What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
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FRIDAY, 21 February
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Coming out of an EU summit dedicated to the bloc's next seven-year budget, which ended without an agreement, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said the European Commission had presented a technical proposal which recipients of the cohesion funds rejected because they saw it as a "provocation".
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar started a two-day visit to Sweden by meeting Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Speaker Andreas Norlen. Zhe officials stressed the importance of an EU future for Western Balkan countries, and discussed sustainable development as well as the EU's challenges.
LJUBLJANA - Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar announced she would file a defamation complaint against Democrats (SDS) MP Žan Mahnič, the vice-chair of the parliamentary Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS), after he had accused her of lying about alleged spying on politicians by the police.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks generated a combined pre-tax profit of EUR 597.4 million last year, up 12.5% on the year before and the highest on record. Profit after tax rose by 8% to EUR 534.9 million, central bank figures show.
SATURDAY, 22 February
MARIBOR - Two Slovenian passengers from the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess were flown home on a chartered flight, touching down in Maribor after being airlifted from Japan to Germany. The two, who will be in self-isolation at home for two weeks, were tested for the novel coronavirus at Maribor airport, and the results were negative.
NEW YORK, US - Slovenia has advanced ten spots to place 21st in the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index, which is the greatest improvement among all 60 countries surveyed for the list. Slovenia scored a total of 73.93 points out of 100 possible, compared to 88.21 by the first-ranked Germany.
MONDAY, 24 February
LJUBLJANA - The Secretariat of the National Security Council met to discuss Slovenia's preparedness for a coronavirus outbreak in the wake of the first reported cases in Italy. Health authorities in Slovenia said no additional protective measures were needed and denied persistent rumours of patients testing positive for the virus in Slovenia.
THESSALONIKI, Greece - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar urged Western Balkan countries to make reform headway as he addressed a high-level conference in Thessaloniki designed to push forward the stalled EU enlargement process to the region. Cerar highlighted "the need for in-depth reforms, in particular in rule of law and the fight against corruption and organised crime".
LJUBLJANA - A protest was held in front of the UK Embassy in Ljubljana as Britain started hearing a US case requesting extradition of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange. Much like in other towns around the world, the protesters called for media freedom and the freedom of speech.
TUESDAY, 25 February
LJUBLJANA - In a surprise move following a week of talks behind tightly closed doors, the top executive bodies of the Democrats (SDS), Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) confirmed they were forging a coalition led by SDS head Janez Janša. Outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said he was not surprised at the prospect of a new Janša government, which he saw from the start as one of the possible outcomes of his resignation.
LJUBLJANA - Public institutions started taking precautionary measures to protect staff against coronavirus infections after first cases of the virus were confirmed in neighbouring Italy, Austria and Croatia, sparking fears of an outbreak in Slovenia. Schools started to cancel planned activities and field trips, while retailers reported increased footfall as shoppers grabbed by panic stocked up on essentials.
MARIBOR - A company in Chinese ownership that used to lease the Maribor Airport plans to file a damage suit against the state after it terminated the lease in early 2019, whereupon the airport management was turned over to a state-owned consulting and engineering company. Aerodrom Maribor said it will demand EUR 2.1 million in damages plus costs and lost profits.
WEDNESDAY, 26 February
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor formally nominated Janez Janša, the leader of the Democrats (SDS), for prime minister after four parties reached an agreement to form a centre-right coalition. Janša said the coalition agreement showed the four parties were willing to seek compromise solutions and would work to tackle the most pressing issues that Slovenia faces.
LJUBLJANA/BELGRADE, Serbia - The Slovenian NLB bank announced it had signed an agreement with the Serbian government to acquire the 83% state stake in the bank Komercijalna Banka. The deal worth EUR 387 million is pending regulatory approval and is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of the year. NLB's market share in Serbia by total assets will increase to over 12%.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia has made no progress in reforming long-term care. Some progress has been achieved in public procurement, and in labour market policies, and limited progress was detected in economic policies facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy, shows a European Commission report.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Two Slovenian regions, Savinjska in the east and the central Zasavska region, were designated among a hundred EU regions eligible for financing from the EU fund for a fair green transition. They will be entitled to EUR 92 million.
LJUBLJANA - Central Slovenia, one of Slovenia's 12 statistical regions, will get EUR 93 million in EU and state subsidies for 21 development projects under an agreement signed by regional officials with the government. Just over EUR 45 million of the total funding comes from EU cohesion funds, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said.
THURSDAY, 27 February
OTOČEC - Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Croatia's Zoran Milanović called for the resolution of all open bilateral issues as they met just over a week after Milanović was sworn in. They urged the governments of both countries to work towards excellent relations in all fields.
LJUBLJANA - The outgoing cabinet adopted measures to contain the new coronavirus in case it spreads to Slovenia. Most notably, it released strategic commodity reserves to ensure enough protective gear. The government however noted that borders with neighbouring countries would remain open since there was no reason for panic.
LJUBLJANA - The outgoing government adopted the National Energy and Climate Plan, a set of energy policy and climate change mitigation measures until 2030. It called the document "a key step towards a climate-neutral Slovenia until 2050". Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said the goal was to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 36%, improve energy efficiency by at least 35% and have at least 27% of energy come from renewable sources.
All our posts in this series are here
