STA, 11 August 2022 - Italy's allegations about Slovenia's violations of EU legislation on geographically protected balsamic vinegar are unfounded, the Slovenian Agriculture Ministry told the STA on Thursday as it responded to recent reports that the Italian government is demanding infringement proceedings against Slovenia.

At the beginning of this week, news broke that the Italian government has called on the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Slovenia to safeguard the authenticity of Italy's geographically protected balsamic vinegar.

Italy has been opposing Slovenia's draft regulation on vinegar and dilute acetic acid quality for a year and a half now, as they believe it would broaden the definition of balsamic vinegar.

Given that the European Commission has not issued any binding opinion on this, and based on an EU court decision from 2019 that ruled in favour of a German company selling its vinegar products under the label balsamic, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food is confident that the regulation in question is not contrary to EU law.

They have been informed about Italy's moves through media reports alone. "We have not received any official information from either Italy or the European Commission," they wrote in their response.

The allegations are unfounded because balsamic vinegar is a generic term in common use and not in conflict with protected geographical terms registered by Italy, they said. The label Aceto Balsamico di Modena is protected, whereas non-geographical words used in this expression, such as "aceto" and "balsamico" and their combinations or translations are not.

Slovenia notified the EU of the regulation in December 2020, after which only Italy expressed strong opposition to the document in early March 2021. Slovenia then responded to the formal objection, but so far no feedback has been received from Italy or the Commission.

The ministry moreover noted that the regulation did not wish to do any harm to the reputation of protected Italian balsamic vinegar, as Slovenian products in this field would be marketed the same way as they have been so far.

UPDATED: A few hours later the fires started again, and four villages have been evacuated

STA, 20 July 2022 - The fire that broke out in the Kras region on Tuesday, along the road between Miren and Opatje Selo near the border with Italy has been contained on the Slovenian side of the border, while the situation remains more uncertain on the Italian side, the regional Civil Protection reported on Wednesday morning. 

During the night 15 Slovenian firefighters with three engines jumped in to help their Italian colleagues after members of the Kras Firefighting Association helped them on Tuesday.

The fire on the Slovenian side, under the Miren-Opatje Selo power line, broke out on Tuesday very close to where a fire was put out on Friday. A much larger fire in the north-western Kras, erupting on Sunday, was brought under control after nearing the village of Lokvica in an effort involving hundreds of Slovenian firefighters plus aircraft from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy.

Tuesday's fire was brought under control with the help of three Slovenian helicopters and the Pilatus PC 5 aircraft.

Fire watch teams remained on the sites of both fires during the night. Due to thick smoke, residents of the city of Nova Gorica and surrounding areas, Goriška Brda and the lower Posočje were urged last night to stay at home and close their windows.

The situation is much more risky on the Italian side of the border, where firefighters were battling flames in several spots throughout the night.

STA, 19 April 2022 - A techno-cultural urban quarter will be built between the neighbouring cities of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy before their joint project of the 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECoC) title in what is an upgrade of the initial plan to strengthen ties between the two cities.

The investment that will bind the two cities together in the spirit of the shared project has expanded from the initial Europe Square idea to a bigger area between Nova Gorica and Gorizia along the Slovenian-Italian border.

The ECoC district is the start of a major upgrade of the border area from the cultural centre Mostovna in the north to the University of Nova Gorica in the south. This border zone, about three kilometres long, is the area that will begin to connect the two cities, the Nova Gorica Municipality said in a press release.

Nova Gorica and Gorizia will be named the European Capital of Culture 2025 #GO2025 #GoBorderless #EuropeanCapitalOfCulture #StrongherTogether #ECOChttps://t.co/iw3a6zQnHa pic.twitter.com/UBTg6eMSwx

— Slovenian Government (@govSlovenia) December 23, 2020

The project is being carried out in cooperation with local communities, local businesses and a research team from the university. The district will provide what is currently missing in Nova Gorica and will be dedicated to the environment, education, science, technology, culture and new forms of mobility, the municipality added.

The district will host the Green Technology Centre, a hub of laboratories and activities that will support in particular SMEs in the development of products and services derived from green technologies. The project also envisages construction of new facilities for the university.

"We propose to make the best use or reuse of this space," said Boštjan Vuga with the architectural firm Sadar+Vuga as he presented the concept. Nova Gorica also aims to upgrade its train station by 2025 and build an overpass street over the tracks that will help link the city centres of Nova Gorica and Gorizia through Europe Square, which is also expected to be renovated by 2025.

That year, the two cities will jointly host the European Capital of Culture with slogan Go! Borderless after winning the designation in December 2020.

STA, 13 January 2022 - A memorial site in Italy's Basovizza dedicated to four Slovenian victims of Fascism executed in September 1930, known as the Basovizza Heroes, has been granted the status of cultural importance by Italian regional authorities, the Trieste-based Primorski Dnevnik reported on Wednesday.

The Basovizza Heroes are regarded as symbols of opposition and resistance to the fascist regime and ideology, and as heroes of a free Europe built on the foundations of anti-fascism. The four members of the secret anti-fascist organisation Borba (Fight) - Ferdo Bidovec, Zvonimir Miloš, Franjo Marušič and Alojz Valenčič - were shot dead on 6 September 1930 near the village of Basovizza not far off from today's border between Italy and Slovenia.

The decision to grant the memorial (Spomenik Bazoviških junakov/Monumento Eroi di Basovizza) the status of cultural importance was endorsed by the Friuli Venezia Giulia authorities on Monday, Simonetta Bonomi, the head of the region's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, confirmed for the Slovenian minority's paper.

The institute launched a procedure to grant the memorial site the status in August last year. By going through with this, the region has laid the groundwork for the memorial to become a monument of national importance in Italy in the future.

This is also the aim of the Basovizza Heroes committee at the Slovenian National and Study Library in Trieste. Moreover, together with the two umbrella minority organisations, the committee is striving to rehabilitate the four victims, who are still officially considered terrorists in Italy.

Since the Basovizza Heroes were convicted by a fast-track court, the rehabilitation procedure will be lengthy. The case falls under the purview of a military court, where a retrial and rehabilitation are difficult to achieve, the committee said.

The granting of the status was welcomed by President Borut Pahor, who thanked all who had worked for many years for "this important shift in the status of the monument", which he visited together with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in 2020.

"Following the actual return of the Trieste National Hall to the Slovenian minority, this is another important step in the Slovenian-Italian relations," the president said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The umbrella organisations of the Slovenian minority in Italy also expressed much satisfaction with the move, adding that this "historic step should be put in the broader context of the current historical moment".

The Slovenian Cultural and Economic Association (SKGZ) and the Council of Slovenian Organisations (SSO) said that the visit to the monument by the Slovenian and Italian presidents "undoubtedly contributed to the favourable outcome of the procedure."

"By paying tribute to the four fallen lads, the president of Italy recognised the importance of their fight against Fascism, and the status ... further underlines that the heroes were on the right side of history, and not terrorists."

The organisations added that this also opened a legal avenue for the annulment of the verdict with which the four were sentenced to death.

Related: Slovenian Victims of Fascism Remembered 90 Years After Executions in Basovizza

STA, 7 January 2022 - The construction of new cycling paths has started on Friday in Gorizia, with the aim of linking the cross-border area around the cities of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy and the adjacent Soča River valley, as part of the Cross-border park of Isonzo-Soča project.

The event upon the start of construction was attended by the mayors of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, Rodolfo Ziberna and Klemen Miklavič, along with the president of the European grouping of territorial cooperation - EGTC GO, Paolo Petiziol.

"This project is an important signal about the kind of city we want to be. We want to live in a conurbation where clean and green mobility is at the forefront," said Miklavič.

He added that this kind of cross-border cooperation has become regular practice in the conurbation of Nova Gorica and Gorizia. "We are becoming a single urban territory, so the area needs to be jointly managed, which also includes infrastructure."

The construction of cycling paths is included in the last two stages of the cross-border park of Isonzo-Soča project, financed through the initiative INTERREG V-A Italy - Slovenia 2014-2020.

The third and the fourth stage of the project will provide for a 14-kilometre network of cycling and walking routes, connecting the two cities and rural areas around them along the Slovenia-Italy border.

The project aims to link existing cycling routes and provide better access to the area along the Soča River across the municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba, while promoting sustainable mobility.

The project is worth EUR 5 million in total, with just under EUR 2 million allocated for its third and fourth stages. Around 85% of the funding will be provided by the European Fund, with the rest coming from Italy's region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

STA, 5 December 2021 - Six Italian military doctors and nurses arrived in Slovenia on Sunday to help the medical teams of the Slovenian Armed Force helping at Covid-19 hospitals. Another nine could not arrive due to the bad weather but will join them on Monday.

The Italians were welcomed at the barracks in the city of Kranj by Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin and Health Minister Janez Poklukar this afternoon.

That up to 30 Italian military staff would help Slovenia cope with the tense situation at hospitals was agreed by Tonin and his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini in Rome last month.

Today, two doctors and four male nurses, members of the Italian navy and air forces arrived, to be joined tomorrow by the nine police medical staff (carabinieri) whose flight was cancelled due to bad weather.

The 15 Italian medical professionals, of whom five doctors, are to help the Slovenian military teams at UKC Ljubljana, the country's largest hospital.

Mixed teams are expected to feature one Italian doctor, two Italian nurses, one Slovenian nurse and two Slovenian military paramedics.

The military teams at another thee Slovenian hospitals, in Celje, Novo Mesto and Maribor, will remain unchanged.

In Celje and Novo Mesto, five members of the Slovenian Armed Forces are helping out, ten in Maribor and 15 at UKC Ljubljana.

One of them, nurse Alen Oderlap said they were doing their best to helo the civilian teams and patients. "There is a lot of work and every helping hand is welcome," he said.

Italian doctors Claudia Dedalo and Sandro Pricone said they already had some experience from Covid wards, while they see their Slovenian campaign as valuable experience and as an exchange of experience that could be valuable in other crises.

Minister Tonin is confident that the Italian team's know-how and experience will contribute to the mixed military teams to be effective and meet the expectations.

Minister Poklukar said the situation at Slovenian hospitals was still very difficult for medical staff, while response to any major natural disaster or accident would be impaired, which is why the help from Italy was so valuable.

Under the current agreement with Italy, the Italian medical staff will help in Slovenia until the end of the year.

Whether they continue into next year depends on the situation at hospitals and the epidemiological situation in Slovenia and neighbouring countries, Poklukar said.

Italian Ambassador to Slovenia Carlo Campanile said: "When Italy needed medical support, Slovenia was ready to help, and we have not forgotten it."

STA, 10 November 2021 - The Nova Gorica Court acquitted on Wednesday two men from Sicily who had been charged with robbing two banks in Slovenia in August and October 2020 after part of the evidence was excluded. Giacomo Pappalardi and Mario Piacente were released from detention where they had been since October 2020. The prosecution will appeal.

Judge Darinka Kogoj said that Pappalardi, 44, and Piacente, 27, had been proven to have engaged in preparation for the robberies, which is however not a crime.

She said their guilt could not be proven after part of the evidence was excluded, namely GPS data about a vehicle rented in Italy before the robberies for which the Italian prosecution had given the police no order to obtain or use.

Prosecutor Petra Poberaj said she would appeal the ruling. For Piacente, she had proposed seven years in prison, and six years for Pappalardi.

Their defence teams had meanwhile proposed acquittal, with Pappalardi saying today that the court gave "a lesson in criminal and constitutional law".

The court referred the affected banks, NKBM and Deželna Banka, to a litigation.

Several persons are suspected of being involved with the robberies but the police could not say with certainty who was at the banks during the robberies based on video surveillance footage.

The first robbery took place on 31 August in Dobrova and the second on 1 October in Dutovlje, both practically just across the border with Italy.

Both were executed by two men wearing face masks and speaking Italian, who threatened bank employees, with a knife in the first case and with an object resembling a gun in the second, stealing EUR 35,000 and EUR 7,000, respectively.

Things went sour while the robbers were preparing for a third robbery in the border town of Kanal, as Nova Gorica police arrested Pappalardi and Piacente with the help of Italian criminal police in the town of Solkan.

A third suspect, also from Sicily, was identified to have taken part in both robberies, but returned to southern Italy a day after Pappalardi and Piacente were arrested. All three have a criminal record of similar crimes in Italy, so Slovenian police suspected they were a criminal ring specialised in bank robberies.

STA, 8 August 2021 - Slovenia's Triglav National Park and Italy's Prealpi Giulie Nature Park have launched a bid to have the Julian Alps declared as a single trans-boundary UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve to manage it together.

The Slovenian Julian Alps biosphere reserve was designated as early as 2003 as the first such reserve in the country. It spreads over ten municipalities with Triglav National Park (TNP) at its core.

A few years ago, the Prealpi Giulie Regional Nature Park took the same step, having the Italian Julian Alps Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve designated for 11 Italian municipalities.

The two parks, which manage their respective reserves, signed an agreement last month in Trenta,
Slovenia, to win designation for a common Julian Alps UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve.

Such a project is quite rare or even unique in European space, TNP official Majda Odar, adding that the goal is to have a joint management of the reserve.

The two parks have been closely cooperating since 1996, carrying out a number of projects together. They first announced their bid for the cross-border Julian Alps UNESCO MAB Biosphere reserve.

In 2009, EUROPARC federation designated the trans-boundary Julian Alps Ecoregion and in 2014 the Alpine Convention declared the areas of the two parks a pilot region for eco-connectivity.

The two parks and other stakeholders have also realised the opportunity for closer cooperation in developing sustainable tourism.

EUROPARC certified the Julian Alps Ecoregion with the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in 2016 as the first trans-boundary region. The charter was successfully renewed last year.

The Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve constitutes an important Alpine corridor, notably for large carnivores as well as birds.

Talking about the challenges for the cross-border biosphere reserve, Odar said "the key thing is to erase the border as much as possible and see the area comprehensively as a whole geographic region without the border crossing it". One example is marking hiking trails together.

The MAB programme is an intergovernmental scientific programme of the UNESCO that aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments.

Running since 1971, it aims to establish a balance between humans, nature and cultural heritage. The designated biosphere areas serve as models of how sustainable development can be achieved.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves currently counts 714 sites in 129 countries all over the world, including 21 transboundary sites.

Apart from the Julian Alps, Slovenia has three other biosphere reserves: the Karst (designated in 2004), Kozjansko and Obsotelje (2010) and Mura River (2018).

STA, 5 August 2021 - The first ever public demonstration of fully encrypted quantum communication between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia took place during the meeting of G20 digital economy ministers in Trieste on Thursday.

It was the first time in history that fully quantum encrypted communication was made possible by means of optical fibres connecting three nodes, in Trieste, Ljubljana and Rijeka.

In Ljubljana, the event was held at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (FMF), whose dean Anton Ramšak noted that quantum communication would allow what have so far been unattainable levels of communication security.

"Comparing the security of encryption methods established so far and quantum communication is like comparing bows and arrows with guns," Ramšak illustrated.

The technology uses quantum keys, sequences of random numbers established remotely through exchange of individual photons of light.

5. 8. je potekala prva javna demonstracija medvladne kvantne komunikacije. Prvič v zgodovini je bil omogočen povsem kvantno šifrirani prenos med vozlišči 3 držav (Trst, Ljubljana in Reka). Sodelovali so tudi fiziki @FMF_UL, prof. dr. Rainer Kaltenbaek in prof. dr. Anton Ramšak. pic.twitter.com/3eNTiSSLq7

— FMF UL (@FMF_UL) August 6, 2021

The exchange protocol is based on quantum mechanics and if anyone tried to intercept the key, they would leave behind a trace that would alert those involved in communication and allow them to respond immediately.

In all other established technologies of information transfer, a copy of the key may be intercepted and copied without leaving a trace.

The quantum communication was tested by FMF physicists Rainer Kaltenbaek and Anton Ramšak in cooperation with their colleagues at the University of Trieste's Department of Physics and the National Research Council of Italy and Croatian physicists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute.

In his address, Kaltenbaek noted that Europe pioneered the field as early as 2012, but since the relevant institutions had not been willing to provide sufficient financial support, it was larger countries, mainly China which later took the initiative in implementing the technology.

Today's demonstration was also important in the context of the future European quantum communication infrastructure (EuroQCI), which is being promoted by the 27 EU member countries and the European Commission with the support of the European Space Agency.

The event depended on technical support of the link between Trieste and the FMF in Ljubljana via Postojna that was made possible by the telecommunications provider Telekom Slovenije through its modern network of optical links by means of dark fibres.

The test was the first ever application of quantum laws of nature outside science labs with the purpose of establishing fully secure communication.

After addresses by keynote speakers, a short concert was performed by musicians from the Giuseppe Tartini State Conservatory of Trieste and the academies of music in Ljubljana and Zagreb using the breakthrough quantum communication technology.

STA, 27 July 2021 - A coach service linking Tolmin in western Slovenia with Cividale del Friuli in Italy during the summer season was launched on Tuesday with a promotional ride and a meeting between mayors from both sides of the border.

Running in July and August, the service was put into operation with the help of Crossmoby, a project under the Interreg programme of interregional cooperation between Slovenia and Italy which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

Passengers on the maiden ride included the mayors of the three Posočje municipalities, Uroš Brežan of Tolmin, Marko Matajurc of Kobarid and Valter Mlekuž of Bovec, who met Cividale del Friuli Daniela Bernardi during their informal visit.

Viljam Kvalić, the head of the regional tourism board, sees the link as a big step forward for the Soča Valley, being that it does not have many good public transport links with the rest of Slovenia and other countries.

"As we also get a rail link and more bus lines connecting us with Italy in the future, this will be our gateway to the world," Kvalić told the STA.

The Crossmoby project is seeking to improve sustainable mobility planning throughout the cross-border region in a bid to establish new cross-border transport services.

The whole project is valued at just over EUR 4 million, of which 85% in EU funds. EUR 30,000 has been obtained for the Tolmin-Cividale del Friuli link.

As part of the project a cross-border rail service has linked Ljubljana and Trieste.