Logar says situation in Republic of Srpska worrying

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The latest activities of the Republic of Srpska are worrying and are dangerously unlocking the door for which we though would not be opened, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said in Brussels after the Republic of Srpska's parliament triggered last week a process to withdraw this entity from Bosnia-Herzegovina's institutions. He said that to prevent an escalation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a concerted action of the entire EU and with the US was needed. However, he declined to comment on a possibility of the EU imposing sanctions on Serbian member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency Milorad Dodik, arguing this topic had not been discussed by EU foreign ministers today.

Logar and EU ministers discuss Russia, Afghanistan and China relations

BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU foreign ministers were clear as they met in Brussels that any aggression by Russia against Ukraine will have political consequences and a high economic cost, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, while Slovenian FM Anže Logar added there was a general awareness of the gravity of the situation. "Any misinterpretation of an action could trigger a chain reaction that no one wants," Logar told Slovenian correspondents in Brussels. The build-up of Russian forces near and inside Ukraine will also be discussed by EU leaders on Thursday.

Slovenia requests UN Human Rights Council session on Ethiopia

GENEVA, Switzerland - Slovenia, in its capacity as the presiding EU country, requested a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Ethiopia, and more than 50 countries supported the call, Slovenia's Permanent Mission to the UN Office in Geneva announced on Twitter. EU Ambassador to Geneva Lotte Knudsen tweeted the UN Human Rights Council must fulfil its responsibilities. A special session could take place this Friday.

Logar says resolution on Slovenia "political document"

BRUSSELS - The resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia that the European Parliament will vote on later this week is a political document which does not require special attention, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said in Brussels, from where he will travel on to Strasbourg to attend the plenary. He said the MEPs' November debate on this topic had proven there was no great interest in the document. If endorsed on Thursday, the resolution will express concern over deep polarisation in Slovenia and call on prominent public figures and politicians to ensure a respectful and civilised public debate.

Number of new coronavirus cases lowest since mid-October

LJUBLJANA - The number of new coronavirus cases continues to drop in Slovenia, with 677 new cases detected on Sunday, the lowest daily count since mid-October. Government data show that a further 16 Covid-19 patients died yesterday, putting the number of deaths since the start of the epidemic in March 2020 at almost 5,750. Hospitalisations totalled 874 this morning, down by nine on the day before, including 236 in intensive care, down by seven. The 7-day case average dropped by 13 to 1,386 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population by 16 to 1,050.

MPs green-light changes to investment incentives legislation

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Economy Committee endorsed a set of changes to the investment promotion act, under which the state will no longer provide incentives based on the creation of jobs but will encourage high-capital-intensive, high-productivity and green investments to support Slovenia and the EU's green transition. The government aims to increase the country's green and digital competitive edge with the bill, which will enable drawing investment incentives out of the EU recovery and resilience fund and will be put to the vote at the plenary on Thursday.

Coalition, opposition clash over nominations for RTV Slovenija

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Credentials and Privileges Commission proposed that the National Assembly appoint to the programme council and supervisory board of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija five candidates each who had been proposed by the coalition, the opposition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the National Party (SNS). Centre-left opposition MPs strongly objected to the proposals, with the argument that there were no representatives of factions that had a combined 43 deputies in the National Assembly.

Koritnik discusses importance of digitalisation at Expo

DUBAI, UAE - Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik stated a several-day visit to the Dubai Expo as part of a Slovenian business delegation to present as representative of the EU presiding country the activities and goals of the EU and Slovenia in the field of data, Aa and blockchain. "Digital transformation has the potential to become the driving force behind our society's progress," he was quoted by the ministry as he addressed a business forum of Slovenian companies and participated in a panel on the use of data.

Army denies proposal for establishing new officer school

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) said it was not establishing an officer training school. Brig. Peter Zakrajšek, commander of the SAF Centre of Military Schools, told the press the SAF "are only trying to accredit our educational programmes in accordance with the quality standards that apply in the public education system, especially the post-graduate forms of education and educational programmes for officers". The response comes after defence studies experts criticised changes to the higher education act two coalition parties presented last month to create a legal basis for establishing a military academy.

Audit finds public pharmacies in breach of procurement law

LJUBLJANA - The Court of Audit has examined drug procurement practices in three public pharmacy chains to find that medicine procurement in the country is still in disarray and public pharmacies keep flouting public procurement rules, issuing an adverse opinion to Pomurske Lekarne, Lekarna Velenje and Lekarna Sevnica after examining their drug purchasing practices in 2020. The main complaint is that they did not select providers in open calls but instead resorted to open-ended supply contracts with selected suppliers.

Opposition parties submit energy vouchers bill

LJUBLJANA - Four centre-left opposition parties filed a bill on temporary measures to prevent energy poverty to parliament to provide the most vulnerable households with energy vouchers - EUR 150 for 75,000 socially deprived persons and EUR 40 for 200,000 child benefit recipients in the first six income brackets. The government is meanwhile working on its own solution. Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said in parliament it would provide help when needed, arguing "an ad-hoc solution at the moment could just help the speculating market".

Govt rating higher, SDS widens lead in latest Delo poll

LJUBLJANA - The latest Mediana poll commissioned by the newspaper Delo sees the share of respondents who perceive the government's work negatively decrease slightly, with the ruling Democrats (SDS) gaining three points to 18.9% over November to widen their lead on the opposition Social Democrats (SD), which lost a point to 11.8%. The share of undecided respondents dropped by a point, and the share of those who are not convinced by any party by almost five, with their combined share falling from around a third to 26%.

Surgeon opposing hospital's Covid bed plans to return to work

ŠEMPETER PRI GORICI- Danijel Bešič Loredan, the head of the Nova Gorica general hospital's orthopaedic ward, who had been banned from work due to his opposition to the hospital's Covid reorganisation plans, is expected to return to his post on Tuesday. The new management, recently appointed by the government, has decided he will only receive a written warning.

Suits looming as Covid rules dampen mood at Christmas markets

LJUBLJANA/KOPER/MARIBOR - The government ban on outdoor food and drink stalls has dampened down the festive mood at Christmas markets across Slovenia as inspectors clamped down on the vendors trying to get around the restrictions. Dismayed at what they see as unfair and unlawful rules, hospitality providers are now mounting class action to claim damages. The government initially detailed rules for Christmas markets on 26 November when those had already opened in some cities, setting out they should be fenced off to make sure only Covid pass-carrying visitors are allowed inside the railings. A week later, prompted by its Covid-19 advisors, it banned the serving of food and drinks at open-air stalls to prevent socialising.

Survey: 85% paediatricians in favour of vaccinating own kids

LJUBLJANA - A survey commissioned by the paediatricians' section of the Slovenian Medical Society shows 76.7% of paediatricians that participated in the survey have already decided to vaccinate their own children aged 12 to 18 against Covid-19, while another 8.9% plan to do so. A tenth said they do not intend to vaccinate their own children, while 4.4% were undecided. A total of 262 paediatricians took part in the online survey between 25 November and 5 December, the Medical Chamber said in a release. Vaccination of children under 12 has not yet started in Slovenia, but should this week.

CoE fund backs Slovenian animated co-production

LJUBLJANA - The animated feature film Of Unwanted Things and People, a co-production of Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and France, is one of this year's recipients of financial support by Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe. The film will receive EUR 380,000. All the producers have an equal share in the production. The Slovenian chief co-producer is Kolja Saksida from Zavod ZVVIKS, said the Slovenian Film Centre.

The government initially detailed rules for Christmas markets on 26 November when those had already opened in some cities, setting out that they should be fenced off to make sure only Covid pass-carrying visitors are allowed inside the railings.

However, only a week later, prompted by its Covid-19 advisors, the government banned the serving of food and drinks at open-air stalls to prevent socialising around the cup of mulled wine that is very popular in the country this time of year.

With the roasted chestnuts exempted from the ban, the new government regulation led to a rather comical exchange between the chief Covid adviser and the Ljubljana mayor over what makes chestnuts less of a Covid risk.

The Ljubljana authorities then appeared to have found a loophole in arguing that the ban only concerned fair-like activity rather than open-air market stalls and reopened food and drink markets by the Ljubljana central market last Wednesday.

In some other cities, vendors moved their stalls closer to their hospitality establishments, which can serve their seated guests outdoors, and in Koper and Maribor only seated guests got served from stalls.

However, inspectors moved fast and first sealed stalls in Ljubljana on Thursday and then closed down those in Koper's Tito Square as well. The stalls in Maribor were ordered to close today after they were first allowed to operate.

Insisting that the open-air market activity has not been banned, the utility operating Ljubljana markets and the affected hospitality providers will seek justice in court in cooperation with Nataša Pirc Musar, a prominent lawyer.

Similarly upset are the vendors in Koper, who have acquired a legal opinion saying that the closure was unlawful and illegitimate and are thus preparing to bring a joint damages suit, their representative Andrej Krmac has announced.

A further issue is that while Christmas markets are no longer appealing to visitors, beer and restaurant gardens or even the stalls attached to them, such as those along the river Ljubljanica in the capital, are teeming with festive crowds.

In Celje, Kranj and Bled, hospitality stalls operating as part Christmas markets have been closed down as the government ban kicked in. However, hospitality and tourism officials are complaining about the impact on business.

MEPs to vote on Slovenia rule of law resolution Thursday

STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament will take a vote on a resolution on fundamental rights and rule of law in Slovenia at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday. The draft resolution, tabled by the socialists (S&D), liberals (Renew), Greens and the Left, expresses "deep concern about the level of public debate, climate of hostility, distrust and deep polarisation in Slovenia, which has eroded trust in public bodies and between them". The European People's Party (EPP), the political family of Slovenian PM Janez Janša, did not sign on the resolution. It is expected to adopt the guidance on the vote on Wednesday.

Podgoršek expects tough talks on EU fishing quotas

BRUSSELS, Belgium - As the last session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council under the Slovenian EU presidency got under way in a bid to reach a political agreement on the fishing quotas for 2022, Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek said he expected the talks to be tough but was confident a balanced solution would be found. In a statement released by the Slovenian government, Podgoršek described talks on fishing opportunities in EU and non-EU waters, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea as one of the most important topics of the Slovenian presidency.

Digitalisation and AI in focus at Slovenia Expo pavilion next week

DUBAI, UAE - A delegation of 36 Slovenian business representatives of 19 companies is heading to Dubai on Sunday for a three-day visit of the Expo show focussing on digitalisation and artificial intelligence. The main event will be a business forum at the Slovenian pavilion on Monday themed Data for Better Business and Living. The event will be addressed by Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik. On Tuesday a conference will discuss the role of blockchain and AI in sustainable development goals as part of the Slovenian presidency of the EU.

Coronavirus cases, hospitalisations continue to decline

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 783 new coronavirus cases for Saturday, a decline of 30% from the same day a week before, as 14 patients with Covid-19 died and hospitalisations kept falling, government figures show. This morning 883 patients were still hospitalised with Covid-19, including 243 in intensive care. The figures mark a decline 26 and four from the previous day. The 7-day average of new cases dropped by 47 to 1,399 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people is now at 1,066, down by 33 from the previous day.