Politics
STA, 17 March 2021 - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee was to set up a friendship group with Taiwan today. But its chair Monika Gregorčič of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) decided not to rush things. She said "a comparative study" on the matter would be commissioned before proceeding with the plan.
The committee has discussed the friendship group with Taiwan in previous terms, but the parliament's legal service drew to its attention that Slovenia recognises the Chinese government as the only legitimate government in China, while Taiwan is its unalienable part, said opposition Social Democrat (SD) MP Matjaž Nemec, a former chair of the committee.
He said a decision to set up a friendship group with Taiwan would in his view mean the committee "treats Taiwan as a state, which it isn't".
Nemec stressed the proposal to set up this group raised the important question of Slovenia's attitude towards both Taiwan and China.
He thus asked Foreign Minister Anže Logar whether setting up such a group with Taiwan, with which Slovenia has good relations, would affect its relations with China.
Logar assessed Slovenia's relations with China as good while its stance on relations with Taiwan remains unchanged.
"Slovenia and the rest of the world act in the direction of one China, which in terms of Taiwan means renouncing official ties but not economic and cultural cooperation."
He said several EU countries had business representations in Taiwan to advocate their economic interests, while some parliaments have groups of friendship with it.
As for Slovenia's good relations with China, Logar also said that soon after assuming office, he had talked over the phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek had recently attended a 17+1 summit between Central and East European countries and China.
However, "with China we have a distinctly unbalanced bilateral trade in goods where we mostly import while we export little, which is not optimal from the aspect of exports".
Following the debate, the committee's chair Gregorčič decided to postpone the vote on the establishment of the friendship group.
"We don't want to act hastily and we'll commission a comparative study to make sure ... that all legal norms are respected," she announced.
Jožef Horvat, an MP for the coalition New Slovenia (NSi), inquired whether MEP Tanja Fajon's (S&D/SD) statements about democracy and media freedom in Serbia being at risk affected Slovenia's relations with Serbia.
Horvat believes the statements by Fajon, who chairs the European Parliament delegation for relations with Serbia, upset Serbian politics while he would like Slovenia to have good relations with the country.
Logar said Fajon did not express "heavy positions" only on Serbia in the European Parliament but also on Slovenia, saying this did not contribute to Slovenia's good reputation.
"If Tanja Fajon were foreign minister, this would have a very detrimental impact on relations with Serbia," said Logar, assuring the MPs he himself had very good relations with Serbian government representatives.
Logar said he would like to see those who represent Slovenia in the international arena to act in its best interest. If they are on "some other mission", then they should refrain from harming Slovenia's good reputation, he added.
Gregorčič meanwhile asked Logar about his visit to Ukraine yesterday.
He said Ukraine was a relatively large market which was developing very fast and had until recently been neglected "for one simple reason - because the foreign policy in the past was directed towards a country slightly more to the east and forgot to weave cultural and economic ties with Ukraine".
He believes there is great potential to increase economic cooperation. He said the Ukraine representatives would thus like to see a direct air route between Kiev and Ljubljana to be promptly introduced.
STA, 16 March 2021 - A poll conducted by Valicon shows that Slovenians trust the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine for Covid-19 the most among all coronavirus vaccines, followed by Johnson & Johnson. The share of Slovenians who intend to get vaccinated was up by one percentage points to 56%.
In the pollster's survey carried out between 4 and 7 March among 506 adults, these two vaccines are followed by Moderna and AstraZeneca in terms of the respondent's confidence.
Valicon noted that the poll had been conducted before vaccination with AstraZeneca was suspended in some European countries, including yesterday in Slovenia.
The Russian vaccine Sputnik and Chinese vaccines are on the bottom of the list, with 16% of surveyed Slovenians trusting the former and only 5% trusting the latter.
Around a third of the respondents do not trust either of the vaccines, while 56% of the respondents said they would get vaccinated, which is one percentage point more than in the previous Valicon survey.
STA, 16 March 2021 - Slovenia has ordered 90% of the vaccines it is entitled to in the first and second quarter of the year on a pro rata basis. In December, it did not put in an order for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine during a second round of joint EU purchasing, show figures from the EU's vaccination steering board.
This would suggest Slovenia does not have as much vaccine as it would be entitled to because in December, when an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was available under the first contract with the company, it did not place an order. Only Slovakia and Bulgaria made the same decision back then, according to these figures.
Slovenia ordered 80% of the Pfizer/BioNTech of the vaccine it was eligible for on a pro rata basis, a share that is not among the lowest in the EU. Slovakia for example ordered 56% of its share, and Croatia and Bulgaria 46%.
Unofficial information from well placed sources in Brussels suggests price may have played a role, since the Pfizer/BioNTech is more expensive.
On the other hand, Slovenia ordered 100% of its pro rata share of the Moderna Vaccine, 102.6% of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 100% of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Overall, Slovenia ordered almost 1.9 million vaccines for the first and second quarter, according to the figures by the steering board, which features representatives of all member states.
Prime Minister Janez Janša responded to the news on Twitter saying that if Slovenia had not ordered an additional million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine after he provisionally took over as health minister, its vaccination rate would now be on a par with Bulgaria and Croatia, which have some of the lowest vaccination rates according to publicly available figures.
"Before, they ordered mostly #AstraZeneca," he tweeted.
Janša took over the health portfolio on 18 December after the resignation of Tomaž Gantar and was acting as health minister until Janez Poklukar was appointed in late February.
Minister Poklukar, speaking to journalists via videolink after meeting his EU counterparts, said he did not have detailed information about Slovenia's vaccine orders.
He said, however, that doubts remained about the distribution of vaccines, adding that the key thing at this point was a sufficient supply of vaccines in accordance with the contracts with manufacturers.
The Health Ministry additionally noted that, in the first phase, Slovenia had fully utilised the possibility to purchase Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on a pro rata basis.
In the autumn, it did not opt for an additional order, as it had been expected that AstraZeneca vaccine would be approved before that. Decision was made to order all possible quantities after the leadership at the ministry changed.
Slovenia has thus secured 936,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine from the first contract and 912,000 from the contract on the first additional quantity. It still waits for a new contract for an additional 410,700 doses, the ministry said.
"Slovenia has thus utilised all contractual possibilities, but not all optional possibilities for the two mentioned producers. The same is true for Moderna, the order of which is awaiting final confirmation."
The ministry added that Slovenia was also interested in all doses of vaccines that other countries would not want to have.
The figures come after six prime ministers, including Janša, held a meeting in Vienna today to call for a "correction mechanism" to fix what they called the unfair distribution of coronavirus vaccines within the bloc.
The European Commission has said the pro rata system was the underlying principle, but member states may agree otherwise, with some getting less and others getting more than their pro rata share.
STA, 15 March 2021 - Slovenia has decided to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine pending a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Health Minister Janez Poklukar said Monday the Slovenian expert group for vaccines had not found reasonable grounds to stop using the jab.
Nevertheless, as a matter of precaution it is proposed that vaccination be suspended.
All those scheduled to receive the vaccine in the coming days will be rescheduled, whereas vaccination with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will continue as planned, he said.
The decision comes after several European countries, including Germany, France and Italy, have decided to halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine amidst reports of blood clots.
This is despite evidence that blood clots are no more likely among those that have received the vaccine than among the general population.
The EMA has announced a special meeting for Thursday to decide on further actions over the AstraZeneca jab, according to media reports, even as it stressed that the benefits of the jab outweighed the risks..
STA, 15 March 2021 - As part of its preliminary procedure, the corruption watchdog has established there were no corruption risks or breaches of the integrity law when Interior Minister Aleš Hojs bought a piece of land on the Slovenian coast in July 2020.
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption said in Monday's statement that based on the preliminary procedure, the case will not be further processed.
The commission launched the procedure late last year after receiving a report of suspicion of irregularities in the Koper municipality's sale of a piece of land.
It then obtained explanations and documents from the municipality and the Slovenian Institute of Auditors, checked the sale procedure and talked with the appraiser of the land, only to conclude that no breaches within its purview could be established.
It did however detect "certain risks", so it recommended to the municipality to ask appraisers to clearly state in their reports whether the price as appraised includes VAT or not.
Hojs's purchase was problematised last September by Mladina weekly, which alleged he had bought it cheaply because Mayor of Koper Boris Popović was his acquaintance.
It said the city of Koper had decided to sell a building plot which could not be even accessed by road, arguing that had it serviced it before selling it, it could have asked more than EUR 300 per square metre for it rather than just EUR 67.5.
At the April 2017 auction, the land was bought by Rjeckon, a company owned by Russian citizen Marat Idrisov, as the only bidder at the asking price of EUR 262,920 (VAT excluded).
Soon afterwards, the city started serving it with a road and a sewage system, while Idrisov divided it into smaller pieces and sold it on to four buyers, two of whom were Hojs and Popovič.
Hojs bought his 882 square metre piece of land for EUR 75,910 (EUR 86 per square metre), while the price could have been almost 3.5 times higher, said Mladina.
At the time, Hojs told the left-leaning magazine he had reported the purchase to the corruption watchdog. He also denied Popovič had helped him get hold of the land.
The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 12 March 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here
Mladina: Four liberal centrist parties should merge
STA, 12 March 2021 - Mladina says in its latest commentary that a new party would perhaps not be able to beat the ruling Democrats (SDS) in the next election and proposes instead that a party that would merge the existing four liberal centrist parties might be the answer. But this also opens up a series of questions.
The left-leaning weekly notes under the headline New Old Party that establishing a completely new party that would bet on its purity means recruitment of political novices who have never performed this complex profession.
This is what economist Jože P. Damijan, who initiated the informal Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL), is aware of. He knows that a party that bears a person's name is able to "seriously dance for one election only."
Mladina also argues that voters have grown tired of the concept of new, "pure parties", and that, if someone other than the Social Democrats (SD) and Left wanted to seriously challenge the SDS, they would need to offer much more than 88 candidate names.
"Standing on the other side is the SDS party machine, which has a strong people and media network, and a lot of money. In 2022 (if the election is held on the scheduled date), this machine will be even stronger."
This calls for an attempt for a merger of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and perhaps the Modern Centre Party (SMC), but this, of course, opens up many questions.
"Are Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarec ready to withdraw from party president posts and find a shared, powerful party leader? Is the SMC able to make a turnaround before the election and give up on the current leadership?
"Is DeSUS capable of realising that they may survive only with the merger? Are all of them together capable of finding a leader, a serious independent person?"
The four weak parties would become a strong force, and voters are actually looking for a liberal conservative political party. All these parties are advocating similar economic and political viewpoints anyway, Mladina says.
The SD and Left would also breathe more easily if liberals became what they actually are, and perhaps the moment is right. It seems that everybody in that part of the political spectrum started realising that there is not much time left.
Demokracija: EU should focus on vaccines, not Slovenian media
STA, 11 March 2021 - Demokracija says in its latest commentary that instead of dealing with vaccination, the field in which it has utterly failed, the European Commission is "saving democracy and freedom of the press" in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. It adds that the final goal is elimination of the natural reality.
"The EU has failed an exam again. This is logical, as its priorities are elsewhere (well, the virus is not going anywhere): saving democracy and freedom of the press in Poland and Hungary and, as of recently, in Slovenia."
Under the headline Treasonous Elites, the right-wing weekly adds that displaying Slovenia as an "oasis of evil" is not a mirage, as the drive of the progressive MEPs (with help from media "experts") is a result of pure malice.
It argues that the purpose of this propaganda is to demonise the centre-right Slovenian government by means of manipulation and lies that have been circulated for years by the "independent" media.
According to Demokracija, the final objective is elimination of the natural reality, with the Slovenian, Hungarian and Polish prime ministers being the last ones who stand in the way.
"The Brussels elites want to replace it with a new world without roots. The price of globalisation is identity suicide, and elimination of sovereignty of individual countries is just a stage in the implementation of the sick objectives of the corrupt international bandits. This game is really dangerous."
The analysts who criticise the Slovenian government's attitude to the media are merely "useful idiots" who in the name of democracy, freedom and humanism participate in the destruction of everything that is traditional, the commentary concludes.
All our posts in this series are here
What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
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FRIDAY, 5 March
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group held a virtual public discussion on media freedom in Slovenia featuring representatives from Slovenia and the European Commission. Group members expressed concern about the situation and their expectations for the Commission to take action. Before the debate, a European Parliament policy department service compiled an in-depth document on the situation in Slovenia.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - President Borut Pahor announced a donation of 4,800 Covid-19 vaccine shots to be delivered to the country next week, as he visited the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Its chairman Milorad Dodik said Slovenia had again showed its solidarity with and support for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
LJUBLJANA - Data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) obtained by the media showed that one out of three positive rapid antigen tests have been proved false through the more reliable PCR tests after 13 February.
VATICAN CITY, Vatican - Pope Francis appointed priest of the Maribor Archdiocese Maksimilijan Matjaž as the new Celje bishop. Succeeding Stanislav Lipovšek, who stepped down in 2018 after turning 75, Matjaž has so far been a professor of Biblical studies at the Ljubljana Faculty of Theology.
ROME, Italy - The Italian Agriculture Ministry addressed a letter to the European Commission opposing Slovenia's draft regulation on the quality of vinegar and acetic acid dilute, which also defines balsamic vinegar. The countries have until 3 June to provide any additional explanations.
KOPER - The Italian Union, an association of the Italian ethnic minority in Slovenia, urged the government to reconsider imposing new border restrictions in a bid to prevent the import of new coronavirus variants, warning of the impact the step would have on cross-border cooperation.
LJUBLJANA - Banks and savings banks in Slovenia received until the end of February a total of 28,485 applications under the government's scheme that enables borrowers to request a deferral of loan payments. More than 85% of the applications have been approved, with total exposure amounting to EUR 2.6 billion, the central bank said.
LJUBLJANA - The insurance group Sava said it had generated EUR 674.9 million in operating revenue in 2020, up 15.5% compared to 2019, while net profit increased by 12.3% to EUR 56.4 million, according to the unaudited results.
LJUBLJANA - SKB Banka posted a net profit of EUR 34.85 million last year, down 35.6% compared to 2019, in what is largely a consequence of the Covid-19 epidemic that affected all areas of operation of the banking group.
PORTOROŽ - Spa operator Terme Čatež confirmed that it had sold Marina Portorož but would not disclose the buyer. The media said the buyer came from Japan and the price was below EUR 15 million.
SATURDAY, 6 March
WASHINGTON, US - The US Department of State told the STA it was monitoring threats against journalists and the integrity of public media in Slovenia closely. Freedom of the press is a fundamental principal of democracy, and the US is looking forward to continuing to partner with Slovenia to promote the open exchange of ideas, it said.
LJUBLJANA - Police Commissioner Anton Olaj told the newspaper Delo there were indications some police investigations had been politically motivated. He noted that the success of criminal procedure depended most on prosecution. He agrees with the opposition's demand to set up a parliamentary inquiry into alleged political pressure on the police.
TORUN, Poland - Tina Šutej won silver in the women's pole vault at the European Athletics Indoor Championship, jumping over 4.70 metres to match her best season result. It was the first medal for Slovenia in twelve years at European indoor championships.
ZREČE - Slovenia's veteran snowboarder Žan Košir won the Snowboard World Cup parallel giant slalom event only days after a disappointing performance by the home favourite at the World Championships at the same venue.
SUNDAY, 7 March
LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry, the Government Communication Office and the National Institute of Public Health said they were preparing a Covid-19 vaccination promotion campaign for specific target groups. A website on the vaccination is being set up and a campaign on social networks will be held under the hashtag "CepimoSe" (Let's get vaccinated).
LJUBLJANA - The latest public opinion poll commissioned by commercial broadcaster Nova24TV showed the senior coalition Democrats (SDS) enjoying 19% support, followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD) with 12.1%.
MONDAY, 8 March
LJUBLJANA - After cases of the UK, South Africa and Nigeria variants of coronavirus were confirmed in Slovenia, a variant first detected in Brazil was confirmed as well. "The variant has been detected in the Maribor area, for the time being in three persons within a family with a negative epidemiological anamnesis," government's chief Covid-19 adviser Mateja Logar said.
LJUBLJANA - Secondary school students in years 1-3 joined their final-year peers as secondary schools fully reopened under model C, meaning half of the class will be in school for a week while the other half will continue learning from home.
LJUBLJANA - Bars and restaurants in two eastern regions, Posavje and South-east Slovenia, started serving food and drinks outdoor. Guests are served outdoors between 6am and 7pm and they have to leave the establishment by 7:30pm.
LJUBLJANA - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan held a conference call with Molly Montgomery, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of State. The officials discussed preparations for Slovenia's EU presidency in the second half of the year.
LJUBLJANA - Only one contractor has submitted a bid for a second part of the planned Koper-Divača rail section, 2TDK, the state-run company managing the project announced, as a consortium led by Slovenian Kolektor CPG valued the works on the Črni Kal-Koper section at EUR 224.75 million, excluding VAT.
LJUBLJANA - Senior officials called for continued efforts to improve gender equality on International Women's Day, praising women's contribution to the battle against Covid-19. President Borut Pahor noted uncompleted efforts for equality and expressed his "special gratitude for the women's priceless contribution in coping with the Covid-19 epidemic".
LJUBLJANA - A hospitality bill that has recently been sent into public consultation brings stricter rules for leasing flats and houses to tourists on platform such as Airbnb. Service providers will have to get registered, have an ID number, and obtain certain permits.
LJUBLJANA - Tatjana Mlakar was appointed by parliament the new director general of the ZZZS public health insurer for a four-year term. She succeeds Marjan Sušelj, who has led ZZZS as acting head after his term expired on 2 March.
TUESDAY, 9 March
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša called on STA director Bojan Veselinovič to step down. "It is time for the director as a political tool of the extreme left to step down and take responsibility for his unlawful actions," Janša tweeted. The STA turned to the prime minister's office for explanation about which unlawful actions Janša was referring to, but the office would not comment. The Trade Union of Slovenian Journalists denounced Janša's call as unlawful interference in the STA's autonomy.
LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs rejected claims that protests in Slovenia were banned or that he was interfering in police work. He also told the STA in an interview that the gap between the European Commission and Slovenia's views on migration solidarity remained wide, and did not expect Slovenia could ensure much progress on it during its EU presidency.
LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar talked with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum over the telephone about ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries. They called for boosting political dialogue and economic cooperation and touched on regional issues, in particular the latest developments in Libya and the Sahel region.
LJUBLJANA - The Government Strategic Council for De-bureaucratisation drew up a bill envisaging a cap on social security contributions, electronic sending of administrative mail and a registry of regulations. The bill would also increase powers of state secretaries. The ZSSS trade unions voiced concern about reduced legal safety and called for social dialogue.
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Environment Committee adopted amendments to the water act changes under which hazardous substances could be used under certain condition by production facilities located in water protection areas. The opposition warned of harmful effects for water sources.
LJUBLJANA - The government said it was launching a free-of-charge testing campaign near border crossings with Italy. Rapid antigen testing is available for commuters, students being schooled across the border and owners of property across the border.
WEDNESDAY, 10 March
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova pointed to continuous attempts to undermine the sustainable funding and the independence of the STA at an European Parliament debate on media freedom. Slovenian MEPs of the centre-right EPP Romana Tomc (SDS) and Franc Bogovič (SLS) rejected allegations about the Slovenian government exerting pressure on Slovenian media.
SLOVENJ GRADEC - President Borut Pahor said he wished Slovenia were not the subject of debates in the European Parliament, in particular when it comes to freedom of the media. He said media freedom was "foundational to democratic life".
LJUBLJANA - Karl Erjavec stepped down as president of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), saying it was no longer the party he led for 15 years. Until a new full-fledged leader is elected, the party will be headed by Anton Balažek, one of the two vice-presidents. Erjavec recently took a corporate job at telecoms equipment maker Iskratel, where he will advise the CEO on expansion to foreign markets.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government extended the majority of coronavirus restrictions by another week as it prolonged the state of the epidemic by another 30 days as part of its weekly review of measures. The one relaxation the government opted for is allowing all construction services to reopen as of 15 March without the need for workers to be tested.
LJUBLJANA - Supervisors of Telekom Slovenije appointed a new management board headed by CEO Cvetko Sršen, who comes to Telekom from postal operator Pošta Slovenije. He will be joined by another long-time Telekom employee Mitja Štular, and Tomaž Jontes, who has been with Telekom since 2002.
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Justice Committee endorsed amendments to the act on the state prosecution that lay down the selection criteria for Slovenia's two members of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, amidst complaints by the opposition that the required level of knowledge of English was an unnecessary condition.
LJUBLJANA - Kolektor CPG, which submitted the lowest bid for main works on the first section of the Koper-Divača rail track, was picked as the winner over a consortium led by Austria's Strabag. Kolektor CPG offered to build the Divača-Črni Kal section for EUR 403.6 million, almost EUR 60 million less than Strabag.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's energy group HSE and its subsidiary TEŠ reached a EUR 261 million out-of-court settlement with the US group General Electric as legal successor to French Alstom over the infamous TEŠ6 generator project, the cost of which has ballooned to EUR 1.4 billion amid allegations of corruption.
CELJE - Chemical company Cinkarna Celje saw its net profit drop by 12% last year to EUR 18.95 million as revenue remained broadly flat with the year before at EUR 172.4 million, despite a drop in sale prices of titanium dioxide pigment, its main product.
RIJEKA, Croatia - Chess player Laura Unuk became the first Slovenian woman to win the International Master title awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE, the second highest-ranking title in chess. Unuk won the title by bagging a victory at the chess tournament Mediterranean Flowers.
LJUBLJANA - Vladimir Kukavica said he would step down as the director of the Foundation for Funding Disability and Humanitarian Organisations (FIHO) on 30 April, citing a lack of transparency at FIHO and some council members acting against the foundation's interests. The development comes after an unfavourable report from the anti-graft commission.
THURSDAY, 11 March
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia saw its average daily increase in coronavirus infections over the past seven days drop to 705 after another 860 people tested positive on Wednesday, 10 March. The situation in hospitals improved further with 453 Covid-19 patients hospitalised. However, officials expressed concern in view of the spread of the new, highly-virulent variants as an additional 155 cases of the UK strain had been confirmed in Slovenia in the past week.
LJUBLJANA - Spanish FM Arancha Gonzalez Laya pledged her country's support for Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council in the second half of the year as she met her counterpart Anže Logar as part of an official visit. The pair also talked about resilience of the EU and migrations, which are among the presidency's priorities.
MARIBOR - The newspaper Delo reported that the Maribor Higher Court had dismissed a damages claim by the ruling Democrats (SDS) against the state over the Patria defence corruption trial a second time in a retrial. The court told the paper the judgement had become final on 5 January. The SDS claimed over EUR 886,000 in pecuniary damages.
ORMOŽ - The Italian group Safilo announced it would close its eyewear production plant in Slovenia in June to adjust production capacities to meet changing demand. A total of 557 workers will lose jobs. The development took both trade unions and the municipality of Ormož by surprise and came after Safilo closed two plants in Italy.
LJUBLJANA - The new, 27-km railway line between the port of Koper and the Divača hub will cost EUR 1.126 billion, or 6.8% less than initially estimated, 2TDK, the state-owned company managing the country's largest infrastructure project, announced after it has updated the investment programmed from January 2019, when its price tag was EUR 1.194 billion.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia Sovereign Holding (SSH), the manager of state assets, published a letter of intent for the takeover of spa operator Terme Olimija, in what is yet another step in the plan to create the State Hospitality Fund.
LJUBLJANA - The government endorsed the appointment of Tomaž Ivešić as the new director of the Study Centre for National Reconciliation, following the resignation of Andreja Valič Zver, who had led the centre since its inception in 2008. Ivešić was appointed for a five-year term starting on 1 April.
LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Damjan Žugelj acting director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention. He will take over on 15 March from Ivan Kopina, who resigned earlier this month after serving as acting director for nearly a year.
KOPER - The logistics group Intereuropa saw its sales revenue drop by 6% year-on-year to EUR 150.7m in 2020, while net profit was down by 15% to EUR 3.6 million, shows the unaudited annual report.
CANTERBURY, UK - Media reported that a court in the English town of Canterbury had sentenced at the end of February a Slovenian lorry driver caught smuggling drugs last April to 15 years in prison. A 50-year-old man was reportedly arrested in Dover after 81 kilos of cocaine and three kilos of heroin were found in his truck.
STA, 11 March 2021 - A new shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Slovenia on Thursday, containing 14,400 shots, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) told the STA. However, in the next couple of weeks, 100,000 doses fewer than planned will be supplied, the NIJZ added.
Initially, more than 153,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were expected this month but the NIJZ said today that together with the shots already supplied, the country would have received 45,860 doses this month, which means that fewer than 10,000 shots are expected in the next couple of weeks.
Several EU countries have meanwhile temporarily suspended vaccination with AstraZeneca as a precaution after reports of problems with blood clots following vaccination.
Asked whether Slovenia may also temporary stop using the vaccine, the NIJZ told the STA today that a vaccination task force must first decide on this and then report to the health minister.
NIJZ head Milan Krek told the press earlier in the day that a special commission comprised of experts was checking reports of any possible complications at the national level and reported of its findings to the European Medicines Agency.
When the Austrian commission reviews the reports of complications, it will be clear whether they were related to the vaccination. "Until then this is merely an assumption," he said.
The SVIZ trade union of teachers meanwhile insists that given worrying news from certain countries there should be an official statement on AstraZeneca safety. The vaccine is intended to be used for vaccination among school staff, which started this week, in line with the national inoculation strategy.
The trade union said it had received many inquiries by concerned members after media reported on health complications allegedly caused by AstraZeneca.
SVIZ hence called on the NIJZ to take a stand on the matter immediately. If there are any doubts regarding the vaccine's safety, SVIZ proposes a rethink on potential suspension of vaccination with AstraZeneca among school workers.
After Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the rollout of the vaccine due to safety concerns, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said today that risk of blood clots in vaccinated people was no higher than in the general population.
In Slovenia, all complications processed by the relevant commission so far have turned out not to be related to Covid-19 vaccination.
STA, 11 March 2021 - The Maribor Higher Court has dismissed a damages claim by the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) against the state over the Patria defence corruption trial a second time in a retrial, in a judgement that has become final, the newspaper Delo reported on Thursday.
The party claimed over EUR 886,000 in pecuniary damages and interest because its leader, incumbent PM Janez Janša, was sentenced to prison ahead of the 2014 general election over a 2006 defence procurement deal. His and co-defendants' convictions were overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2015.
The party argued it sustained irreparable damage through the conviction, alleging that "unlawful conduct" by the judiciary in the Patria case impacted on the party's results in the general elections in 2011 and 2014 as the events related to the trial coincided with the election campaign and elections. Janša was ordered to report in prison shortly before the snap election in 2014.
However, the Maribor Higher Court dismissed the claim again telling Delo that the judgement had become final on 5 January and enforceable on 25 February.
The Supreme Court ordered a retrial in the case last year when it annulled the Higher Court's decision to uphold the May 2018 decision by the Ljubljana District Court to dismiss the claim on the grounds that the plaintiff failed to prove unlawful conduct by judges in the trial.
The Supreme Court held that the second-instance court had failed to provide sufficient explanation why it thought the plaintiff had failed to disprove the District Court's judgement that court actions in the Patria case were in agreement with the standards in "corruption" cases valid at the time.
Janša also claims EUR 900,000 in damages himself from the state, a former prosecutor and four judges involved in the Patria case. His claim has been moved by the Supreme Court from the district court in Celje to the one in Kranj, where Delo was told a decision in the case was not to be expected soon.
Meanwhile, co-defendants have already reached settlements with the state on their claims for wrongful imprisonment.
More on the Patria case
STA, 10 March 2021 - Addressing the EU Parliament plenary on Wednesday, EU Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova pointed to continuous attempts to undermine the sustainable funding and the independence of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). She also noted that frequent verbal attacks against journalists in the country were cause for concern.
She listed these issues as "examples of worrying trends" that took place in recent months.
"The Commission has been in contact with the national authorities and continues to monitor the situation. And let me assure you that the Commission does not hesitate to act when there are issues of the compliance of national laws or decisions with EU rules," she told the session dedicated to a debate on media freedom in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.
Jourova noted that media were not merely an economic sector, but "an important pillar of democracy and the rule of law", highlighting the role media freedom and pluralism played in upholding democracy.
She said that both concepts were also included in the Commission's annual rule of law report.
The report analysed the situation in all EU countries, including Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, she said, adding that problems and concerns were made very clear. The next report is expected in July.
"Each rule of law report is preceded by fact-finding visits in all EU countries, discussions with national authorities and a wide range of stakeholders," said Jourova in what might be a reference to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša's invitation to the Commission to appoint a fact-finding mission to visit Slovenia to see the relevant situation for itself.
She also said that supporting the work of media was more important than ever given Covid-19 and an economic crisis in the sector "that started well before the pandemic", noting that there should be no political pressure on media at all regardless of the situation.
"Strong leaders are those that gain respect through their actions, that accept diversity of opinions and that allow citizens to be duly informed, not those that try to silence critical voices. In democracy, independent media should do their work and ask questions without fear or favour. Our job, as politicians, is to answer with facts, not with attacks."
Jourova also mentioned two initiatives by the Commission that will be unveiled this year: a recommendation to EU member states to improve the safety of journalists and an initiative on tackling abusive litigation. She said that "very often threats and groundless lawsuits are used to silence free media".
She acknowledged that the Commission's competences regarding media were limited though, urging efforts to determine how to "widen and strengthen the toolbox that the Commission has, from financial support, to regulation and enforcement actions".
"We will play our role. But governments also need to fulfil their obligations to ensure that media freedom is safeguarded and to enable a healthy environment for media pluralism," she said.
Several MEPs of S&D, Renew and the Greens voiced concern today over the situation of Slovenian media, particularly the STA, warning about the danger of the EU's inaction.
MEPs of the centre-right EPP did not mention Slovenia in their addresses for the most part, however Slovenian MEPs of this political group Romana Tomc (EPP/SDS) and Franc Bogovič (EPP/SLS) rejected allegations about the Slovenian government exerting pressure on Slovenian media.
Tomc reiterated Janša's invitation addressed to the Commission, highlighting that the Slovenian opposition was using today's discussion to undermine the government yet again. According to her, the government does not restrict anyone and is not abolishing the STA.
Bogovič described today's discussion as "a successful export of political bickering of Slovenian socialists and liberals into the European Parliament" that is misleading and harmful to Slovenia ahead of its EU Council presidency.
He said that media ownership issues in Slovenia were indeed real and related to the country's past, however most of the Slovenian media owners were part of the "leftist agenda".
On the other hand, Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) listed the financial draining of the STA, attempts to put pressure on STA director Bojan Veselinovič and the case of Janša calling two critical journalists washed-up prostitutes as reasons for concern, adding that press freedom and democracy were at risk.
Irena Joveva (Renew/LMŠ) said that Slovenia was not Hungary or Poland, but was heading in that direction, noting that the EU could not afford another member in the illiberal club.
She was primarily critical of Janša and what she sees as his attempts to subjugate public media, most notably the STA, as well as the head-in-the-sand policy of his partners. Joveva told Jourova that words alone were not enough.
Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew/D66), head of the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, which held a discussion on the situation of Slovenian media last Friday, said that verbal attacks on journalists were not harmless and could even lead to murder, as seen "in Malta and Slovakia where the murders were preceded by endless verbal attacks by political leaders".
"I'm very worried to see now that in the Slovenian government they are taking on the same habits of attacking journalists and that not only has a chilling effect on the freedom of media and freedom of expression but it actually gives people almost literally a licence to kill, it adds to a climate of hatred."
She expressed hope that the Commission will make sure that such practices do not run off track as they have in Hungary and Poland, "where we can say that the media are no longer free and therefore they [the countries] are no longer complete democracies".
Wrapping up the debate, Jourova said that the EU should step up its efforts and be very vigilant across the bloc when it comes to a potential turn-off of democratic safeguards, including media freedom and an independent justice system.
Due to quite visible alarming trends, this marks the first time "the Commission is devoting so much effort and energy to the media sector". Jourova is considering new stepped-up measures and tools to protect media freedom.
STA, 10 March 2021 - Karl Erjavec, the leader of the Pensioners' Party (Demokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije – DeSUS), announced on Wednesday he was stepping down as president. He is no longer a member of the party either, saying that this was no longer the party he led for 15 years.
The resignation marks the end of a short-lived return, Erjavec having been ousted as party leader by Aleksandra Pivec in early 2020, only to return towards the end of the year after Pivec became embroiled in an ethics scandal.
"You know I was urged to return as president last year... I took on the task mainly to consolidate the party, to salvage it. But the latest events have shown that the party is so split it cannot be salvaged," Erjavec said today.
The statement comes after a session of the party's council, which was supposed to debate the future course of DeSUS after Erjavec spearheaded a failed bid to unseat Prime Minister Janez Janša.
Speculation had been rife that he may call it quits, in particular after it was revealed he had taken a corporate job at telecoms equipment maker Iskratel, where he will advise the CEO on expansion to foreign markets.
Erjavec has had problems in particular with his deputy group, a portion of which refused to back the motion of no confidence in the Janša government.
"There was no courage among the four MPs to back me up and clearly say they support their party president for prime-minister designate," Erjavec said.
He also suggested some MPs had ulterior motives. "Some appear to be more interested in posts than the future of the party," he said in reference to committee seats some MPs may lose now that the party is in the opposition.
After the failed vote, some MPs wanted to align themselves with the government even though DeSUS left the governing coalition in December. It was eventually decided the party would play a constructive role in the opposition, a decision affirmed by the council today.
Until a new fully-fledged leadership is elected, the party will be headed by Anton Balažek, one of the two vice-presidents.
Balažek, who was backed in a 23:13 vote, said he would try to find points of common interest that would strengthen the party, and to avoid unnecessary conflict.
In line with the party's rules of procedure, the new leadership will be elected within a year.
