STA, 12 July 2021 - The National Council, the upper chamber of parliament, vetoed in an 18:13 vote on Monday 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 veto comes as a surprise since it had not been demanded by any particular group of councillors. The proceedings were just a continuation of the National Council's practice, introduced at the outset of the epidemic, to automatically debate vetoes of all major laws before the expiry of the seven-day veto period to make sure they may be implemented as soon as possible.

The law was amended after the Constitutional Court declared parts of the act and by extension the measures introduced during the epidemic unconstitutional because they gave the government too much leeway in introducing restrictions that affect fundamental rights.

The amended act determines that expert assessments are required for some measures, and that certain indicators must be taken into account when restrictions are adopted. It also introduces curbs on the duration and location of the measures.

Critics, including centre-left opposition parties, have attacked the amendments as merely affirming the government overreach.

Several councillors echoed these concerns today, in particular with regard to government powers, urging the National Assembly to come up with better solutions.

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.

The other two laws that the National Council debated today, the latest stimulus law for the tourism and hospitality sector and a law on emergency measures in the healthcare sector, passed muster and can now be enacted.

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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.

STA, 12 July - 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.

A total of 108 cases were confirmed among 300-plus students from Dolenjska who returned home on 3 July, plus 51 secondary cases, according to the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

In a slightly smaller group from Gorenjska that returned from Spain on 8 July, there are currently 26 confirmed cases and six secondary cases, NIJZ epidemiologist Eva Grilc told the press on Monday.

The NIJZ has conducted contact tracing for both groups of students and all have been ordered to quarantine. However, a few who were supposed to quarantine went on to continue their vacation in Croatia.

"Two or three persons indeed went to Croatia and we have alerted the Croatian authorities thereof. This is all I know," she said.

Grilc said the vast majority of the students had not been vaccinated yet. "We definitely recommend that all persons who wish to travel get their jabs before leaving."

While the sequencing of the samples has not been completed yet, Grilc said there were preliminary indications the students were infected with the more transmissible delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.

STA, 12 July 2021 - 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. Full marks in the exam were achieved by 15 students, whereas 10 Slovenian students got all points in the international matura.

A total of 302 students who collected 30 points or more out of 34 available and will hence received a special commendation is also the highest in the past three years as the figure stood at 280 last year and 236 in 2019, show data by the National Examinations Centre released on Monday.

The number of those with the maximum yield of points in the spring exams is higher than last year (11) or in 2019 (8).

The international version of the matura exam could be taken at three grammar schools in the country. A total of 64 Slovenian students and 28 foreigners did the exam in Slovenia with ten Slovenians scoring all points.

Meanwhile, the national school-leaving exam for vocational students was passed by 8,058 or almost 94% of students, which compares to 93% both last year and in 2019. The number of those to receive a special commendation increased from 388 to 552, while the number of those with the maximum score (23 or 20 points) was up from 112 to 179.

The matura exam is a test that determines educational possibilities after secondary school. The autumn exams will take place between 24 August and 3 September.

The newspaper Delo reported today that 200 final-year primary school students have not made it to the secondary school of their choice this year. Head teachers have been warning for years that enrolment criteria for secondary schools should not be based merely on grades, Ciril Dominko, the head teacher of the Bežigrad Grammar School, told the paper.

"In the past two years we've witnessed zoom grades that are very high. Hence, students from Ljubljana will be driving to grammar schools elsewhere," he said, referring to the fact that most of those who have not been successful in the first round of enrolment are from the capital.

STA, 12 July 2021 - 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, Eurostat data show.

Data released by the EU's statistics office on Monday show Cyprus seeing the biggest drop in the number of transactions, at 23.3%, followed by Slovenia, Belgium, at 17.4%, and Ireland, at 16.4%.

Only three countries recorded an increase in the number of housing transactions: Finland (+7.7%), the Netherlands (+10.0%) and Denmark (+20.1%).

Eurostat notes the drop in the number of transactions can be linked to lockdown measures, in particular in the second quarter of 2020, which included a temporary suspension of real estate activity.

It also notes that the fall in housing transactions came despite a continued increase in house prices and after nearly all the countries that saw a drop reported an increase in the number of transactions the year before.

STA, 11 July 2021 - The rejection of the new waters act is a vote of no confidence in the government by the people, who have succeeded in doing what the opposition had failed to do in parliament, according to political analyst Andraž Zorko, who sees the high turnout as an indicator of topics that may feature prominently in future elections.

Voters Strongly Reject Water Development Act in Referendum

Zorko, an analyst for the pollster Valicon and host of a political podcast, noted that over 635,000 people voted against, which is half the number of all voters who cast their votes in the 2018 general election.

"This is yet another very tangible sign what would happen today if this were an election day," he told the STA. "This means that this government de facto no longer has legitimacy".

He said another milestone judging from testimony from polling stations is turnout by youths, which indicates that politics in general, not just this government, will have to change its approach to legislation.

In general, environmental issues are what activates youths. "It is more than obvious that interest among youths is significantly higher because they realise this is about the world that they, not the current decision-makers, will live in."

Slovenians overall are very green and environmentally conscious and these issues will in future affect the activation and turnout of younger voters in particular, he said.

STA, 11 July 2021 - Slovenian voters have overwhelmingly rejected the new waters act in a referendum on Sunday. More than 86% voted against, show near-final unofficial results. The statutory requirement that at least 20% of all voters must be against for a law to be rejected has been satisfied as well. 

After more than 99% of the votes were counted, the tally showed 86.6% voting against and 13.4% in favour of the law.

Turnout was just shy of 46%, the highest in a referendum since 2007. It was the highest in Ljubljana, at nearly 50%, and lowest in the Ptuj electoral unit, at almost 37%, according to preliminary data by the National Electoral Commission.

The law was overwhelmingly rejected in all 88 electoral districts, with the share of the no-vote exceeding 80% in almost all districts.

The referendum revolved around provisions of the new law that determine the development of coastal, lakeside and riverside areas.

It was initiated by a grassroots movement of mostly NGOs that objected to provisions that they say would lead to too much development, damage public access to waters and potentially jeopardise groundwater.

The no-vote is a sign that people have had it with obstruction of democratic rights and indicates their disagreement with current policies, Nika Kovač of the Institute 8 March said in an early comment.

"There are claims that the votes were emotional. And I say yes, they definitely were. But they were based on a clear opinion of experts and the work of environmental organisations that the authorities constantly ignored," she said.

Uroš Macerl of the environmental NGO Eko Krog said that people had demonstrated that water and nature were something they were not prepared to give up and perhaps the greatest assets of Slovenia. "This is a victory of courage and activation of good people who wish to change things for the better," he said.

Macerl highlighted that this was also a victory of the young, noting that young people showed they would fight for their future. "I really missed this in the past 10, 15 years of activism and I'm extremely glad," he said.

He also noted that quite a few parties that had been on the side of the experts in this referendum campaign had done many mistakes when it came to environmental policy in the past, urging them not to repeat these mistakes if they ever get to lead the country again.

The government claimed the opposite than the against camp, arguing that the new provision would in fact protect coastal, lakeside and riverside areas from over-development.

Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak said the referendum had been stolen and misused to achieve other goals, including political targets.

"People have reacted emotionally ... voters were encouraged by some pamphlets that have nothing to do with the legislation's purpose," Vizjak told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

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:  

Slovenian voters reject waters act in referendum

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian voters overwhelmingly rejected the new waters act in a referendum. More than 86% voted against, show near-final unofficial results. The statutory requirement that at least 20% of all voters must be against for a law to be rejected has been satisfied as well. Turnout was just shy of 46%, the highest in a referendum since 2007. The referendum has been stolen and misused to achieve other goals, including political targets, said Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak, who believed "people have reacted emotionally". "It has been shown that Slovenia is home to compassionate and tolerant people who help each other and fight for the public good and for nature," said Nika Kovač of the Institute 8 March, one of the NGOs that initiated the referendum. The opposition said the result would require the government to resign, but Prime Minister Janez Janša dismissed this notion.

Slovenian ambassador in Iran summoned over Janša's statements

LJUBLJANA/TEHRAN, Iran - The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Slovenia's Ambassador to Iran Kristina Radej over Prime Minister Janez Janša's call for an inquiry into a 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. Tehran has asked for an explanation from the government for Janša's video address at a recent Free Iran World Summit, an annual global event organised by the Iranian diaspora, which Tehran described as an online meeting of a "terrorist group". Janša told the Free Iran World Summit the investigation into the massacre was especially important in light of the fact that the regime's next president will be Ebrahim Raisi, who is accused by Amnesty International of crimes against humanity for his role in the massacre.

25 new coronavirus cases confirmed on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 25 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the highest weekend figure since mid-June and the continuation of a week-long exponential trend. The positive cases came from 774 PCR tests, for a positivity rate of 3.2%. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population has risen to 26 from 19 a week ago. Hospital numbers have remained unchanged, with 43 in hospital as of this morning, including ten in intensive care, according to the tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik.

Speaker and foreign ministry mark Srebrenica Memorial Day

LJUBLJANA - Speaker Igor Zorčič and the Foreign Ministry paid tribute to the victims of the Srebrenica massacre, which took place 26 years ago. The ministry said that relativisation or denial of the tragic event was unacceptable as Zorčič highlighted the role of Slovenia's EU presidency in efforts to achieve reconciliation in the Western Balkans. "The European Union will have, with the help of Slovenia as the EU presiding country, the best opportunity in the next six months to take a step forward towards the integration of Western Balkan countries. Only a joint, European future will be a lasting guarantee for stability and peace in the region and Europe," he wrote.

Logar talks bilateral ties, vaccine donation with Egyptian counterpart

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Foreign Minister Anže Logar met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry ahead of a session of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council. Bilateral relations topped the agenda. The ministers said relations between the two countries were good and friendly, confirming a mutual interest in the continuation of political dialogue and stronger economic, scientific, tourist and cultural ties, the Foreign Ministry said.

STA, 11 July 2021 - Speaker Igor Zorčič and the Foreign Ministry paid tribute on Sunday to the victims of the Srebrenica massacre, which took place 26 years ago. The ministry said that relativisation or denial of the tragic event was unacceptable as Zorčič highlighted the role of Slovenia's EU presidency in efforts to achieve reconciliation in the Western Balkans.

Marking Srebrenica Memorial Day, which is observed on 11 July, the ministry pointed out that the anniversary was a warning to reawaken and preserve the memory of the victims and horrors that happened during the Bosnian War.

"Srebrenica will not and should not be forgotten - reconciliation is possible only if we remember and acknowledge the suffering and pain of the people. Denying or relativising these tragic events is unacceptable," the ministry wrote in a press release.

The Western Balkans region is still heavily burdened by memories and a painful historical experience, the ministry said, adding that reconciliation processes should be stepped up as that was the only way for all generations to fulfil their potential and contribute to the well-being, stability and security of the region.

"The strengthening of reconciliation and cooperation is of great value for the progress of all countries in the region on their European path. Slovenia strives for a conciliation process for the Western Balkan region's stability within the framework of its foreign policy priorities and as an EU presiding country," the press release reads.

Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič also stressed the role of the Slovenian EU presidency in the efforts to effect reconciliation in the region.

"The European Union will have, with the help of Slovenia as the EU presiding country, the best opportunity in the next six months to take a step forward towards the integration of Western Balkan countries. Only a joint, European future will be a lasting guarantee for stability and peace in the region and Europe," he wrote.

All of us together, countries in the Western Balkans and the EU, owe this to the Srebrenica victims. We owe this to our children and the generations yet unborn so that they could live in harmony and peace in this area, he added.

STA, 11 July 2021 - The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Slovenia's Ambassador to Iran, Kristina Radej, over Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša's recent calls for an inquiry into a 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran, Iranian media reported. Tehran has asked for an explanation from the Slovenian government.

Iran's IRNA news agency reported that the country's Foreign Ministry summoned on Sunday the Slovenian ambassador in Tehran. The reason for the step is Janša's video address at a recent Free Iran World Summit, an annual global event organised by the Iranian diaspora, which Tehran described as an online meeting of "a terrorist group".

The ministry condemned Janša's appearance at the summit during the talk with Ambassador Radej. The Iranian officials told the ambassador that the appearance was "unacceptable, against diplomatic norms and spirit" of bilateral relations, IRNA reported.

The Slovenian ambassador was also told that supporting terrorist organisations was not in line with the United Nations Charter, international principles or human rights values.

Radej assured the officials that she would inform the Slovenian government about Iran's objection to Janša's step.

Janša appeared at the virtual summit on Saturday, urging an independent inquiry into the 1988 massacre. In his video message he expressed support for setting up a UN-led commission of inquiry into allegations of state-ordered executions of thousands of political prisoners after the move had been called for by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman.

Janša, the prime minister of a country that is currently at the helm of the Council of the EU, said "this is especially important in light of the fact that the regime's next president will be Ebrahim Raisi, who is accused by Amnesty International of crimes against humanity for his role in the massacre".

"The Iranian regime must be held accountable for human rights violations and the international community must be firmer on this," he said.

The STA has put a number of queries regarding the developments to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry and awaits the answers.