STA, 4 November 2021 - Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak stepped up his defence of a 2007 conversation with the businessman Bojan Petan after new recordings were published by POP TV. He told the press on Thursday that his goal was to protect the interests of the state in a takeover of the spa company Terme Čatež and he had a clear conscience. 

The original recording, released in mid-October, implied that Vizjak was encouraging Petan to dodge taxes. Vizjak had described it as a "collage" and said today the latest leaked recording proved that was indeed the case as the original leak contained only fragments of the real conversation and those were put in a misleading context.

In the recording released yesterday, Vizjak, then the economy minister, is heard proposing to Petan a "gentleman's agreement" on how to move forward with the privatisation of Terme Čatež, offering a variety of solutions, for example a tie-up with nearby spa Terme Olimia, which was in the process of privatisation at the time.

He also told Petan that the way he was going about the privatisation of Terme Čatež was bound to end up in court, adding that the government would counter his moves with "all cannons" and that they might "squeeze a judge's nuts" to achieve their aims.

Vizjak acknowledged this latest recording was authentic - POP TV had it checked by forensics to prove its authenticity - but said it should be seen in the context of the management of state-owned assets at the time, when the state was still directly the owner of multiple companies, and efforts to protect state interests.

He said he wanted to "prevent actions damaging to the state" and protect state property. "That is my sin," he said, adding that he always had honest intentions.

Vizjak also regretted his statement about "squeezing a judge's nuts," which he said was made in an informal context and was inappropriate, adding: "Whoever is without sin should cast the first stone."

Vizjak also sticks by his original claim that "garbage lobbies" are behind these tapes since actions he is taking now as environment minister are threatening to destroy their exploitation of legal loopholes.

"These collages are designed to discredit me because of the projects we are conducting, in particular the act on the protection of the environment," he said about legislation that the government is expected to adopt shortly.

STA, 4 November 2021 - Half a year after a police sting that busted the Slovenian cell of the notorious Montenegrin crime syndicate known as the Kavač Clan, the prosecution has filed an indictment against 24 out of 64 suspects, the newspaper Večer reported on Thursday.

According to Večer, the indictment filed by the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office does not include two members who cooperated with the authorities , who have contributed greatly to the arrests of the suspects by providing useful information.

An individual under the nickname "Darko N." is to appear as the crown witness, and his identity will remain concealed as he has the status of a protected witness, as has the other repentant individual.

The police have not managed to establish the identity of certain persons involved in the drug trafficking ring, and only their nicknames are known. Some of the suspects are on the run, and some of them are already in prison in other countries.

According to Večer, a third individual, who has reportedly been labelled as an unreliable witness, is among the indicted. The investigating judge has decided not to grant him the status of a protected witness.

The 490-page indictment filed to the Ljubljana District Court by Jože Levašič of the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office presents allegations of drug trafficking.

Trafficking in firearms is not mentioned, as the court has not allowed the investigation to be expanded to this segment, Večer said.

In the indictment, which described in detail the alleged acts committed by the criminal ring, sentences for the suspects are also proposed. A prison sentence of twelve years and a half is proposed for the ringleader Klemen Kadivec.

According to the police and the prosecution, the Slovenian chapter of the Montenegrin crime syndicate operated since 2018, and had strong connections in Spain, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Italy, the Netherlands and Croatia.

STA, 3 November 2021 - A group of members of the Human Rights Commission at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) has expressed concern that Slovenia is moving to a totalitarian form of government, urging MPs to stand up against what it sees as demolition of the constitutional order in the country.

In an open letter similar to the one issued by the commission a year ago that the SAZU distanced itself from, the group says the government's way of running the country and controlling civil society is taking the country to a "totalitarian form of government".

The commission finds that since it warned of arbitrary measures and autocratic and repressive conduct by the government a year ago, the autocratic style of government has only worsened. They say the executive branch of power has raised itself above the legislative, being that it rules mainly by means of executive orders, and above the judiciary, being that it does not respect court rulings.

"The violence of those in power is provoking people's revolt, even violence. We condemn any violence, both that committed by the state and that by civil society. It is indecent and harmful that the state should declare peaceful protests, including an academic's reading the constitution and an academician's reading his own poems, as something violent," the letter reads.

"With such proclamations, the government is turning things upside-down. Democratic conduct is being condemned as undemocratic, while it proclaims its undemocratic, autocratic conduct as a form of 'new' liberal democracy," the commission says, adding that such democracy is nothing but autocracy, which "leads either to anarchy and chaos or to totalitarianism".

"By defying the institutions and senior officials of the European Union, the prime minister is creating mistrust in this precious supranational alliance of countries," the commission says, urging MPs to put aside fear, and personal and party interests, and vote according to their oath and commitments. "Only you can stand up against demolition of the order as determined in the constitution."

The open letter was signed by SAZU Human Rights Commission members Milan Dekleva, Josip Globevnik, Tine Hribar, Ivan Kreft, Blaž Rozman, Renata Salecl and Alenka Šelih.

SAZU said the signatories were not speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Commission or the SAZU. "The SAZU does not interfere in current political issues and neither do its working bodies. But just like all citizens of Slovenia, SAZU members have the right to express personal opinions," the organisation said.

STA, 3 November 2021 - The business daily Finance says a new lockdown would mark a defeat for the Janša government as it argued in Wednesday's commentary that Slovenia should have been well past the point where lockdowns are needed given that vaccines are now abundant and that much more about the virus is now known.

The paper dismisses the argument that hospitals are filling up and comparisons with the Italian city of Bergamo, as it notes that in October 2021, the health system should be capable of withstanding corona shocks or at least of dealing with more cases than a year ago.

"Forgive me for over-generalising a little bit, but the government has spent a billion euro over the past year for hazard pay in the public sector. It threw the money around everywhere, many if not most of the recipients were never even near hospitals.

"A billion euros is a lot of money and with prudent management a lot could have been done. Should nurses have been better compensated to they don't run away to other jobs?"

Turning to vaccination, the commentator says that some simply do not want to get vaccinated, other associate vaccines with aversion to the Janša government, and some have decided to believe conspiracy theories.

"True, everyone is individually responsible for vaccination. But nearly a year since vaccination started, we must ask this: has the Janez Janša government, with its expert group and vaccination coordinator, done enough to popularise vaccination. Would it have made sense to have a somewhat more positive approach to vaccination?"

The bottom line, according to the paper, is that it is unclear what the purpose of a new lockdown would be given the experience with last year's lockdown, which was supposed to last seven days but ended up dragging into spring.

"The impression is that people will respect rules set by the Janez Janša government even less than they did last year, and the fear that kept people at home in March 2020 is long gone. And mind you, if there is a lockdown, it will apply to everyone. This is far from being a good selling point for vaccines," the paper concludes in New Lockdown = New Defeat for the Janša Government [Novi lockdown bi bil novi poraz Janševe vlade].

STA, 2 November 2021 - The national advisory committee on immunisation has proposed that, given the current epidemiological situation, those who have been vaccinated with viral vector vaccines [such as  Janssen / Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V or Convidecia] receive a booster shot after at least two months since being fully immunised. The list of other groups for whom a booster shot is recommended has been extended.

The committee at the National Institute of Public Health led by Bojana Beović decided at a meeting last Wednesday to recommend a booster shot for family members of persons with a weak immune system and patients with chronic diseases who are particularly vulnerable, persons who are particularly exposed to the virus at work and those who have been vaccinated with viral vector vaccines.

A booster shot for the latter is recommended at least two months after full vaccination, and it is still recommended for residents of care homes and other social care institutions, and patients with chronic disease of all ages.

Initially it was also recommended for all those older than 65, but now this was lowered to 50.

The group recommends the use of viral vector vaccines for people with a contraindication to mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.

STA, 2 November 2021 - The majority of Slovenian hospitals will suspend all elective procedures as they move to increase the capacity of overflowing Covid-19 wards, it was agreed at a meeting Tuesday featuring hospital directors and the Health Ministry.

The number of beds for Covid patients at intensive care units will rise to 182 by tomorrow, and the number of non-ICU beds will rise from 479 to to 590.

There were 158 Covid patients in ICU wards this morning and 476 in regular Covid wards, meaning that the majority of hospitals are already over-capacity with Covid patients.

Robert Carotta, the national coordinator for Covid hospital wards, told the STA that the number of patients has recently been growing at the fastest pace since the start of the pandemic.

"If these trends continue, healthcare will not be able to cope any more and we're not far from that," Carotta said, noting that Slovenia was on the cusp of the "Bergamo scenario".

The maximum number of ICU beds Slovenia can currently provide for Covid patients is 192, which is slightly less than in the previous wave since there is a severe shortage of nursing staff at hospitals.

Overall, he thinks Slovenian hospitals can accommodate around 1,200 Covid patients in regular and ICU wards.

STA, 2 November 2021 - A group of experts advising the government on Covid-19 will propose two scenarios to the government to address the rapidly deteriorating epidemiological situation in Slovenia, including a 10-day lockdown, the STA has learnt from a well-placed yet unofficial source.

Should the government not opt for the lockdown, the group proposes other restrictions - strict control of Covid passes, closure of hospitality establishments at 11pm, sports events without spectators, work from home for the public sector, and capping public assembly to a maximum 10 people who must meet the convalescent-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule.

Should these measures not produce an improvement in the epidemiological situation in a week, the task force will still propose a full lockdown of ten days, while it would also like to increase availability of free-of-charge testing.

The task force met to discuss the measures and agreed on them yesterday. Its head Mateja Logar, a doctor at UKC Ljubljana's Infectious Diseases Clinic, told the STA on Tuesday that the group will meet the government today.

Robert Carotta, coordinator for Covid beds at hospitals, told the STA that hospital leaderships are meeting the health minister today as hospitalisations are rising.

Unofficial information obtained by the STA indicates that the current number of available Covid beds is fully occupied or that the capacities have been even exceeded.

According to the government, 634 Covid patients are in hospital, up 31 on yesterday, of whom 158 are in intensive care.

Health Ministry State Secretary Franc Vindišar announced last week that "rigorous measures will have to be taken" once 160-180 Covid beds in intensive care are full.

The government first introduced lockdown for several months when the epidemic broke out in March 2020, and again approximately a year ago, including for schools, while also opting for a much shorter lockdown around last Easter holidays.

Get the latest data on covid and Slovenia

STA, 1 November 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša highlighted the need to create a realistic path to implement the goals from the Paris climate agreement as he addressed the World Leaders Summit, a high-level political event held in Glasgow as part of the ongoing COP26 climate conference.

Moving away from coal and oil is a key element in reaching the set goals, and nuclear energy could replace fossil fuels as a transition source of energy, Janša said.

He stressed it was urgent to act to limit climate warning. "It is high time to create a realistic path to the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal," he was quoted by his office.

As the presiding EU country, Slovenia makes efforts towards this goal, yet the EU, contributing just 8% of global CO2 emissions, cannot solve the problem on its own.

He thus urged all countries to produce their offers saying that "everyone must take their share of responsibility to ensure that our common efforts are effective".

"Our goal is to reduce emissions by 55% until 2030 and we are making efforts to modernise our climate and energy legislation," Janša said.

However, he stressed that the common measures are by far not enough to reach the goals set at the Paris climate conference in 2015.

"By the UN's estimate, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 will be by 16% higher than it was in 2010."

Janša also said he understood hesitation, so he stressed that "our efforts must not endanger social cohesion and economic development".

He believes that "technological and political innovations will enable finding new ways to implement all the three set goals".

He said more investment in new technologies is needed to develop cleaner, safer and more efficient energy, such as energy from hydrogen or fusion.

Slovenia remains firmly committed to reach the common goals with a realistic approach. "We have adopted a long-term strategy which sets the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and the path to it."

Janša moreover urged all countries to contribute to the best of their abilities, and concluded by saying: "Let's make sure that this summit is a success."

On the sidelines of the two-day world leaders summit, Janša held several bilateral meetings, including with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

He also met Indian PM Narendra Modi, European Council President Charles Michel, Czech PM Andrej Babiš, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, Maltese PM Robert Abela, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, among others.

The prime minister, who will end his visit to Glasgow on Tuesday, is also scheduled to meet some other world leaders, and IAEA boss Rafael Mariano Grossi.

STA, 31 October 2021 - A total of 1,663 new coronavirus were recorded in Slovenia on Saturday, fresh data by the National Institute of Public Health show. The test positivity rate was the highest since the start of the epidemic, at 42.1%. Six more patients died, according to government data.

The 7-day average of new daily cases increased by 23 on the day before to 2,263 as the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people rose by 49 to 1,312.

The estimated number of active infections rose to 27,686.

572 Covid-19 patients are in hospitals today, up 14 from yesterday, including 138 in intensive care unit, which is six more than the day before, the government said on Twitter.

The youngest patient in hospital is 19 years old and the youngest patient in intensive care is 21.

So far, a total of 1,119,181 people or 53% of the population have been vaccinated. The share for those over 18 years old is at 63%, and for those over 50 it is at 74%.

STA, 29 October 2021 - Bicycle protesters, who have been protesting against the government every Friday for 80 weeks, gathered for another rally in Ljubljana this evening, this time to address the issues of green infrastructure, green mobility, public transport and housing. The protest's organisers announced another "mass, pan-Slovenian protest" for 12 November.

Some government representatives "attempted to divert attention" from alleged corruptive practices and inability to do their work by focusing on "highly suspicious mail" in the past week, said the organisers, adding that "extremely questionable 'threatening letters', which according to the mail security protocol could not have reached the addressees in the first place, will not prevent people from being justifiably critical of the government's work and expressing their views".

The protesters marched from Republic Square, where they gathered first, to a post office to send letters to Prime Minister Janez Janša and Defence Minister Matej Tonin, noting that the mail did not include death threats but a firm request backed by arguments for resignation and a snap election.

This was in reference to the developments of the past week as a number of coalition officials, including Janša and Tonin, reported receiving death threats via mail, some of them also received a live ammunition round. A special police task force has been tasked with the investigation of these incidents.

The organisers said in a press release that they would send a letter to the police as well, as they believe that there was police repression present at last Friday's protest and the right to protest was restricted. According to the organisers, a number of Friday protesters were ID'd because they were standing in the street where the Culture Ministry building is located.

Today, the protesters called for setting up green infrastructure, building 30,000 non-profit flats by 2030, amending Article 78 of the Constitution to enshrine decent living conditions for all citizens, banning "extortionate rents", and providing more bike lanes.

The organisers announced that on 12 November there will be another "mass, pan-Slovenian protest" to unveil the protesters' guidelines for reforming politics and society and their key demands.

The largest Friday protest to date took place in late May when what is likely to have been tens of thousands of people protested against the government's actions. The rally, dubbed Pan-Slovenian Uprising for Early Election, included various groups and movements and was supported by trade unions and part of the opposition.