Politics
STA, 22 July 2020 - The focus of the 15th Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), scheduled to take place on 31 August, will be on cooperation among Central and East European EU member states post-coronavirus. Katja Geršak, Centre for European Perspective (CEP) executive director, says the event will be strongly marked by Covid-19 in both topics and organisation.
Slovenia's annual top foreign policy event will run under the slogan Challenges and Opportunities in the Post-Covid-19 World; Neighbours - Regions - Global World: Partners or Rivals?. Instead of two days, it will last only one day.
The epidemiological situation prompted the organisers to invite to Bled mainly guests from neighbouring and Central and East European EU countries, Geršak told the STA, something that she said was due to the favourable epidemiological situation in those countries.
The focus of BSF debates will be cooperation in the region which the guests come from.
"The main topic will be how the coronavirus has reshaped the world and what challenges we are now faced with in business and society," she said.
"We've noticed a shift towards enhanced cooperation, regional ties and we'll focus on these regional initiatives which unite us in energy, mobility, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and at the same time on strengthening trans-Atlantic cooperation.
"Of course we'll also have to say a word or two about the contentious efficiency of multilateralism and how to proceed. And also about the EU's response to these challenges," said Geršak, whose CEP co-organises the event with the Foreign Ministry.
The debates will be informed by the Three Seas Initiative, she said, adding the BSF will be one of a few forums this year where these topics will be discussed at such a high-level.
The BSF will get under way with a business breakfast hosted by AmCham Slovenia, followed by the formal opening in the Alpine lake resort of Bled featuring the leaders' panel and the foreign ministers' panel.
Fewer participants than in the previous years are expected to attend, and they will be divided in three groups.
One group will feature guests who will actually arrive at Bled, another will follow the event on a special digital platform which will enable them to take part in debates, while all the others will follow the debates by live stream.
"In this way we're in a way expanding the forum not only in Slovenia but also abroad. We'd like such participation to be as broad as possible."
Geršak said that providing a safe environment will be an absolute priority, so protective masks, hand sanitiser and social distance will be the order of the day.
In case of force majeure, Slovenian authorities would decided whether to go ahead with it or now, she said. "We would not want to expose people to unnecessary risks."
STA, 22 July 2020 - After a year and a half of calls for redefining rape in the penal code, the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that legislative changes had been drafted. Their aim is to embed the consent standard in criminal law.
The changes would make every non-consensual sexual act a punishable offence, including those during which the victim did not physically resist the perpetrator or say no out of fear or shock or any other circumstances preventing such action
Related: Shock Case Shows How Coercion Defines Rape in Slovenia, Not Lack of Consent
The amendments thus enable a transition from the coercion-based definition of rape to the consent-based standard, including the affirmative consent and veto models. Coercion or force would become aggravating circumstances.
The ministry's statement came in response to claims by a feminist NGO, March 8 Institute, that in a year and a half no progress had been made to amend the definition of rape in the penal code.
The ministry said this was not the case as it had held meetings with a number of NGOs, the most recent one in June, with all the participants agreeing that the consent-based standard had to be implemented.
Related: Statute of Limitations for Sex Offences Extended to Between 30, 90 Years
But in response, 8 March Institute pointed out that the participating NGOs had insisted to scrap the veto model and enforce only the affirmative consent standard, known as "only yes means yes", which the ministry did not green-light.
In January 2019, March 8 Institute launched a petition, signed by more than 6,000 people, demanding a redefinition of rape. The effort came as a response to a court case in which a man was acquitted of rape because the victim was asleep and unable to resist.
The public consultation period for the amendments runs until 25 August.
STA, 22 July - Slovenia's Covid-19 death toll has increased to 115 after another fatality was reported for Tuesday, along with 29 new coronavirus infections, an 11-day high, fresh data from the government show.
The latest cases come from 1,150 tests for Sars-CoV-2 conducted yesterday. They bring the national total of cases so far confirmed to 2,006, of which 243 are active cases.
A total of 22 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, two of them in intensive care, after one patient was discharged yesterday and one intensive care patient died, a fatality for the fourth day running.
Tuesday's cases include three at the Hrastnik care home in central Slovenia, two among the residents and another staff member, the facility's director, Drago Kopušar, has told the STA.
There are now 20 of the 128 elderly residents and eight of the 75 staff infected at the care home. Nine of the infected residents have been moved to the Šempeter hospital in the west of the country.
Another hotspot in the Hrastnik municipality, which has a population of 9,000, is a housing estate Log nad Hrastnikom, where disinfection measures are being reimposed. Inspectors are also checking whether quarantine orders are being complied with. Hrastnik had 34 active cases as of Monday.
STA, 22 July 2020 - The police arrested four smugglers of illegal migrants on Tuesday. A man from Ljubljana was caught transporting 28 illegal migrants in a van, as he was pulled over by the police, while a foreign citizen and two accomplices were apprehended near Ljutomer in the northeast for transporting 17 illegal migrants.
The 24-year-old from Ljubljana, driving a van along the Ljubljana ring road refused to pull over when ordered to do so. After he eventually did, a group of people fled the vehicle, the Ljubljana police said in a press release on Wednesday.
The police discovered that the 24-year-old had been assisted by another person, whose identity is yet to be established. They had been smuggling 28 illegal migrants in the van, citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan; all were apprehended shortly after fleeing the van.
The smuggler is in detention, while procedures involving the migrants are ongoing, the police said.
Across the country, in the village of Veščica near the Croatian border, the Murska Sobota police arrested a van driver transporting 17 illegal migrants.
The driver is a foreign citizen and was arrested alongside two accomplices and the trio will be brought before an investigating judge.
The illegal migrants will be sent back to Croatia after the relevant procedures are completed, the police said.
STA, 21 July 2020 - The Administrative Court has sided with an appeal by a Cameroonian citizen who was deported to Croatia last August and is currently in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slovenia must allow him to enter the country and file an asylum application, and pay compensation, the court said. The decision will be appealed by the Interior Ministry.
Announcing the decision from last week, the civil initiative InfoKolpa said on Tuesday that the "national police carried out an illegal expulsion of a member of a persecuted English-speaking minority from Cameroon who wanted to apply for asylum in Slovenia."
Cameroon on the map,. Wikipedia
The applicant was held in a Slovenian police station for two days and denied access to asylum, despite making multiple verbal requests. He was subsequently readmitted to Croatia, and from there, he was chain refouled to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The civil initiative says that the Administrative Court found that Slovenia violated the applicant's right to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement.
"The court ruled that the police had not informed the applicant of his asylum rights, as mandated to do so, in clear breach of domestic and EU law."
The pushback also breached the prohibition of collective expulsion because the applicant was not issued a removal order, nor given translation and legal aid prior to his readmission to Croatia."
InfoKolpa notes that once the ruling becomes final, Slovenia will be obligated to allow the applicant to enter the country and file an application for international protection without delay, as well as provide EUR 5,000 in compensation.
Commenting on the outcome, the applicant said "I believe that the judgement will help those that come after me. It may not have a direct solution for me, but I know that we are creating awareness."
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry of Internal Affairs said it would examine the decision and appeal it. "The ministry will respect and realise a final and executable decision of the court."
STA, 21 July 2020 - Slovenia recorded 24 new coronavirus infections from 914 tests on Monday, the highest daily increase since 10 July. One Covid-19 patient died, bringing the death toll to 114, fresh government data show.
There are currently 22 patients in hospital, up from 19 the day before, as two were discharged from hospital and five new patients were admitted. The number of patients in intensive care remained at three.
According to the national Covid-19 tracker site, there are now 238 active cases out of the total of 1,977 cases recorded since the state of the pandemic.
Most of the latest cases, six, were recorded in Hrastnik in central Slovenia, where an outbreak has been reported at a care home.
Monday was the third day in a row that a fatality was recorded. Before that there had been no confirmed Covid-19-related deaths for over a month and a half.
The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) warned today the bulk of the infections in recent days were locally transmitted, after an initial surge in imported cases that triggered the renewed rise in infections in late June and early July.
STA, 22 July - Slovenia's Covid-19 death toll has increased to 115 after another fatality was reported for Tuesday, along with 29 new coronavirus infections, an 11-day high, fresh data from the government show.
The latest cases come from 1,150 tests for Sars-CoV-2 conducted yesterday. They bring the national total of cases so far confirmed to 2,006, of which 243 are active cases.
A total of 22 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, two of them in intensive care, after one patient was discharged yesterday and one intensive care patient died, a fatality for the fourth day running.
Tuesday's cases include three at the Hrastnik care home in central Slovenia, two among the residents and another staff member, the facility's director, Drago Kopušar, has told the STA.
There are now 20 of the 128 elderly residents and eight of the 75 staff infected at the care home. Nine of the infected residents have been moved to the Šempeter hospital in the west of the country.
Another hotspot in the Hrastnik municipality, which has a population of 9,000, is a housing estate Log nad Hrastnikom, where disinfection measures are being reimposed. Inspectors are also checking whether quarantine orders are being complied with. Hrastnik had 34 active cases as of Monday.
Of the 104 confirmed cases last week, only two were imported.
Epidemiologist Nuška Čakš Jager told the press several hotspots were currently active, the virus having spread not only at retirement homes but also at parties, weddings and in several companies.
She said epidemiologists were still able to trace contacts of the newly infected persons but were close to reaching their limits.
Infections are now increasing among the older population yet again, making it more likely that the newly infected will require hospital treatment.
Infections disease specialist Mateja Logar of the UKC Ljubljana hospital said Slovenia was "far from having everything under control" given that the virus keeps spreading in municipalities that had been coronavirus-free in the first wave.
STA, 20 July 2020 - A total of 72 illegal migrants and three persons helping them enter or cross Slovenia without the required documents were caught at the weekend in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department in the south-west.
A group of illegal migrants was apprehended on Friday near the town of Podgorje together with their guide, a 21-year-old Kosovo citizen, who was taken to an investigating magistrate, who placed him in detention.
On Saturday evening, a 44-year-old citizen of Ukraine was pulled over in the same area transporting 18 Pakistani citizens. He is also in detention.
Early on Sunday morning, the police stopped a van near the town of Koseze in which a 23-year-old Ukrainian citizen was driving 12 Pakistani citizens.
Of the 72 illegal migrants caught in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department, the majority, or 52, were from Afghanistan, followed by Pakistan.
Seven foreigners who entered Italy from Slovenia were meanwhile returned to Slovenia at the weekend, of whom five were Pakistanis and two Afghans.
STA, 21 July 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša said Slovenia was pleased with the outcome of the EU budget talks as EU leaders wrapped up negotiations Tuesday morning on a new multi-annual financial framework and post-coronavirus recovery fund. He stressed that its share of the funding, EUR 10.5 billion, is the highest it has ever got.
Coming out of marathon talks on Tuesday morning, Janša said the deal, which puts the EU's budget for the next seven-year period at EUR 1.07 trillion and puts in place a post-coronavirus recovery facility of EUR 750 billion, was a great achievement and a "robust response" to the crisis.
#EUCO conclusions on the #NextGenerationEU recovery package and the #EUbudget for 2021-2027
— EU Council Press (@EUCouncilPress) July 21, 2020
? https://t.co/0TRghmsIMH pic.twitter.com/hPeVfmw1Li
The deal instils optimism before the autumn and the continuation of the epidemic. "After the outbreak of the pandemic one could almost give up on the EU. We're all glad that bright moments have also come. This agreement is certainly one such moment."
Janša stressed that Slovenia was eligible for EUR 10.5 billion over the next seven years, of which EUR 6.6 billion in grants, and had realised its strategic objective of achieving agreement while securing all the key negotiating goals.
Tudi 4 noč dogovorov o #MFF in #NextGenerationEU je dolga. Vendar je večina dilem zaprtih. Še zadnji pogovori in usklajevanja, pa tudi že prve ocene doseženega. #Zmoremo pic.twitter.com/AWlNGeJLA6
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) July 21, 2020
Slovenia is estimated to receive EUR 2.9 billion in cohesion policy funds in its national envelope.
Janša stressed that in the final stages of the talks, it had also secured an additional EUR 350 million for the western cohesion region, the more developed of the two cohesion regions, which had potentially faced a significant decline in funding due to its level of development.
That way, Slovenia has managed to secure cohesion policy funding that is comparable with the funds available in 2014-2020.
The eastern cohesion region will be eligible for 13% more funds than it is currently receiving.
Slovenia will have EUR 1.6 billion in Common Agriculture Policy funding available, an amount that is comparable in nominal terms with the existing financial framework and marks a significant improvement over the EU Commission's initial proposal. This includes a special allocation worth EUR 50 million.
Slovenia will also be eligible for an additional EUR 2.1 billion in grants from the EUR 750 billion recovery fund plus EUR 3.6 billion in loans under this facility.
As Janša pointed out, Slovenia thus remained a net recipient of EU funds, both in the framework of the seven-year budget and the recovery fund.
Speaking after his third EU budget talks after 2005 and 2013, Janša said these negotiations were different than in the past in that the EU is different post-Brexit.
The balance of power is different and new balances are emerging, which has contributed towards the talks lasting so long. This is not necessarily bad since it creates room for manoeuvre for smaller countries, he said.
All in all, Janša said this was probably the best outcome Slovenia has ever achieved in budget talks considering its position and relative level of development.
He noted that it had been expected in the 2013 budget talks that Slovenia would become a net contributor to the EU budget by now, but it still remains a net recipient of funds.
Slovenia has always had problems drawing the funds, which is why the government is now trying to better prepare. It will hold a working meeting on Wednesday to talk about securing additional capacities so the funds are spent as soon and as best as possible.
The summit agreement also requires a national recovery plan, which he said would be "the hard part of the job". "Being aware of this challenge, we'll tackle it immediately, as early as tomorrow."
Janša also commented on rebates for net contributors, noting that this was the price to pay for the recovery facility since the four countries that have these rebates had initially been opposed to non-refundable funds.
STA, 20 July 2020 - Slovenia will mark the 10th anniversary of its membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday with a ceremony featuring OECD Secretary General Jose Angel Gurria as keynote speaker via videoconference. The latest OECD economic survey of Slovenia will be presented on the occasion.
The ceremony, taking place at Brdo pri Kranju, will be addressed by several cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Anže Logar, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj, Health Minister Tomaž Gantar and Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj, according to the Government Communication Office.
The 2020 OECD economic survey of Slovenia focuses on population ageing and its impact on healthcare and the labour market, said the Finance Ministry. Šircelj, Gantar and Cigler Kralj will comment on the OECD review.
The June OECD forecast for Slovenia says that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to shrink this year by 7.8%, or as much as 9.1% in the event of a second wave of coronavirus infections.
For 2021, the organisation expects that Slovenia's economy will grow by 4.5%, or by 1.5% in case of another Covid-19 wave.
The OECD is an intergovernmental economic organisation featuring 37 member countries. It promotes policies conducive of economic and social prosperity, said the Foreign Ministry.
STA, 19 July 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša described the EU summit negotiations that are currently underway in Brussels as a test of perseverance on his Twitter on Saturday evening as the second day of EU leaders' talks on the next EU budget and recovery package wrapped up. He also deemed on Sunday the third day of the negotiations a day of truth.
"The EU is once again demonstrating the entire complexities of its differences, its smallness and greatness, selfishness and solidarity," Janša wrote in his Saturday's post, adding that for some the EU was granted by their fathers, whereas the others won it out.
Drugi dan poskusov za dosego dogovora o proračunu in skladu za okrevanje. #EU se ponovno kaže v vsej svoji kompleksnosti razlik, majhnostih in veličinah, sebičnostih in solidarnosti. Za nekatere dana od očetov, za druge pribojevana. Test vztrajnosti. #MFF #RF #EUCO pic.twitter.com/wV8vvWGwGw
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) July 18, 2020
In the early hours of Sunday he also wrote that he missed the 2004-2008 EU Council "when there was less daily politics and more strategic thinking".
Moreover, the prime minister has retweeted Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn's post which warned that the corona crisis was not over and that it was "high time to reach an agreement which allows us to provide the urgently needed support for our citizens and economies".
On Sunday, Janša also dismissed claims that Hungary, Poland and Slovenia are resisting the system that would tie the financial aid to respecting the rule of law and basic human rights, saying that Slovenia wanted the "same standards regarding independent judiciary, media, freedom of speech" to be used for all.
Wrong. We just want the same standards to be used for all. For Poland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Germany... Same standards regarding independent judiciary, media, freedom of speech... There is no way we support selective justice and 2 standards no matter where. #RuleOfLaw https://t.co/Pz5dbYuqJ7
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) July 19, 2020
The first in-person summit of EU leaders after the start of the coronavirus pandemic started on Friday and so far a compromise on the 2021-2027 financial framework and the relief package designed to shore up Europe's economies has not yet been reached.
The negotiations will be resumed at noon on Sunday. A new proposal by EU Council President Charles Michel is expected to be presented to broker an agreement.
According to unofficial sources, under the new proposal the EUR 750 billion recovery fund is to provide EUR 450 billion in subsidies and EUR 300 billion in loans. The volume of subsidies would be therefore reduced and the volume of loans increased to cater to the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden.
Under the previous proposal, which was opposed by the frugal four and Finland, two thirds of the fund would be available in subsidies and a third in loans.
The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 16 July 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here
Mladina: Way to early election
STA, 17 July 2020 - The MPs of the coalition DeSUS and SMC are hostages of the ruling Democrats (SDS), the left-wing weekly Mladina says on Friday. They insist in the coalition because they fear losing their seats, which could be easily solved by empowering them by making them financially independent, the left-leaning weekly say in MPs Must Not Be Hostages.
The MPs of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and Modern Centre Party (SMC) fooled their voters when they joined a far-right government, while they had promised them they would never do it.
Mladina's editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says the anti-government protests, which started more than 10 weeks ago, are actually directed against them.
It admits the MPs are in a dead end - they joined the Janez Janša government hoping it would be bearable, while realising after four months in government it is not.
Janša is offering them two more years in office, that is until the next regular general election.
Mladina says DeSUS and SMC MPs are largely victims of Slovenia's constitutional arrangement
Under the constitution, the Slovenian president is the one to decide that parliament is not able to form a stable government and can call an election, but it is actually MPs who have the decision on an early election in their hands.
Mladina says the MPs are always in a dilemma when faced with such a political decision, because this is also a decision on the end of their terms.
The SMC and DeSUS MPs are criticised for having supported the Janša government so that they would not lose their jobs less than half way through their term, which Mladina says this is probably true but also understandable from a human point of view.
Yet MPs can only be truly independent if they are not forced to consider losing their job, if they are financially independent.
There is a simple solution to this - a new article should be added to the deputies act saying MPs are entitled to a compensation for the loss of income until the end of a regular term if an early election is called.
Although this could be a lot of money, it is little considering the harm they can prevent by opting for an early election.
"This is the price of functioning democracy," says Mladina, adding that 30 years of democracy has shown how important it is that MPs are independent.
Reporter: Hungarian scenario may not be effective in Slovenia
STA, 13 July 2020 - Commenting on the current political developments in Slovenia, the right-wing weekly Reporter argues on Monday that the potential formation of an alternative leftist government could have the reverse effect and end up hurting the left-aisle parties, whereas the right cannot count on gaining the upper hand overnight either.
"If a vote of no confidence in the entire government succeeds and the current prime minister is replaced by an interim prime minister in autumn, this political manoeuvring would not prevent [PM Janez] Janša from winning another snap election."
Indeed, it could backfire, says the right-leaning weekly, adding that Janša's party might even secure a landslide victory or its best election result ever due to such tactics, in particular if there is no new political leader on the left.
The future political developments are hard to predict, but it is also difficult to believe that "the relation between the left and the right would turn upside down overnight to the benefit of the latter".
"Janez Janša is not [Croatian Prime Minister] Andrej Plenković, who moved HDZ from the right to the centre and was triumphant in the Croatian general election a week ago."
Whereas Plenković does not need coalition partners due to his landslide victory, Janša probably would, which is an issue for him.
"It is possible to copy political recipes from Hungary, but they will not necessarily have the same impact in Slovenia. [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban succeeded in subjugating the dominant media, he turned them into propaganda machinery so that they have helped him stay in power for more than a decade, whereas Janez Janša has always drawn the short straw in the war with the media so far."
Reporter editor-in-chief Silvester Šurla says that Janša's "latest battlefield which he has created using 'blitzkrieg' targeted at Slovenian media" might fail if he does not get support from coalition partners SMC and DeSUS.
All our posts in this series are here
