STA, 31 May - Slovenia's EU presidency will try to achieve progress in negotiations on legislation under the framework of the asylum and migrations pact. Strengthening the Schengen zone and security are also high on the list of priorities.

Slovenia wants to make headway on the proposed regulation on the EU asylum agency, which would strengthen the mandate of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

Reform of asylum and migration policy is considered one of the most difficult issues in the bloc, as member states have spent years trying to reach a consensus, having widely differing views in particular on the relocation of migrants, mandatory quotas and mandatory solidarity.

Some believe abandoning the package approach would pave the way for a consensus on certain segments of the pact.

The Slovenian Interior Ministry says that on certain issues member states are sticking to their positions, which hampers progress. "This is why a lot of consideration and patience will be required to reach compromises and a convergence of positions."

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said after a meeting between EU interior ministers and their peers from several African countries in Lisbon in mid-May that a major portion of the pact could be adopted separately during this term of the European Commission.

But mandatory solidarity, "which some see in the relocation of migrants" will "not come to pass," he said in reference to firm negotiating positions of some Mediterranean member states in particular.

Slovenia supports solidarity and does not oppose relocation as one of the measures of "flexible solidarity," but it says this may not involve the regular distribution of migrants, it should be an emergency measure extended only to persons entitled to international protection.

Relocation numbers must be proportionate to country size, GDP, the migration pressure it is subjected to, and its absorption capacity, the Interior Ministry says.

"In our understanding, flexibility means that a member state may replace solidarity with a different measure."

Another issue that is likely to be on the Slovenian presidency's agenda is the external dimension of migrations and efforts to forge partnerships with third countries.

In Lisbon, Minister Hojs said bilateral agreements between individual EU and African countries were a more realistic possibility.

The ministry says the onus is on the Commission and the External Action Service. "We expect a proposal on the formation of mutual partnerships with third countries that will contribute to the common management of migrations and effective returns."

As part of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, Slovenia will attempt to make headway regarding migrations in Western Balkans at a ministerial meeting in June, whereby certain activities planned to be under way during its six-month stint would be wrapped up at an EU-Western Balkans ministerial forum in December.

Slovenia's presidency comes at a time when appeals for the normal functioning of the Schengen zone and the reopening of internal borders are growing louder as the Covid-19 pandemic abates.

The Interior Ministry says debate about the normal functioning of Schengen is expected, but specific legislative proposals by the Commission are not expected before autumn.

"During the presidency we'll continue with debates about the future Schengen strategy, but in June we only expect a Commission proposal on changes to the Schengen evaluation mechanism."

As for the Schengen zone - Croatia has stepped up efforts to put its membership of the Schengen zone on the Council's agenda during Slovenia's presidency - Slovenia is in favour of an expansion of the passport-free zone.

Prime Minister Janez Janša said last week after talks with European Parliament President David Sassoli that Slovenia supported the Schengen zone membership of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, which he said would strengthen security in the region.

And security is one of the overarching priorities of Slovenia's presidency, in particular regional security in Western Balkans.

Since security in the region affects security in Slovenia and the entire EU, Minister Hojs said efforts would be made to strengthen police cooperation and the exchange of information between the EU and countries in the region, in particular with respect to the investigation and prevention of sexual abuses of children, and on missing persons.

STA, 30 May 2021 - Slovenian President Borut Pahor and his German and Portuguese counterparts, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, highlighted the importance of Europe's unity and the European idea as they held a meeting in Slovenia on Sunday. 

The European idea is "the best thing that has happened on the European continent," Pahor told the press, adding that it needed to be nurtured.

"Slovenia is a pro-European country that wedded its creation thirty years ago to the ideas of democracy and Europe. This must guide us when we are at the helm of the 27," he said about the country's upcoming EU presidency.

As the world emerges from the Covid-19 epidemic and life returns to normal, coronavirus will not be the only topic of debate, other issues of concern for the future of Europeans will be too, he said.

Pahor singled out the Conference on the Future of Europe, green and digital policies, the enlargement process, and the EU's role on the global stage.

PRS: “Srečanje treh predsednikov, ki so zelo privrženi evropski ideji.” pic.twitter.com/iy6G1lp10F

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) May 30, 2021

The Portuguese president mentioned digitalisation, youths and the EU's role in the world as the coming challenges.

Portugal, which is the current presiding country, will hand over these tasks to Slovenia in July, he said, convinced that the Slovenian presidency will be important for Europe and the world.

He stressed that during Germany and Portugal's presidency, several significant steps had been made towards unity in the EU, including the post-pandemic recovery package, improvements in health, and agreement on the green digital certificate.

Steinmeier singled out the financial package, saying it had been adopted only because certain countries made a step back. If the EU has succeeded in achieving that, it will also successfully tackle future challenges.

He said it was not just funding that was important, the commitment to the European idea was as well. This will allow the EU to emerge from the crisis stronger.

Steinmeier recalled how in the past member states would often have different positions. But there is a framework that allows them to find a common solution.

Germany, Portugal and Slovenia form the currently presiding trio of countries.

De Sousa remains in Slovenia until Tuesday, as he continues with an official visit.

STA, 30 May 2021 - President Borut Pahor said Slovenia was not in a political crisis, it was just in the midst of "heightened political uncertainty", as he addressed reporters after a meeting with his German and Portuguese counterparts on Sunday.

There is enough maturity and experience in Slovenian politics that the country may preside the Council of the EU at a level that fulfils the high expectations of all 27 member states, he said.

"My view of the role of politics in these circumstances is that I cooperate with the government, which is appointed by the National Assembly, and of course to cooperate with the National Assembly in the same scope."

If the state of heightened political uncertainty lasts longer and even deepens, Pahor said it would be all the more important to "be aware of our shared responsibility - notwithstanding the political differences among us - that we are responsible not just for our own development but also for running the Council of the EU."

Pahor hopes the sense of responsibility stemming from the fact that as the presiding country Slovenia steers some of the principal debates and resolutions about the EU's common future will prevail. He plans to work towards that as president.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 28 May 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: MPs must listen to the people's protests

STA, 28 May 2021 - The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest editorial that Slovenia has never had such prolonged and massive protests against the government, and that it is the members of parliament who should acknowledge the increasing discontent among the people.

Under the headline People in Front of the Parliament, Mladina says that the prolonged anti-government protests in the last year have been the largest in Slovenia's history.

"Protests are no joke - when major protests start, authorities have to respond very wisely and proportionately. But Janez Janša is enraged by the protests because the protesters are telling him what he finds so hard to accept: that he is not a good leader, but a divisive and poor prime minister. You cannot run a country like that, it is not acceptable in modern democracies," reads the editorial.

Mladina adds that "Janša is trying to demotivate protesters with fines. In order to crush protests, he has turned the Slovenian police into a violent force over the past year, to the detriment of their reputation."

The weekly also notes that "the level of violence demonstrated by the police in the last year in the name of the Janša government has never been seen in Slovenia under communism or in the past thirty years."

The protests first started at the end of April 2020 and another rally is scheduled for this Friday, with five of the largest trade unions associations endorsing the protests this week.

At the very time when the protests are scheduled on Friday, the National Assembly will hold an extraordinary sitting as the MPs are to vote on the dismissal of the speaker, Igor Zorčič.

According to Mladina, the goal of the protesters is clear: "rallying in Republic Square in front of the National Assembly and conveying a clear message to the MPs sitting inside."

"We wish to say that the members of parliament have a duty to listen to the people. And if the people are making it so clear that they want early elections, it is the duty of the MPs to face up to that and realise that [...] they must act in the interest of respecting the foundations of this country - so as not to damage them with their actions," concludes the editorial.

Demokracija: Growing number of potential terrorists

STA, 27 May 2021 - Demokracija says in its latest commentary about last Friday's anti-government protest that "the usual criminals were now joined by potential terrorists in their fight against the government". And by potential terrorists it means the supporters of Islam.

"It is unbelievable how many Palestinians are suddenly in Slovenia," adds the right-leaning weekly in the editorial headlined Don't Fear Bad Words from Bad People.

"It is now clear that Hamas is no Palestinian resistance movement, but a killing machine that wants complete domination of Islam, which is being quickly exported also into Europe."

The commentary expresses concern that one day, "the terrorist organisations will order these people to pull out their AK-47s and start shooting in our homeland."

It also points a finger to activists, such as artist Jaša Jenull, rapper Zlatko, youth trade union president Tea Jarc and Branimir Štrukelj of the KSJS public sector trade union confederation, who would call this "eradication of fascism, which is like a phantom that they see ever too often."

The paper concludes that those whose opinion is even slightly different from theirs is then publicly condemned and blemished with the help of the mainstream media.

Demokracija thus calls out to the like-minded people not to be afraid and to stand strong in their beliefs.

All our posts in this series are here

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.

STA, 28 May 2021 - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Ljubljana on Friday protesting against the government's actions and calling for an early election. The rally included various groups and movements and was supported by trade unions and part of the opposition. PM Janez Janša said spreading Covid-19 with unregistered mass rallies was a crime.

A mass of protesters first filled Prešeren Square and then marched in the streets of the capital. The initial plan was to arrive in Republic Square in front of the parliament, but the police rerouted the unregistered rally, so the protesters gathered at an intersection of Celovška, Tivolska, Bleiweisova and Gosposvetska streets, where speeches were delivered and musical performances staged.

In pictures: Tens of thousands Slovenians protest in capital Ljubljana to demand resignation of conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa in the biggest protest the country has seen in years pic.twitter.com/9a67cLHwZq

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) May 28, 2021

Representatives of the country's main trade union associations, the Friday bicycle protest movement, NGOs and people from the academic and cultural circles addressed the rally to criticise what they see as problematic measures and laws by the government, highlight a lack of social dialogue and stress the need for an early election.

Lidija Jerkič, the head of the ZSSS confederation, and Branimir Štrukelj, the head of the KSJS association of public sector trade unions, said they had to participate in the protests because social dialogue had been extinguished by the government. Štrukelj also said the KSJS rejected repression against the media, expressing solidarity with the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

Oto Luthar, the head of the ZRC SAZU research centre, warned that freedom, democracy, the legal system as well as solidarity were at risk. Tea Jarc, the head of the Mladi Plus youth trade union, noted that the resistance was not emerging only in Ljubljana but across Slovenia. She thinks Janša is afraid of the Slovenian people because he is aware of low public support for his government and the fact that he no longer has the majority in parliament.

The protest has been dubbed Pan-Slovenian Uprising for Early Election by the bicycle protesters, who said ahead of the rally that Slovenia's reputation was tarnished every day. The movement believes that a great majority of Slovenians is unhappy with the government's work and the state of democracy in the country.

Some of the opposition parties have announced their support for the protest with the Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ) and the Left announcing they would join in. The Left has also protested over a police panel that has been erected around Republic Square.

The SocDems said it was best to be silent today and listen to the people. The party also supported the protests, urging for peaceful demonstrations. The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) said it supported peaceful protests, noting that today's rally should remain the protest of civil society.

Coalition New Slovenia (NSi) MP Iva Dimic was meanwhile critical of the parties' involvement in the protest, saying that the political parties' arena for expressing opinions was parliament and not the streets. She added that peaceful protests were part of the democracy.

The police presence was boosted during the rally and movement in the vicinity of government and parliament buildings restricted. The area was placed under video surveillance. The Health Inspectorate joined the police in enforcing coronavirus restrictions and measures.

Ahead of the rally, the protest movement called for peaceful demonstrations and urged the police to allow the protesters to exercise their rights to peaceful assembly and protest without using excessive force.

Amnesty International Slovenia and the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy monitored the protests to detect any potential violations of these rights. Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina visited the Ljubljana police operational-communications centre to review the police work at the protests. His office added that if need be, he would also visit the detention centre.

Accusing police of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators at the protest a week ago, the protest movement had filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution and called on Svetina to look into alleged violations, which the police had denied.

The Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS) visited the SOVA intelligence agency and General Police Administration today to make sure that the police and SOVA are acting in line with their competences when it comes to protests, said the commission's chair Matjaž Nemec of the opposition SocDems.

Janša meanwhile said on Twitter that spreading Covid-19 with mass unregistered gatherings was a crime as there were more than 300 infections confirmed a day and the protest was held in a region with the third worst Covid status in the country.

He added that freedom of expression and the right to assembly were constitutional rights, however they could be restricted by law under the constitution. He also took a jab at the centre-left opposition, saying they could have waited for a month longer to protest at the end of the epidemic, but instead they were jeopardising a return to normal.

STA, 28 May 2021 - Large anti-government protests are planned in Ljubljana on Friday after a series of groups and movements, including trade unions and opposition parties, have announced they will join in.

The rally was first announced by the movement behind Friday's bicycle protests a week ago when they issued an ultimatum to the government to resign or face a mass "uprising" to push for a snap election.

The country's five main trade union associations were among those who have announced they will take part, which they say is in protest at the government violating social dialogue.

Attendance has also been announced by students, pensioners, people from the academic and cultural circles, musicians, artists, environmental NGOs and marginalised groups.

The centre-left opposition parties LMŠ, Social Democrats and the Left are also planning to join in after their motion to impeach PM Janez Janša was voted down in parliament earlier this week.

Announcing the rally a week ago, the bicycle protesters said it would be bigger than the one staged on 27 April, which by police estimates was attended some 10,000 people.

The rally has not been registered, so security will be provided by police, who urged the public to follow their orders.

Police Inspector Boštjan Skrbinšek Javornik has said movement in the vicinity of government and parliament building will be restricted and the area will be under video surveillance.

Health inspectors will join the police in enforcing coronavirus restrictions and measures.

The protest movement accused police of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators at the protest a week ago when anti-government demonstrations merged with a pro-Palestinian rally.

The movement filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution and called on the human rights ombudsman to look into alleged violations, including police targeting particular protesters, which the police has denied.

STA, 27 May 2021 - Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič has handed her resignation, the Justice Ministry confirmed for the STA. The reason is the government's decision to annul the procedure to appoint Slovenia's two European delegated prosecutors and to publish a new call for applications, which Kozlovič sees no justified grounds for.

European chief prosecutor concerned over govt decision

STA, 27 May 2021 - European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi has reacted to the government's decision to annual the procedure to appoint Slovenia's two European delegated prosecutors by saying the Slovenian authorities' lack of sincere cooperation seriously undermines the trust in the effective functioning of the management and control systems for EU funds in Slovenia.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) can start operations without Slovenian European delegated prosecutors, Kövesi said, adding: "But this means the level of protection of the financial interests of the EU will decrease in Slovenia.

"You cannot efficiently investigate all the suspicions of fraud without European delegated prosecutors," she said, adding that the delegated prosecutors in Slovenia should be considered as a key instance in the overall architecture ensuring proper and complete supervision of bodies responsible for the management and control of EU funds.

"The manifest lack of sincere cooperation of the Slovenian authorities with the EPPO seriously undermines the trust in the effective functioning of the management and control systems for EU funds in Slovenia," Kövesi said.

The EPPO has been created to improve the level of protection of the financial interests of the EU. "We haven't been set up to allow anyone to put cases in a drawer," said Kövesi.

The government today decided to start the procedure for the appointment of European delegated prosecutors from scratch after the two candidates put forward by the Prosecution Council months ago, Matej Ošir and Tanja Frank Eler, had been waiting to get the go-ahead from the government.

Unofficially, they were deemed unsuitable by Prime Minister Janez Janša and his Democratic Party (SDS).

The decision to annul the procedure prompted Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič to resign.

The EPPO will become operational on 1 June. Aside from Finland, Slovenia is the only other of the countries participating in the office that has not put forward its delegated prosecutors despite repeated calls by the European Commission to do.

Meanwhile, five EU countries (Denmark, Ireland, Hungary, Poland and Sweden) have opted against participating in the EPPO.

Janša noted the fact that not all EU members are involved in his response to Kövesi's comments. "Hence there is no such control in Sweden and Denmark. Both of these and three other countries do not even participate in this instrument," Janša tweeted.

"European prosecution is a voluntary agreement by 22 countries. Every country can also withdraw from it," Janša said on his Twitter profile, adding: "Given a few more similar political comments, and it will be 6/27," meaning another country will join the five not participating in the EPPO.

STA, 26 May 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša survived an impeachment vote in parliament on Wednesday as 42 deputies voted in favour and 44 against after nearly ten hours of debate. A 46-vote majority would have been required to impeach him.

The voting record shows the coalition parties as well as the National Party (SNS), two MPs of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and both minority MPs voted against the impeachment, which had been expected from the debate.

The impeachment motion was sponsored by the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), Left and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), who accused Janša of violating several articles of the Constitution and laws pertaining to healthcare, media, prosecution and human and constitutional rights.

They said the government co-opted the management of the Covid-19 epidemic and failed to order Slovenia's share of Covid-19 vaccines in full, and exerted pressure on the media, including the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), and the prosecution.

Jani Möderndorfer (LMŠ) said that as interim health minister Janša failed to get Slovenia to buy its full share of Covid-19 vaccines, and as prime minister was responsible for the government failing in its legal obligation to finance the STA for its public service, and in the obligation to get formally acquainted with the names of candidates for European delegated prosecutors.

"He acts against the laws and constitution, and international instruments which Slovenia - like it or not - has committed to respecting," said Möderndorfer, describing Janša's conduct as "arbitrary, authoritarian, harmful and dangerous" and "in ridicule of democracy and his own country and people".

He said the reason for Janša's unlawful and unconstitutional conduct was his personal war on everything that was independent and autonomous in any democratic country. The media were his first target and the STA the easiest of them.

Speaking for the SocDems, Bojana Muršič said Slovenia was being ruled by an authoritarian government which had no regard for laws, the Constitution, let alone people in pursuing its goals. "Blatant violations have come to become an everyday practice."

"We have a clique in power who will dare do anything and all the others have been subjected for a year to completely arbitrary attempts to delegate laws, norms, decrees and even punishments," said Luka Mesec, the leader of the Left, blaming not only Janša but all those in parliament who allowed him to do what he did.

Similarly, Maša Kociper from the SAB talked about Slovenia sinking into an autocracy and a second republic. The prime minister "is systematically abolishing our political and democratic order, helped by the coalition and its sidekicks, who either don't see it or won't see it because they are intoxicated with power".

Janša dismissed the claims in general terms saying the impeachment motion contained "so many absurd things that it does not make sense to answer all of them, and it does not make sense to quarrel about that".

Slovenia was not in for a disaster as claimed by the opposition, but very optimistic times, he said. "We can see a year of recovery ahead of us that will be faster than the average for EU member states and that will take Slovenia back to pre-crisis levels in record time."

He said that, given the situation, it could be expected that the state of epidemic, in force until mid-June, would be suspended thereafter and that Slovenia could enter a transitional period when a majority of measures would be eliminated as Slovenia reaches the required level of vaccination by the summer.

He blamed the 4,000-plus Covid-19 deaths on the previous government failing to prepare for the epidemic.

As for the media, he claimed EUR 400 million had been invested in Slovenian hospitals in the last ten years, while more than a billion had been invested in the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija and the STA in the same period.

The figure probably referred to the licence fee for RTV Slovenija, which is not paid by the state but by taxpayers, and the public service fee for the STA, which has amounted to roughly 22 million euro over ten years.

A short history of impeachment in Slovenia

STA, 26 May 2021 - Several NGOs have warned that police identified and fined mostly foreigners ahead of and during last week's protests in Ljubljana, which they see as inadmissible ethical profiling. The Human Rights Ombudsman is investigating the matter.

The Slovenian Philanthropy, Amnesty International Slovenia and the Peace Institute stressed the right to protest, in particular for the Palestinian community in Slovenia, which they said was violated last Friday.

"The European Court of Human Rights says the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental right in a democratic society and just like the freedom of expression it is one of the foundations of such a society.

"But rather than honouring this right the Slovenian police tried to physically remove peaceful protesters ... and issued a number of fines," the NGOs wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

They said that fines had been issued to people with "different traumatic and tragic stories", who have come a long way to reach safety, who have seen their relatives, friends, acquaintances injured or killed, and whose homes have been destroyed.

The NGOs called on police to stop persecuting and physically harassing protesters.

The latest weekly cycling protest, held last Friday in Ljubljana city centre, coincided with an event staged by a movement for the Slovenian Palestinian community with many of the protesters carrying Palestinian flags.

At the event, Palestinians shared their stories, calling for freedom for Palestine and condemning actions by Israel as "genocide". They also protested against the Israeli flag being raised on the Slovenian government building.

Access to the government building was blocked by the police. There were also pushing and altercation between the protesters and the police and two protesters were apprehended to be identified and later released.