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, 1 April
GROSUPLJE - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec, speaking during the government's visit to the south of Central Slovenia, said Slovenia would not pay for Russian gas in roubles and would not accept Russia's extortion.
VRHNIKA - PM Janez Janša announced the government would continue to intervene as long as necessary to contain high electricity prices. He said this would be until the European pricing formula changed.
LOGATEC - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs visited the Logatec refugee centre, revealing that more than 5,800 Ukrainian refugees were accommodated in Slovenia, most at private accommodations or with their friends or relatives. However, procedures to award them temporary protection status are sunning slowly.
LJUBLJANA - More than 1,400 candidates representing 20 parties and groups will stand for seats in parliament in the 24 April election, including ten of the 18 incumbent ministers and 80 of the 90 sitting MPs.
LJUBLJANA - The Parsifal poll conducted for Siol news portal showed the gap between the Democrats (SDS) and the Freedom Movement narrowing from almost nine points to six with the former polling at 21.7% and the latter at 15.4%.
LJUBLJANA - Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) analysts forecast for the Slovenian economy to expand by 3.7% this year and by 3.2% in 2023.
LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Juliane Kokott, an advocate general at the EU's court, issued a preliminary opinion at the request of the Slovenian Constitutional Court, finding that the Slovenian central bank's financing compensation for bank shareholders and bondholders wiped out in the 2013 bailout would run afoul of the EU treaty.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A report released by the European Environment Agency showed that Slovenia is one of the five European countries with the highest recorded concentrations of the PM 2.5 fine particulate matter.
SATURDAY, 2 April
VANCOUVER, Canada - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch wrapped up a busy week-long tour of the Slovenian communities in Canada in Vancouver, after visiting Toronto and Ottawa. Apart from visiting Slovenian associations, she also met with businessmen of Slovenian descent and visited their companies.
LJUBLJANA/SEŽANA - Alojz Kralj, the last surviving member of the underground anti-fascist organisation TIGR, died aged 101. His memoirs tell about the TIGR, founded in 1927 as one of the first anti-fascist resistance movements in Europe.
LJUBLJANA - The government included a comprehensive renovation of the main building of the UKC Ljubljana medical centre, called Hospital, in the plan of development programmes for 2022-2025. The EUR 37 million will be secured by the Health Ministry.
SUNDAY, 3 April
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša labelled the atrocities Russia is believed to have committed in Bucha, a city close to Kyiv, crimes against humanity, likening them to the 1940 execution of Poles in Katyn by the Soviet Union.
NOVO MESTO - Andrej Saje, the bishop of Novo Mesto and head of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference, apologised to the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy on behalf of the Catholic Church in Slovenia, as he marked the day of prayer for the victims.
LJUBLJANA - The Freedom Movement narrowly overtook the ruling Democrats (SDS) in the opinion poll commissioned by the public broadcaster TV Slovenija from Mediana and is now one percentage point ahead, at 19.7%.
NEW YORK, US - Slovenia and Croatia marked the 30th anniversary of their UN membership with a concert by the world-renowned Slovenian-Croatian duo 2Cellos, who thus started their valedictory world tour. The concert at the Barclays Center also expressed solidarity with Ukraine with ambassadors from all three countries attending.
NEW YORK, US - Karen Kamenšek, a conductor of Slovenian descent who served as artistic director of the Maribor opera house and the chief conductor of its orchestra years ago, won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her version of Philip Glass's opera Akhnaten.
MONDAY, 4 April
ZAPREŠIĆ, Croatia - Foreign Minister Anže Logar met his Croatian and Italian counterparts, Gordan Grlić Radman and Luigi Di Maio. They assessed the ongoing trilateral cooperation in the north Adriatic and discussed proposals for further cooperation. The trio strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supported Ukraine and its people.
KRK, Croatia - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec met Croatian Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić to discuss possibilities for Slovenia to get gas visa the LNG terminal on the island of Krk. Croatia is to publish a call to lease out additional capacity soon. Slovenia hopes to meet about a third of its gas needs in this way.
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša congratulated Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party on the fourth consecutive win. "It's good to have friends as neighbours," Janša wrote on Twitter.
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor congratulated Aleksandar Vučić on his re-election as Serbia's president in a phone call with Pahor's office saying the pair were keen to hold an informal meeting soon.
LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption found PM Janez Janša was in a conflict of interest as he voted for the appointment of Franci Matoz, his long-time lawyer, for a top job at the Bank Assets Management Company in July 2021. Janša criticised the watchdog on Twitter for failing to find flaws in Court of Audit President Tomaž Vesel's work for FIFA or the salaries and bonuses of former Gen-I chairman Robert Golob.
LJUBLJANA - Fresh official statistics showed Slovenia's merchandise exports rising by almost 19% year-on-year in January to EUR 36 billion, as exports surged by over 50% to EUR 4.2 billion. In the first two months, the trade deficit topped a billion euros.
LJUBLJANA - Croatian group Fortenova became the sole shareholder of Mercator, Slovenia's largest retailer, after squeezing out all remaining small shareholders.
LJUBLJANA - A portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin filled with the blood of Ukrainians was projected onto several buildings in the centre of Ljubljana in a project of Russian-born conceptual artist Andrei Molodkin.
LJUBLJANA - Emerik Bernard, one of the most important Slovenian painters and representatives of late Slovenian modernism and postmodernism, died aged 84.
LOS ANGELES, US - Slovenia's best professional golfer, 18-year-old Pia Babnik, set a new milestone by taking third place in the first major tournament of the season, the Chevron Championship in California, in what is by far the best result any Slovenian golfer has ever achieved.
TUESDAY, 5 April
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry announced that Slovenia demanded from the Russian Embassy in Ljubljana to downsize its staff from 41 to eight as it summoned Russian Ambassador Timur Eyvazov to express the country's protest and shock at the killings of civilians in Bucha and other towns in Ukraine.
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Armed Forces said 100 Slovenian troops would be deployed to Slovakia to enhance NATO's presence on its eastern flank in the first phase, out of up to the 200 pledged. They will be ready for departure from 11 April.
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the importance of Ukraine-Russia negotiations hosted by Turkey in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
LJUBLJANA - Most parties standing in the 24 April general election think Slovenia should not provide weapons to Ukraine, but foremost humanitarian aid, and accept Ukrainian refugees, judging by their answers to the STA.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's jobless total dropped to 60,534 at the end of March, down 6.6% from February and 26.7% lower year-on-year, the Employment Service announced, adding this is the lowest since September 2008, at the peak of economic growth.
LJUBLJANA - A Eurobarometer survey showed Slovenians were quite happy with their life in general but only one out of three was happy with the way democracy works in their country, which puts them below only Greece and Croatia.
MONTREUX, Switzerland - Tadej Pogačar became the first rider in history to pass the 6,000 point mark in the UCI world road race ranking as Slovenia took the lead in the nations ranking with Primož Roglič in 2nd and Matej Mohorič in 5th.
WEDNESDAY, 6 April
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly imposed a blanket ban on fracking as MPs voted 54 in favour and none against to pass the relevant amendments to the mining act. The ban affects plans by UK investor Ascent Resources to extract gas by means of hydraulic fracturing in Petišovci in the north-east.
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly failed to take a vote on a bill on electronic communications that was to transpose the relevant EU directive as well as make it possible to ban vendors such as Huawei as the centre-left opposition filed a motion for a referendum, which now needs to be discussed first. Slovenia faces legal action at the EU court for failing to transpose the directive.
POLZELA - President Borut Pahor and US Ambassador Jamie L. Harpootlian addressed a ceremony to mark Slovenian-American Friendship Day and 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations at a spot where an American B-17 bomber was downed during WWII. In their address, they both made references to the war in Ukraine with Harpootlian saying the atrocities committed by Russia were a stark reminder of what the B-17 bomber crew was fighting for.
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed a coalition-sponsored bill on a housing state guarantee scheme for young people. The Institute for Housing and Spatial Studies said the scheme would only drive up housing prices further.
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed a bill to provide up to EUR 392.44 million in loan guarantees to motorway company DARS for projects on the Third Development Axis expressway and some other motorway sections.
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed a bill to provide EUR 150 million for investment in sport infrastructure in the 2023-2027 period. The priority areas for financing will be determined by the government.
LJUBLJANA - The Freedom Movement, a non-parliamentary party that some polls favour to win the 24 April election, announced the Administrative Court issued a temporary decision in which it upheld its argument that it should be granted the status of a parliamentary party in election debates aired by the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija just like Our Land, the party of former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec, whom RTV Slovenija granted such status.
LJUBLJANA - Several hundred scientists rallied in protest against the transformation of private educational and research institutions into public entities eligible for public funds, a policy they say is driven by political interests. Meanwhile, the centre-left opposition prevented adoption of a regulation to transform a private Novo Mesto college into a public faculty by filing for a referendum.
MARIBOR - NKBM, Slovenia's second largest banking group, nearly halved its net profit last year to EUR 112.6 million. The bank is being sold to the Hungarian OTP Bank group in a transaction that is expected to be finalised in the second or third quarter of the year.
THURSDAY, 7 April
BRUSSELS - Foreign Minister Anže Logar called for a prompt EU ban on Russian gas imports as he arrived at day two of a NATO ministerial. Slovenia joined an initiative of eleven EU countries calling for an end the EU's dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
LJUBLJANA - The government secured extra funding for the Climate Change Fund in the 2021-2023 period, with the total of inflows and carry-ons from past years estimated at EUR 525.2 million for the period, up from EUR 170 million in inflows a year. The funds will also go for household energy supply and investment in energy efficiency.
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a decree to incentivise municipalities to approve installation of wind farms by providing compensation amounting to 3% of the estimated annual revenue from the energy produced from the source.
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a bill to impose a 5% tax on natural persons when they turn their cryptocurrency into a fiat currency or buy goods, services or other assets, but only if the sum exceeds EUR 10,000 in a calendar year. The Finance Ministry estimates at least EUR 1 million a year in budget receipts.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia welcomed the UN General Assembly's decision to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, which Foreign Minister Anže Logar termed as an important victory for democratic principles of multilateralism.
LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council urged increasing public spending to attain climate and energy goals nearly threefold by 2030 to 6% of GDP a year from an average of EUR 1 billion or 2% of GDP a year in 2016-2020.
LJUBLJANA - The Responses to Educational Disruption Survey, an international study of how the educational system fared during the Covid pandemic, showed worrying results for Slovenia in the segments of achievement of learning objectives, knowledge standards and marks.
DOBROVNIK - Ocean Orchids, Slovenia's leading orchid grower and one of the biggest users of geothermal energy in the country, won a EUR 2 million government subsidy to build the first reinjection well in Slovenia.
LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Delo reported that Franc Kangler, a state secretary who served as Maribor mayor in 2006-2012, was awarded EUR 50,000 in damages for being wrongfully convicted to prison for awarding a municipal flat to a fortune teller.
