STA, 22 October 2021 - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) has called for action to deal with staff shortages in particular in manufacturing and services, including closing agreements with countries in the region, Ukraine and the Philippines to facilitate import of foreign labour.

Citing surveys by the national statistics office and Eurochambers, the GZS said at least a third of manufacturing companies and a fifth in the services sector were grappling with staff shortages, while the issue was a major problem for the whole economy.

The chamber proposes a series of measures including adapting education, expanding the list of shortage occupations, introducing a special procedure to hire highly-qualified staff from abroad, and measures to retain and attract back staff in Slovenia.

They also propose closing new bilateral agreements with some of the countries in the former Yugoslavia as well as bilateral accords with Ukraine and the Philippines, the countries they say offer "suitable professional profiles."

A virtual meeting was held on Thursday to match representatives of job agencies from the Philippines with employers in Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Czechia and Poland, however the GZS said Slovenia acted more like an observer of best practice in other countries, which have embassies and trade and investment agencies present in the Philippines.

Since Slovenia covers the country from its embassy in Tokyo it is in a disadvantaged position compared to other countries, while procedures to obtain visas and other paperwork for the staff Slovenian companies would like to employ are lengthy and costly.

The chamber thus urged the government to sign an agreement with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration as soon as possible and set up monthly consular days in Manila to allow qualified Philippine staff to be hired by Slovenian companies as well.

STA, 21 October 2021 - Slovenia and four other EU countries have drawn up a proposal to transform the EU's existing battle groups into a rapid reaction force in an initiative prompted by the experience of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan where the EU had to rely on the US, the Germany press agency dpa has reported.

The report says the concept proposed by Slovenia, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Portugal is to create effective forces capable of responding to crises at short notice. Along with special forces and air transport they would also include space and cyber capabilities.

"Recent events in Afghanistan have shown once more that the EU has to be in a position ... to act robustly and rapidly," reads the document compiled by the five countries and obtained by the dpa.

To provide greater flexibility, the five countries propose invoking Article 44 of the EU Treaty, which talks of intervention by a "coalition of the willing" and which has never been activated. The countries also propose using regional cooperation arrangements already in place to greater effect.

While not specifying what size the reaction force should be, the document says the land-based forces should be of brigade strength, which means around 5,000 troops.

The current battle group concept provides for two 1,500-strong units to be on standby but currently only one such unit is available and the force has never been in fact deployed.

The five countries hope to have the document included in the Strategic Compass - a key European defence and security process aimed at enhancing the EU's strategic autonomy.

Answering a query from the STA, the Defence Ministry confirmed that Slovenian had participated in drawing up the proposal from the field of crisis management.

"It is just another segment in the mosaic of thought papers and discussions with which EU members make efforts for the Strategic Compass to give concrete political guidelines for further development of the common security and defence policy in the coming five to ten years," it said in a written statement.

EU members' efforts are directed towards using and upgrading the existing EU structures and elements to make them more operational, the ministry said, adding the proposal received broad support at today's discussion of EU defence ministers in Brussels with more countries announcing to join it.

STA, 20 October 2021 - Protesters against Covid pass mandate and other coronavirus-related restrictions gathered for the sixth consecutive rally in Ljubljana on Wednesday, urging an early election. The protest was addressed by the head of the Resni.ca (Truth) party Zoran Stevanović, who is considered one of the main initiators of the weekly rallies.

According to initial estimates, a few thousand protesters gathered in Congress Square this time as Republic Square, their usual starting point, had been fenced off due to preparations for the upcoming Ljubljana Marathon.

They chanted anti-government slogans, but also voiced criticism against police, judiciary, media, doctors as well as opposition parties, calling for a snap election. Most of all, they are against the recovered-vaccinated-tested requirement.

Rally speeches started at about 4pm with Stevanović being the first to address the crowd, reported the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija. He said the protesters were getting stronger by the day and had set an example for Slovenia's neighbour countries, particularly Italy and its protests in Trieste.

A number of protesters were ID'd at the start of the rally, according to several media reports, with police officers going through the contents of their backpacks and handbags.

The police had noted that the rally had not been registered, urging the participants to protest peacefully and to follow police instructions. Police presence had been boosted and a helicopter had been circling above the rally venue.

After the speeches wrapped up, the protesters started marching through the streets of the capital. The police then urged them to disband, but this has only led to the rally being divided into two groups.

STA, 20 October 2021 - The newspaper Finance suggests in Wednesday's editorial that Slovenia is ill prepared for the crisis that the world has entered into because the government has failed to deliver on its promise that it will lay the foundations for a good business environment.

The piece headlined Promises, Taxes and Electricity (Obljube, davki in elektrika) notes that Slovenia is to hold a general election in half a year and parties are making all kinds of promises, but the question is how realistic those are considering the looming global crisis.

"The world is in crisis. Like it was between 2008 and 2013. Slovenia is no exception. However, will we walk the crisis side by side with the eurozone or will we - like in the above-mentioned crisis - emerge from it worse off than most of Europe?"

"The government has namely failed to lay the foundations for a good business environment in the long term. We have not got either tax or anti-bureaucratic changes. Nothing. Why?"

"Because the government does not have support. It has distributed Covid bonuses without any oversight, given us a curfew, restricted our movement to the small Slovenian municipalities, flexed its muscles too often during protests (including Friday's) instead of promoting and organising vaccination better, while PM Janša still prefers to tweet and provoke scandals," writes the paper.

"It is thus no wonder it has not got sufficient support even for the laws that would benefit all. We are unlikely to get higher general tax credits and thus higher net pay to increase or at least maintain our standard, which would also make it easier for the economy to live, invest, grow, create jobs and pay taxes.

"It appears we will not even get slightly more stimulating taxes to rent real estate or invest in shares. The government has been unfit to get through parliament even the simplest amendments to the VAT that would eliminate the need for retailers to issue paper receipts except at the buyer's demand."

STA, 20 October 2021 - Slovenia logged 2,145 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest daily number of confirmed infections since 12 January, according to data by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). The share of positive tests stood at 29.1%, and another nine patients with Covid-19 died.

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents surged by 47 to 664, while the rolling seven-day average of new daily cases stood at 1,198, up by 131 on the day before.

The NIJZ estimates there are currently 14,029 active cases in the country, an increase of almost 1,000 on the day before.

A total of 1,180,046 people or 56% of the population have so far received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 1,103,994 or 52% are fully inoculated.

A total of 427 patients are in hospital today, six more than yesterday, of whom 122 need intensive care, down by two, show the latest government data.

All the latest data on COVID and Slovenia is here

STA, 19 October 2021 - The Murska Sobota District Court has opened a formal investigation against Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič over suspicion of tax evasion and document falsification, the web portal of the commercial broadcaster POP TV has reported. The minister has denied all allegations.

The District State Prosecution in Murska Sobota asked the court to open a formal investigation in August 2020, while a criminal complaint against Dikaučič had been filed there by the Financial Administration (FURS) back in August 2017.

The case relates to the time when Dikaučič, who was appointed justice minister in mid-June, was the liable person in the company BGA and the company Prevozi Žižek in receivership, based in Gornja Bistrica, south-east of Murska Sobota.

Preliminary inquiries allegedly established that Prevozi Žižek avoided paying value added tax (VAT) when selling goods to BGA under fictitious contracts, which were allegedly signed by Dikaučič.

The plan was to sell cargo vehicles through two companies in Croatia and Germany to avoid paying EUR 52,000 in VAT, the portal 24ur said on Tuesday.

The district state prosecution confirmed at the beginning of September for the portal it had received the relevant criminal complaint from the FURS in August 2017 over the listed suspicions.

It said that two years later it had sought legal assistance from the Bosnian authorities. Having received a reply in February 2020, the prosecution said it had filed for a formal investigation with the Murska Sobota District Court on 24 August 2020.

At the time, Minister Dikaučič denied the allegations for the portal. "I handed the entire documentation for the alleged act to the police in 2019 and was heard by the court in 2019. Since my signature on the documents was obviously falsified, I proposed to the court for a graphologist to verify the authenticity of the signature," he said.

The minister added that he had "nothing to hide, all the documents are with the relevant authorities, which I trust will do their job correctly".

Allegations against Dikaučič have been circulating in public ever since he was put forward as the candidate for justice minister earlier this year, suggesting he worked with shell companies in his previous job. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Two complaints filed against him in 2015 and 2016 over alleged violation of worker rights were set aside because the prosecution found no reasonable ground suggesting Dikaučič committed the suspected act.

The minister is facing a vote of no confidence in parliament, requested by the centre-left opposition parties over the government's failure to appoint delegated European prosecutors.

LMŠ leader Marjan Šarec said this charge had not been included in the motion but nevertheless proved that the opposition's attempt to oust him was correct.

STA, 19 October 2021 - Andrej Vizjak, environment minister, has denied having urged businessman Bojan Petan to avoid taxes in relation to spa Terme Čatež in 2007. He said on Tuesday the recording aired on Monday by POP TV was "a collage". He labelled it manipulation, which he attributed to businessman Martin Odlazek's "garbage mafia".

"From where I stand, there is reasonable suspicion that the recordings are not authentic. It's my assessment it's a kind of collage with sound-manipulation to discredit me. These are grave accusations which I regret," Vizjak, who served as economy minister in 2004-2008, said on the sidelines of the government's visit to the coast.

The commercial TV station broadcast a 14-year-old recording in which Vizjak is trying to persuade Petan to agree to his terms in the Terme Čatež privatisation story, also by suggesting he should avoid paying taxes and offering him the state and the supervisory board's cooperation.

Vizjak said he suspected the recording was the result of a collaboration of media baron Odlazek and "his business empire, which is also in waste management business".

He said "a collage of several statements" was aired when his ministry sent a bill on environmental protection, which also enjoys the support of NGOs, to the government.

"I cannot explain this to myself other than being an attempt to liquidate me from this post in relation to waste management. The 'garbage mafia' has so far liquidated all ministers when they put forward something that didn't suit them," said Vizjak, adding the bill "means the end to big profits of this garbage mafia".

He also denied ever discussing or negotiating on any interest, cooperation, business or anything else with Petan. "These are really severe accusations. There have also been no results of the acts I'm accused of," he said, adding that he wanted "the truth to come out".

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said on Twitter he had been notified of the old wiretapped recording a while ago, while at the same time being warned it would be broadcast "at an appropriate time to undermine him and the government".

Hojs said the operation had been managed by Odlazek. "If we read their portals, radio stations and newspapers, everything is clear," he said on Twitter. During the government visit, he added the recording was either a wiretap or a manipulated recording as suggested by Vizjak.

Asked whether he will report it, Hojs said he will after "something happens" with his report against the health minister from 2012. "I've been minister for a year and a half and I have no information what they did with that report."

The opposition Social Democrats (SD) and Left responded to Hojs's tweet, saying it proved Hojs had known about the recording but had not reported it to protect his SDS. Based on the tweet, the opposition will thus supplement the ouster motion against Hojs that it announced last week and is to file it tomorrow.

The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) meanwhile has no powers to investigate the conversation between Vizjak and Petan because it took so many years ago. However, it believes the government, which has adopted a code of ethics for public office holders, should discuss it.

"If the recordings are authentic, then such action by a public office holder is absolutely unacceptable," KPK said, regretting that persons who possess such recordings or data suggesting breach of law do not hand them to law enforcement or the public immediately or within a period when relevant institutions could still deal with them.

The leaders of the Democrats' (SDS) junior coalition partners meanwhile expect Vizjak to provide "explanations" before deciding how to proceed.

SMC leader Zdravko Počivalšek, economy minister, said that judging by his own experience, "not everything that is broadcast on TV is necessarily true". "I'm used to media murders of one kind or another, so let's wait," he said on the sidelines of the government visit.

Similarly, NSi leader Matej Tonin, defence minister, said the NSi was awaiting "clear and detailed" explanations on the basis of which it will take concrete decisions. "As a citizen I'm obliged to pay taxes, which I do. I'll tell my and the NSi's opinion once we've got the minister's explanations," he said.

STA, 19 October 2021 - Mateja Logar, the head of the Health Ministry's Covid advisory group, has proposed a voluntary short-term lockdown over the autumn school break. "This would affect the development of the epidemic in November," she said. The proposal includes restricting socialising to family members and limiting large gatherings.

Presenting the proposal on Monday, Logar also warned that it would be wise to limit traditional 1 November cemetery visits to family members as well. School is out in the last week of October and many people will be on holiday, she said, noting that such a short-term lockdown could ensure the epidemiological situation does not deteriorate in November.

"It is not possible to achieve any significant tightening with the current measures, but we still believe that the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) requirement is effective as long as people comply with it and as long as inspections are carried out," Logar said.

She pointed out that following the introduction of the PCT requirement, the number of coronavirus infections started to decline, but then the efficiency of the PCT control was reduced and the number started to increase again, also due to other factors.

Logar also highlighted that the recent Constitutional Court ruling warning about lack of a legal basis for fines due to non-compliance with mandatory mask-wearing should not be interpreted as proof that masks are not necessary.

Asked if recent protests against the PCT requirement could have also led to an increase in infections, Logar replied that one of the factors contributing to the spread of infections could be larger gatherings, not only on Wednesdays, when protesters against the Covid pass mandate usually gather.

According to Logar, about 87% of infected people treated in hospitals are under the age of 50. "This is a group that is less likely to need hospital treatment," she said.

In the over-50 age group, the vaccination rate is high - this means the vaccine is effective, as it is mainly individuals from age groups with low vaccination coverage who are getting sick, she said.

Yesterday marked a year since the government declared the epidemic for the second time.

Get all the latest data on covid and Slovenia

STA, 18 October - Supervision at the General Police Administration carried out by the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission (KNOVS) has confirmed the leadership of the Interior Ministry was present in two operational centres of the police during the 5 October protest, KNOVS chair Matjaž Nemec said on Monday, labelling it "rather unusual".

The supervision carried out by five KNOVS members has established that Minister Aleš Hojs, Interior Ministry State Secretary Franc Kangler, national security state secretary in the prime minister's office Žan Mahnič and Police Commissioner Anton Olaj visited the two operational centres during the protest.

While the presence of Olaj was justified, this cannot be said for the other three officials, Nemec told the press in Ljubljana on Monday, adding that in the past, ministers had usually visited operational centres after a campaign had been concluded.

Asked whether Božo Predalič, another state secretary at the Interior Ministry, was present in the centres, Nemec, the MP of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), said that Olaj did not want to answer this question.

Nemec said that the commission had not been able to determine whether some of the politicians present had been giving direct orders to the police how to handle the protest in Ljubljana, during which a water cannon and tear gas were used.

Olaj was not able to tell whether the situation in the operational centres was recorded, and said he would need to check this and report about it, he said.

According to Nemec, KNOVS did not get answers as to who gave orders to the police officers to use all means available against the protesters "at the moment when protests had not turned violent yet".

Minister Hojs said on Twitter last Friday that he was in Budapest on 5 October, and that he had arrived at Ljubljana airport only at 6:17pm. Nemec said the minister had arrived in one of the operational centres "in the early evening hours".

Hojs told the press today on the sidelines of a National Assembly plenary session that he had arrived at the operational centre around 7:15pm and that he had not been giving any instructions.

The minister said that he had come to the centre to congratulate everybody who had managed the campaign from the centre, and to ask about some details of the campaign, which had already been concluded by that time.

On Twitter, Hojs questioned Nemec's truthfulness, noting that he had told the public broadcaster that "the police ordered the use of a water cannon and tear gas already at 3:30pm", while according to the minister this happened a few minutes before 5pm.

Similarly, Mahnič said in a tweet that the supervision by KNOVS had rejected the "untruthful claims by the media and Nemec" that he and Hojs had been in the centre until around 6pm during the protest.

He said that he had arrived there only around 7:15pm, when the protest had largely been over, and that he had come there to get acquainted with the centre's work and the security situation, while giving no instructions.

KNOVS analysed today a total of eleven protests that took place in Ljubljana in recent months, including the conduct of the police during the 26 June protest in Prešeren Square, when members of the so-called Yellow Jackets far-right movement were forcefully removed.

Olaj, who had ordered internal supervision of the police conduct at the protest, met with the task force before and after the supervision, which he confirmed himself today, Nemec said.

"This sheds bad light in a way on the objectivity of the task force," he said, adding that what also caught the eye was Olaj admitting today that he "intervened in the work of supervisors, in the final report" at least in one case.

Nemec finds this unusual, as the police commissioner is supposed to provide conditions for independent work of the supervisory task force.

The KNOVS chair also noted that the police had used by far the most coercive means in its history at the 5 October protest.

Due to these and other reservations, the commission has asked the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman to examine compliance of the police conduct at protests from the aspect of human rights, Nemec said.

Olaj said today that the police respected parliamentary oversight and KNOVS, which was why he had answered the questions he had received today although the topics covered had exceeded KNOVS's powers.

He said in a press release published on Twitter they were used to oversights and inquiries by the Human Rights Ombudsman and denied any interfering in the contents of the final reports after the protests.

Olaj told KNOVS that two commissions had been set up to check the decisions of police at the protests on 15 September and 5 October. He expects the first report, which will be presented to the public, in the first half of November.

Asked about visits to the operational centres on 5 October, Olaj said he had been at the Centre for Protection at 7:25pm and at the Ljubljana Police Administration at 7:35pm. He said nobody had given instruction to police officers.

STA, 18 October 2021 - Around 60% of Slovenians do not approve of Slovenia's foreign policy pivoting towards the Visegrad Group. Most would prefer to see closer alignment with Germany, Austria, France and Italy, shows the latest Vox Populi poll carried out for the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer.

The country's foreign policy strategy used to be primarily oriented towards the West. After entering the EU, Slovenia also started looking slightly more towards the south and fostered good relations with Russia, the paper says.

But under the third government of Janez Janša, Central and Eastern Europe has come to the fore. Janša has aligned Slovenia more closely to the Visegrad Four, especially Hungary.

Asked whether they agreed that Slovenia should represent within the EU positions close to those of Hungary and Poland, 60% of respondents disagreed, 31% agreed, while around 10% were undecided.

Interestingly, Dnevnik says, younger respondents were keener to agree with closer alignment with Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while older respondents strongly disagreed.

The pollster Ninamedia also asked the respondents to spontaneously list three EU member states that Slovenia should coordinate and cooperate with in the international political sphere.

The majority has listed Germany (63.4%) and Austria (57.4%), followed by France (34%), Italy (26.3%) and Croatia (13.3%).

Ninamedia polled 700 persons between 12 and 14 October.