The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 13 November 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Criminal liability of govt over Covid-19

STA, 13 November 2020 – Mladina, the left-wing weekly, says that the puzzle showing Slovenia as a country with one of the largest Covid-19 death tolls per million people is being slowly but surely put together, and calls for criminal liability of the decision-makers in the government who the magazine believes are responsible for the situation.

Under the headline Criminal Liability, the left-leaning weekly says that the government has "consciously failed to establish a system in which those who should stay in isolation are provided with compensation for the loss of income".

A system which would solve this problem was put into the fifth coronavirus legislative package, which entered into force only on 24 October, two weeks ago and two weeks after the government had imposed a lockdown because the epidemic had got out of hand.

The media were warning the government about this already during the first wave, but they were ignored, and "today, the price of this unbelievable ignorance of the actual social situation is being paid by the entire Slovenia".

In the coming weeks, this price will be paid in the most brutal way by residents of care homes, Mladina says, criticising Minister Janez Cigler Kralj, who is in charge of social affairs, for failure to introduce regular and systematic testing of care home staff.

"Why they haven't been tested? This is an utter defeat that no other country is experiencing", and Cigler Kralj has done nothing while being nothing but a "sweet talker".

This also holds true for Education Minister Simona Kustec, as the education system has entered the second Covid-19 wave totally unprepared. Ahead of the new school year, her ministry took ineffective and illogical measures, which could simply not be realised without additional funds and staff.

"People should start thinking about criminal liability of these people, who have failed to do their jobs. They are sitting in the government," concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Education in the West undermines patriotism

STA, 12 November 2020 - The latest trend in the West is teaching children that the history of their countries is horrible, based on racism, Christianity, sexism, and homophobia so as to undermine patriotism and pave the way to multiculturalism, the right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its latest editorial.

The weekly says the "education system that is convincing children how great multiculturalism is" is even more destructive than the media that are distancing themselves from Slovenia's independence like the public broadcaster did in case of a show presenting independence efforts 30 years ago.

"The goal is to use the education system and other subsystems to undermine patriotism and create a society of some kind of artistic performance where there will be no restrictions and everyone will be equal."

This idea is appealing to young people whose personalities are not fully developed yet. They are attracted by the rule of the street, and this results in riots, hooliganism and deliberate causing of unrest, which could be seen in the capital not only last Thursday but ever since the centre-right government took over.

"Encouraged by months of incitement by the media mainstream and the left opposition, the brainwashed 'protesters' can no longer make logical conclusions themselves, which is only an introduction into something much sinister.

"This is how it all started in Europe, where now not just militant leftist groups are raging the streets but where migrants walk around killing the autochthonous population - exclusively because people such as [Slovenian SocDems leader] Tanja Fajon were on the covers and in prime time shows saying that the right response to violence and Islamic terrorism is 'solidarity and lighting of candles'.

"Such liberal and emphatic ideology is nothing but a suicide pill," Demokracija says under the headline Suicide Pill.

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.

FRIDAY, 6 November
        LJUBLJANA - In line with a declining trend that saw some disruptions in the days to follow, Slovenia's daily coronavirus tally dropped by over a hundred to 1,564 according to testing figures for 5 November. While hospitalisations and fatalities continued to increase - record highs of 1,210 and 41 respectively were reported on 12 November - government spokesman Jelko Kacin presented data indicating a turn for the better.
        LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar and his counterparts from Austria, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary met on-line as part of the informal Central 5 (C5) initiative dedicated to measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular cross-border movement of people, goods and services. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said they agreed that undisrupted cross-border business should be secured as soon as possible and that measures should be unified at the EU level.
        LJUBLJANA - The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell confirmed the appointment of Slovenian diplomat Marko Makovec as the deputy managing director for Western Europe, Western Balkans, Turkey and the UK at the European External Action Service. Foreign Minister Anže Logar described the appointment as a great accomplishment for Slovenian diplomacy.
        LJUBLJANA - Senior officials and several organisations condemned the violence that erupted at protests in Ljubljana on 5 November, leaving 15 police officers injured. The police later confirmed that officers had used rubber bullets to disperse protests in what was the first such instance since Slovenia's independence. The opposition and the groups organising the Friday protests distanced themselves from the riots. With a photojournalist also severely injured by rioters, a response also came from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), which condemned all attacks on the media to add that "Slovenian politicians are greatly contributing to the increasing hostility and hatred towards journalists".
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's SID Banka said it will contribute EUR 23 million to an investment fund that twelve Three Seas Initiative countries between the Baltic Sea, Adriatic Sea and Black Sea have set up to improve infrastructure in transport, energy and digitalisation. For Slovenia, the fund is a novelty in that projects have been so far financed mainly with debt instruments.
        LJUBLJANA - Sava Re, Slovenia's second largest insurance and reinsurance group, called off a general meeting scheduled for 16 November and consequently suspended the payment of dividends due to potential new risks stemming from its international reinsurance business.
        LJUBLJANA - The executive committee of the Slovenian Basketball Association (KSZ) appointed 42-year-old Aleksander Sekulić the new head coach of the men's national basketball team.

SATURDAY, 7 November
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor congratulated Democratic candidate Joe Biden on being elected the new president of the United States and expressed his conviction that "Slovenia and the US will remain friendly countries and firm allies."
        LJUBLJANA - Former Ambassador to US Božo Cerar assessed for the STA that the US presidential election has "finally ended the trans-Atlantic relations as we have known them for the last 50-70 years" and that "Trumpism" is very much alive and would be for a while even if Joe Biden wins. Europe will need to come to terms with this and take its destiny in its own hands, he said.
        LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry announced that all persons suspected of having contracted Covid-19 will be tested once again, which means a break with a short period of testing that focused on persons older than 60, persons with chronic diseases, with a weakened immune system and healthcare workers. The new policy was enforced on 10 November, taking the number of tests to a near record 7,515.
        LJUBLJANA - Heavy lorries will be banned from overtaking on the Slovenian A1 motorway between Šentilj (NE) and Koper (SW) in the daytime as of new year, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec announced. Overtaking will be allowed only on A1 sections with three lanes.

SUNDAY, 8 November
        LJUBLJANA - The US is a strategic partner of Slovenia, which will continue to build close friendly ties with Washington in the future, PM Janez Janša said in his latest tweet related to the US presidential election, posted a day after Joe Biden declared victory. Janša had endorsed Donald Trump, called the election in Trump's favour as votes were still being counted and continued to spread election fraud claims. Several foreign media noted that Janša had not yet congratulated Biden.
        LJUBLJANA - Some coalition members joined the criticism of PM Janez Janša's tweets related to the US election. "The prime minister's tweets are not benefiting Slovenia at the moment," Defence Minister Matej Tonin, the NSi leader, said. National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič, a member of the SMC party, called them indecent, saying the coalition would need to have a word on that.
        LJUBLJANA - The UKC Ljubljana hospital opened new premises for Covid-19 patients which currently have 56 beds, but the location may be expanded to receive up to 100 patients. The new facility was adapted on a site planned to house a new therapeutic centre in mere ten days, on encouragement by PM Janez Janša.
        MADRID, Spain - Slovenia's star cyclist Primož Roglič won the Vuelta a Espana for the second year in a row.

MONDAY, 9 November
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar urged joint approach to addressing challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, migration, climate threats and organised crime as he took part in an online ministerial of the Berlin Process. He said the challenges were common to the EU and the Western Balkans.
        LJUBLJANA - While it would approach 30% again in coronavirus testing in the following days, the positivity rate fell further to 22.49% in Sunday's testing. Government spokesman Jelko Kacin said the most encouraging piece of news was that the R0 number had fallen to 0.95.
        LJUBLJANA - Addressing an event marking the 30th anniversary of a secret meeting at which a decision was made to hold a referendum on Slovenia's independence, President Borut Pahor reiterated the need for politicians to join forces again to fight coronavirus, and PM Janez Janša said those in power must offer cooperation.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek attended an informal EU ministerial that saw the participants welcome the expected change in tone in Transatlantic relations following the US election and discuss negotiations with China about a comprehensive investment agreement. Počivalšek said Slovenia wanted to see ambitious results in terms of market access, fair competition conditions, investment protection and conflict resolution.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's goods exports dropped by 0.3% year-on-year to EUR 2.958 billion in September as imports fell by 12.1% to EUR 2.642 billion. Despite the fall, the September exports figure is the second highest in the past decade. Exports for the first nine months of 2020 declined by 3.8% on the same period and imports feel by 9.1%.
        LJUBLJANA - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj assessed the government measures to mitigate the coronavirus crisis had helped companies and people more than lowering the value added tax (VAT) would. He is not planning to propose a real estate tax in this term and said no rushed changes to taxes would be made in any case.
        LJUBLJANA - The average mark of the work of the government in the latest poll commissioned by Delo was up for the first time since April with the government getting 2.78, up from 2.63 in October. The share of respondents seeing the government's work as positive or very positive was 27% (23.6% in October). The SDS continues to top the party rankings with 19.6%, up from 18.7%. The opposition SocDems (SD) follow with 11.7% (9.3%).

TUESDAY, 10 November
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the sixth legislative package, worth around EUR 1bn, meant to alleviate the impact of the coronacrisis on businesses and residents. The principal measures include an extension of furlough subsidies, simplified access to loan guarantees and help with the funding of fixed costs. The latter is the main novelty.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar highlighted Transatlantic cooperation as one of the EU's key endeavours and one of the priorities of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU next year. Addressing an online debate hosted by the STA and the European Representation in Slovenia, Logar said Slovenia had the ambition to hold an EU-US summit attended by the US president during its presidency.
        LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša took part in a videoconference of heads of state of the Berlin Process as part of which the leaders of six Western Balkan countries signed declarations on Common Regional Market and Green Agenda. Janša said there had been open issues in the region for decades, some even for centuries. "We welcome steps forward ... But, let's be frank, effective regional cooperation and EU perspective for all depends on how we solve a big picture," he said on Twitter.
        LJUBLJANA - Karl Erjavec, the favourite for the vacant post of president of the junior coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) at the 28 November congress, held separate meetings with PM Janez Janša and Jože P. Damijan, a potential candidate for prime minister supported by a rival coalition set up by four left-leaning opposition parties.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks posted a pre-tax profit of EUR 414 million for the first nine months of 2020, down a fifth year-on-year. The drop would have been 60% were it not for the one-off impact of the merger of Abanka and NKBM, the central bank said in its monthly report, which added "the liquidity and capital position of the banking system remains good".
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's industrial output declined by 3.6% year-on-year in September. In the first nine months of the year output contracted by 7.9%. At the monthly level, output was down by 0.4%, the first monthly decline after four months of growth.
        LJUBLJANA - A team of researchers led by Jure Leskovec, the Slovenian Stanford computer scientist, has created a computer model to predict the spread of Covid-19 based on people's travel habits and movements. They published their article in the journal Nature.

WEDNESDAY, 11 November
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is once again seeing an increase in coronavirus cases in elderly care homes, Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Family and Equal Opportunities Janez Cigler Kralj said. There were 1,551 active cases among the total of 19,000 residents, and 718 active cases among nearly 12,300 members of staff. The virus has made its way into about 80% of care homes in Slovenia.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar told the Foreign Policy Committee that Slovenia's relations with the US were at the highest level so far as he rejected criticism by the opposition that PM Janez Janša's Twitter posts on the US election had jeopardised the relations.
        LJUBLJANA - A group of MPs from the four left-leaning opposition parties filed a motion to abolish electoral districts and introduce a preference vote after the current system was declared unconstitutional in 2018. In March, the same proposal was three votes short of the needed two-thirds majority, with the coalition Democrats (SDS) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) rejecting it. An attempt is under way to redraw the districts, but the opposition feels a preferential vote is the only viable option.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's future development and prosperity will depend of the country's ability to step up its productivity growth and digital transformation, stressed the annul report by the government's economic think-tank IMAD, which suggested the current trends are not encouraging.
        LJUBLJANA - More than 45% of respondents in a poll commissioned by the newspaper Delo believe the second wave of coronavirus had caught Slovenia unprepared and more than half blame the fast spread of infections on people themselves. Only 28% of those questioned believe that the country awaited the second wave prepared.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian employers appear to be upbeat about employment prospects in the first half of next year with a survey conducted by the Employment Service projecting a 1.3% growth in employment.
        LJUBLJANA - The 31st Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe) got under way, but this time in the virtual realm due to the epidemic, offering 22 feature films and a selection of shorts available as an on-demand service between 11 and 22 November.

THURSDAY, 12 November
        LJUBLJANA - The government announced a tightening of the lockdown. Measures include a complete ban on any kind of gathering, regardless of the number of persons, reduction of exemptions for the quarantine-free crossing of the border, suspension of public transportation, closure of all non-essential stores, and extension of the school closure. Measures will take effect between 13 and 16 November.
        LJUBLJANA - By 12 November, almost 51,000 coronavirus were confirmed in the country, roughly 10,000 of which in the last week. The death toll rose to 686 from 471 since 5 November, while the rolling 14-day average per 100,000 residents fell to 961 from 1,114. Government spokesman Jelko Kacin however reiterated that the situation was stabilising and the trends were favourable with the R0 now at 0.91. A total of 1,210 Covid-19 patients were in hospital, 200 of them in intensive care units.
        LJUBLJANA - The Home Affairs Committee discussed the 5 November protest at which rioters got violent against police and the press and damaged property around Ljubljana's city centre. Senior police representatives told the MPs that it had been clear from the information gathered that the protest would be violent.
        LJUBLJANA - The EU Affairs Committee labelled the European Commission-proposed new pact on migration and asylum a good basis for negotiations on the EU's joint migration policy. The committee also said that Slovenia supports a right balance between solidarity and responsibility, feeling that compulsory relocation and sponsorship of returns are not the only way to show solidarity and that solidarity should be based on the voluntary decision of a member state.
        LJUBLJANA - The Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy said the political agreement the Council and the European Parliament reached on the EU's post-coronavirus recovery package - the EUR 1.8 trillion multi-year budget and the recovery fund - was an important step in the right direction.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's imports from China saw a surge during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially due to imports of protective equipment and medical supplies. The imports of those products rose from EUR 972,000 in the first eight months of 2019 to EUR 92.9 million in the same period this year, showed a report from the Statistics Office.
        LJUBLJANA - NLB group reported EUR 104.6 million in net profit in the first nine months of 2020, 36% less than in the same period last year. The supervisory board reappointed CEO Blaž Brodnjak and the other two management board member for another five years at the helm of the bank.

STA, 13 November 2020 - The Slovenian government debated on Thursday a draft national Covid-19 vaccination programme, which will form the basis for a vaccination strategy once a vaccine is available. Health Minister Tomaž Gantar indicated Slovenia might get the first doses of the vaccine in December.

"We have the first serious prospects of being able to get the first doses of the vaccine in December," which means vaccination could start in the second half of that month, he told the press yesterday.

Gantar said the Health Ministry would have a meeting next week with Pfizer, one of the first companies likely to receive approval for the vaccine from the European Medicines Agency.

The European Union said this week it was very close to signing a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech, which have jointly developed a vaccine, for 300 million doses.

Gantar said there would not be enough shots initially for everyone in the EU, which meant each government would have to design a priority list.

"This means vaccinating high-risk groups first: nursing home residents, health workers, chronic patients and so on," he said.

The national Covid-19 vaccination programme says that Slovenia must make sure "vaccination services have sufficient resources to perform their tasks". Their main job in the initial stage will be to distribute the supplies of the vaccine.

The subsequent vaccination strategy will hinge on the available vaccines and the latest information about the vaccines.

In the afternoon, Doroteja Novak Gosarič of the Health Ministry said at the government press conference that the strategy would be ready by the end of the year at the latest. Information serving as a basis for the strategy will be available at the end of November at best, she said.

She noted that vaccination would not be mandatory but it would be free of charge for citizens.

The priority groups for vaccination and any special recommendations will be included in the strategy once the details of individual vaccines, including storage and supply chain requirements, are known.

STA, 11 November 2020 - Several stakeholders have urged the government to withdraw a provision from the sixth stimulus package bill which in effect equals university entry criteria for those who have taken only the vocational secondary school-leaving exam to the detriment of those who have taken the harder, general secondary-school leaving exam.

The National Examinations Centre, the Association of General Secondary Schools and the opposition SocDems believe it would increase discrimination of those who have passed the general matura exam and lower the level of general knowledge in society.

In Slovenia, general secondary schools, known as gymnasiums, offer broader knowledge as opposed to more specialised vocational schools, hence the fear the proposed change would result in a drop in general knowledge.

The call comes on Wednesday, a day after the government adopted the sixth stimulus bill, which is designed to help businesses and residents cope with the health crisis.

Its Article 55 changes the higher education act allowing secondary schools students who have passed the vocational matura exam to enrol, at a time of the changed epidemiological situation, in university courses regardless of which vocational secondary school they have completed.

Under the existing legislation, university courses are open to secondary school students with the general matura exam and with the vocational matura exam but from the same field in which they are enrolling.

The Education Ministry responded to the call, saying it would not insist on the changes which it said had been drawn up on recommendation by the National Agency for Quality in Higher Education (NAKVIS).

The National Examinations Centre said objective circumstances and educational standards remain the same for both groups of secondary school students during the epidemic, so there is no need to change university entry criteria, which would put secondary school students with the general matura in a discriminatory position.

Similarly, the Association of General Secondary Schools said there was no basis for putting vocational secondary school pupils in a privileged position. It noted the topic having been discussed many times before, but all expert bodies having agreed on the importance of broad general education.

It said the damaging practice of allowing vocational pupils to enrol in university courses, which violates the higher education act, had been around for some time, but the epidemic did not call for legislating past irregularities. It thus warned against reckless changes which could have irreparable consequences.

Meanwhile, SD vice-president and ex-Education Minister Jernej Pikalo said this was "an absolutely unacceptable proposal" which had nothing to do with expertise or with efforts to soften the consequences of the epidemic, while bringing the disintegration of the Slovenian educational system.

Both Pikalo and the Pergam association of trade unions said it was unacceptable to address such an important topic as part of an emergency law meant to cushion the epidemic's ramifications.

STA, 12 November 2020 - As a protest turned violent in Ljubljana last Thursday, the police used rubber bullets - typically used in riot control or to disperse protest - for the first time since the country gained independence, the Ljubljana Police Department (LPD) said in a press release on Wednesday. 

The LPD gave a news conference already a day after the violent protest, when chief Stanislav Vrečar said 15 police officers had been injured, of whom five needed medical attention. He also assessed that the use of force by police against the rioters had been proportionate.

Related: Violence Between Protesters & Police in Ljubljana (Videos)

Yesterday the police provided additional information about the use of force given that rubber bullets had been used against protesters for the first time since 1991 last week.

The LPD said the police had fired 16 gas and five rubber bullets against protesters because the crowd had not heeded the police orders to stop throwing granite pavement cubes, other dangerous objects and pyrotechnical devices into the police officers, endangering their lives and health.

It explained it had used sponge bullets, which are considered to be the safest for persons targeted. They were fired from 30-40 metres and only against those individuals who were seen throwing objects at the police officers.

The sponge bullets were fired with a shoulder-fired B&T GL06 40 mm grenade launcher, the police said, adding that available data showed they had not injured anybody.

The LPD also said that the use of rubber bullets is allowed under the same conditions as tear gas and is set down in the law on tasks and powers of the police.

STA, 11 November - The government has adopted the sixth legislative package meant to alleviate the impact of the coronacrisis on businesses and residents, extending once more the furlough scheme subsidies, measures to help liquidity and help with funding of fixed expenses. The package will be presented in more detail on Wednesday.

The government adopted the package, valued at around EUR 1 billion, late on Tuesday in a correspondence session convened immediately after the legislation was presented to the social partners at a session of the Economic and Social Council.

Most of the measures that are being extended or introduced anew will remain in force until the end of the year with the possibility of extension. Some will be in place until mid-2021 or even until the end of next year.

"By extending existing measures and putting in place some new measures in the financial segment, we want to preserve jobs and keep the economy at a level that will allow it to work with full steam when the crisis is over," Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told the press on Wednesday.

The pay subsidies for furloughed workers, which have been in place since the spring, are being extended until the end of January. No extension is foreseen after that for now, but the subsidies are to be higher than at present.

The government is also extending by six months subsidies for pay of workers working part time, a measure that has been in place since June. Pay compensation for those in quarantine and parents looking after a quarantined child are being extended until the end of June.

One of the most awaited measures in this package, and one that Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek highlighted as the key measure, is the compensation of fixed expenses to businesses whose revenue declined significantly due to the epidemic.

For the last three months of this year, companies with a revenue decline of over 70% will be eligible for compensation equalling 1.2% of their annual income per month; those whose revenue declined by between 40% and 70% will get 0.6% per month.

Overall, compensation will be capped at EUR 1,000 per employee per month or EUR 3 million total for the three-month period. For companies incorporated after 1 October 2019, the cap is EUR 800,000, said Počivalšek.

Rent will be partially or entirely waived for those renting real estate owned by the state or local communities for the period since 19 October, when the epidemic was declared, until the end of the year.

A one-year moratorium on loan repayments is also being extended until the end of the year. New loans taken out this year will also be eligible.

A measures is also being reintroduced allowing taxable persons to put off tax payments for two years or pay tax in instalments if their income was lost due to the epidemic. This was already in place during the first wave of the coronavirus and will now be in effect until the end of the year. After that the measure might get extended until mid-2021.

"This will give companies a better liquidity position," Šircelj said.

The package is also changing the conditions for the state loan guarantee scheme, introduced in May, as guarantees will be granted for liquidity loans of up to 25% of revenue generated in 2019, whereas in the past the cap was at 10% of last year's revenue.

Šircelj acknowledged the guarantee scheme had so far not been substantially used, which he thinks is mostly due to the good liquidity of the economy. "Perhaps it was not utilised to such an extent because there was no need to. Banks have performed their activities without it," he said.

Nursing homes and other social care institutions are to get compensation for drop in revenue due to vacancies caused by the epidemic until the end of next year. Public transport operators will get compensation for loss of revenue until June 2021.

Moreover, several inspectorates are to get powers to check compliance with restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and issue fines.

Under the bill, parents will not have to pay for childcare while kindergartens remain closed and students will not have to pay their dorms, which have also been shut. The bill also provides funds for free meals for poor students during remote learning and also foresees aid to farmers.

Stock companies will be able to hold shareholders meetings online, while parties and associations will be able to assemblies in correspondence form.

Employer organisations have urged the government to also suspend a scheduled increase in the minimum wage on 1 January, but this provision is not included in the legislation. Počivalšek said he has asked trade unions and employers to meet with him and find a solution to this "very sensitive issue".

Prior to the adoption of the bill, the tourism sector warned that the package does not include measures that would allow tourism companies to survive.

"According to our information only one of our proposal has been adopted and only partially at that: non-refundable aid to companies that are seeing significant losses in revenue compared to last year," the Tourism and Hospitality Service said yesterday.

The chamber cited a poll it conducted in which nearly 20% of respondents, tourism companies, expected their revenue to drop between 80% and 90% year-on-year, 8% said they expected a 70-80% drop and another 8% they expected a 60-70% drop.

The Chamber of Trade Craft and Small Business (OZS) meanwhile called on the government once again to allow small businesses, such as specialised shops, chemical cleaners, car washes, hair and beauty salons and leather and textile companies, to reopen.

Počivalšek announced that the government would start preparing new legislation within a month. "The situation is changing so rapidly that we have to adjust with new solutions on a monthly basis."

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia

STA, 9 November 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša has drawn criticism over his tweeting in response to the outcome of the US presidential election even from the ranks of his own coalition partners, while the Foreign Ministry and the country's president would not provide a comment.

"The prime minister's tweets are not benefiting Slovenia at the moment," Defence Minister Matej Tonin said for TV Slovenija last night, adding: "Time will show whether they will harm us."

Tonin, the leader of the Christian democratic coalition party New Slovenia (NSi), said he understood the prime minister might be disappointed about the outcome of the US election, but in democracy results should be accepted as they were, and the winner should be congratulated.

Unlike Janša, Tonin, one of the deputy prime ministers, has congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory, as has Slovenia's President Borut Pahor and National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič, among others.

Commenting on Janša's tweets in which he disparaged Biden and favoured Donald Trump as the winner, Zorčič told TV Slovenija: "The communication on Twitter that we've seen - that is rooting for one side, humiliating the other side, blocking advisors - isn't decent or diplomatic and doesn't contribute to the enhancing of relations with the US or any other country."

It’s pretty clear that American people have elected ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ ⁦@Mike_Pence⁩ for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations ⁦@GOP⁩ for strong results across the #US ⁦@idualliance⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/vzSwt9TBeF

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 4, 2020

In endorsing Trump ahead of the election, Janša tweeted that Biden would be "one of the weakest presidents in history" if elected, which earned him a rebuke from Michael Carpenter, Biden's foreign policy advisor. On the morning after the US election day, Janša also tweeted it was "pretty clear that American people have elected Donald Trump".

While he has not congratulated Biden, Janša has since tweeted "The US is our strategic partner. All the @govSlovenia I have led have built close, friendly relations with the US. No matter which party the US president was from. Nothing will change in the future".

Zorčič, a member of the junior coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), said the SMC understood foreign policy as an activity and an effort to further the interests of the state rather than the promotion of party interests. "I believe we'll need to have a word about that in the coalition."

The Foreign Ministry and the president's office have so far declined to comment on Janša's tweets.

Dnevnik says Janša should be ousted for US election tweets

STA, 9 November 2020 - Dnevnik says in Monday's commentary that PM Janez Janša prematurely declaring Donald Trump as winner and rejecting to acknowledge Joe Bidden as such is shameful and detrimental for Slovenia, all of which is intended only for Janša's political survival in his own country. It adds that the only solution is Janša's ousting.

The newspaper notes that the leaders of 25 EU member states congratulated Biden one our after his win was announced on TV, all but the "original Orban from Budapest and his financial and political dependant from Ljubljana - Janez Janša."

What is more, Janša publicly doubted the "early" congratulations by European politicians and the media, which is "shameful and unlawful international repositioning of Slovenia," it says, adding that Janša's tweeting during the election did not stay unnoticed.

According to Dnevnik, what the prime minister has done could only be remedied in the short run if he soon leaves the post, while in the long run, damage control may require inhumane effort to eventually improve relations with the US.

The paper assumes that the "political suicidal mission", which included declaring Trump as a winner when virtually half of the votes were yet to be counted, exclusively served Janša's political survival in Slovenia.

He did not care that he risked doing irreparable damage to Slovenia while trying to earn Trump's sympathies in advance, counting on rich political concessions in case the incumbent president got re-elected.

"Now when it is clear that he had bet on the wrong 'horse' ... it would make sense for his coalition partners to seriously re-consider continuing the joint political journey on this train of madness."

From the international and foreign policy aspect, it is horrifying for Slovenia that Janša was willing to get into an exchange with the entire foreign policy advisory apparatus of the new US president, with Slovenia's "stock" plummeting in the eyes of the world's largest power.

Dnevnik adds that, in the short-run, the only Solution for Slovenia's position in the EU and globally is that the alternative coalition of left-leaning parties ousted Janša with a constructive vote of no confidence already before the new year.

"What now, mister prime minister? Maybe it is nice to tweet, but one needs to eventually take responsibility for publicly uttered words, especially from such key national (and European) political position. And face all the consequences," concludes the commentary What Now, Mister Prime Minister?

Reporter says Janša's US election stance indecent at least

STA, 9 November 2020 – Reporter, the right-wing weekly, says in its latest commentary that Donald Trump, by not recognising the outcome of the US presidential election, might destabilise the superpower, which is also very bad for Slovenia, whose PM Janez Janša also doubts the legitimacy of the outcome. This is indecent to say the least, the right-leaning weekly adds.

This is the first time in the history of the US that a candidate who is not set to win another term claims that the election has been stolen, says the commentary headlined Story about a Stolen Election.

"This is a dangerous claim, which may even cause bloodshed in what is already overheated and politically and racially divided American society, where a large share of the population is armed."

The tense situation in the US, which is being instigated by Trump, is basis for internal destabilisation of the superpower, and this is very bad for Slovenia, where many people have "unbelievable and irrational aversion towards the US."

Slovenia belongs to the West historically, mentally, culturally and economically, and regardless of who is the US president, Slovenian politics should strive to have good relations with the US, which is the largest trade partner to the EU.

This is why the acts by Slovenian PM Janez Janša, who first declared Trump the winner before the votes were counted, and then doubted the legitimacy of the election outcome, are very detrimental, as "he is only following in Trump's footsteps."

"Such interfering in a democratic process in the largest democracy in the world with more than a 200-year tradition is, to say the least, indecent," Reporter says, adding that the prime minister is making the probable winner almost a persona non grata.

"This is, of course, irrelevant to the US, but may be inconvenient for Slovenia. A friend of mine told me half-jokingly that we will have to buy a lot of American weapons to remedy the damage done," the commentator concludes.

STA, 8 November 2020 - The US is a strategic partner of Slovenia, which will continue to build close friendly ties with Washington in the future, PM Janez Janša said in his latest tweet related to the US presidential election on Sunday, a day after Democrat Joe Biden declared victory.

"The US is our strategic partner. All the @govSlovenia I have led have built close, friendly relations with the US. No matter which party the US president was from. Nothing will change in the future," reads the tweet.

#US ??is our strategic partner. All the @govSlovenia I have led have built close, friendly relations ????. No matter which party the U.S. president was from. Nothing will change in the future.

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 8, 2020

Janša has in recent days raised eyebrows at home and abroad for having said it was "pretty clear" incumbent President Donald Trump won, his tweet coming at a time when many votes were yet to be counted and several key states were yet to declare the winner.

Biden is now receiving congratulations from world leaders, including Slovenian President Borut Pahor and several coalition and opposition party leaders, whereas Janša is more reserved.

Janša tweeted yesterday the US election winner had been declared by mainstream media while legal challenges had been filed in all US federal states where the outcome was close, with courts yet to decide on them.

Several media abroad have noted that Janša as Trump's supporter has not congratulated Biden upon election, but instead attacked the media for declaring him the winner.

Politico's European news portal said Slovenian officials were divided on how to respond, pointing to Pahor's congratulations and Janša's questioning the decision of media outlets to call the election for Biden.

It also highlighted a tweet of congratulations to Biden by Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner from Slovenia, commenting he had tried to correct Janša's pro-Trump stance. Lenarčič wrote that "as a European commissioner from Slovenia, I warmly congratulate Joe Biden on the victory".

In a separate piece, Politico also pointed to Janša saying, in a tweet posted in October, that Biden would be one of the weakest US presidents in history.

It added that since the Janša government will preside over the EU in the second half of 2021, it will have to "switch strategy and cosy up to the new US president".

Press agencies including Austria's APA and France's AFP have also reported on Janša's tweet criticising the declaration of Biden as winner.

With the election of Joe Biden as the 46^th President of the United States, Politico looks at the European leaders set to win and lose from the what appears to be a landslide victory for the Democratic candidate and a humiliating defeat for one-term President, all-time loser, Donald Trump, who will leave office in January 2021 to face allegations of fraud and sexual assault, as well as looming personal bankruptcy.

Among the winners it puts Germany’s Angela Merkel, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, while among the losers, those set back by the solid repudiation of chaos, culture war and open corruption, are said to be the UK’s Boris Johnson, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Slovenia’s own Janez Janša.

It’s pretty clear that American people have elected ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ ⁦@Mike_Pence⁩ for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations ⁦@GOP⁩ for strong results across the #US ⁦@idualliance⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/vzSwt9TBeF

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 4, 2020

PM Janša, whose very active Twitter feed is still alive with allegations of fraud and conspiracy in the US elections, as well as dire warnings of fascism coming to America under the guise of liberalism, is noted for his premature and utterly baseless congratulation of Trump on winning a second term, as well as his claim that Biden “would be one of the weakest presidents in history”.

We respect difficult, tragic personal life of @JoeBiden and some of his political achievements years ago. But today, if elected, he would be one of the weakest presidents in history. When a free world desperately needs STRONG #US as never before. Go, win, @realDonaldTrump ????

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) October 23, 2020

Slovenian prime minister congratulates Trump victory despite inconclusive election https://t.co/rc17OnbvBp

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 4, 2020

So far, other stuff I’ve been seeing from far-right politicians is a bit more circumspect than Janša: Many saying Trump is doing better than expected, or that his message is clearly resonating with many Americans etc. But haven’t seen others preemptively congratulating him so far pic.twitter.com/nPkiyHtPGL

— Emily Schultheis (@emilyrs) November 4, 2020

You can read the full report here, while the usual entertaining analysis of the Slovene scene is available from Pengovsky

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 5 November 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Janša a "serious problem" for Slovenia and Europe

STA, 6 November 2020 - The latest editorial of the left-leaning weekly Mladina says that the US election tweets by PM Janez Janša have put Slovenia on the international map, but not in the way that Foreign Minister Anže Logar meant when he said Slovenia was returning to the international arena.

"We are finally recognized as a country with a clearly emotionally unstable and politically unreasonable prime minister. From this week we no longer have to explain to anyone in international politics why we have a problem and that our problem is serious. But it is not only us who have a problem: Europe now knows that it has a problem as well," Mladina says on Friday under the headline Black Week.

It says Janša has demonstrated that he knows little about diplomacy or is not really interested in it and that he does not care about Slovenia's international reputation. It speaks of a selfish modus operandi similar to that of US President Donald Trump, driven by populism and the perception of politics primarily as a business opportunity.

"But we need to wonder about something else that is more important at this moment. How can this person occupy himself with the US election in a week where more than 20 people die every day, when the figures are as bad as they can get," says Mladina. "Does he really not have even a bit of empathy? Are we dealing with a sociopath?"

Mladina argues the US will suffer long lasting consequences after a single Trump term. "The same goes for Slovenia: every additional month under Janša is distorting this society further, deforming its values, the real picture."

Seeing hope in the centre-left coalition formed recently under the leadership of economist Jože P. Damijan, Mladina calls for a vote of no-confidence as soon as possible, saying "this is not only about international reputation or about staffing, it is about health and lives".

Demokracija: Opposition’s needless attacks on Janša

STA, 5 November 2020 - The government is not taking any measures that would actually require street protests, and perhaps this is precisely the reason why the left-leaning opposition wants to create a state of emergency in politics, the right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its latest commentary.

The right-leaning weekly says that the opposition would apparently rather let a hundred people more die than help the government of Janez Janša and admit that it is successfully managing the virus from Wuhan.

"The instigation of fear of Janša has revealed a deep, horrifying chasm between reality and what the media project as reality. And in this vortex of egotistic opposition, there comes the leftist foursome with the idea that the government should be taken down."

It could be said that the idea is surrealist if it was not floated by a "revolutionary coalition of the mainstream media and deep state", where candidates supported by the mafia are being presented as saviours", headlined by Jože P. Damijan (JPD).

Demokracija says that Damijan is a man who had walked the path of classical economic liberalism until he realised that being impressed with socialist ideas is much more profitable for him.

It was then that the media started presenting him as a "candidate for prime minister-designate", or as "possible prime minister-designate" who is starting talks with the leftist political parties, with which he is supposed to form a government.

"This is not funny, this is tragic: in the JPD case, the mainstream media behaves as if elections in Slovenia are just around the corner or as if the centre-right government has resigned. But neither of this happened, and JPD is currently nobody.

"He is not even a useful idiot who has warmed up to the idea of being prime minister-designate without realising why he came into the spotlight in the first place. It has turned out that JPD was an idiot even before he became useful," concludes the commentary People Who Were Idiots Before They Became Useful.

All our posts in this series are here