What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
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FRIDAY, 9 August
LJUBLJANA - National councillor Branko Tomažič filed criminal complainants against Environment Minister Simon Zajc and Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, arguing their inaction in the face of bear and wolf attacks on farm animals. Action was also urged by Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina. Šarec's office denied the charge, saying the government was actively engaged in tackling the issue.
LJUBLJANA - Fresh statistics showed Slovenia's merchandise trade with the rest of the world growing apace in the first half of the year. Exports increased by 9.2% year-on-year to EUR 16.83 billion as imports rose by 11.2% to EUR 16.78 billion, creating a surplus of EUR 48 million. Meanwhile, the country's industrial output expanded by 3.7% y/y, the slowest pace in six years.
LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Dnevnik reported that retailer Mercator had initiated the sale of 13 shopping centres, one in Slovenia and twelve in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia as part of its strategy to reduce debt, which stood at roughly EUR 667 million at the end of March.
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian version of the #MeToo campaign presented findings after collecting more than 150 anonymous testimonies from victims of sexual assault or harassment since March 2018. These as a rule knew the perpetrator and most were abused as minors. When speaking out about the abuse, the victims were usually met with silence.
SATURDAY, 10 August
VELIKE LAŠČE - Several hundred farmers gathered in protest at a lack of action in the face of ever more frequent wolf attacks on farm animals. They demanded a significant decrease in the country's wolf population, which they want restricted to fenced-in reserves in state-owned forests. The rally, staged by the Farmers' Trade Union, also urged Environment Minister Simon Zajc to resign, a demand that Zajc turned down as unwarranted. The protest coincided with a new incident in which wolves killed ten sheep in the Kobarid area in the west.
SUNDAY, 11 August
LJUBLJANA - The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad has drawn up a proposal to repatriate persons of Slovenian descent from Venezuela, which is expected to be debated by the government after summer recess. There are an estimated 1,000 people of Slovenian descent in Venezuela, 47 have made requests for repatriation after the latest crisis in the country.
ODRANCI - The Swiss industrial company Limec Solution opened a plant in Odranci in north-eastern Slovenia, which is expected to employ between 150 and 200 people in three to five years. The operation, Limec CNC will produce 90% of the products which are now made in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
MONDAY, 12 August
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's youth organisations took the opportunity of International Youth Day to highlight housing as the key problem faced by young people. They criticised a lack of action on the part of the government, saying the flawed housing policy, coupled with precarious and low-paying jobs, made it hard for them to become independent. The young continue to face problems accessing the labour market, which is why the youth trade union Mladi Plus urged improving the apprenticeship and mentorship systems.
LJUBLJANA - A poll run by the newspaper Delo showed Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's LMŠ party extending its lead ahead of the opposition Democrats (SDS) after gaining 2.2 percentage points from the month before to 16.8%, as the SDS stayed almost level at 14.2%. The coalition SocDems lost 0.6 points to 7.2%, whereas the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) gained 1.4 points to 6.7% to come ahead of the Left (6.5%).
LJUBLJANA - More than 60 real estate agencies asked the Constitutional Court to review legislative amendments that limit commission fees for rentals and other costs charged by real estate agencies on their clients. They argue the provisions encroache on the right to free enterprise and the right to property, thus contravening the European Convention on Human Rights as well as EU law.
TUESDAY, 13 August
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry confirmed Croatian media reports about Minister Miro Cerar having held an informal meeting with Croatia's new Foreign Minister Goran Grlić Radman while on holiday in Croatia. The ministry said the pair would hold their first official meeting on the sidelines of the EU foreign affairs ministerial in Helsinki on 29 and 30 August.
LJUBLJANA/AJDOVŠČINA - Environment Minister Simon Zajc announced changes to provisions governing emergency culling of wolves to facilitate action in the wake of a spate of wolf attacks on farm animals and criticism by farmers that the emergency law to cull bears and wolves was not producing results. On the same day a she-bear with a cub attacked a hunter in the woods in the south-west in what was a second bear attack on people this year. The hunter sustained light injuries.
LJUBLJANA - The University of Ljubljana and URI Soča Rehabilitation Institute signed agreements with Japan's Fujita Health University and Toyota Motor Corporation to cooperate on development of robotised devices to be used in rehabilitation of patients after stroke or injuries.
HRASTOVLJE - Nearly two months after almost 11,000 litres of kerosene leaked from a derailed cargo train near the village of Hrastovlje in the south-west, repair works were completed as one of the country's busiest routes re-opened after being shut for four days to replace 150 metres of tracks. In total, the repair works cost EUR 1.5 million, on top of a loss of more than EUR 1 million to the national railway company for each day the track was fully closed.
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) mounted their fifth attempt at getting parliament to put public funding of private primary schools on a par with that of public schools, submitting a bill to implement a 2014 Constitutional Court ruling ordering full funding of private primaries teaching state-approved curricula. These currently get 85% of their funds from the government.
LJUBLJANA - A report by the central bank showed incoming foreign direct investment in Slovenia more than doubled in the first half of 2019 to EUR 614.4 million.
TRONDHEIM, Norway - Slovenia's football champions Maribor failed to advance to the last round of qualifications for the UEFA Champions League after losing to Norway's Rosenborg 2:6 on aggregate. Maribor played in the Champions League in 1999/2000, 2014/15 and 2017/2018.
WEDNESDAY, 14 August
LJUBLJANA - The potential for economic cooperation ranked prominently as Taro Kono visited Slovenia as the first Japanese foreign minister for talks with his counterpart Miro Cerar and President Borut Pahor. Cerar and Kono also called for respect for the rule of law and arbitration decisions, including with regard to the Adriatic and the South China Sea. The pair also visited the Yaskawa robot factory in Kočevje.
LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed Damir Topolko as director of the Infrastructure Agency in the wake of a scandal over the 2017 botched tender for a scale model of a new rail track planned between Koper and Divača. Monika Pintar Mesarič, a Finance Ministry employee, was named as acting director as of 1 September.
LJUBLJANA - More than 25 years after the National Assembly passed legislation that ordered the establishment of provinces and after several failed attempts, a task force established in May 2019 presented a draft bill to divide Slovenia into 11 provinces centred around major cities.
RIMSKE TOPLICE - The engine of an international freight train and one of the rail cars derailed at the Rimske Toplice train station in a second such incident in just over a week. The railway line between Zidani Most and Celje, a major link for international passenger and cargo traffic, reopened the next day. It remains unclear what caused the derailment.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia generated EUR 1.16 billion in revenue from incoming tourism in the first half of the year, an increase of 4.8% compared to the same period a year ago, data from the central bank showed. In June alone, receipts from incoming tourism rose by 9.3% year-on-year to EUR 243 million.
LJUBLJANA - The value of construction works in Slovenia rose by 14.4% in the first six months of 2019 year-on-year, show data released by the Statistics Office.
THURSDAY, 15 August
BREZJE - Thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered at religious shrines devoted to the Virgin Mary across Slovenia to celebrate her assumption into heaven. The largest crowd converged outside the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Brezje for mass celebrated by Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore.
TOKYO, Hachioji - Slovenia swept the women's lead discipline event at the IFSC Climbing World Championships with Janja Garnbret taking another gold and Mia Krampl silver. This is the second gold medal for Garnbret at the championships after she defended the title of bouldering world champion on 13 August, and her fifth world championship gold medal overall.
