STA, 28 June 2021 - The government has asked its communication office to transfer a EUR 845,000 advance to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) for the expected expenses related to the performance of public service once the STA provides UKOM with access into business documentation for the last ten years and if a contract on public service is signed.

The advance must be transferred within three days following the day the STA director allows authorised persons of the Government Communication Office (UKOM) to access the documentation and if the contract for 2021 is signed by then.

The proposals from the government as the sole founder and shareholder of the national press agency were confirmed at the annual general meeting today.

STA director Bojan Veselinovič is obligated to allow authorised representatives of UKOM immediate access to data and information about the internal organisational and accounting and financial structure of business processes and access to the entire documentation on financial operations since 28 June 2011.

On the other hand, with the purpose of "ensuring comprehensive and undisrupted performance of public service", the government asked UKOM director Uroš Urbanija to transfer to the STA a EUR 845,000 advance for the expected expenses related to the performance of public service.

Another condition is that the STA sign by then with UKOM director a contract for the performance of public service for 2021 and provides public availability of the content on the website that corresponds to the public service from the relevant legal act.

The final and overall amount of compensation for the performance of public service since 1 January will be established by UKOM in accordance with the relevant regulation that has been recently adopted.

The government also instructed Veselinovič to withdraw within 48 hours the lawsuit seeking payment for the public service from UKOM at the Ljubljana District Court, and to report about this to UKOM.

In a press release issued after the meeting, UKOM said it was the government's duty to see to efficient use of the taxpayers' money, while the agency's duty was to use the money as efficiently as possible and to keep the government comprehensively up to date on the spending.

UKOM finds that most of the STA's online content is only available to subscribers and free access is only available to short news ledes, so most of the public exert their right to being informed by reading the web portals of other providers, which provide full summaries of news reports for free as they pay for the commercial services provided by the STA.

The release sad the government pegged the financing of the public service to the scope of the public service performed under the STA business plan in order to expand the scope of the public service provided.

"If the government provided the fee for the public service in advance as so far, it would renounce the only mechanism allowing it to check to what extent the STA business plan has in fact been implemented, nor could it encourage the STA to its increased implementation," UKOM said.

UKOM says it hopes the STA management and supervisory board would realise the STA's mission is to strengthen the public service rather than increase commercial activities. The government detailed such mode of financing in the decree on the STA public service, which had to be aligned with EU law.

UKOM also "condemned in the strongest terms" as misleading the STA management's interpreting the government's demand to report on the use of the taxpayers' money as the government's interference in editorial policy.

Veselinovič welcomed the "government's announcement that it will supposedly end the suspension of financing of the STA", saying the STA would have sent all business information and documents to UKOM long ago had it demanded it in a legal way.

He said that it was only at today's shareholders meeting that the government had legally authorised UKOM to gain insight into the STA documentation, although the documentation had been in the government building since April.

"Once UKOM tells us what information about the operations of the STA in the past decade it wants and in what way, the STA will send it. We have no problems whatsoever with this, as the STA operates transparently and it is scrutinised by authorised auditors."

As for the new contract, Veselinovič said that the law "stipulates financing of the STA in accordance with the adopted business plan for this year regardless of whether a contract has been signed or not."

Regarding the call on the director to withdraw the lawsuit seeking payment for the public service from UKOM, he said that the STA management would consult legal experts about this.

After the STA receives the 845,000 advance, it will withdraw the proposal for the court to order UKOM to make due payments for public service before the final decision is made, because the liquidity of the agency will no longer be at risk, he added.

The Association of Slovenian Journalists (DNS) repeated that the government has a duty under two pieces of legislation to pay the STA for the public service, describing additional conditions that are being set for the financing and which would increase the UKOM director's control over the STA's operations as extortion.

"The government must be aware it is overstepping its legal powers, but counts on it that being in a financial pinch, the STA will be forced to consent to its terms," the DNS said, adding it would follow the developments further.

The STA has been without government payment for its public service for 179 days.

STA, 23 June - CIVICUS, an international alliance of NGOs, on Wednesday placed Slovenia on its list of countries to be monitored for a decline in fundamental civil liberties. Under Janez Janša's government, civil society organisations have been undermined by funding cuts and journalists and the national press agency have been targeted, they wrote.

This comes as Monitor CIVICUS, an online platform that monitors civil liberties in 196 countries, released its updated human rights watchlist on Wednesday.

The CIVICUS Monitor Watch List draws attention to countries where there is a serious and rapid decline in respect for civic space. The list now includes Slovenia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Chad and Myanmar.

As CIVICUS pointed out, since assuming power, Janez Janša's government has been "using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to pass several measures that affect basic human rights, the rule of law and the right to participation".

They said that civil society organisations faced funding cuts and smear campaigns, and the government had justified its decisions by claiming that the money will be redirected to contain the pandemic.

"In addition, the right to peaceful assembly has been disproportionately limited during the pandemic. Since the government came into power, weekly cycling protests have been held. However, police have issued fines to protesters summing up to EUR 10,000," they wrote.

"The prime minister has adopted the style of former US President Donald Trump on Twitter, constantly attacking and discrediting independent journalists, calling them 'liars' and calling women journalists 'presstitutes'," CIVICUS added.

It notes that the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has been facing political and economic pressures as well. The government stopped funding the agency, despite an EU warning against such attempts to put pressure on public media outlets.

"At the same time, pressure is being exerted on the STA's management in an attempt to destroy the agency," CIVICUS said, also calling on the Slovenian government to stop attacking NGOs and to reverse the decisions it took to restrict their funding.

"The CIVICUS Monitor downgraded Slovenia's civic space rating in December 2020 to NARROWED, which is already a warning sign. We therefore call on European institutions to pay attention to the rapid shrinking of civic space in Slovenia, which has been in a spiral of continuous deterioration under the government of Janez Janša," said Aarti Narsee, European Civic Space Researcher for CIVICUS.

Based on constant analyses of multiple streams of data on civic space, CIVICUS assigns each country a rating as follows: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed or closed.

Slovenia is currently rated NARROWED by the CIVICUS Monitor as one of the 40 countries in the world with this rating.

This rating is typically given to countries where democratic freedoms, such as the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, are increasingly being violated.

You can see more on the report here

STA, 20 June 2021 - The Slovenian Press Agency (STA) will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a ceremony in front of its headquarters in Ljubljana on Sunday to mark the day 30 years ago when it published its first news article.

The STA was entered in the national register of companies on 3 June 1991, and started operating on 20 June 1991, a few days ahead of the official declaration of Slovenia's independence.

On this day 30 years ago, the national news agency published its first news article in Slovenian and English in a bid to form a channel of communication with the domestic and foreign public.

Since its humble and difficult beginnings during the Slovenian war of independence, the STA has developed into a modern media service that provides text articles, audio clips, photographs, livestreams and several other types of content.

Employing more than 80 journalists, photographers and other staff, the STA publishes more than 350 news items in Slovenian and English daily.

In the 30 years of its existence, the agency has published more than 2.5 million news items and other pieces of text content in Slovenia and more than 270,000 in English, around a million photographs and more than 130,000 audio recordings.

The anniversary comes at a difficult time as the agency has not been paid by the government for the public service it provides for more than 170 days and is on the verge of insolvency.

Jumping in to help was the Slovenian Journalist Association (DNS), which launched a donation campaign in May as part of which more than a quarter million euro has been raised for the agency.

The association has also proposed that President Borut Pahor decorate the STA on the anniversary, which the president responding affirmatively. The agency will thus receive the Order of Merit at Presidential Palace on Wednesday.

STA, 9 June 2021 - Several international journalist organisations condemned Wednesday Prime Minister Janez Janša's tweet that said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović was "part of #fakenews network". This came after her warning about deteriorating media freedom in Slovenia. The organisations agree with her assessment of the situation.

"We welcome a memorandum by Commissioner Mijatović and share her concern over the deterioration of media freedom in Slovenia, which coincides with findings of our recent fact-finding mission in the country," said Article 19, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI), Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and OBC Transeuropa.

Their joint press release says that their findings on the situation will be part of a report produced by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) mission to Slovenia. The mission was conducted in late May and early June and the report is expected to be published in July.

Mijatović's office is independent and unbiased, which is also reflected in the memorandum, said the organisations, highlighting that the commissioner had not only released the report but also a six-page document displaying views by the Slovenian government.

"The tone and manner in which PM Janša voiced his disagreement with Commissioner Mijatović's memorandum are in our opinion completely inappropriate for a leader of a democratic EU country," the press release says.

Janša wrote in English on Twitter on Sunday: "Unfortunately, @Dunja_Mijatovic is part of #fakenews network. Well paid by our money."

Unfortunately, @Dunja_Mijatovic is part of #fakenews network. Well paid by our money. https://t.co/uFangFwSjm

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) June 6, 2021

The organisations pointed out that the irony was that exactly this kind of conduct by officials on social media raised the alarm in the memorandum, calling on Janša to refrain from such statements in the future and instead strive to remedy the alarming situation.

Janša has responded to the organisations' press release saying that "the manner in which @Dunja_Mijatovic is spreading lies about Slovenia is totally unacceptable". "And we will not tolerate this without telling the truth."

Mijatović urged the Slovenian authorities in the memorandum, published on Friday, to stop the deterioration of media freedom and freedom of expression in the country.

She raised concern over harassment, including sexist harassment against female journalists, intimidation, criminal lawsuits against reporters and the government's attitude to public media.

As part of preparations for the report, Mijatović held talks with President Borut Pahor and a number of ministers in April but not with Janša. She also talked to journalists of different media, politicians, experts and representatives of the civil society.

STA, 7 June 2021 - President Borut Pahor has announced he will award presidential decorations to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), the Koper bureau of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and the Slovenian bureau of Italian public broadcaster RAI.

Janša Accuses Slovenian Press Agency Director of Murdering Journalist

"I believe these are three anniversaries, three important media institutions, which have made major contributions to us having freedom of speech, expression and media," he told a news show on TV Slovenija on Sunday evening.

The STA is celebrating the 30th anniversary this year, and the Koper bureau of RTV Slovenia marked its 50th anniversary this year.

Pahor will decorate the STA in the second half of the month, he explained on Monday, speaking to the press on the margin of a reception for Slovenian Catholic bishops.

Slovenian Press Agency Turns to Fundraising Campaign as Govt Continues to Withhold Funding

He said the agency had played its irreplaceable role for 30 years already, doing its job professionally and with passion, contributing to freedom of the press and speech.

The STA is an agency without which many media outlets would not be able to report objectively on events in Slovenia and abroad, he said.

The STA has very successfully adhered to the standards of agency journalisms such as professionalism and unbiased reporting over the past 30 years, "which is the reason why it deserves a decoration for the mission it carries out", he added.

Pahor will decorate the STA upon the proposals of two former STA directors, Dejan Verčič and Tadej Labernik, and the Association of Slovenian Journalists. They urged him last month to decorate the STA on its 30th anniversary for its role and importance in Slovenia, both for the country's statehood and its democratic media.

STA, 4 June 2021 - Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović urged the Slovenian authorities in a memorandum published on Friday to put a stop to the deterioration of the situation regarding media freedom and freedom of expression in the country.

In the context of media freedom, she pointed to harassment, intimidation and criminal lawsuits against journalists. She also highlighted "sexist harassment and misogynistic speech against female journalists" and the government's attitude to public media.

The commissioner stressed that public service media served a specific role in a democratic society, by providing reliable information to all segments of the population.

She said she regretted the moves of the Slovenian government that "risk undermining the independence, credibility and financial stability of the public broadcaster RTV and the national press agency STA".

"It is of paramount importance for media freedom in Slovenia to preserve the national independent press agency, and I reiterate my call to the Slovenian government to urgently re-instate adequate public funding for STA," said the commissioner.

According to her, the recent deterioration of media freedom in Slovenia is happening in the context of systemic weaknesses in the regulation of the media market in the country, which should be addressed in order to bolster independent, high quality and diverse journalism.

She recommends increasing the transparency of media ownership, addressing conflicts of interest between political parties and media outlets, and setting up a mechanism to ensure more effective regulation of the media market.

Mijatović also urged the Slovenian authorities to stop the deterioration of the situation concerning freedom of expression. She warned that "some steps taken by the Slovenian government in recent months risk undermining the ability of independent voices to speak freely".

She stressed that hostile public discourse, as well as smear campaigns and intimidation targeting civil society activists and those who express critical opinions, harm free expression.

The commissioner urged the Slovenian authorities to take action to appease tensions in society and to encourage mutual respect in the exchange of opinions. Noting the specific responsibility of political leaders in this regard, she said members of the government in particular must make a responsible and dignified use of social media platforms.

"Members of the government must refrain from making stigmatising and misleading comments about the work of civil society, and should publicly condemn such discourse by others", she said.

The commissioner also expressed regret that the Slovenian government "appears to have used the Covid-19 pandemic to discourage the free expression of dissent or political opposition". Several measures restricting the right to protest, including prolonged blanket bans on public assemblies and heavy fines imposed on protestors, seem disproportionate and risk undermining freedom of expression, she said.

She urged the authorities to find the proper balance in order to uphold the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

As part of preparation for the report, Mijatović held talks with President Borut Pahor and several ministers in April but not with Prime Minister Janez Janša. She also talked to journalists of different media, politicians, experts and representatives of the civil society.

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said the report did not reflect the views he had presented to Mijatović, especially not regarding the freedom of speech. "I think no Slovenian journalist is restricted in their freedom of speech. Moreover, I think the kind of freedom of speech that Slovenian journalists and media representatives have exists nowhere else in the world," Hojs said as he met Italian counterpart Luciana Lamorgese in Brdo pri Kranju.

He noted the Interior Ministry had made its comments on the report. These comments are now being collected at the Foreign Ministry, as the report gives recommendations to other ministries as well. "Of course we will categorically deny all incorrect or faulty claims."

Hojs believes the majority of the report "like most of the things that Slovenian journalist export to Europe" was partly created in Slovenia.

He said he had explicitly highlighted three attacks on journalists in talks with Mijatović which were not mentioned in the report, but a completely different case was. "So this is extremely unusually and extremely untrustworthy," he said.

The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) said the debate on the media should be put in a wider context. "The rule of law, personal rights and freedoms, independent branches of power and media freedom - these are all pillars of democracy, which should never be claimed by individual parties, traded with, let alone used as a tool against those with different views."

Tanja Fajon, the head of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), said on Twitter that the commissioner would hear criticism that she was biased although she was a voice of an international organisation that should be taken utterly seriously. The government definitely sees the media as a priority. However, it does not strive for their freedom but subjugation, she said.

STA, 21 May - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigators paid a visit to the media company Dnevnik on Thursday, the daily Dnevnik has reported. They made inquiries into Dnevnik's advertising, particularly in regard to an advert deal with the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

The investigators mainly inquired about Dnevnik's business deals with the STA - they wanted to know who is in charge of signing the deals and why deals with business partners are considered confidential or trade secrets, the daily said.

They quizzed Nives Roš, the head of advertising at Dnevnik, about the situation. Dnevnik editor-in-chief Miran Lesjak told the STA that the police had been initially interested in Dnevnik's advertising policy in general.

What followed were questions that focused on the company's business relationship with the STA - what were the circumstances that had led to this relationship, who was involved in writing the contract and why it is treated as confidential.

Lesjak said that Roš had explained to the investigators that all Dnevnik's advertising contracts were labelled confidential to protect trade secrets in the competitive media environment.

She also told the police everything she knew about the deal with the STA. Roš was not involved in writing the contract as the deal was signed years ago.

The police announced they would request access to relevant documentation, Lesjak said, noting that the deal with the STA was a common business practice. The police already have access to the contract, he highlighted.

Lesjak thus finds it hard to see the visit as anything but a way of exerting pressure on the media, in this case the STA and Dnevnik. The background of the story is clear - the police simply act according to instructions given by the government regarding the STA, he said.

Based on a report from the Government Communication Office, the government on 18 March tasked the Interior Ministry to examine whether the violations alleged therein contained elements of suspected criminal acts prosecutable ex officio and to act accordingly.

The ministry was also tasked to examine whether the STA supervisory board might have violated the companies act.

Moreover, the government proposed for the STA supervisory board to dismiss STA director Bojan Veselinovič, alleging violations in the fulfilment of the agency's legal obligations, which Veselinovič denies.

Ljubljana police investigators visited Mladen Terčelj, the chairman of the STA supervisory board, in mid-April in response to reports of alleged violations pertaining to the STA.

The government also called on the labour inspectorate in March to examine the agency and review its operations. Labour inspectors have found no infringements with respect to the employment relationships act or safety at work, including in response to the Covid-19 epidemic. They have issued a warning over a minor issue that has been tackled, the STA management said on Thursday.

STA, 15 May 2021 - Several radio stations with special status and two national newspapers have been left without the state's financial support and thus face a precarious situation, report the dailies Delo and Dnevnik on Saturday.

Media outlets which applied for the government's co-funding scheme in an annual open call by the Culture Ministry have started receiving the ministry's decisions.

A number of them have failed to secure state funding and thus face financial struggles.

Among these are also the national newspapers Delo and Dnevnik, which reported today that their applications had been rejected for their alleged media bias and because they did not focus on local coverage enough.

According to Dnevnik, the daily received zero points out of ten when it came to criteria determining politically balanced news coverage. Delo meanwhile received two.

Another major newspaper in Slovenia, Večer, was granted EUR 19,000 in what is co-funding for local and regional content, Dnevnik reported.

Media expert Marko Milosavljević from the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences told Dnevnik the ministry's commission in charge of reviewing the applications was in fact politically imbalanced itself.

"A five-member commission makes decisions about media plurality and objectivity with four members being extremely close to the SDS party," he said.

The commission features Matej Makarovič, Borut Rončević, Mitja Štular, Jonatan Vinkler and Suzana Žilič Fišer.

Also soon to be left without government support are five radio stations that enjoy special status under the law, including Radio Študent, a small independent radio station which received almost EUR 100,000 from the state last year. This is 50% of the station's co-funding scheme which will be impossible to secured elsewhere.

"This year's open call was identical to last year's, and so were the assessment criteria, the application was comparable to last year's, the only thing that is different in the entire open call is the composition of the 'expert' commission," Ana Kandare, the head of the Radio Študent institute, told Delo, describing the rejection as politically-motivated.

The remaining radio stations that have not been granted state funding are local Radio Krka, Radio Koroška, Radio Triglav and Radio Kranj. Radio Koroška told Delo that as a result of the cut in funding, the radio station will be forced to reduce its programme for the first time since it was established 60 years ago.

So far, the ministry has not responded to the STA's query regarding the open call. The ministry did tell Dnevnik though that it would make the results of the open call public when all the applicants were notified of the decisions.

Meanwhile, also struggling financially is the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), which remains without government payment for performing public service. The agency has launched court proceedings to seek enforcement of pecuniary obligations for January.

The State Attorney's Office, which is representing the government, rejected an option of a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

In what is the latest development in the STA funding story, the State Attorney's Office lodged a complaint against the enforcement procedure on the last day before the relevant deadline, thus prolonging the proceedings.

The STA management sees the step as a way of stalling and is confident that the enforcement of payment will be secured in court as the law is clear about the state's obligation to provide sufficient funding for the STA.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, the Slovenian member of the European Commission, told Dnevnik's Saturday edition that the Commission was concerned about suspension of the STA funding. The Commission calls for the matter to be resolved without any delay, he said.

Cause for concern are also frequent verbal attacks on journalists in Slovenia, the commissioner said. "Given the European Commission's stance, Slovenia is thus approaching its EU presidency on a bad note," he said.

STA, 10 May 2021 - Some EUR 189,000 has been raised a week into what is planned to be a month-long fundraising campaign to secure funding for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), which the Association of Slovenian Journalists labelled as an exceptional start. This roughly equals the monthly compensation for the public service performed by the STA.

Launched on 3 May and called "Za obSTAnek", the campaign aims to raise two million euro via small SMS donations and from potential larger donors, as the agency has not received budget funds for its public service for four months.

The Association of Slovenian Journalists said on Monday that donors had responded to the association's call for help, launched on World Press Freedom Day, to make sure that almost 100 STA employees get paid for the work they are doing.

It said that the campaign had brought together individuals, various organisations and companies that are aware of the importance of the public service provided by the STA and that "do not accept journalism dictated by the authorities."

Despite the warnings from the domestic public and international organisations, the decision-makers are yet to fulfil their obligations required by law when it comes to financing the STA, which is why the campaign continues, the association added.

The goal is to secure an amount that equals a one-year compensation for public service to ensure stable operation, regardless of what the government does, as the agency is awaiting a court decision in an enforcement procedure and is looking for some other solutions.

"The position in which the advocates of public interest and public services have found themselves is unsustainable, as individuals and companies again finance the performance of public service instead of the state," the association added.

The details of the fundraising campaign are available at https://zaobstanek.si/.

STA, 7 May 2021 - The weekly Mladina has been asked by police to provide information on how it got hold of classified documents revealing the content of the draft National Recovery and Resilience Plan which the magazine published in February in what Mladina sees as an act of intimidation.

According to Mladina, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has assessed that the magazine divulged classified information.

When Mladina published the draft plan on its website in February, the document had still been labelled internal.

An official letter from the Ljubljana Bežigrad police station published by Mladina shows the query for the magazine to provide information about the author of the article, the editor-in-chief and when, how and from whom they obtained documents labelled as internal was made at the request of the Ljubljana District State Prosecution.

Mladina says the article in which the documents were published was signed by the author with a name and surname and the information on who is the editor-in-chief is publicly available, which is why they see police questions as an attempt to intimidate them more than inquiring about relevant facts in trying to prove criminal offences.

The government decided to declassify the document soon after Mladina published the draft, although the opposition had been demanding before that it should be subject to a broad public debate.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Zvonko Černač said at the time he had declassified it after its contents had been leaked to a weekly. "The harm has been done and it cannot be repaired," he said in parliament at the end of February.

The Association of Slovenian Journalists (DNS) responded to today's news by saying it was worried about the investigation, especially since the draft document was declassified two weeks after being published, which it said "proved the public was fully entitled to get insight into it".

It pointed to the changes to the penal code adopted on its initiative in 2015 which decriminalised obtaining and publishing confidential data to reveal them to the public if the release is in public interest and if it does not pose a risk to life.

The association thus expects the prosecution of Mladina to immediately stop.

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