's society, especially of doctors, analysing their calls for changes to the payment system in healthcare and suggesting that they are being exploited by power-hungry elites who want more privatisation.

Mladina's commentary begins by noting the lack of respect and understanding in Slovenia's society, which is being felt by all people, not only doctors, who recently complained about that and about being overworked, while they advocated for better salaries.

"Doctors are finding it difficult to convince the public of the legitimacy of their claims. Their incomes are simply so high that it is hard for citizens to understand these demands. Why can they no longer convince us?" Mladina asks.

"The first problem is the excess income of individual doctors," says the weekly and points to the doctors who exploit the public healthcare system to supplement their incomes with private-sector practices.

"Of course, this impression is largely unfair to the majority of doctors: most have not usurped the public system in order to shamelessly exploit it, the vast majority are actually working hard."

But although it might seem like it, these doctors are not fighting for the public healthcare payment system, Mladina says, adding that their hardships will actually be exploited to justify further privatisation of healthcare and raising the highest salaries.

"All of this is obscene in the eyes of citizens - but that does not make the frustrations and hardships of doctors any less real, while this situation only suits those holding power in the medical ranks, as they slowly grab hold of the system piece by piece."

"The public has so far always shown that it wants to take the doctors' side, but they can no longer look the other way if they want public support. The battles against these anomalies are also their battles, which they have been avoiding thus far," concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Inclusive language guidelines

STA, 9 December 2021 - Demokracija says in its latest editorial that it is completely irrelevant whether the European Commission has pulled the internal guidelines on inclusive language temporarily or fully, as the fact is that something like that should have never been proposed in the first place.

"Europe has not seen such an attack on Christianity since 1991, when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the disgraceful recommendation - Contribution of the Islamic civilisation to European culture," the weekly says.

Pointing to the document presented by Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, Demokracija says that "these are no guidelines, but a pamphlet of a political agenda aimed at forcibly suppressing and destroying all the traditional and fundamental values of Europe".

Labelling Europe as the "most wonderful civilisation of all time", the weekly says that making interventions "in this reality and trying to erase history can only be the work of evil people".

Demokracija believes that the withdrawal of the guidelines is really only temporary and strategic, as "sooner or later they will push them through somewhere" in opposition not only to the Christian nature, but human nature in general.

"Dalli has repeatedly made it clear that she is the enemy of indigenous European nations, the heterosexual family and Christianity," the weekly adds under the headline Have a Nice Trip to the Pinkish Farout.

The reaction to the opposition to the guidelines was expected: reactionary, conservative and far-right forces are at work, the weekly says, while arguing that it was actually people with common sense who have raised their voice.

These people do not want to experiment with God's creations and traditional values, but the progressives have taken the familiar position that argues that the discourse of the former is violent and hostile.

"Normal Europeans, what is left of them, should now finally wake up and, despite their fatigue, stop allowing the madness in Brussels to continue to grow. It has all gone too far," concludes the commentary.

All our posts in this series are here

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