STA, 23 February 2021 - Slovenia is working with member states whose nationals must pay higher fees for UK work visas to end this discrimination, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan said on Tuesday.

Member states which are discriminated against raised this issue at Tuesday's meeting of Europe ministers. "There is of course solidarity between member states to go ahead with the ambition to end this discrimination," he said.

Dovžan would not speculate on the reasons for the difference in fees beyond saying that the issue concerns which version of the social charter which member state ratified; Slovenia ratified the latest version.

He noted that the exit agreement as well as the agreement on future relations determines bodies competent to address such issues. These fora will be used if this issue is not resolved otherwise.

After the UK left the EU, nationals of Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia are not entitled to a 55-pound discount on work visa fees that other EU nationals are eligible for.

Slovenian MEPs have recently said the EU must insist on equal treatment of all EU nationals.

STA, 22 February 2021 - A predominantly Slovenian group of landowners in San Dorligo della Valle/Dolina municipality in Italy has reclaimed ownership of large tracts of lands under a landmark judgement recently handed down by an Italian court, a development seen as creating significant economic opportunities.

Based on new documents dated to the early 20th century, the Dolina "srenja", a kind of self-governing community of landowners, managed to reverse a 1931 court verdict under which the land had been made public property, the Trieste-based Primorski Dnevnik reports.

The srenja managed to prove that they were the rightful owners of the land, and not the municipality. The judgement affects 88 plots of land stretching over 233 hectares, some of it in the picturesque Glinščica Valley.

Over the years some of the land has been repurposed for infrastructure such as roads, which is why the srenja and the municipal authorities will now determine which of the plots will be assigned to the municipality and which will be left over for the landowners.

The two largest organisations representing the Slovenian minority in Italy, the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Union (SKGZ) and the Council of Slovenian Organisations (SSO) welcomed the decision in a joint statement.

They said it "opens a new chapter and has potentially positive effects" as the land may now be used for farming, forestry and tourism.

"But more than that, it returns the land to the original owners [...] who will now be able to manage it to the benefit of the home community."

STA, 22 February 2021 - The Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) has noted that the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia is stagnating in terms of the number of positive tests, with the basic reproduction number standing at around one. It projects that the next, yellow phase of restrictions easing could be reached in mid-May.

One of the criteria for the yellow phase is fewer than 500 patients in hospitals which, given the current trends, the country's prime research institute says could happen this Saturday.

Another criterion is the daily average of newly-confirmed infections in the last seven days below 600. Under the current basic reproduction number, this is to be reached on 13 May.

In the yellow phase, school reopens for all secondary school and university students, student dorms reopen, all remaining services reopen and the 9pm-6am curfew is lifted in the entire country (optionally only for some regions).

The green phase if when the seven-day average of infections drops below 300, as this is the number when epidemiologists will be able to effectively trace contacts to further facilitate the reduction in the number of infections in the general population.

In that phase, all restrictions are lifted for the entire country, while general hygienic measures remain in place, while night clubs and discotheques remain closed.

The IJS also said on Monday that the new, more virulent strain of the novel coronavirus could become dominant at the end of April and the curve could turn upwards again.

The estimated doubling time for the new strain in the current conditions is around 10 days, but uncertainty of this estimate is high, the institute said.

The latest data on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 22 February 2021 - Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew) has invited PM Janez Janša to Brussels to take part in a discussion on the media in Slovenia that is expected to take place in March, public broadcaster TV Slovenija reported on Monday.

The MEP is the chair of the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group within the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Last week, after Janša accused Politico's journalist Lili Bayer of lying in her story about the media in Slovenia, the MEP said she believed there was sufficient ground for the group to start monitoring the situation in the country.

In 't Veld said today that the invitation to the joint discussion had also been sent to Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti, Government Communication Office (UKOM) director Uroš Urbanija, RTV Slovenija director general Igor Kadunc and to Ilinka Todorovski as RTV Slovenija's viewers and listeners' ombudsman.

"As we did with other countries, Malta, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Belgium, we will of course invite the prime minister, ministers and other relevant representatives to present their views to us. For us it's not important whether they belong to the right or left. Important are facts, discussions, so that we know what is going on," she said.

Earlier in the day, Janša was called on by the leaders of both junior government coalition partners, New Slovenia (NSi) and Modern Centre Party (SMC), to invite an EU mission to Slovenia to investigate the state of freedom of the press.

NSi leader and Defence Minister Matej Tonin said on Twitter European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova would learn the most about freedom of the press in Slovenia if she deployed a "fact-finding mission" to the country. His call was joined by SMC leader and Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 18 February 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: SMC and DeSUS MPs like Nazi collaborators

STA, 19 February 2021 - The left-wing magazine Mladina compares the Modern Centre Party (SMC) and DeSUS MPs following their decision not to vote out the Janez Janša government to Nazi collaborators in the editorial headlined We're All Lili Bayer.

Noting the vote and Janša's attack on the author of a Politico article about Janša's campaign against Slovenian media, the weekly writes that by supporting the government in Monday's vote the SMC assumed full responsibility for his and the government's actions.

It accuses the party of being "involved in the demolition of the rule of law, of putting up with political blockade of prosecutor appointments and actively supporting the government's interference in the media" through its representative who was appointed to head RTV Slovenija.

"Janša's attack on the journalist Lili Bayer has not gone unnoticed. Janša has now got their support and he feels strong [...] The SMC has thus assumed full responsibility for demolition of the Slovenian cultural space, Janša's attacks on media and the rule of law, for violence against citizens on the streets [...]. After Janša's attack on Lili Bayer no one in Europe no longer needs to be explained this government's attitude to the media."

The weekly asserts that like collaborators throughout Europe hoped ardently until the very last that the Nazi Germany would not lose the war, so are the SMC and DeSUS hoping that the economy would do well and people would forget and the government would not lose the election.

However, Mladina does not expect this will happen asserting that "the candies" they are distributing are ineffective.

It repeats that Slovenia's coronavirus record is one of the poorest in Europe, which it says is also because unlike elsewhere in Europe, Slovenia does not have border checks to prevent the import of coronavirus, while people are being fined for expressing their political views in front of the parliament building.

"It would be hard to find a more obvious proof that a large part of the ostensibly anti-epidemic measures is but an abuse of the epidemic for political purposes," something the paper says is also subject of questions from representatives of EU countries and institutions, who it says are worried that a man who attacked Bayer in such a crude way should represent the EU in the second half of the year.

Demokracija: Left's actions taking Slovenia to dark place

STA, 18 February 2021 - Monday's vote of no-confidence was yet another hallucination of the leftist parties, proving that they only know how to create the unnecessary, the right-wing Demokacija magazine says on Thursday. The proposal to oust the Janez Janša government was "completely superfluous" and a result of the left's obsession with and hate of Janša.

The left has not been successful at anything even if leftist activists and the entire mainstream media have provided it with more fuel than a Boeing 747 could take.

"That's why it ended as it did: with their 'ace' Karl Erjavec and a destructive parliamentary farce, Marjan Šarec, Luka Mesec, Tanja Fajon and Alenka Bratušek have turned into an exhibition item of a failed show," the right-wing weekly says under the headline Exhibition Item of Failed Show.

Although nobody denies the leftist opposition the right to file one no-confidence motion after another, it is hard to persuade it it is wrong.

Infatuated with its own truth, it does not acknowledge reality, including that the KUL coalition was never even close to the magic 46 votes needed to topple the centre-right government.

Demokracija believes Monday's vote was just one in a series of destructive acts that are to follow, including street violence by self-styled civil society activists.

"Dear leaders of the left opposition, you are full of talk about democracy and freedom, constantly stressing dialogue, often saying you want to talk. But do you?"

The leader of the centre-right government coalition has invited you to cooperation on a number of occasions, but you have turned him down with a policy of exclusion."

The weekly wonders with whom the left would be willing to talk. It says having two ideologically different sides is good, or else we would have closed-mindedness.

It accuses the left of demonising conservativism because it is bothered by views different than its own.

"Your demonisation of everything that might smell of conservativism shamefully assumes that some are less human, that they do not have the right to be different, that they must never come to power even if they have won the election."

It thus blames the left for death calls appearing in the streets and on social media, and on the facades of churches and of the homes of "wrong" MPs, as well as for "peaceful" protesters going wild and for the spread of the coronavirus.

The magazine says it is high time for the left opposition to stop being mean. "Continuing what you do can take Slovenia to a very dark place."

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 19 February 2021 - Sergej Racman, a businessman suspected of masterminding a sex trafficking operation in a case known as Marina, has pleaded not guilty to charges of exploitation through prostitution.

The not-guilty plea was made at the Koper District Court on Friday, as Racman was put in the dock more than a year after his fellow suspects appeared before the court, having been on the run in Canada before he was extradited three months ago.

The prosecution claims Racman and his fellow defendants organised a massive prostitution ring at the Marina club in rural western Slovenia, using the proceeds to finance a number of businesses.

Over five years more than 400 women are believed to have been exploited for prostitution, with police estimating almost 150,000 men had visited the club during this period.

Proceeds of crime from the operation are estimated at EUR 21 million.

"Sergej Racman is charged with having committed a criminal act of abuse of prostitution as part of a criminal gang, for which a prison sentence of between one and twelve years is envisaged," prosecutor Maja Veber Šajn said.

She proposed to the court to take a repeated decision on the evidence that had been excluded from the file during the court appearances of the fellow suspects on the proposal of defence.

Racman's attorney Martina Žaucar Hrovatin opposed this and proposed that additional evidence be excluded, including evidence collected with covert police operations.

Mitja Jelenič, Racman's another legal representative, proposed that all alleged prostitutes in the case be heard and added that "we assess that this case just bursts with unlawfulness in the phase of evidence collection".

The trial date has not been set yet.

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, 12 February
        LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša nominated Janez Poklukar, the director of Slovenia's largest hospital UKC Ljubljana, for health minister. He described Poklukar as a good candidate with a "guaranteed comfortable majority to be elected." Poklukar received the go-ahead from the parliamentary Health Committee on 17 February.
        LJUBLJANA - European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič urged Slovenia to make the best use of the funds available as part of the EU mechanism for recovery and resilience. He said it should use the assistance of European Commission's experts services.
        LJUBLJANA - The central bank extended until the end of September a requirement that banks may not pay out dividends. However, if a bank posts profit in the first quarter of 2021, it will be able to pay out up to 15% of profit generated in 2019 and 2020, or 0.2% of common equity tier 1 capital, whichever is lower.
        LJUBLJANA - Two failed bidders challenges the selection of Slovakia's Skytoll for an e-tolling system for cars. The complaints were received by DARS. If they are rejected, the National Review Commission, where public tender disputes are ultimately resolved, will weigh in.
        LJUBLJANA - Data for 2020 show a drop in revenue and expenditure for business entities in Slovenia, according to a report by the AJPES agency for legal records. For legal entities, revenue dropped by 10.6% over the year before to EUR 299.8 billion and data for sole proprietors show a drop of nearly 20% to EUR 8.3 billion.
        LJUBLJANA - The STA staff made a public appeal to lawmakers and party leaders, expressing concern after an amendment was passed by a parliamentary committee under which the agency would be folded into the emerging National Demographic Fund.
        LJUBLJANA - Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar and the team that won silver at the 2004 European Men's Handball Championships were honoured for their international achievements as the Bloudek Prizes, Slovenia's top sports awards, were handed out in a virtual ceremony.

SATURDAY, 13 February
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia scrapped checkpoints on its borders with Austria, Croatia and Hungary starting allowing those who have recovered from Covid-19 or have been vaccinated to enter the country without having to quarantine or provide a negative coronavirus test.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia started to re-test all positive rapid antigen tests with the more reliable PCR tests for coronavirus. The decision comes after clusters of positive rapid antigen test results emerged amid weekly swabbing of school and kindergarten staff at several locations across the country only to be later overturned by PCR tests.
        PREDDVOR - Two avalanches were triggered in the area of Mt Storžič (2,132 metres) in the western part of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps mountain range on Saturday, burying four climbers. Three died at the scene and one sustained severe injuries, in the worst mountain accident in years.
        
SUNDAY, 14 February
        LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša congratulated Mario Draghi on becoming the new prime minister of Italy. "I am looking forward to further strengthening our good neighbourly relations and cooperation in many areas, both regionally, in Europe and globally".
        LJUBLJANA - Nevenka Koprivšek, a major player on the Slovenian scene of performing arts, died suddenly at the age of 61. In 1989 she became the first woman artistic director of Glej, an alternative Ljubljana theatre group, and she is credited with opening it up to international audiences. In 1997, she founded Bunker and she was also the director of the Young Lions festival.

MONDAY, 15 February
        LJUBLJANA - The Janez Janša government survived a motion of no confidence as only 40 MP voted in favour in a secret ballot, six too few. The motion was filed by five centre-left opposition parties, which nominated Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Karl Erjavec for prime minister.
        LJUBLJANA - The government unveiled a preliminary proposal for the overhaul of the public sector pay system. The sector is to be split into two groups. The first would include departments and organisations solely dependent on the budget, which would be subjected to centrally-led system. The second group would include those also funded by other sources, which would get more leeway in setting pay.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian army announced it would spend nearly EUR 8.5 million on new equipment, including underwear, boots, uniforms, backpacks and sleeping bags, in the next two years. The objective is to get new, more functional and lighter equipment.

TUESDAY, 16 February
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed legislation that redraws the boundaries of multiple electoral districts in compliance with a 2018 Constitutional Court decision. Another amendment simplifies the election of the MPs for the Hungarian and Italian minorities with the introduction of a first-past-the-post system.
        BRUSSELS - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said Slovenia was in constant touch with the European Commission in drafting its recovery plan and would meet the deadline. He said he would like to see as little red tape as possible while declining to announce when the plan will be in Brussels, saying that "this is not a competition."
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks saw their cumulative after-tax profit decline by 15.1% to EUR 450.3 million in 2020. Pre-tax profit fell by a fifth to EUR 472 million, but would have more than halved were it not for the one-off impact of the merger of Abanka and NKBM, a report by the central bank showed.
        LJUBLJANA - Urška Klakočar Zupančič, a Ljubljana Local Court judge who has lost her post after criticising Prime Minister Janez Janša in a closed Facebook group is suing Vinko Gorenak, the state secretary in the prime minister's office, who had found about the post and published it.
        LJUBLJANA - The Administrative Court has thrown out a lawsuit by the State Attorney's Office against the state over a decision by the Interior Ministry to overrule the Maribor Administrative Unit and allow a concert by Marko Perković - Thompson, a Croatian singer accused of glorifying the fascist Ustasha movement.
        LJUBLJANA - Actress Mia Skrbinac, who has publicly accused her drama teacher of sexually harassing her while she was a student, has officially filed a sexual harassment complaint to the University of Ljubljana. The alleged harasser is Matjaž Tribušon, a 58-year-old award-winning film and theatre actor.
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court annulled provisions in decrees that allowed three municipalities to issue local newsletters in which political parties and lists represented on municipal councils were able to be advertised cost free. The motion for constitutional review was initiated by the Court of Audit.

WEDNESDAY, 17 February
        BRUSSELS, Belgium- Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (D66/Renew) said there was sufficient grounds for the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, which she heads, to start monitoring the situation in Slovenia. The decision on such fact finding would have to be taken in the European Parliament.
        LJUBLJANA - Four orthopaedic surgeons and a sales representative were sentenced to jail terms ranging from ten months to three years in what was the largest healthcare corruption trial in Slovenia. The Ljubljana District Court also imposed fines, while three of the doctors will also have their unlawfully gained assets seized.
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government conducted its weekly review of coronavirus restrictions and except for some minor changes, the existing rules associated with the orange tier were extended at last until 26 February.
        LJUBLJANA - Collection of 5,000 voter signatures in support of an only-yes-means-yes rape law got under way. The law to redefine rape and sexual violence to use affirmative consent standard is being proposed by the NGO Inštitut 8. Marec, which has 60 days to collect the needed signatures.
        LJUBLJANA - DaiBau, which runs portals in multiple countries where investors can link up with building contractors, has received fresh funding from the German chemical company Henkel. Henkel made the seven-figure investment, whose exact value has not been disclosed, via its subsidiary Adhesive Technologies.
        NEW YORK, US - Slovenian NBA player Luka Dončić and sport climber Janja Garnbret have made US magazine TIME's list of 100 rising stars for 2021, Time 100 Next. The 21-year-olds are featured in the Phenoms category of rising stars in sports.

THURSDAY, 18 February
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Defence Minister Matej Tonin endorsed the proposal for a reform of NATO presented by the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. It means member states have not only rights but also obligations, he said, adding that it was a new way of fair burden sharing and marked the beginning of the end of free riding.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Slovenian authorities have not withdrawn notification of state aid to the STA even though the European Commission has said its clearance is not necessary. If Slovenia insists it wants a decision, the case will be processed as a matter of priority, a Commission spokeswoman said.
        LJUBLJANA - The latest sequencing of coronavirus samples conducted by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine suggests the highly virulent UK variant is slowly spreading in Slovenia. However, the mutations still appear in a small percentage of samples.
        LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed Boris Novak as one of the four non-executive directors of the Bank Assets Management Company. Novak said the government had the right to appoint or dismiss directors and he respected its decision.
        LJUBLJANA - House searches were conducted around Slovenia as part of an investigation of an EU-funded tourism project that was brought to the attention of police by the Economy Ministry after media reports that contributions by several authors may have been fraudulent. Fourteen persons and one legal entity are suspected of fraud involving EU funds and of abuse of office.
        LJUBLJANA - NLB, Slovenia's largest bank, posted a group net profit of EUR 269 million for 2020, more than a third higher than the year before, largely due to the effects of the acquisition of Serbian bank Komercijalna Banka. Without the one-off effect, net profit would have stood at EUR 141.3 million, exceeding forecasts.
        LJUBLJANA - Two business chambers called on the government to extent the scheme under which they may request a deferral of loan payments. The central bank said this measure had "served its purpose" and was not sustainable in the long term.
        RASNOV, Romania - Nika Križnar, Slovenian's best female ski jumper this winter, won a World Cup event in Rasnov, Romania in what is the second World Cup victory in her career. She is now also in the lead in overall rankings.

STA, 18 February 2021 - The opposition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) has tabled a bill that would legalise the growing of medical marijuana, a step it says would improve access for patients.

"We're not talking about marijuana legalisation, we want to create the legislative conditions to grow this plant for medical purposes," MP Andrej Rajh told the press on Thursday.

Under existing rules, it is permitted to use marijuana for medical purposes, but since growing is not allowed Slovenia relies on imports of mostly synthetic products.

Slovenia has a thriving underground market in medical marijuana, a substance particularly popular among chronic patients and people with cancer.

According to Rajh, the new legislation, which is modelled on Germany's 2017 law, would regulate the market and provide medical marijuana grown in a controlled way.

Borut Štrukelj of the Ljubljana Faculty of Pharmacy said there were currently two institutions in that grow medical marijuana for scientific purposes, specifically to determine which cultivars are best for different growing conditions.

"There is a lot of knowledge," he said, noting that pharmacies could make products from Slovenian-grown cannabis.

He said this would also reduce the size of the black market, create export opportunities and generate significant budget revenue.

All our stories about cannabis and Slovenia

I spoke with over a dozen journalists working for Slovenia’s public media outlets.

Many accuse Prime Minister Janša of whipping up hatred against reporters, resulting in threatening messages. Journalists say the pressure has led to self-censorship. https://t.co/Zb3jMIs00p

— Lili Bayer (@liliebayer) February 16, 2021

Well, @liliebayer was instructed not to tell the truth, so she quoted mainly “unknown” sources from the extreme left and purposely neglected sources with names and integrity. That’s @POLITICOEurope, unfortunately. Laying for living. https://t.co/AvVrI5mmn3

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) February 16, 2021

STA, 18 February 2021 - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting 29 house searches around Slovenia on Thursday as it is investigating an EU-funded tourism project, including at the home of former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec.

Fourteen persons and one legal entity are suspected of fraud involving EU funds and of abuse of office, while no-one has been detained, the NBI said.

The unlawful gain from the suspected crimes, which carry a prison sentence between one and eight years, is over EUR 100,000.

Pivec said in a written statement police had arrived at her home this morning investigating the Strategic Development Innovation Partnership Tourism (SRIPT) case.

She was invited to take part in the project in 2017 while serving as a state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad, and received EUR 35,000 gross for her contribution.

Auditors meanwhile questioned the amount of work she put in and even her copyright, but she has denied any wrongdoing on several occasions.

"Only a completed independent investigation will finally confirm that I did nothing unlawful as part of SRIPT," she said today.

The SRIPT project by the Chamber of Tourism and Hospitality was eligible for EUR 390,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.

In mid-2019, the Economy Ministry reported suspicion of fraud and forgery to the prosecution after going through co-funding contracts for the project.

But the ministry apparently did not file a criminal complaint against Pivec.

According to news portal Necenzurirano, criminal complaints were filed only against Klavdija Perger, a former director of the Tourism and Hospitality Chamber, Boštjan Brumen, the dean of the Brežice-based Faculty of Tourism, and against Maja Uran Maravič, a lecturer at the Turistica tourism school from Portorož.

SRIPT was designed to bring together different stakeholders in business and R&D, and boost investment in sustainable tourism development projects.

Pivec's job on it terminated a day before she became agriculture, forestry and food minister in September 2018.

She hopes that once the investigation is over, "the media lynching and unjustified allegations" against her, which she said appeared when she became DeSUS leader in January 2020 to remove her from the political scene, would finally end.