Politics

28 Aug 2021, 10:17 AM

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

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

FRIDAY, 20 August
        LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg said that Afghans fleeing the Taliban should be helped in Afghanistan's neighbourhood, as they warned against a rerun of the 2015 migration crisis.
        LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar assured his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg Slovenia would be completely transparent about its plans to build a second unit at the Krško nuclear power station. Schallenberg said Austria respected decisions by other countries on what kind of an energy mix they would have.
        LJUBLJANA - Booster shots of coronavirus vaccines became available for persons with transplanted organs, patients awaiting transplantation and those with severely weakened immune systems, under the latest revision of the national vaccination strategy adopted by the government.
        LJUBLJANA - The government changed course on testing policy, deciding employees in healthcare, education, retail and the events industry will continue to have access to free tests after 23 August when free mass testing was discontinued. Transit passengers need to produce Covid certificate after 29 August.
        LJUBLJANA - The director general of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija Andrej Grah Whatmough dismissed Natalija Gorščak, the director of TV programmes, after accusing her of violating bylaws and allowing ratings to plummet. Gorščak said to use legal means to proved that she had worked well and in line with the law.
        LJUBLJANA - An Afghan interpreter who worked for the Slovenian Armed Forces was evacuated from Afghanistan and arrived in Slovenia together with his family. The government has already sorted out their legal status.
        KREDARICA - A confrontation took place between anti-government protesters and PM Janez Janša and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs at the Kredarica mountain hut below Mt Triglav with some harsh words exchanged.
        LJUBLJANA - British Airways relaunched flights between Ljubljana and London's largest airport Heathrow, the operation of Ljubljana airport said. Passengers can fly to Heathrow on Fridays and Sunday, with another two weekly flights to be added at the end of August.

SATURDAY, 21 August
        GORNJA RADGONA - The Agra agriculture fair opened in an in-person format as the first large in-person fair in Slovenia since the epidemic was declared in March 2020, featuring some 1,100 exhibitors from 29 countries. President Borut Pahor warned in his keynote farmers would have to be helped by the state to cope with the impact of climate change.

SUNDAY, 22 August
        LJUBLJANA/BRUSSELS, Belgium - PM Janez Janša said the EU would "not open any 'humanitarian' or migration corridors to Afghanistan". European Parliament President David Sassoli countered his statement by saying it was "not up to the current presidency of the Council to say what the EU will do". The Union and the countries which have taken part in the NATO mission in Afghanistan have a duty to take care of the Afghans at risk following the Taliban seizure of the country, the European Commission later said.
        
MONDAY, 23 August
        JERUSALEM, Israel - FM Anže Logar pledged regular bilateral dialogue and cooperation as he met his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid and other senior officials. As part of the visit, a cyber security cooperation memorandum was signed.
        KYIV, Ukraine - President Borut Pahor reaffirmed Slovenia's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity as he attended an international conference on Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimea in 2014.
        LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša and Speaker Igor Zorčič marked Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, warning against glorification of Nazi and other totalitarian regimes' symbols. Zorčič called for the prosecution of such acts.
        LJUBLJANA - More than 50% of Slovenians aged over 18 have been fully vaccinated and 55% have received the first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, the latest official figures showed.
        CELJE/GOLNIK - The Golnik University Clinic and the Celje General Hospital joined the country's largest hospitals, UKC Ljubljana and UKC Maribor, in opening designated Covid-19 wards.
        LJUBLJANA - Just over a quarter of respondents in the latest public opinion poll conducted by Mediana for commercial broadcaster POP TV said they supported the work of the Janez Janša government, which is the lowest support in this term. The ruling Democrats (SDS) continued to top party rankings, followed by the opposition SocDems.

TUESDAY, 24 August
        RAMALLAH, Palestine - FM Anže Logar met his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki as he visited Ramallah. Bilateral and EU-Palestine cooperation, the situation in Palestine, current developments in the region, and Slovenia's EU presidency topped the agenda.
        LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs held talks with Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the governor of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Migrations and the Western Balkans topped the agenda along with the work of the Slovenian EU presidency.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia started using monoclonal antibody treatment for some patients with Covid-19, having received a shipment of 1,000 doses of a drug as part of an EU contract, the Health Ministry said.
        SLOVENJ GRADEC - Construction work began near Slovenj Gradec on a vital expressway to link the Koroška region in the north with the national motorway network. The section is valued at EUR 37.4 million and should be completed in 30 months.
        
WEDNESDAY, 25 August
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is likely to get a new Covid traffic light system next week with tiers of restrictions defined based on the number of cases in hospitals rather than the number of new positive cases, senior health officials said.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor hosted a delegation of the US Senate for the Slovenian-American Friendship Day, an annual celebration of bilateral ties. He stressed that the two countries shared the same values.
        LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar and his Maltese counterpart Evarist Bartolo said that reforms in the EU's migration policy were necessary, highlighting migration issues should be tackled primarily in countries of origin.
        LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs met via videolink Roland Sebastian Schilling, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Central Europe. The pair discussed the situation in Afghanistan, including potential migration and security threats.
        LJUBLJANA - Schools and kindergartens received instructions on how to act if staff does not adhere to the recovered-vaccinated-tested rule. A refusal to get tested for coronavirus will be sufficient ground for a lay-off, showed an Education Ministry circular obtained by the STA.
        GORNJA RADGONA - Several organisations of farmers staged a protest against solutions contained in the draft national strategic plan for the EU's common agricultural policy, which involves a shift from direct payments to farmers towards the financing of rural development policy.
        LJUBLJANA - Russian airline Aeroflot will apparently not operate flights between Slovenia and the Russian capital in the winter season, the Ex-Yu Aviation web portal reported. Aeroflot currently flies from Ljubljana Airport to Moscow three times a week.

THURSDAY, 26 August
        COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Foreign Minister Anže Logar paid a visit to Denmark to meet his counterpart Jeppe Kofod. The talks focused on strengthening bilateral relations, reviewing the implementation of the priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency, and on topical international issues, including Afghanistan.
        BELGRADE, Serbia - Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič started a two-day official visit to Serbia by meeting his counterpart Ivica Dačić. The two said they were happy with the traditionally friendly relations between the countries that are connected both by a shared history and a joint European future.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition-controlled Commission for Oversight of Public Finances asked the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption to check the records of Prime Minister Janez Janša's contacts with lobbyists after a media reported that he had played golf on several occasions with a major lobbyist and the owner of an IT firm.
        LJUBLJANA - The tested-vaccinated-recovered requirement, known in Slovenia by the acronym PCT, will be expanded to university students and those participating in indoor sports activities under a decision adopted by the government. Testing for students will be free.
        LJUBLJANA - The latest official figures showed Slovenia reported 509 coronavirus infections for Wednesday as the test positivity rate stood at 17.4%. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population rose from 187 to 199, meaning Slovenia is on the brink of entering the red phase. Hospitalisations topped 100 for the first time since mid-June.
        LJUBLJANA - Boris Pahor, the acclaimed Slovenian writer from Trieste, celebrated his 108th birthday. On the occasion, 26 colleagues paid tribute to him with a publication featuring interviews and testimonies.

26 Aug 2021, 13:22 PM

STA, 25 August 2021 - Slovenia is likely to get a new Covid traffic light system next week with tiers of restrictions defined based on the number of cases in hospital rather than the number of new positive cases, senior health officials said on Wednesday.

Health Minister Janez Poklukar said the focus would by on the occupancy of hospital beds in general and intensive care beds in particular. The final details are being ironed out in talks with health experts, he said.

Mateja Logar, the head of the Health Ministry's Covid-19 advisory group, said the final proposal was to be adopted at a meeting on Monday.

Given that more than 40% of the population has been vaccinated, the overall number of new cases is not that important anymore.

"We also know that the main limiting factor in Slovenia is the number of hospital beds, which is why the traffic light will be adjusted to that, something many other European countries are likely to do as well," she told the STA.

The previous traffic light system, which is currently not in use, had hospitalisations and the seven-day average of new daily cases as the main criteria for tiers of restrictions.

Another reason why hospital occupancy should be the primary criterion, according to Logar, is the current system of Covid certificates, which are a prerequisite for staff in several sectors and for activities such as cultural events and indoor dining.

"It's important that people realise this system is not about restrictions, it is designed to keep industries open when they would be closed long ago in similar conditions last year."

If the epidemiological situation continues to deteriorate, the advisory group will propose an expansion of the use of Covid certificates and increased frequency of testing for those who are now required to test on a weekly basis.

All the latest data on COVID and Slovenia

24 Aug 2021, 15:46 PM

STA, 24 August 2021 - The EU maintains that the Union and the countries which have taken part in the NATO mission in Afghanistan have a duty to take care of the Afghans at risk following the Taliban seizure of the country, the European Commission's spokesperson Eric Mamer said on Tuesday when asked to comment on PM Janez Janša's recent statement.

Janša tweeted on Sunday that the EU would "not open any 'humanitarian' or migration corridors to Afghanistan" or allow the repeat of 2015. "We will only help individuals who have helped us in the course of the NATO mission and EU member states that protect our external border."

Mamer referred to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's recent statements that "the EU as well as all countries that have participated in the NATO mission in Afghanistan have a duty to take care of the people who are at particular risk because of the new situation in Afghanistan, for example journalists, human rights advocates, judges and lawyers, and in general women and young girls".

When talking about creating channels and resettlement opportunities for Afghans in conflict, "we are talking about these groups", said Mamer as the STA asked him whether Janša's stance corresponded to that of the Commission.

Mamer also highlighted efforts that will be needed to ensure that all Afghans who have been displaced due to the conflict, can safely return home. With a view to enabling this, the Commission emphasises the need to work with countries in the region, he said.

Responding to Janša's tweet, European Parliament President David Sassoli meanwhile said on Sunday that it was "not for to the current presidency of the Council to say what the EU will do". He invited Janša to discuss the issue with the European institutions so that they could decide what the next steps should be.

Janša's stance is said to be supported by only two EU members - Hungary and Austria, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Monday.

Most of the other member states and leaders of the EU institutions would like to prevent the 2015 migration wave from repeating, but are at the same time ready to expand the circle of people who need protection, citing moral responsibility and commitments from the resettlement programme.

Slovenia is meanwhile willing to accept the Afghans who have worked with the Slovenian soldiers in Afghanistan as well as another five, according to a recent statement by Foreign Minister Anže Logar.

23 Aug 2021, 16:09 PM

STA, 23 August 2021 - With the start of the school year only a week away and facing criticism about inadequate preparedness, education officials provided assurances on Monday that educational institutions are prepared for another year of coronavirus restrictions.

Schools and kindergartens will operate according to what is called model B, which means in-person instruction for all children, mandatory masks for older children, distancing, extensive ventilation, and mandatory Covid certificates for staff.

Damir Orehovec, a state secretary at the Education Ministry, acknowledged at a conference for head teachers today that the rules concerning Covid certificates have not been finalised yet.

At present unvaccinated teachers have to be tested by an official provider of testing once a week, but it is likely that self-testing will be introduced soon.

Parents who wish to enter school or kindergarten premises will have to show a Covid certificate as well. It remains unclear who will check parents' status, though.

The rules for the school year have been issued in a 140-page publication for educational institutions and were presented today at the onset of a three-day conference for head teachers.

Vinko Logaj, the head of the National Education Institute, expects that the school year will start and finish in-person.

"The protocols that some schools have already finalised and others are still supplementing will make it possible to successfully carry out instruction in this school year," he said.

Education MinisterSimona Kustec  was supposed to address the head teachers as well but she has contracted Covid-19 and is isolating at home with severe symptoms.

Responding to calls that she should resign, she said in a written message that she would "not accept threats, insults and unsubstantiated shaming, or attempt to dehumanise by those ... who abuse the educational system for their narrow, egotistic and often partisan interests".

Messages about sufficient preparedness were also delivered at a session of the parliamentary Education Committee, called at the request of the opposition with the argument that preparations for another epidemic school year have not been sufficient.

Education Ministry State Secretary Mitja Slavinec said the planned measures were a compromise between efforts to secure a safe learning environment and effective instruction.

He said the situation was changing fast and that restrictions were unpredictable, noting that it would be easy to set very strict rules from the start, like Italy did, but that the main goal of the restrictions was to keep schools open as long as possible.

The statement came after the centre-left opposition claimed the government was a complete failure when it came to getting schools ready.

Marko Koprivc, an MP for the Social Democrats (SD), said on behalf of the opposition that with one week to go before classes start, teachers still did not have any information and it was unclear what kind of restrictions will be in place.

He accused Minister Kustec of being "incompetent" and urged her to resign, while calling on the government to finally start working and make sure instruction can proceed normally.

23 Aug 2021, 12:44 PM

STA, 23 August 2021 - PM Janez Janša and parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič marked Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes on Monday, warning against glorification of Nazi and other totalitarian regimes' symbols. Zorčič called for prosecution of such acts, which he deems extremely dangerous and inadmissible. 

Addressing an international conference on transition processes in Central and Eastern Europe marking Black Ribbon Day in Ljubljana, Janša stressed that unless the society learned from history it would be condemned to repetition.

He noted that it took more than 15 years for the resolution based on which Black Ribbon Day is marked to be adopted. He also thinks a lot more work will be needed to achieve national reconciliation.

However, at least the memory of the past has been preserved, he stressed. "Today, nobody in Slovenia can say they do not know or do not have the opportunity to know the entire truth, all aspects of events during all totalitarian regimes under which Slovenians have suffered," he said.

The prime minister also expressed concern about the attitude to totalitarian, criminal regimes. "Today, when we remember victims of totalitarian regimes on European soil, let's not look only back but also forward. If we are not capable of learning anything from history, we'll be condemned to repetition," he warned.

Speaker Zorčič said in his message on Black Ribbon Day that even though it seemed that the period of peace and economic progress after the Second World War had brought catharsis to European nations and an understanding of the evil that totalitarian regimes bring, it was clear today that Europe had still not come completely to terms with its totalitarian past.

"Worse yet, recently historical criminals, their totalitarian ideas and despicable actions are increasingly being glorified, while intolerance to those who are different and think differently is strengthening," Zorčič warned.

The current situation is a warning how extremely thin and fragile is the borderline between normality and totalitarianism, he said.

The crisis situation brought about by the Covid-19 epidemic creates the conditions for hate speech that is spreading particularly aggressively on social media, the speaker noted.

"In this situation adding fuel to the fire by irresponsible individuals, including politicians, is particularly dangerous. Any glorification of Nazism and totalitarian symbols, even only to get public attention, is extremely dangerous and inadmissible, yet it is becoming increasingly frequent, so it should be prosecuted in Slovenia as well," Zorčič said.

Tomaž Ivešić, director of the Study Centre for National Reconciliation, which hosts today's conference in parliament together with the National Council and Foreign Ministry, said that Slovenia had so far made some important steps towards reconciliation, correcting injustices and punishing human rights violations in totalitarian regimes.

He noted that almost 36,000 decisions had been issued to political prisoners and victims of post-war violence and their relatives based on which EUR 127 million in damages had been paid out.

However, he added, one problem was that so far no one had been convicted of any crimes committed during the Second World War, and that the process of denationalisation was still not completed.

National Council president Alojz Kovšca said that the term reconciliation was being abused in a political sense. He thinks it should be made clear publicly that reconciliation meant letting go of resentments referring to the past and not giving mandate for illegitimate obtaining of privileges for anyone.

Kovšca also warned of the "aggressive political discourse", including on social media.

Victims of totalitarian regimes will be remembered today as wreaths will be laid at the Monument to the Victims of All Wars in Ljubljana's Congress Square and in front of the US Embassy. A mass will also be celebrated at the Ljubljana cathedral by Archbishop Stanislav Zore, which will also be attended by Janša.

Slovenia and Europe mark today the international day of remembrance for the victims of totalitarian regimes, specifically Stalinist, communist, Nazi and fascist regimes. The European Parliament set 23 August as Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in 2009. Slovenia has been officially marking the day since 2012.

23 August was chosen as the date of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a 1939 non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

23 Aug 2021, 10:59 AM

STA, 23 August 2021 - Just over a quarter of respondents in the latest public opinion poll conducted by Mediana for commercial broadcaster POP TV support the work of the Janez Janša government, which is the lowest support in this term. The senior coalition Democrats (SDS) continue to top party rankings, followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD).

While 27.5% of the respondents support the cabinet, two-thirds or 63.9% oppose it and 8.6% are undecided, shows the poll conducted among 714 respondents this month.

Although it remains the most popular party, the SDS lost ground, with its support dropping by almost two percentage points to 16.1%. The SD in second place also lost some ground going from 11.7% to 11.1%.

Meanwhile, the support for the opposition Left increased by 0.8 of a percentage point to 8.8%.

The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) continues to lose voters' trust, going from 7.9% to 5.6%.

In contrast, the coalition New Slovenia (NSi) saw its support rise from 4.2% to 5.6%.

The top five are followed by the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), whose support was up by 1.4 percentage point to 4.1%, the Pirates with 2.5%, and the Greens with 2%.

All other parties enjoy the support of less than 1% of respondents.

One in four respondents is undecided (23.3%), and one in ten would not vote for any of the existing parties. Just under 3% of the respondents would not reveal their party preferences.

MEP Ljudmila Novak (EPP/NSi) climbed to the top of the list of most popular politicians from the third place last month. She is followed by last month's favourite, President Borut Pahor, and parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič. Prime Minister Janez Janša ranked 15th, while Education Minister Simona Kustec is at the very bottom of the list.

21 Aug 2021, 14:22 PM

STA, 21 August 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs were heckled by anti-government protesters at a mountain hut below Mt Triglav, Slovenia's tallest peak, on Friday evening.

Video shared on social media and reports by media including N1 and Reporter show Janša and Hojs filmed being confronted by a group of protesters as they were sitting in front of the Kredarica mountain hut.

This was after anti-government protesters, who usually stage bicycle rallies in the centre of Ljubljana, marked the 70th week of protests by climbing Mt Triglav, bicycle in tow.

Various social media posts suggest the protesters and the government officials met by chance.

The interchange lasted several minutes, during which Janša and Hojs faced a barrage of criticism and insults while periodically exchanging statements with the protesters.

The authors of the video said Defence Minister Matej Tonin was also there, but he is not seen on video.

Tonin's party, New Slovenia (NSi), confirmed Tonin had climbed Mt Triglv on Friday independently, with a group of ministry officials.

On the way up he encountered protesters who hurled some insults at him and behaved inappropriately.

Reporter says a helicopter landed at the mountain hut at around 9:45 PM and took the officials to the valley.

The prime minister's office would not comment on the events beyond saying that Janša had gone to Triglav in his spare time.

Uroš Urbanija, the head of the Government Communications Office, tweeted that the actions by the protesters were "a primitive attack".

One of the activists, trade unionist Tea Jarc, subsequently wrote on Twitter that an opponent of the protest movement had punched her.

21 Aug 2021, 09:30 AM

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

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

FRIDAY, 13 August
        LJUBLJANA - The government decided that passengers transiting through Slovenia will not be required to produce a Covid certificate only until 22 August, but from 23 August they will have to produce a certificate proving that they have either recovered from Covid-19, or been tested or vaccinated.
        LJUBLJANA - The government decided that people attending public cultural events will have to wear face masks as of 16 August, with the exception of performers. There are no changes regarding restrictions of public gatherings.
        LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Administrative Court said it had rejected a request from prosecutors Tanja Frank Eler and Matej Oštir to stay the government's May decision not to get formally acquainted with their appointment as Slovenia's European delegated prosecutors (EDPs). However, it effectively acknowledged that the government made a formal decision about which it may now decide on the merits.
        LJUBLJANA - The four centre-left opposition parties filed for an emergency session of parliament's Environment Committee to debate the alarming findings of the IPPC report for Slovenia and measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions, after the report showed Slovenia was warming at twice the rate of the global average.
        LJUBLJANA - A chamber representing small businesses called on the government to scrap the requirement of frequent testing of staff who have not been vaccinated or have not recovered from Covid-19, saying in any event the cost of testing should be covered by the state.
        BRNIK - Fraport Slovenija, the operator of Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, said that 70,011 passengers and almost 6,800 aircraft movements were recorded in the first half of 2021, with the first figure being almost three times fewer than in the same period last year. An increased number of passengers was recorded in the last two months though.

SATURDAY, 14 August
        VALLADOLID, Spain - Slovenian Olympic champion in time trial Primož Roglič won the first stage of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana, another time trial, to take the red jersey already at the start of his bid to defend the 2020 Vuelta title. His compatriot Jan Tratnik finished third.

SUNDAY, 15 August
        BREZJE - Marking Assumption of Mary, Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore called for open-mindedness, acceptance and mutual respect as he said mass at Brezje, Slovenia's biggest pilgrimage site. Zore urged people to get vaccinated and pilgrims to Brezje indeed had a chance to get a jab on the spot.
        
MONDAY, 16 August
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan saying that violence should be ended, the civilian population, in particular women and children, be protected, and basic human rights standards upheld. PM Janez Janša described the chaos in Afghanistan and the handover of modern weapons to the Taliban as "the greatest defeat for NATO in history".
        LJUBLJANA - A group of Slovenian environmental NGOs called on Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec as a representative of the Slovenian EU presidency to propose a political discussion on the EU exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) at the September informal meeting of ministers in charge of energy. They said the Energy Charter Treaty was an obstacle in the transition to clean energy.
        LJUBLJANA - Education Minister Simona Kustec announced she had tested positive for coronavirus, saying on Twitter she had been isolating since Saturday. All activities for the safe start of the school year continue, she added. Kustec is fully vaccinated.

TUESDAY, 17 August
        LJUBLJANA - Four centre-left parties said they were planning to file a motion to vote Education Minister Simona Kustec out of office, arguing that two weeks before the start of the new school year, it was still not clear how primary and secondary schools will organise the education process while the epidemiological situation in the country is deteriorating.
        ISTANBUL, Turkey - Defence Minister Matej Tonin attended the opening of the IDEF International Defence Industry Fair, where he also met his counterparts from Turkey and Kosovo, Hulusi Akar and Armend Mehaj.
        LJUBLJANA - Police have filed a criminal complaint against actor and drama teacher Matjaž Tribušon, 58, after young actress Mia Skrbinac publicly accused him of sexually harassing her while she was a student in 2014-2016 and filed a sexual harassment complaint at the University of Ljubljana last spring, Delo reported.
        LJUBLJANA - Insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav saw group net profit rise by 40% to EUR 47 million in the first half of the year as premium revenue rose across all segments and all markets. The company expects to hit end-year profit targets.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission has approved state aid worth EUR 1.3 million for the operator of the Postojna Cave, a global tourist attraction, to help it cope with the damage resulting from the closure due to the coronavirus. The aid covers the period between 26 October 2020 and 1 June 2021, when the Postojna Cave and the cave under Predjama Castle were closed.
        
WEDNESDAY, 18 August
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU home affair ministers agreed to send additional help in the form of experts and technical support to EU member states bordering Belarus, which have been facing a wave of illegal migrants. They also urged the EU to provide additional financial aid, calling for better control on the bloc's external border.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is ready to accept up to five members of the Afghan staff that worked with the EU, to show solidarity with other EU member states, FM Anže Logar said, adding that, for the time being, Slovenia will not offer to take in additional refugees from Afghanistan.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) announced motions of no confidence in the environment and justice ministers, Andrej Vizjak and Marjan Dikaučič. The motions will be formally tabled once the remaining opposition parties have had their say.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a regulation banning the sale of single-use plastic products including plastic cutlery, plates and straws, ear swabs, stir sticks and balloon sticks. There are exemptions for industrial and medical use.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a watered-down version of amendments to the act on value added tax (VAT) after its first proposal was defeated in parliament in July. The new version preserves some of the key solutions but is narrower.

THURSDAY, 19 August
        LJUBLJANA - The latest reported daily figure of new confirmed coronavirus cases in Slovenia reached 381, down slightly from the almost three-month high registered on the day before. The positivity rate remained high, at 17%. The situation in hospitals remained broadly stable with 56 patients in hospital, of whom 10 were in intensive care.
        PORTOROŽ - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs met his Slovak counterpart Roman Mikulec to talk, among other things, about the issue of illegal migration from Belarus. Hojs said that Slovenia had already donated 10 kilometres of "technical obstacles" to Lithuania, and that two Slovenian police officers would be deployed there soon.
        MARIBOR - Andrej Rihter and Vinko Filipič quit the three-member management board of national postal operator Pošta Slovenije, and so did supervisors Franci Mihelič and Aleš Buležan. The former two are on the board together with Tomaž Kokot, who took over as interim director general on 1 April after long-serving Boris Novak resigned on 30 March.
        LJUBLJANA - Insurer Sava Re said it had generated a net profit of EUR 43.5 million in the first six months of 2021, an increase of 35.3% compared to the same period last year. The group collected gross premiums of EUR 414.5 million, a growth of 10.9%, show unaudited interim results.
        LJUBLJANA - Answering an appeal from the Trade Union of Hospitality and Tourism Workers, Slovenia's equal opportunities ombudsman assessed that the requirement for people to meet the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule to access services, goods or venues is not discriminatory against the unvaccinated who could get vaccinated but have not.
        KOČEVJE - The state-owned forestry company SiDG, which has been managing state forests since July 2016, reported revenue of EUR 56 million and a net profit of EUR 7.5 million for 2020, a drop of 15% and 34%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

 

20 Aug 2021, 16:36 PM

STA, 20 August 2021 - Slovenia was expected to phase out as of next week free rapid testing for all but the most high-risk professions, but the government has now changed course. Employees in healthcare, education, retail and the events industry will continue to have access to free tests.

Employees in these sectors will have to test once a week, but the testing requirement does not extend to those who have been vaccinated, according to Education Ministry State Secretary Damir Orehovec.

The changed decree also stipulates that pupils in the last three years of primary school and all secondary-school students will self-test on a voluntary basis.

The tests will be free and available in pharmacies, Health Minister Janez Poklukar said after Friday's government session.

These students will also have to wear masks in school, including during classes, not just in communal areas.

The Education Ministry had initially proposed that teachers self-test, a plan supported by teachers, but this will not be rolled out immediately.

Poklukar said a legal basis for self-testing was now being prepared and may enter into effect after 6 September, assuming sufficient quantities of self-testing kits are available.

Branimir Štrukelj, the head of the teachers' trade union SVIZ, told the STA that teachers had expected self-testing from the get go.

"Nevertheless, we hope for the fundamental trust in the teaching profession to prevail," he said, adding that teachers would "responsibly, precisely and consistently" self-test to help preserve the stability of the educational system.

Another decree the government adopted today stipulates that athletes may do organised sport provided they are tested once a week, unless they are vaccinated or have had Covid-19. The new rule applies from 23 August.

20 Aug 2021, 12:40 PM

STA, 20 August 2021 - The government has confirmed a plan for a major new water source for the water-starved Istria region on the coast, a decision that has been welcomed by municipalities in the region but decried by local environmentalists as damaging for the environment.

The EUR 134 million project, confirmed by the government earlier this week, involves building a reservoir on Suhorca stream, and a smaller reservoir on the Padež, a larger stream of which Suhorca is a tributary.

The reservoir would supply water to three existing water supply systems in the region, which is typically very dry because of the karst terrain and, more recently, climate change.

The decision came after almost two years of public debates on the need for a new water source prompted by a train accident in mid-2019 during which a kerosene leak threatened to pollute water supplies for much of the region.

The plan was chosen over an alternative proposal to link up the three existing but separate water supply systems in the region, which would have reduced supply disruptions but would not have increased the overall volume of available water.

The coastal municipalities Ankaran, Izola, Koper and Piran have welcomed the government decision as a major step towards improving the reliability of supply.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, they said the decision was "not only a step towards sorting out water supply in Istria but also the start of resolution of one of the key national security issues."

Locals living in villages in Brkini, a hilly part of Istria where the streams will be dammed, have long opposed the project on environmental grounds and insist the project is hugely damaging.

They say untouched nature will be irreversibly damaged and the altered water regime will pose a risk to the Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO-listed natural wonder.

The government and the Environment Ministry "have clearly shown they don't care if unspoilt nature is irreversibly degraded, habitats and ecosystems destroyed, and the UNESCO status of global natural and cultural heritage lost," Mario Benkoč of the civil initiative Let's Preserve Brkini told the STA.

Brkini locals advocate the link-up of the existing water supply systems and urge the government to abandon the project immediately. A protest is planned in Suhorca Valley on Saturday.

20 Aug 2021, 11:49 AM

STA, 19 August 2021 - Police have uncovered a criminal ring that has been smuggling migrants from Bosnia via Croatia and Slovenia to Italy. According to the Koper Police Department, the ring consisted of six members - four Slovenians, one Kosovo citizens and another of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A lengthy criminal investigation, conducted by investigators from the Koper Police Department in cooperation with Italian and Croatian police forces, was completed on 4 August.

During the investigation, the criminal ring either attempted to smuggle or successfully smuggled at least 17 citizens of Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan into Italy via Slovenia.

The members, aged between 20 and 43, used hired vans to smuggle migrants, and also delivered them food, drinks and fresh clothes. The police estimate that the group earned between EUR 68,000 and 85,000, but the exact amount was difficult to determine.

The cost of smuggling from Bosnia to Italy was between EUR 4,000 and 5,000 per person, and the cost of transport from the Croatian border through Slovenia to Italy was around EUR 350 per person.

One of the suspects was arrested by Italian authorities after fleeing from Italian police patrols. After the arrest, he was found to be a Kosovo citizen using forged documents.

In the final phase of the investigation, Slovenian police officers carried out two house searches in the Ljubljana area. They arrested a 31-year-old Slovenian, and a 33-year-old Bosnian citizen with a prior conviction.

The two suspects have been remanded in custody in Koper for risk of repeating the crimes, while the other four will be free during the criminal procedure, Dejan Grandič, deputy head of Koper criminal police, explained for the STA.

The suspects face fines and prison sentences ranging from three to 15 years.

In the first seven months of the year Slovenian police recorded 4,495 illegal border crossings, down by just over 40% year-on-year.

Grandič said fewer cases of smuggling illegal migrants had been recorded this year in the area policed by the Koper Police Department, south-west, while the number of illegal migrants had increased.

The Police Department processed 2,068 migrants entering illegally from Croatia until the end of July this year, up almost 11% from the same period last year.

"There is also more cases when individuals cross the green border, helping themselves with navigation," said Grandič.

The bulk of illegal migrants in the Koper police area this year have been citizens of Afghanistan (621), Pakistan (465), Bangladesh (216) and Turkey (188).

As many as 967 illegal migrants have been sent back to foreign law enforcement, the bulk to Croatia, while there has also been in a rise in migrants expressing an intent to ask for international protection, especially Afghan citizens.

According to Grandič, organisers of illegal migrations usually already have a criminal record, while there are different reasons why people decide to transport illegal migrants, he explained. "They can be either people at the bottom of the social ladder, jobless, addicts, younger people who see an opportunity to earn a quick buck ..."

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