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This summary is provided by the STA:
Justice minister resigns as govt annuls delegated prosecutor procedure
LJUBLJANA - Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič stepped down after the government decided to annul the procedure to appoint candidates for Slovenia's two European delegated prosecutors and start a new one. Kozlovič's party boss, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, regretted her decision, but said the Modern Centre Party (SMC) would put forward her replacement as soon as possible. PM Janez Janša also called on Počivalšek to promptly put forward a candidate. European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi commented on the annulment of appointments by saying the Slovenian authorities' lack of sincere cooperation seriously undermined the trust in the effective functioning of the management and control systems for EU funds in Slovenia. In response, Janša suggested Slovenia might withdraw from the European Public Prosecutor's Office should such political comments continue.
New tourist vouchers intended also for cultural, sport events
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will introduce new tourism vouchers as it is finalising an emergency bill to help the tourism industry. Unlike the vouchers issued last year, it will also be possible to use these for services such as cultural and sport events or recreational activity, Economy Ministry State Secretary Simon Zajc announced at a news conference of the Slovenian Tourism Board. The new vouchers are planned to be valid until the end of the year, while implementation is expected to be more demanding because they would be used more broadly than the existing ones.
Slovenia's EU presidency exhibition at Parliament to go ahead
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Culture Ministry announced the art exhibition that was planned to be put up at the European Parliament during Slovenia's EU presidency will go ahead, yet under conditions set by Minister Vasko Simoniti. This is after the Parliament said ten days ago the show was cancelled and Simoniti said that was his decision. "The works selected in Slovenia and the works from the permanent collection of the European Parliament will be exhibited in two segments. The focus will be on the works by artists that were selected for this occasion in Slovenia," the ministry wrote.
Slovenia resuming acquisition of Boxer APCs
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will resume the process to purchase eight-wheeled Boxer armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) after the deal, at the time valued at EUR 306 million, was shelved by the previous government early in 2019. The government today got acquainted with the procedure to buy the 8X8 Boxer vehicles as part of the OCCAR programme to build a battalion-sized battlegroup, saying conditions had been met to resume the procedure.
Govt adopts national programme on AI by 2025
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the national programme on encouraging the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) by 2025 and put the Public Administration Ministry in charge of coordination and implementation of measures from the programme. In line with the government decision, the ministry in cooperation with other ministries must prepare a plan for the implementation of measures and the plan of financing, as well as the sources of financing.
Right to use of sign language enshrined in constitution
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia became the fifth country in the EU to enshrine the right sign language in the constitution and the first country in the world to recognise the status of tactile sign language by deaf-blind persons in this way as MPs endorsed the relevant constitutional amendment. The amendment ensures a free use and development of the Slovenian sign language as well as the Hungarian and Italian sign languages in areas with official language minority communities.
Parliament amends Constitutional Court act
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed an amendment sponsored by Democrat (SDS) MP Jože Tanko under which the Constitutional Court will need to handle each petition for which the petitioner had legitimate interests on submission even though they have lost those while waiting for their petition to be handled. Tanko said the court would thus no longer be able to reduce its backlog by throwing out petitions it had already admitted. The centre-left opposition said the change would weaken the court and increase its workload.
Počivalšek discusses digital package in Brussels
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek noted the importance of the digital services act package for Europe's recovery as he attended a session of the EU's Competitiveness Council in Brussels. Počivalšek hailed the reports on the progress presented by the European Commission. He also presented to his counterparts the working programme of the Slovenian presidency for the Competitiveness Council.
Kustec and Vestager pledge cooperation in promoting science
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec met Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager in Brussels ahead of the Slovenian EU presidency. The pair vowed to cooperate in supporting science, research and innovation, describing the three areas as the driver of further progress. They noted the EU needed an upgraded European Research Area, which would be a key priority of the coming Slovenian EU presidency.
Legal information system unavailable due to cyber attack
LJUBLJANA - The website of the national Legal and Information System (PISRS) has been unavailable for a few days, with the Government Office for Legislation as its administrator saying this is due to a security incident. The cybersecurity incident response centre and competent services of the Public Administration Ministry are investigating the incident that occurred in the back-end system of the PISRS. The incident analysis and the evaluation of damage are still under way, while competent services are determined to bring the system back online already this week.
Slovenia's UN ambassador hosts reception for EU delegates on budgetary committee
NEW YORK, US - Slovenia's Ambassador at the UN Darja Bavdaž Kuret, whose term expires in June, hosted a working reception for EU delegates and negotiators on the UN General Assembly Fifth Committee, which has been meeting virtually since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on UN rules, the fifth committee distributes member states' contributions between the regular and peace-keeping budgets. "To implement its mission, the UN needs sufficient funds, which are being set on the Fifth Committee," said Miha Erman, a Slovenian diplomat on the committee.
Govt lowers prices of Covid treatment, secures more funds for children's mental health
LJUBLJANA - The government endorsed the annual plan for public healthcare in 2021, which sets down the prices and scope of services. Health Minister Janez Poklukar says there will be more funds for children's mental health and for primary health services while prices of hospital treatment of Covid patients have been considerably lowered. The plan is known as the general agreement and is a basis on which the ZZZS public health fund finances public health providers for the services they carry out.
365 new infections, three deaths confirmed on Wednesday
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia reported 365 new cases of coronavirus for Wednesday, a slight increase over the week before, as roughly 9% of all PCR tests came back positive, while three Covid-19 patients died. Hospitalisations dropped to 265 Covid-19, the lowest figure since October, of whom 79 were in intensive care. The daily average of new cases over the past seven days inched up to 288 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population stood at 224. Almost a million jabs have been administered.
Slovenia to help India fight Covid
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will send India 240 pieces of Remdesivir, an antiviral medicine used in the treatment of Covid-19, to help it cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The aid is worth EUR 86,800. The government approved aid after India, one of the three countries in the world with more than 300,000 Covid deaths, asked for aid through the EU's civil protection mechanism.
More public housing expected as housing act passed
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly adopted on Wednesday an amended housing act whose overarching goal is to increase the number of public rental homes in the country. Under the new legislation, public housing funds will be allowed to take on more debt to speed up construction of new flats. According to government projections, an extra EUR 200 million in fresh borrowing for housing construction will be released. At the same time a public service will be established acting as an intermediary and manager of rental homes. It is believed that thousands of flats in Slovenia are currently idle.
MPs pass two banking bills to transpose EU law
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed two banking bills to transpose EU directives, including the directive on bank resolution to protect taxpayers. Since Slovenia is late in adopting the new rules, the European Commission has sent it a warning, which earned the government some criticism during today's debate. The bill on bank resolution and liquidation and the banking bill replace the laws which entered into force in 2016 and 2015, respectively, while also bringing the new EU rules.
Mercator's net profit in Q1 almost triples year-on-year
LJUBLJANA - The retail group Mercator generated a net profit of EUR 3.14 million in the first quarter of the year, up nearly 184% over the same three months in 2020. Retail revenue dropped by 4.5% annually, but rose by nearly 9% compared to the same period in the pre-coronavirus year 2019. Revenue from retail, Mercator's core business, dropped to EUR 413 million, the Ljubljana-based group in Croatian ownership said. It attributes the drop to a considerable rise in revenue in March 2020 when the epidemic was declared in Slovenia and residents stocked up on food and necessities.
NLB reportedly selling asset manager NLB Skladi
LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Finance reported that Slovenia's largest banking group, NLB, would sell its asset management arm NLB Skladi. NLB Skladi managed EUR 1.771 billion in assets at the end of March, generating a net profit of EUR 1.9 million in the first quarter of the year. "Due to increasing expectations of customers and regulators and increasingly specialised solutions in various fields of financial services, banking and asset management business is being consolidated across Europe," NLB told Finance, but would not give any details about the sale.
Vrtovec discusses cross-border infrastructure projects in Austria
VIENNA, Austria - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec met his Austrian counterpart Leonore Gewessler in Vienna to discuss bilateral cooperation, especially in transport and infrastructure, and bilateral relations. They agreed cooperation should be strengthened in infrastructure. Vrtovec also presented to his Austrian counterpart the priorities of Slovenia's upcoming EU presidency in the second half of the year in transport.
DARS and Skytoll sign e-toll system contract
LJUBLJANA - The national motorway company DARS and Slovakia's Skytoll signed a contract to launch an e-tolling system for cars in Slovenia. Both sides will try to push forward the date of the launch so that drivers could start using the system on 1 December as was initially planned, DARS said. The step has come after the National Review Commission rejected requests for a revision of the selection of Skytoll as the contractor. Th project is valued at EUR 15.7 million excluding VAT.
Amnesty Slovenia marks 60 years of parent organisation
LJUBLJANA - Marking the 60th anniversary of Amnesty International (AI), Amnesty International Slovenia notes that despite improvements in the last six decades, attacks on human rights are ongoing. The organisation has also raised concern over the situation in Slovenia. "Sixty years of Amnesty International's work is a source of pride for us due to all the changes for the better that our organisation has achieved. We're glad that Amnesty Slovenia is part of these efforts and accomplishments," Nataša Posel, the head of Amnesty International Slovenia, told the STA.
Woman punished with 16-month prison for wrongful infant death
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana District Court sentenced a 47-year-old to 16 months in prison for criminal negligence causing death of her baby. The woman did not take appropriate care of the infant after giving birth, several media reported, adding that her mental capacities had been impaired at the time. The offender gave birth to a girl at home in September 2017 and failed to take care of the baby afterwards. She had also been concealing her pregnancy from her relatives.
