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This summary is provided by the STA:
Andrijanič nominated minister for digital transformation
LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša has nominated Mark Boris Andrijanič, the chair of the Strategic Council for Digitalisation, to head the forthcoming Digital Transformation Office as a minister without portfolio, the prime minister's office said. Andrijanič currently has a dual role at Uber, as head of safety policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and head of public policy for Central and Eastern Europe. Janša said the digital transformation was a demanding and strategically important process that required a lot of inter-ministerial coordination.
Iranian ambassador summoned over PM Janša's 1988 massacre statement
LJUBLJANA/BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to Slovenia over Prime Minister Janez Janša's recent statement about a 1988 massacre in Iran, which last week led to Iran summoning Slovenia's ambassador there. The ministry explained that Slovenia always advocates human rights and fundamental freedoms, which is in line with its values and laws, adding that Slovenia's activities were never directed against any country. The EU's high representative for foreign policy Josep Borrell said any EU member can have its own stance on a certain matter, but even when it presides the EU, the stance does not present the EU's position.
National Council vetoes communicable diseases act
LJUBLJANA - The National Council, the upper chamber of parliament, vetoed the amendments to the communicable diseases act that the National Assembly passed last week in order to replace provisions that have been struck down by the Constitutional Court. The amendments were passed in a partisan 44:42 vote last week. To override the veto, at least 46 MPs must vote in favour, a majority that the current government does not have.
Parliament could press charges over attack by anti-maskers
LJUBLJANA - Speaker Igor Zorčič has said the National Assembly was considering pressing charges against a group who attacked several MPs in front of the parliament building after changes to the infections diseases act were passed last week. "I think some went so far that we will consider filing a criminal complaint," Zorčič said, adding that such attacks by groups who were unhappy with some laws were unacceptable.
SDS deputy group leader says referendum outcome will not affect govt work
LJUBLJANA - SDS deputy group leader Danijel Krivec believes the waters referendum outcome is an expression of the people's dissatisfaction, chiefly the epidemic, but he does not consider it to effect the government's work. Krivec believes the rejection of the law is a signal to Minister Andrej Vizjak to find a new, better solution. He believes Vizjak would now draft a better bill. Krivec believes that the voters simply saw the law as poor without even debating arguments for and against it.
Spain school trip outbreak swells to almost 200 cases
LJUBLJANA - The recent surge in coronavirus cases in Slovenia is to a large extent the result of an outbreak associated with two groups of secondary school students who were on a trip to the Spanish resort Lloret de Mar. A total of 134 students have tested positive since their return and a further 57 secondary cases have been confirmed, Eva Grilc from the National Institute of Public Health revealed. Slovenia reported 12 new coronavirus cases for Sunday in what continues to be a week-on-week increase. Another two Covid patients died yesterday. Hospitalisations decreased by two to 41.
Poklukar advocates common approach to health issues
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Health Minister Janez Poklukar advocated a common EU approach to health crises as he presented the priorities of Slovenia's EU presidency to the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. He said Slovenia's main priorities in health policy were the implementation of innovative solutions to improve the resilience of health systems, access to drugs, the fight against cancer, global health, and digitalisation.
Trade unions upset by proposal to remove them from public health insurer
LJUBLJANA - Trade unions called on the government to withdraw a legislative proposal that would eliminate employee representatives from management of the Health Insurance Institute (ZSSS), which collects and manages mandatory health insurance contributions. The proposal, put forward by the Health Ministry last week, would scrap the ZZZS assembly to replace it with a ZZZS council which would no longer include trade union representatives, but would representatives of employers.
Slovenian companies successful in EU defence tenders
LJUBLJANA - Three consortia featuring Slovenian companies won funding in open calls by the European Defence Industrial Development Programme for 2020, the Defence Ministry said. A consortium led by a Slovenian company got EUR 2 million for the development of solutions for integrated training for soldiers. Four companies are part of an Austrian-led consortium that won EUR 8.3 million for the development of a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear reconnaissance system, and one is a part of a Danish-led consortium that received EUR 7.1 million for artificial intelligence research.
Slovenia's drop in housing transactions in 2020 among EU's sharpest
LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - The number of housing transactions in Slovenia dropped by 17.5% last year, the second sharpest fall among the 13 EU member countries for which data are available, data released by Eurostat show. Cyprus reported the biggest drop, at 23.3%, and only three countries recorded an increase. The falls are blamed on lockdown measures and come amid continued increase in housing prices.
National school-leaving exam results best in three years
LJUBLJANA - A total of 5,461 final-year secondary school students or some 97% passed the national school-leaving exam, known as the matura exam, up from 94% last year and 95% in the pre-distance learning year of 2019. All points in the exam were scored by 15 students, whereas ten scored all points in the international matura, data released by the National Examinations Centre show.
Slovenia's Frankfurt Book Fair promotion wins EU funds
LJUBLJANA - The Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funds for Slovenian literature's promotion at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023, when Slovenia will be the main guest country at the fair. The project is worth EUR 4.5 million, with around EUR 3.3 million coming from the European Regional Development Fund.
