What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
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FRIDAY, 5 November
LJUBLJANA - Amidst surging infections, the government decided to tighten Covid restrictions instead of imposing another lockdown. New restrictions, applicable from 8 November, include an expansion of the Covid pass mandate, restrictions on opening hours of bars and restaurants, closure of night clubs, and a ban on gatherings.
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor announced plans to call the general election for 24 April, the earliest possible date for a scheduled election. Centre-left opposition parties said they would want the election to be held early, but the ruling coalition parties said they were happy with the date.
LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court struck down a provision of the infectious diseases act that formed the legal basis for the closure of businesses during lockdowns. It gave the National Assembly two months to amend the act in line with its decision. In the intervening time, a different provision of the act can be invoked.
LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court ruled in a procedure initiated at the request of the Supreme Court that parts of the Judicial Council act are unconstitutional. The court held that the regulations on disciplinary procedure, when it is initiated by the Judicial Council, do not meet the standards of objective impartiality.
LJUBLJANA - The supervisory board of Elektro Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest electricity distributor, dismissed on Friday the company's chairman Andrej Ribič. Ribič said he had been offered an early departure at a meeting held in the parliamentary offices of the SDS but declined, which is why he was axed. He will challenge his dismissal in court.
LJUBLJANA - Mimovrste, Slovenia's largest online retailer, has been acquired by Polish shopping platform Allegro. The latter bought Mall Group, which owns Mimovrste and WE/DO, from PPF, EC Investments and Rockaway Capitaly.
LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković entered a not guilty plea at an arraignment hearing at the Ljubljana District Court in a case of tax evasion concerning the sale of retailer Mercator shares in 2006. His two sons also pleaded not guilty but they did not attend the hearing.
SATURDAY, 6 November
LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar was admitted to University Medical Centre Ljubljana for appendicitis. He had surgery and was released from hospital a few days later.
SUNDAY, 7 November
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša met with Milorad Dodik, the Serbian member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency, to discuss the political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the region. Janša described the meeting on Twitter as a substantive exchange about the situation in the country.
MONDAY, 8 November
GLASGOW, UK - The COP26 climate conference is a key step for the future of our planet and younger generations, Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak said at a press conference in Glasgow, speaking alongside European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans. "It's time we act responsibly and move up from good intentions to concrete actions," Vizjak said.
LJUBLJANA - STA director Igor Kadunc and Uroš Urbanija, the director of the Government Communications Office (UKOM), signed an agreement on the STA's public service valid until the end of the year, ending an impasse that lasted almost a year. Kadunc said this sorted out matters for this year, but everything was still open for 2022.
LJUBLJANA - Matej Accetto was elected president of the Constitutional Court after his peers voted to give him a three-year term at the helm of Slovenia's top court. He will take over from Rajko Knez on 19 December.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) called Call to Action - Environmental Protection in All Policies, with Slovenia serving as the leading EU member state in the initiative, which aims at declaring an environmental crisis in the EU.
TUESDAY, 9 November
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Policy Committee okayed the government's plan to conclude an agreement with the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation for the purchase of eight-wheeled Boxer armoured personnel carries (APCs). The government intends to purchase 45 Boxer APCs, produced by Germany, for what is the currently estimated price of EUR 412 million.
LJUBLJANA - Chaired by Slovenia's Andrej Šircelj, the EU finance ministers relaunched the discussion on reforming the fiscal rule, which had been on hold since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic. The Slovenian presidency said interest had been shown for further talks on how to ensure greater simplicity and transparency of rules and favourable conditions for further recovery.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian hospitals warned they were filling up fast with Covid patients as the country reported thousands of new cases every day. ICU occupancy rate is projected to peak on 24 November at over 250, significantly higher than at any point during the pandemic.
LJUBLJANA - The association of Slovenia's urban municipalities called on the National Assembly to pass legal basis to allow the government to adopt scientifically supported measures to contain the Covid outbreak. The mayors suggested considering introducing the reconvalescent-vaccinated rule (PC), arguing the country is a "hostage of a minority of 200,000 people who oppose vaccination".
LJUBLJANA - The shareholders' meeting of GEN-I, Slovenia's largest power supplier, failed to re-appoint Robert Golob as CEO after the supervisory board of Gen Energija, which owns half the company, did not give its consent for the reappointment. Golob later accused the government of trying to get rid of him because Gen-I had produced a decarbonisation plan that the cabinet did not wish to accept.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's Jewish community has finally got a place of worship as the Ljubljana Synagogue opened in a residential building in Trubarjeva Street in a joint effort by the Austrian Jewish community from Graz and the Slovenian Jewish community.
BRUSSELS, Belgium/LJUBLJANA - The European Commission said it would keep a close eye on the situation at the STA after the agency signed a public service agreement for November and December with the Government Communication Office. Spokesman Christian Wigand said the Slovenian authorities must ensure that the independence of the agency is fully preserved.
GLASGOW, Scotland - Slovenia ranked 50th on the Climate Change Performance Index ranking for 2022, an improvement by one spot, however scientists warn that the country's performance in fighting climate change is still quite poor.
MARIBOR - More than a hundred criminal investigators from across the country conducted a series of house raids as part of a criminal investigation into allegations of bribery and abuse of office. Two doctors were detained on suspicion of taking bribes to issue more than 10,000 illegal medical certificates over several years.
WEDNESDAY, 10 November
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly appointed Rok Svetlič a judge on the Constitutional Court. Svetlič received 46 votes with only 46 MPs picking up their ballots because the centre-left opposition boycotted the vote. The coalition was joined by the SNS, DeSUS and minority MPs in endorsing the candidate.
LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Matej Tonin announced that Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak could no longer count on the support of his party New Slovenia (NSi) following the statements he made in a leaked conversation with a spa company boss 14 years ago. He said it would be best if Vizjak resigned.
LJUBLJANA - Some 35,000 health and social care employees will benefit from a pay rise under an agreement initialled by two trade unions representing the staff and the government valued at nearly EUR 123 million. The deal brings higher wages to more than 80% of the employees in healthcare, 80% of employees in social care and 40% of support employees in those two activities.
MARIBOR - An employee of the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office was arrested on suspicion of having leaked confidential information to key members of the Slovenian cell of the Kavač Clan, a Montenegrin crime syndicate. The woman, reportedly a secretary, had access to confidential information about orders for house searches and covert surveillance measures.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will donate 300,000 shots of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Moderna to Covax, the global initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, the government decided. Africa was designated as the priority region.
LJUBLJANA - The prosecution dismissed a report against former STA director Bojan Veselinovič over alleged abuse of office related to a compensation contract with the newspaper publisher Dnevnik. Veselinovič said he had expected such a decision because the report had no merit.
LJUBLJANA - Ljubo Žnidar, an MP for the coalition Democrats (SDS), resigned. The party said he stepped down for personal reasons and decided to continue his professional career in the corporate sector.
THURSDAY, 11 November
LJUBLJANA - Students who refuse to wear masks or self-test will study from home under new rules that will enter into force on 15 November, Education Ministry State Secretary Damir Orehovec said after schools expressed concern over the lack of a legal basis for action against those who violate rules.
LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša dismissed the opposition's allegations about government misconduct during the course of the coronavirus pandemic, telling a parliamentary inquiry that its decisions were based on opinions by experts.
LJUBLJANA - NLB bank reported net profit almost doubling to EUR 205.5 million in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the year before. CEO Blaž Brodnjak said the results enabled the bank to "to search for new growth opportunities" in the bank's home region in SE Europe, including potential mergers and acquisitions.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission projected in its autumn economic forecast that Slovenia's GDP would expand by 6.4% in 2021, a 0.7-point upgrade from its July forecast. In 2022, the country's GDP is to grow at 4.2%, a downgrade of 0.8 points.
LJUBLJANA - XLAB, a company providing remote desktop access and solutions for IT-automation and digital transformation, won the Delo Business Star award. The jury praised it for its good reputation in the IT industry and its ability to market products on foreign markets.
