19 Jul 2021, 16:22 PM

Survey: Janša’s Govt Extremely Unpopular, Janša’s Party Still #1

STA, 19 July 2021 - The latest Vox Populi poll, commissioned by the dailies Dnevnik and Večer, shows that the rating of the Janez Janša government has hit its lowest point so far. The ruling Democrats (SDS) nevertheless remain in the lead, followed by the opposition SocDems and the Left.

The government's rating is at an all-time low with 71.9% of respondents rating it is not doing its job well, 5.8 points more than last month. The government's work was rated as successful by 26% of respondents, which is 3.8 points less than in June, shows the poll released on Monday.

The SDS polled at 18.2%, down 0.9 points over the month before. The Social Democrats (SD) are in second place with 12,7%, up from 12.1% in June, trailed by the opposition Left in third at 10.1%, a three-point gain month-on-month.

The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) is in fourth place with 9.2%, gaining 0.4% on June, followed by the coalition New Slovenia (NSi), which lost almost two percentage points to 4.7%. The opposition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) got 3.6%, almost the same as in June.

The party rankings are completed by the People's Party (SLS) at 1.1%, the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) at 0.7%, the National Party (SNS) at 0.6% and the Modern Centre Party (SMC) at 0.3%. All of them saw their ratings slip.

The share of undecided voters decreased by almost a full percentage point, from 30.5% to 29.6%, and the share of those who would not cast their ballot at all was the same as in June.

According to the poll, if there were an election now, the SDS would secure 28 seats in parliament, the SD 19, the Left 15, the LMŠ 14, the NSi seven and the SAB five.

Former NSi president and MEP Ljudmila Novak (EPP/NSi) remains the most popular Slovenian politician. President Borut Pahor, who had been a long-standing favourite in this category, is now in second place, followed by the Speaker of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič.

The poll was conducted by pollster Ninamedia between 13 and 15 July among 700 respondents.

19 Jul 2021, 14:24 PM

Permit Issued for Second Unit at Krško Nuclear Power Station

STA, 19 July 2021 - The Infrastructure Ministry has issued an energy permit for the construction of the second unit at the Krško nuclear power station, a step that allows permitting procedures to begin and comes a week after the national climate strategy enshrined nuclear as a long-term energy option. The project will be managed by the state-owned Gen Energija.

"The energy permit kick-starts the broadest possible public debate, not just at the expert level but also among the people," Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec told the press on Monday, adding that this did not mark the final decision on the investment, it is merely the first step.

Only after a broad social consensus is reached, procedures such as siting, the acquisition of a building permit, selection of contractor and construction itself will begin.

Project details such as estimated price, time frame or selection of technology have not been determined yet, nor has the precise location.

Vrtovec said the energy permit would serve as the basis for the verification of environmental, spatial, technical and economic parameters in the form of a national spatial plan, environmental impact assessment, cross-border impact assessment, building permit acquisition, selection of supplier and financing.

He said the plan was to build a 1.1 GW unit with an estimated production of 9,000 GW of electricity per year and a life span of sixty years.

The best available technology at the time of tendering will be used. According to Gen Energija director general Martin Novšak, for now the best and safest technology is a pressurised water reactor of the kind currently in use in Krško.

New generations of nuclear reactors are under development, including small modular reactors, but the technology has not hit the market yet.

Novšak said the second unit was "necessary and technologically feasible" and provided the answer to the energy trilemma - the balance of reliability of supply, environmental acceptability and economics. The company has enough experience to manage the project economically and transparently.

The investment would be financed with a combination of own sources, potentially with the help of co-investors and even with EU funds, according to him.

Novšak said the optimistic scenario was to arrive at a final decision in five years, whereupon it would take five years to complete construction. "This is a really ambitious goal," he said.

President Borut Pahor recently mentioned that a major decision such as this should be put to a referendum. Vrtovec said there was "no hurry" to do that, but if the people want a referendum "I see no serious problem why the people should not express their opinion."

Judging by good experience with the original power station, Vrtovec expects that the people will support the project.

As for the sentiment in neighbouring countries - Austria is a staunch opponent of nuclear and some stakeholders in Italy have expressed apprehension - Vrtovec said their positions were clear, but "every country secures its own energy mix".

Given that Slovenia plans to abandon coal by 2033, he does not imagine the country could secure energy independence only with alternative energy sources, without nuclear.

Slovenia's current nuclear installation, launched in 1983, has a permit to operate until 2023 but a 20-year extension has already been requested and is now the subject of various assessment procedures.

There is cross-partisan support for nuclear energy in the country and the plant has a flawless safety record.

19 Jul 2021, 10:40 AM

First Israel-Slovenia Friendship Day to Be Marked by Over 100 Parachutists in Bela Krajina

STA, 19 July 2021 - A high-profile ceremony at the Prilozje air strip near the town of Metlika in the south-east of the country will mark the first Slovenia-Israel Friendship Day on Monday in memory of the joint fight against Nazism and Fascism in World War II. Slovenia's president Borut Pahor and Israeli Ambassador Eyal Sela will be in attendance.

The event, marking the centenary of the birth of Israeli hero and poet Hannah Szenes, who parachuted into the Bela Krajina region on a mission during WWII, will be addressed by President Pahor as the keynote speaker as well as by Israeli Ambassador Sela.

Before the ceremony, a pair of women parachutists from Slovenia and Israel will make a landing in a tribute to Szenes, the president's office has announced.

Szenes was one of the 17 Hungarian Jews who joined the British forces as a volunteer. Parachuted by the British on a mission to assist anti-Nazi forces, she landed in Bela Krajina on 13 March 1944 in an area liberated by the Partisan resistance.

As a British soldier she later headed on foot to Hungary. She was apprehended by Hungarian gendarmes at the border in June 1944 and was sentenced to death.

To honour her memory, 100 Israeli parachutists, joined by colleagues from Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and the UK will parachute to the Cerklje ob Krki airbase ahead of the Metlika ceremony at the initiative of the Israeli Defence Forces in cooperation with the Slovenian Defence Ministry and the Slovenian Armed Forces.

Friendship days strengthen cooperation between countries and invoke the long-running bonds, friendship and alliance in hardest times, something that Pahor discussed in a recent phone call with his new Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog.

19 Jul 2021, 07:02 AM

Slovenian Travel Agencies See More Demand, But Full Recovery Not Expected Until 2025

STA, 18 July 2021 - Although demand remains below last year's, travel agencies have noticed interested in organised tours as Slovenians travel more and more after stiff coronavirus restrictions have been relaxed. However, the Association of Tourist Agencies of Slovenia (Združenje turističnih agencij Slovenije - ZTAS) does not expect full recovery before mid-2025.

"Demand for holidays and travel is slowly returning," the association's secretary general Mišo Mrvaljević has told the STA, although demand is not exactly rising.

Demand compared to last year's summer season is by some 20% worse, with a number of coronavirus bans and hurdles not enabling people to seriously plans their holidays.

"In Slovenia we are severely limited by where travel is possible without too many complications. Constantly changing conditions has caused a rush in demand and periods of unexpected lull."

Mrvaljević says this makes it extremely hard to offer domestic clients good travel products, while practically blocking any serious promotion on foreign markets.

Travel agency Sonček has told the STA that the majority of holiday-makers waited with booking until late spring or early summer, while those who have been vaccinated against Covid are more relaxed about deciding where to spend their holidays.

Travel agent Palma has meanwhile noticed that travellers who used to arrange their tours on their own are now turning to them, adding it is safer to have the backup of an agency in these uncertain times.

Mrvaljević says that safety comes first for Slovenian travel agencies, which offer several safe destinations such as Croatia, Greek islands, the Tenerife and Madeira, as well as tourist resorts in Turkey and Egypt.

"Interest in coach tours, and cruises is slowly returning, but we miss more interest in far-away destinations," Sonček says.

A year and a half into the pandemic, the Slovenian tourist industry is according to Mrvaljević in a state of lethargy.

Companies have largely used all of their reserves, while managing to keep the bulk of employees with the help of government emergency measures which have now expired.

"We're trying very hard to help decision-makers understand the need to get the industry going through the key part of the season with the help of the state until the end of the year, as we expect tourism to get back to pre-2020 levels in two to three years if things slowly get back to normal."

He is optimistic about the future of organised tours and travel agencies' business, saying "the human spirit will always want to explore the world we live in".

"If things get back to normal by the end of the year, realistically speaking, we expect the volume of business to increase by 65% in 2022 and to return to full scope by mid-2025."

19 Jul 2021, 04:17 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Monday, 19 July 2021

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA:

Janša about independence, its opponents in Ognjišče interview

LJUBLJANA - Independence was the right path, it is just that being naive, we did not consolidate it in time, PM Janez Janša said in an interview with the Catholic radio station Radio Ognjišče, warning that reviving the totalitarian left-wing ideology in a relatively young democracy was very dangerous. "Those threatening with nationalisation, abolishment of parliamentary democracy, exit from the eurozone and even death are bloody serious. And to be honest, we ourselves will also be to blame if we don't say 'no' to them in time."

Slovenia's tennis player Zidanšek wins first WTA tournament

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Top seed Tamara Zidanšek, the French Open semi-finalist, won the WTA Lousanne Open beating France's Clara Burel in the finals after a good two hours with 4:6, 7:6 (5) and 6:1 for what is her first-ever WTA tournament victory. "I'm really happy I managed to win it, and now I got that under my belt," she said after the victory. The world's number 50 won the Lousanne title as she played in the finals of a WTA tournament for the third time - after Bogota in April and Nürnberg in 2019.

Slovenian travel agencies record higher demand for organised tours

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian travel agencies have noticed interested in organised tours as Slovenians travel more and more after stiff coronavirus restrictions have been relaxed, although demand remains 20% below last year's. "Demand for holidays and travel is slowly returning," Mišo Mrvaljević, the secretary general of the Association of Tourist Agencies of Slovenia, has told the STA, yet the industry does not expect full recovery before mid-2025.

Number of newly registered cars in Slovenia down in June, up in EU

BRUSSELS, Belgium - As many as 5,176 new vehicles were registered in Slovenia in June, a drop of 21% compared with June 2020, shows data the European European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) released this week. The EU meanwhile recorded a rise of 10.4% in new registrations to 1,048 million, in what the ACEA said was a continuing upward trend, although the growth was somewhat slower than in previous months. The biggest rise was posted by Germany, up 24.5%.

Ban on sale of single-use plastic products proposed

LJUBLJANA - In line with EU standards, the Environment Ministry has put forward for adoption by the government a regulation banning the sale of several single-use plastic items such as plastic cutlery, straws, plates, plastic ear swabs, except for medical equipment, plastic stir sticks and balloon sticks with the exception of those not intended for consumers. The ministry is also proposing banning expanded polystyrene food and drink packaging and items made of oxo-degradable plastics.

Almost EUR 11 billion spent on social security in 2019

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia earmarked EUR 10.72 billion for various social security programmes in 2019, up 6.2% over 2018, with the bulk spent on two fields - the elderly, where pensions are also included, and on diseases and healthcare. The figure represented 22.2% of the country's GDP, up 0.2 points from 2018, the Statistics Office (SURS) said, adding the trend of rising funds spent on all social security programmes continued in 2019. Social contributions, largely paid from wages, accounted for almost three quarters of social security funds, and amounted to EUR 7.7 billion.

18 Jul 2021, 20:12 PM

Tennis: Zidanšek Wins WTA Lousanne Open (Video)

STA, 18 July 2021 - Top seed Tamara Zidanšek, the French Open semi-finalist, won the WTA Lousanne Open in Switzerland on Sunday beating France's Clara Burel in the finals after a good two hours with 4:6, 7:6 (5) and 6:1 for what is her first-ever WTA tournament victory.

Zidanšek, the world's number 50, won the Lousanne title as she played in the finals of a WTA tournament for the third time today - after Bogota in April and Nürnberg in 2019.

"I'm really happy I managed to win it, and now I got that under my belt," Zidanšek told wtatennis.com following her victory.

"The conditions were tricky, I didn't start well. But from 1-5, I got three [consecutive] games, and I started feeling a little bit better. I just kept telling myself to keep fighting, go for every point. In tennis, everything can change in one point, so I'm really happy with the way I managed to stay in the match."

Last month she made Slovenian tennis history by making it to the semi-finals of the French Open, in what was only the second semi-final appearance for a Slovenian woman tennis player in the singles competition at a Grand Slam tournament in almost four decades and a half.

Today the 23-year-old Slovenian she said that the "semifinals of Roland Garros showed me that my game is good enough to compete with the best".

She is currently the world's number 50, but will progress among the top 40 as the WAT rankings are refreshed on Monday. Her best ranking ever was 46th spot on 21 June.

Burel, the world's youth champion in 2018, is meanwhile the world's No. 125.

18 Jul 2021, 15:30 PM

2020 Saw Slovenia’s Highest Positive Net Migration Since 2008

STA, 17 July 2021 - Slovenia recorded what is the highest positive net migration since 2008 last year as almost 18,400 people more moved in than out. The Statistics Office says part of the reason for the increase is administrative changes in the population register.

Last year 36,110 people moved into Slovenia and 17,745 moved out, which marks an increase of 15% and 17%, respectively, compared with the year before.

The number of Slovenian citizens moving their permanent residence to Slovenia trebled to 11,360, which was due to cessation of temporary residence abroad under new provisions of the residence registration act.

Under those provisions, temporary address abroad ceased to 22,248 individuals ex officio as of 13 August 2020. Under the existing statistical methodology, 18,500 of those individuals would be included in the population and immigration count in 2020.

However, using different additional data sources, especially those that define the person's activity status from which it is possible to assume the person's actual residence in Slovenia, the statisticians eventually included fewer than 7,500 of those people in the final population count (among them 97% Slovenian citizens and 3% foreigners).

The Statistics Office says the majority of those residents most likely immigrated to Slovenia years or even decades ago, but failed to register their return at the administrative unit for some reason.

Net migration of foreign nationals was positive for the 22nd year in a row. Last year, 12,816 more foreigners moved into Slovenia than out.

Most of the Slovenian citizens that moved to Slovenia had previously resided in Germany or Austria (29% and 18% respectively), followed by Italy, Croatia and Switzerland.

Nearly half of all foreign immigrants in 2020 (46%) came from Bosnia-Herzegovina, followed by those from Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Croatia.

Last year, 5,811 Slovenian citizens moved out, 12% fewer than in 2019. A quarter (24%) left for Austria with another fifth (19%) moving to Germany.

The Statistics Office also recorded 127,052 internal migrants changing their place of residence within the country a total of 140,223 times last year, an increase of 42% compared with 2019.

This was as 12,461 residents changed their place of residence more than once.

6% of Slovenian population changed their place of residence at least once; one out of nine foreign citizens moved at least once, but only one in twenty Slovenian citizens.

Many of the internal migrations were linked to Covid-19 containment measures as many changed their official residence as movement between municipalities was banned in March and October.

The Statistics Office also recorded 1,725 people acquiring Slovenian citizenship last year as 43 lost it.

You can explore this data here

18 Jul 2021, 14:57 PM

What Mladina & Demokracija Are Saying This Week: Opposition’s Options vs Manipulated Referendum?

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 16 July 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Opposition's options

STA, 16 July 2021 - The left-wing magazine Mladina speculates about the odds for the centre-left opposition to get Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) MPs to change their minds and support a vote of no confidence against the Janez Janša government, saying their only chance is to offer a candidate for new prime minister that DeSUS MPs will not be able to reject.

Under the headline What Can Opposition Really Do, the paper writes that the new DeSUS leader Ljubo Jasnič does not appear to be capable of pulling the party's three MPs who have individual arrangements with Janša from the ruling coalition, even though this would be the only chance for DeSUS not to be squeezed out of parliament in the next election.

"Where the opposition has got the idea that the three MPs could change their minds? Why would Jurša, Hršak and Simonovič do that now," the paper writes, wondering whether the result of the waters act referendum, where 90% of people in their electoral districts sent out the message that they no longer support their actions, is enough to change the MPs' minds.

"It is not possible to infer from all that at the moment that the three MPs could soon change their minds and support a vote of no confidence in Janša and the appointment of a new prime minister before the election.

"Only one option appears to be realistic: that the opposition offers a candidate for prime minister that they will simply not be able to reject. Such a candidate is not an opposition party leader or a new Karl Erjavec. The opposition will have to come up with a candidate [DeSUS MPs] will not be able to reject because they would thus reject the country's political stabilisation.

"They will simply not dare say no to that because after the referendum outcome they are no doubt aware of their responsibility and the voters' plebiscitarian opinion. The vote was too unanimous for the MPs not to be aware of."

Demokracija: Referendum result due to manipulation

STA, 15 July 2021 - The right-wing magazine Demokracija blames the outcome of Sunday's waters act referendum on "manipulation" supported by "mainstream media" as well as abstinence by right-leaning voters, writing in the latest editorial that the vote should serve as a "reminder to good people".

The commentary, headlined Body and Mind Thieves, says that the voters, who massively voted against the new law, were manipulated into believing the law was about clean water, when it was in fact aimed at securing much more financial funds for flood safety.

"The manipulation with the help of mainstream media (including the state RTV Slovenija and STA), who openly sided with the referendum proponents, succeeded. Even the obvious abstinence of the right-leaning voters has contributed to it.

"Let this referendum be a reminder to all good people unless Slovenians want to end up in socialism (again) next year. There was no shortage of the deadly ideology's cliches in the referendum campaign; what causes concern is that younger generations follow it so blindly."

The weekly goes on to say that the biggest mistake now would be for the government to dramatise the result of the referendum, which it does not think can be used to judge on the voter sentiment on the ruling coalition and does not mean a defeat of conservatism.

"People will show which ideology they favour more and which will be in rule in the parliamentary election, which as it now appears will be held next year," the paper writes, adding there is no reason for the government to resign over the referendum result.

All our posts in this series are here

18 Jul 2021, 14:24 PM

Congestion at Borders with Croatia, Austria (Latest Waiting Times Inside)

STA, 17 July 2021 - Slovenian roads and border crossings are congested with holiday traffic on what is one of the busiest weekends of the summer. A 10-kilometre tailback is reported on the motorway leading to the Gruškovje crossing with Croatia.

A queue of about one kilometre has also formed on the Slovenian side of the Karawanks border tunnel with Austria, while the tailback on the Austrian side of the tunnel runs to 14 kilometres, the traffic information centre has reported.

The tunnel is being closed at intervals to ensure safety.

Congestions are also reported from most other border crossings with Croatia in both directions. At some crossings drivers are waiting more than two hours to cross.

The Vinica crossing is closed due to technical problems on the Croatian side.

The congestions, typical of high summer, are being made worse this year as border officers are also checking passengers' certificates on their Covid-19 status.

With storms and downpours forecast during the day, the authorities are asking drivers to exert patience and adjust their driving to the weather conditions and keep a sufficient safety distance.

You can always find the latest traffic news at the official site, promet.si, while the current waiting times at Slovenia’s borders can be found here

18 Jul 2021, 04:25 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Sunday, 18 July 2021

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA:

Tour de France: Pogačar defends title

BORDEAUX, France - At 22 years of age Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar secured his second straight overall victory of the Tour de France by placing 8th in the penultimate stage, the time-trial between Libourne and Saint-Emilion. To win his second yellow jersey, the Team UAE Emirates's rider needs but to survive the final stage concluding on the Champs-Élysées, when the leading rider's lead is a rule not contested. He said he could not compare last year's Tour victory, when he defeated fellow Slovenian rider Primož Roglič in the time trial in the penultimate stage; "Last year was something else."

Parliament goes into summer recess

LJUBLJANA - After a tense week of shifts and turns, the National Assembly has gone into summer recess and will as a rule not meet again until September, except for potential emergency sessions. During the summer break, running between 16 July and 31 August under the parliamentary rules of procedure, regular sessions of the plenary and parliamentary working bodies are suspended. Meanwhile, several meetings of parliamentary working bodies have already been called for September.

Daily coronavirus case count down w/w for third day

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's daily coronavirus count decreased week-on-week for the third day running as 61 people tested positive on Friday on a positivity rate of 3.5%. The rolling 7-day average of new daily infections thus dropped by a further 3 to 54, while the 14-day incidence per 100,000 rose by two to 35, according to the National Institute of Public Health. Hospitalisations dropped to 28 and no deaths have been reported for the 5th straight day.

Positive net migration highest in over decade

LJUBLJANA - Last year Slovenia recorded the highest positive net migration since 2008 as almost 18,400 people more moved in than out. The Statistics Office says part of the reason for the increase is administrative changes in the population register under which temporary address abroad of more than 22,000 Slovenian citizens ceased on 13 August. Last year 36,110 people moved into Slovenia and 17,745 moved out, which marks an increase of 15% and 17%, respectively, from 2019. 1,725 people acquired Slovenian citizenship last year as 43 lost it.

Choral music festival Europa Cantat gets under way

LJUBLJANA - Europa Cantat, a major international festival dedicated to choral music, got under way in with a concert featuring Slovenian and foreign vocalists at Ljubljana's Cankarjev Dom arts centre, bringing a blend of various music genres. The week-long festival will feature performances by the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, German vocal group Singer Pur, soloists Kim Nazarian from the US and Katarina Henryson from Sweden, and the Perpetuum Jazzile group, among others.

Marinas happy with occupancy rates

PORTOROŽ/IZOLA/KOPER - Slovenia's largest two marinas are happy with occupancy rates this summer with the one in Izola reporting a record 98% occupancy and the Portorož marina seeing 30% higher figures than last year. Both marinas have changed owners recently and are being given a facelift. Meanwhile, the passenger terminal at Slovenia's largest port, Koper, is still awaiting the arrival of the first cruise ship this year, which is now planned for August but cancellations have been quite a few.

Chemical company Melamin almost at pre-pandemic levels

KOČEVJE - Melamin, a Kočevje-based chemical company with around EUR 50 million in annual revenue and around 200 employees, experienced significant problems during the Covid-19 epidemic. However, CFO Borut Hočevar says the situation is now gradually returning to normal and the company is almost pack to pre-pandemic output. The company, which supplies a variety of industries, expects moderate growth in the future, but is also aware that it will need to invest in the most ecologically advanced products.

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