STA, 2 March - After Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank, Sberbank's operations in Slovenia resumed today with NLB chairman Blaž Brodnjak reassuring clients they have "no reason to worry any more, open accounts at other banks or transfer assets to other banks". They have full access to their money again, he said.

"Sberbank is already part of the NLB group and NLB owns it. Business will be conducted absolutely normally today, cash withdrawals will be unlimited and all Sberbank clients can use NLB ATMs free of charge already," Brodnjak said after Sberbank was closed for two days, and transactions and money withdrawals for clients limited to EUR 400 a day.

There will be no major changes for the 40,000 Sberbank clients, as they will continue to use this bank and keep their bank cards, he added.

NLB will first change the name of the previously Russian-owned bank, which was on the verge of collapse after the Russian bank's European division was forced to suspend operations in the face of the Ukraine crisis.

Then the bank will be gradually integrated into NLB. Only after this process is concluded, which is expected to take over a year, will the bank accounts be transferred to NLB.

Some operative problems may still occur today as the bank reopens but customers should not worry about that, Brodnjak said.

"Sberbank has NLB's potential at its disposal today, and liquidity reserves of billions of euros, which exceed all deposits at Sberbank, have no burdens and can be accessed at any time," he stressed.

Sberbank has its own liquidity reserves as well and now it can also access those of the whole NLB group, he added.

"We will give as much money as necessary, but we are convinced there will be no more rush as of today."

Brodnjak would not reveal how much NLB paid for Sberbank beyond saying that the sum was "appropriate given the circumstances".

The takeover has already been approved by the Competition Protection Agency, which said it had issued a decision on the early implementation of concentration while taking into account the public interest in the Republic of Slovenia.

In line with the relevant law, the agency may exceptionally issue such a decision before authorising the implementation of concentration to a certain extent or under certain conditions.

The condition is that the entity demonstrates in the proposal for acquisition that such implementation is necessary in order to maintain the value of the investment or to provide services of general interest, the agency said.

NLB signed the agreement on the takeover of the only Russian-owned bank in Slovenia with the central bank on Tuesday to preserve the financial stability in the country in the face of sanctions against Russia.

With the acquisition of Sberbank, NLB again becomes the leading Slovenian bank, controlling some 30% of the market measured by total assets to leapfrog the Hungarian OTP Bank Group.

Brodnjak said he was proud to see NLB, which needed to be rescued in the past, assume the role of a rescuer.

Sberbank currently has a dozen branches in Slovenia and NLB will soon have 71. Brodnjak said it was too early to say how the acquisition would affect this number and the number of Sberbank staff in the future.

At the moment, no changes will be made, and the management will also stay the same. However, the NLB will strive to appoint a new supervisory board as soon as possible, he said.

STA, 2 March 2022 - The government established on Wednesday a call centre through which experts in various fields will provide information on the assistance provided by Slovenia to citizens of Ukraine. The call centre will be open every day of the week from 8am to 6pm.

As the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants announced, the free number 080 41 42 is available for calls from Slovenia, while the telephone number +386 1478 7530 is available for calls from abroad.

The helpline experts will be providing information about the entry and residence in Slovenia, procedure to recognise international protection and information on how individuals or organisations can provide financial or material aid.

The office has also set up a special e-mail address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., while updated information and contact numbers are also available on the gov.si website in Slovenian, English and Ukrainian.

The first refugees from Ukraine have already arrived in Slovenia, and a campaign to collect humanitarian aid has also been launched.

According to the office, many individuals and organisations have expressed the wish to help residents of Ukraine, including by organising various types of transportation to Slovenia.

Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec meanwhile tweeted that "all Ukrainian citizens entering or transiting Slovenia for humanitarian or war-related reasons are exempt from paying toll on Slovenian motorways."

He added that additional information for motorway users was available on the telephone number +386 1518 8350.

STA, 1 March 2022 - Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, has acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in a move that the central bank said would preserve the financial stability in the country after Russian-owned banks suffered a loss of trust due to sanctions against Russia.

"There were two options for the resolution of the Slovenian Sberbank: either it ceases operations and savers are compensated in accordance with guarantee scheme rules, or it gets a new owner," the central bank said Tuesday evening.

The sale means that Sberbank branches will reopen tomorrow after two days of closure and limited transactions for clients. "All Sberbank clients will conduct banking services without disturbances from tomorrow." [ed. Wednesday]

NLB has acquired Sberbank's equity as well as all assets, liabilities and clients. "This is a fast and effective solution for all clients who suddenly found themselves in a difficult situation," NLB chairman Blaž Brodnjak said in a press release.

"At the close of the transaction, Sberbank Slovenija will get a strong and committed owner who will ensure smooth operation with its capital and know-how," he was quoted as saying.

The decision was reached in agreement with the EU's Single Resolution Board, which determined that Sberbank's subsidiaries in Slovenia and Croatia were "failing or likely to fail due to a rapid deterioration in their liquidity situation," even as it decided no resolution was necessary for their Austrian parent, which will be liquidated.

SRB chair Elke König said the three decisions "protect financial stability and the depositors up to an amount of EUR 100,000 in Austria and with no limits in both Slovenia and Croatia."

"Today, we acted to protect the public interest and ensure financial stability. All of this has been done without having to use public funds, so not only are Sberbank's customers protected, the taxpayer is too."

The price of the NLB transaction has not been revealed. Central bank governor Boštjan Vasle told the TV show Odmevi that there had been significant interest by the largest and most important banking institutions. The Single Resolution Board picked the solution that satisfied the largest number of criteria.

Slovenian Sberbank is the only Russian-owned bank in Slovenia.

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:

NLB buys Slovenian Sberbank

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in a move that the central bank said would preserve financial stability after Russian-owned banks suffered a loss of trust due to sanctions against Russia. The sale means that Sberbank branches will reopen tomorrow after two days of closure and limited transactions for clients. "All Sberbank clients will conduct banking services without disturbances from tomorrow," the central bank said.

Russia can no longer win this war, says Janša

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the West's response to it in a televised interview late on Monday, assessing that President Vladimir Putin "can no longer win this war". "Europe is different today in terms of its views on energy, realistic situation, various utopian ideas that have been flooding us over recent decades. We have woken up to a real world," Janša told TV Slovenija.

Slovenia expresses firm support to Ukraine in UN

NEW YORK, US - Slovenian Ambassador to the UN Boštjan Malovrh expressed Slovenia's staunch support for Ukraine's people and government in their fight against the Russian invasion as he took part in an emergency session of the UN General Assembly on Monday. Slovenia joined the statement made by the EU and Malovrh also urged all UN members to support the resolution condemning Russia's aggression. He said Slovenia stood by Ukraine and its people.

Centre for Ukrainian refugees to open in Logatec

LJUBLJANA - The government decided at last night's correspondence session that a centre for refugees from Ukraine will be set up in the Logatec facilities of the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief. Persons staying at the Logatec centre will have the right to accommodation, food, clothes, footwear and hygienic products, the Government Communication Office said.

Building housing Slovenian consulate in Kharkiv destroyed

KHARKIV, Ukraine - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said that the building housing the Slovenian consulate in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv had been destroyed in an attack by the Russian army, condemning the act as well as Russia's aggression on Ukraine as such. "We condemn this outrageous act of the Russian Federation and the aggression against Ukraine," the ministry said, adding that staff at the consulate, headed by Consul General Anatoliy Bondarenko, were not injured in the attack. The attack was also condemned by Prime Minister Janez Janša, Defence Minister Matej Tonin and SocDems president and MEP Tanja Fajon.

Rally held in Ljubljana in support of Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - A large group of people gathered in the centre of Ljubljana for a rally in support of Ukraine organised by over thirty civil society organisations. Speakers called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the start of talks for a diplomatic solution, and a joint statement read by the organisers condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine, designating the invasion as an unlawful and outrageous intervention in another country's territory. The protesters also denounced the increasing militarisation.

Golob advocates increasing defence budget

LJUBLJANA - Robert Golob called for changes to Slovenia's energy, defence and foreign policies in view of the current geopolitical situation as he addressed the public to announce the election convention of his Freedom Movement for 19 March, saying he favoured increasing defence budget and removing fence from the border. The Freedom Movement leads the field in several polls. It will present at the convention all its candidates for the 24 April election and its full programme.

Slovenia to provide EUR 1.1 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar announced that Slovenia will provide EUR 1.1 million in humanitarian aid to residents of Ukraine through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Caritas Internationalis, and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković meanwhile said that a truckload of medical supplies would be sent for Kyiv by the local authorities.

No Russian invasion-related cyberactivity detected in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team (SI-CERT) has not detected any cyberactivity directly related to attacks on networks and systems in Ukraine, but it has drawn up a list of advice for safe work on the internet. European cybersecurity response centres have been detecting attacks on networks and systems in Ukraine for weeks such as disabling attacks, malicious code attacks, the spread of fake new and creation of fake websites of Ukrainian state bodies, said SI-CERT.

Speaker's LIDE party pulls out of election race

LJUBLJANA - The Liberal Democrats (LIDE), a party formed in January by Speaker Igor Zorčič, decided against contesting the 24 April general election after failing to agree a joint ticket with the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS). Zorčič said he would not stand for a seat in parliament, but would not answer directly when asked whether he would run in the presidential election in the autumn. The DeSUS executive council meanwhile decided today that the party will contest the general election independently.

Home affairs cooperation in focus as Hojs meets UAE minister

DUBAI, UAE - Bilateral cooperation on home affairs topped the agenda as Interior Minister Aleš Hojs held talks with Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the interior minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hojs highlighted good and friendly relations between the two countries, noting that cooperation in home affairs was constructive and conducted mainly via Interpol, the Interior Ministry said. He described the UAE as an important actor preserving peace and stability in the region and worldwide.

Slovenia, Croatia, Italian region to cooperate on "hydrogen valley"

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia, Croatia and the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia are planning to sign a letter of intent to strengthen cooperation in building a cross-border hydrogen valley in the North Adriatic as part of energy transition to a carbon-neutral society by 2050. The three sides had been harmonising the letter of intent for several months to define their cooperation "as thoroughly as possible", the last time last week in Croatia.

Court appoints interim board of managers at GEN-I

LJUBLJANA - The District Court in Krško has appointed an interim four-member management board of energy trader GEN-I with Igor Koprivnikar, now in charge of sales, as chairman. The company has been led by plenipotentiaries since 17 November, when long-serving Robert Golob failed to win another term in what some described as political staffing.

Monday's Covid case count up on the week before

LJUBLJANA - After weeks of steady decline, Slovenia's coronavirus case count increased by over 10% on the same day a week ago on Monday as 2,525 infections were reported by the National Institute of Public Health. The situation in hospitals keeps improving with government data as of this morning showing 352 patients treated for Covid as their main condition in hospitals, including 89 in intensive care.

Ex-police chief Jurič fined for obstructing parliamentary inquiry

LJUBLJANA - Andrej Jurič, a former acting police commissioner, will have to pay EUR 245 for declining to answer some questions as he appeared before the parliamentary commission investigating political interference in the work of the police and police staffing in November. The fine has been proposed by the commission and confirmed by a court in what the first time that any Slovenian parliamentary inquiry commission had fined its witness, said the commission's chair Rudi Medved from the LMŠ.

State-of-the-art laboratory opens in UKC Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest medical centre, opened new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities that come with the most cutting edge technology in the country, with Health Minister Janez Poklukar saying this would make patient care more efficient. The new premises will provide 3,700 square metres of additional space for more than 240 laboratory experts. Poklukar said the project brought together four laboratories on the first floor of the UKC Ljubljana diagnostic and therapeutic service.

Hypo bank case headed for retrial as guilty ruling quashed

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Higher Court has quashed a 2020 ruling in which four former top executives of the Slovenian subsidiary of the since defunct Hypo bank were sentenced to prison, and ordered a retrial, the newspaper Delo reports. According to the newspaper, the Higher Court established major violations of the penal procedure in the trial.

Survey unemployment rate at 4.2%

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's survey unemployment rate reached 4.2% in January, down 0.2 of a percentage point from December and 1.3% from a year ago, shows data released by the Statistics Office on Tuesday. Around 43,000 people aged 15 to 74 were estimated to be jobless, of whom 52% women and 48% men, which puts the joblessness rate among women at 4.8% and at 3.7% among men.

Cycling ace Pogačar promoting Slovenia at Expo

DUBAI, UAE - Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, has visited the Slovenian pavilion at Expo Dubai to promote his country's achievements. He is currently the strongest link between the United Arab Emirates and Slovenia, said Rok Capl, acting director of the investment promotion agency Spirit Slovenija.

STA, 1 March 2022 - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said that the building housing the Slovenian consulate in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv had been destroyed in Tuesday's attack by the Russian army, condemning the act as well as Russia's aggression on Ukraine as such. Consulate employees were not injured.

"We have been informed that the consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Ukraine has been destroyed in one of the military attacks on the city of Kharkiv. We condemn this outrageous act of the Russian Federation and the aggression against Ukraine," the ministry said.

Prime Minister Janez Janša also responded to the news, saying on Twitter that "we experienced the same approach from Yugoslav communist army 30 years ago. It didn't work, Mr. Putin. Neither will today in Ukraine. You can't defeat united and brave nation."

Žal smo bili obveščeni, da je bil v enem izmed vojaških napadov na mesto Harkov uničen tudi konzulat Republike Slovenije ?? v Ukrajini ??. Obsojamo to nezaslišno dejanje Ruske federacije in agresijo nad Ukrajino.
#WeStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/ncSlXIPOFE

— MFA Slovenia (@MZZRS) March 1, 2022

Janša also said that "we are examining the agreements signed with the Russian Federation and we will terminate all those related to the defence, security and political spheres of cooperation."

"Much of the world is doing the same. We call on the Russian people to choose a leader who will not endanger their neighbours and the world," the prime minister added.

Defence Minister said that the attack was an "inadmissible act of aggression that only shows how uncompromising the Russian attack on Ukraine is."

Opposition Social Democrats (SD) president and MEP Tanja Fajon also responded on Twitter, strongly condemning the "continuation of Putin's barbaric aggression against Ukraine! Unheard of."

Staff at the consulate, which is headed by Consul General Anatoliy Bondarenko, were not injured in the attack.

This comes after the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas noted the attack on Twitter, saying that "the Slovenian Consulate in Kharkiv was destroyed as a 'collateral diplomatic damage' as well."

The consulate is located in Freedom Square, which was the target of a Russian missile attack today that killed at least ten people and injured 35, according to the BBC.

STA, 1 March 2022 - The Vinakoper winery sent its first shipment of top quality wine to Ghana on Tuesday in what is a major step towards the planned expansion in the African market. The Koper-based winery intends to gradually enter other African countries as part of long-term cooperation with the company M&J Papala.

In recent years, Vinakoper has significantly increased exports and has been focussing on entering new markets.

Apart from exports to Slovenia's neighbouring countries and other EU countries, the winery has been selling its wine mostly to Asian markets, especially Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan.

The first container ordered by Ghana is the first shipment of Slovenian wines to the African country, which is considered a good point of entry on the West African market.

Currently the wine market there consists of around 30% of imports, mainly from France, South Africa, Italy and Chile.

Vinakoper CEO Borut Fakim said the first package of wines would be a test of the new environment, so a very diverse selection of top quality still and sparkling wines had been sent to the country, which were expected to go very well with local culinary specialities.

STA, 28 February - The Slovenian-language edition of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It was launched in 2002 as the 16th language variant after the original Wikipedia was launched in 2001, and there are currently 314 language variants.

The initiative came from user Jani Melik, and the Slovenian-language Wikipedia now boasts over 175,000 articles, which puts it among the top 50 per number of entries.

Jernej Polajnar, a representative of the Slovenian collective behind Wikipedia, has told the STA upon the anniversary that they are proud to produce such content with an innovative approach and completely voluntarily.

He says that the relevance of their work is reflected in the use of their work and the citation rate. "We also score quite high in Wikipedia's various international rankings in terms of the amount of content."

The project also proves that Slovenian is equal to languages spoken by many more speakers in terms of richness and the power of expression even at a time of globalisation and the global dominance of English.

"We want to be a role model showing that writing in the mother tongue and in a home environment is not in vain," Polajnar says.

As a relatively large pool of freely accessible structured information, the Slovenian-language Wikipedia has also been used to create language corpora for machine learning algorithm and for analysing online presence of Slovenian writers.

Looking to challenges ahead, Polajnar says their wish is for experts to better understand the opportunities wiki platforms provide for spreading knowledge.

"Several fields are covered insufficiently on Wikipedia, such as economics, law and various social topics, while we are doing better in natural sciences."

Some experts see their contributions as self-promotion, which totally misses the wiki platforms' basic mission, so Polajnar says they want to change this, which will require more awareness raising.

The core of the team behind the Slovenian-language Wikipedia is relatively stable in terms of its size and activity, even the founder still finds time to write articles.

While many decide to improve the existing articles, there are few who decide to cooperate for a longer period of time or as a hobby, but Polajnar says the team of administrators does get rejuvenated and refreshed all the time quite successfully.

"Despite the competition modern mobile platforms present, I feel the enthusiasm will not wane just yet, but we will have to do more for promotion. When it comes to a community or project like us, the rule the more the better definitely holds true."

Visit the Slovenian-language Wikipedia

STA, 28 February 2022 - Slovenia recorded an annual inflation rate of 6.9% in February, with the surging prices of energy being the main contributing factor. Inflation on a monthly level was at 1.4%, the Statistics Office reported on Monday.

Compared to February 2021, the prices of goods were up by 8.5% on average, and the prices of services by 3.7%.

Contributing 1.3 percentage points to the annual inflation rate in February were the higher prices of energy, gas and other fuels (by 19.6%), with the price of electricity increasing by 15%.

The price of gas was up by 25.6%, of liquid fuels by 10.3%, of solid fuels by 11.6% and of heating by 52.1%.

A 26.6% increase in the prices of fuels and lubricants for motor vehicles added one percentage point to the inflation rate in February, as did the higher prices of food (up by 6.4%).

The inflation rate was meanwhile offset by 0.2 of a percentage point by the lower prices in the communications category (-3.6%).

Inflation on a monthly level was at 1.4% in February, with the more expensive food (+2.1%), electricity (+8.4%) and holiday packages (+10.4%) being the main contributing factors.

On the other hand, the prices of footwear were down by 2.7%, of natural gas by 6.7% and of goods and services in the healthcare category by 1.1%.

Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU-wide standard, Slovenia's annual inflation ran at 7% in February, and monthly inflation ran at 1.1%.

More on this data

STA, 28 February 2022 - Prime Minister Janez Janša has assured Slovenian citizens who have their deposits with the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank that their savings are safe after the Russian bank's European division was forced to suspend operations.

"The Financial Ministry is working with Banka Slovenije and EU institutions so that disruption to operations and the transfer of savings deposits to a new owner take as little time as possible," Janša was quoted as saying by the Government Communication Office on Monday.

Janša thus responded to disruption in the banking system due to sanctions imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine after the European Central Bank and the Single Resolution Board decided to suspend the operations of Sberbank Europe, which also has a subsidiary in Slovenia.

Banka Slovenije, the Slovenian central bank, said a moratorium had been imposed to find a fast and constructive solution for the Slovenian subsidiary to allow the clients to resume transactions without disruption.

Until Wednesday morning cash withdrawals and payments are limited to EUR 400 with further details to be presented on Tuesday.

The central bank is looking into several possible avenues to resolve the situation. According to the newspaper Finance these are selling or transferring the bank's assets, liabilities and clients; transferring the bank's assets and liabilities to a new entity partly or fully owned by the state, that is a kind of bad bank; or, alternatively, full transfer to such a bad bank.

Unofficial information obtained by Finance is that the first of the three scenarios, that is an attempt to transfer the clients, possibly to NLB or Gorenjska Banka, is currently playing out in Slovenia. It should be known on Tuesday whether those two banks would in fact submit bids.

The ECB would decide on clearing a potential transfer of clients to another bank applying a "super fast procedure", Finance reports.

After sanctions were imposed on Sberbank, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said solutions were being secured that would guarantee the safety of deposit holders. Savings are also guaranteed by the Savings Deposits Guarantee Fund and the state budget, he noted.

"The government is looking into the situation, we are in contact with businesses and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) and we will do everything we can to help businesses," said Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek as he noted that Sberbank worked with businesses on both sides.

"The conclusion we have come to with the GZS is that it's unacceptable to solve crisis with war and that we will, unless a solution is found, insist on the sanctions imposed by the EU, which means the European and our economy will be hurt," he said, promising multi-layered solutions.

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:

Slovenia's GDP up 8.1% in real terms in 2021

LJUBLJANA - Driven by stimulus-fuelled domestic spending, Slovenia's economy expanded by 8.1% in real terms in 2021 after a 4.2% contraction the year before. In nominal terms it was up 10.9%, show preliminary estimates released by the Statistics Office. In the fourth quarter GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 5.4% year-on-year. Domestic spending surged by 10.8% year-on-year, with final consumption, growing at 9.4%, having a bigger impact on headline growth than investments, although investments expanded by 15.5%. The central bank and the government's macroeconomic think-tank said future trends would be impacted by factors associated with Russia's military aggression.

Operation of Sberbank in Slovenia limited until Wednesday

LJUBLJANA - As a consequence of sanctions against Russia, the operation of the Russian bank Sberbank in Slovenia has been temporarily limited to card transactions, the central bank announced. Other services will be unavailable until Wednesday, and branch offices closed. Withdrawals and payments are limited to EUR 400 per day. In the wake of this, Gorenjska Banka decided to halt the planned acquisition of Sberbank Slovenija and the latter's clients faced difficulties as some 100 social transfers had been rejected and other issues are expected. PM Janez Janša assured Slovenian citizens who have their deposits with the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank that their savings are safe.

Slovenia sending rifles, helmets and ammunition to Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has sent rifles, ammunition and helmets to Ukraine, Defence Minister Matej Tonin revealed. He would not talk about quantities beyond saying that the aid has already been dispatched with "several aircraft". He said Slovenia had sent to Ukraine the Kalashnikov rifles that the Slovenian army had used before receiving the FN F2000 rifles. In this phase of the Russian attack, Ukraine needs anti-aircraft and antitank weapons as well as substantial quantities of personal equipment such as rifles, helmets, bulletproof vests etc., Tonin said.

Logar and Baerbock see EU values defended in Ukraine

BERLIN, Germany - Russia's invasion of Ukraine topped the agenda as Foreign Minister Anže Logar was hosted by his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin. The pair agreed that EU values are being defended in Ukraine. Russia's conduct in Ukraine is a danger not only to Europe, but to the whole world, said Baerbock, who expects the UN General Assembly in the coming days to condemn Russian aggression and international isolation of the Russian leadership.

Slovenians in Russia or Belarus urged to leave the countries

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry urged Slovenian citizens who are currently in Russia and Belarus to leave the countries due to "limited flight connections and increased safety risks". The ministry said in a tweet they should choose safe travel options. The ministry said on its website that the assistance that the Slovenian Embassy in Moscow could provide to Slovenian citizens in these areas was limited.

Pahor promises help to Moldova over Ukrainian refugee crisis

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor pledged full support to Moldova in its efforts to help Ukrainian refugees as he spoke to President Maia Sandu on the phone on Monday. Slovenia will examine ways to help Moldova, he said, expressing Slovenia's support for Moldova's European perspective. According to a press release from Pahor's office, the two presidents exchanged views on the developments in Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression.

Pahor discusses situation in Ukraine with Polish counterpart

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor and Polish President Andrzej Duda exchanged views in a telephone conversation on the current situation in Ukraine. They expressed "great concern over this clear violation of international order by Russian political leadership and called for the end of the Russian attack," Pahor's office said in a press release. The pair underlined the importance of a united and strong EU response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that started last week.

First refugees from Ukraine arriving in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Matej Tonin announced that some ten refugees from Ukraine had already arrived in the country, and the company Esotech said that two families of its workers who were building a wastewater treatment plant in the city of Zhytomyr had been accommodated in a hotel in Velenje. Esotech chairman Marko Škoberne told the STA that the families included two children, aged one year and a half, and two years. All but one parliamentary party welcomed Slovenia's offer to accept Ukrainian refugees, although there was some scepticism whether the country has the capacity or would even need to take in between 180,000 and 200,000 as suggested by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs.

PM and NGOs call for separate protests in support of Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša and several NGOs have called each for their own protest in support of Ukraine. While the rally announced by Janša is to be held in Ljubljana on Wednesday, NGOs are calling for a protest for peace on Tuesday. Janša announced the protest in a post on his Twitter account on Sunday evening. It is to be held in the Slovenian capital on Wednesday at 5pm with the more exact location to follow.

Slovenia supports LNG terminals to diversify EU gas supply

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec underscored the need to diversify the EU's gas supplies and to synchronise Ukraine's power grid with Europe's as he addressed reporters after an emergency EU ministerial in Brussels discussed the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the energy market. Being that the EU depends heavily on Russian gas, diversification of oil and gas supply sources is urgently needed to ensure that gas and oil supplies are not disrupted by escalations such as the current one and potential future tensions, said Vrtovec.

MPs pass systemic bill to promote digital literacy

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed a bill to encourage digital inclusion which is designed to enhance digital development of the economy and the entire society. The centrepiece is a scheme of "digital vouchers" for students and adults over 55 to buy digital devices and attend digital literacy courses. Apart from the over-55s, beneficiaries of the vouchers will be students and secondary school children, but also primary school children in the last three grades.

Annual inflation in February at 6.9% due to expensive energy

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded an annual inflation rate of 6.9% in February, the highest figure since July 2008, with the surging prices of energy being the main contributing factor. Inflation on a monthly level was at 1.4%, the Statistics Office said. Compared to February 2021, the prices of goods were up by 8.5% on average, and the prices of services by 3.7%.

Over two-month low in Covid cases confirmed on Sunday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 656 coronavirus test samples returned positive in Slovenia on Sunday for the lowest daily figure since mid-December after another two-month low in coronavirus cases was confirmed the day before, show fresh official data. The number of Covid hospitalisations continued to decrease steadily with 385 patients being treated for Covid as their main condition, down by six from yesterday. Another 15 people with Covid died, government data show.

Another poll puts Freedom Movement ahead of SDS

LJUBLJANA - Robert Golob's Freedom Movement is ahead of Prime Minister Janez Janša's Democrats (SDS) in the latest poll released by POP TV that this time also includes parties which have not contested the previous general election. The Freedom Movement ranked at 17.4%, a percentage point ahead of the SDS, which remained flat over the month before. The new party appears to have chipped away at the approval ratings of the centre-left opposition parties.

Ex-Luka Koper chairman acquitted in retrial

KOPER - Robert Časar, ex-chairman of port operator Luka Koper, and Milan Pučko, former executive director at the company, were acquitted in a retrial at the Koper District Court on Monday after they were found guilty of abuse of office in defrauding Luka Koper when planning a logistical centre in Beltinci, north-eastern Slovenia. The June 2018 guilty verdicts were, however, annulled by the Higher Court in Koper in late 2019 and the case was returned to the first-instance court for retrial.

Screenings for rare diseases to be stepped up

LJUBLJANA - Ahead of Rare Disease Day, the Health Ministry announced that the national screening programme for congenital rare diseases will be expanded to cover additional four conditions. The ministry will set aside EUR 2 million for this, Health Minister Janez Poklukar said. The programme will now include screenings for 40 diseases, up from 20, a figure that was set in 2018.h