11 Dec 2021, 19:40 PM

Missing Turkish Girl Found Dead in Dragonja River

STA, 11 December 2021 - A 10-year-old Turkish girl who went missing after she fell into the swollen Dragonja on the Slovenian-Croatian border on Thursday evening and got swept downstream as her mother was carrying her on her shoulders across the river, was found dead around noon today.

The girl was found dead on the Croatian side of the river by Croatian police officers and divers of the Slovenian Armed Forces, the Koper Police Department has told the STA.

The search effort that started late on Thursday also involved professional and volunteer Slovenian fire-fighters, police dog handlers and members of the national underwater rescue service.

Officers of the maritime police unit and members of the Maritime Administration searched the mouth of the river and the surrounding sea, and the campaign also included several rescue teams on the Croatian side of the river.

The unfortunate girl fell into the cold and swollen river as her 47-year-old mother was trying to cross it to enter Slovenia, carrying her on her shoulders.

While the woman was saved by Slovenian police officers with the help of a citizen who had called the police, the girl was swept downstream.

The woman was found to be a Turkish national. Two of her children, aged 18 and 5, were already on the Slovenian side, while another child, aged 13, was still on the Croatian side. As the situation took place on the border line, they were all returned to Croatia.

This is the second death of a migrant in the area lately, as a 31-year-old national of Bangladesh was found dead in the Dragonja valley last Saturday, with initial information indicating hypothermia as the cause of death.

11 Dec 2021, 09:30 AM

Last Week in Slovenia: 3 - 9 December, 2021

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

If you’d like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.

FRIDAY, 3 December
        LJUBLJANA - Kajetan Gantar, a translator of classical literature and philosophy, and Mirko Cuderman, a choir conductor, were declared the winners of the 2022 Prešeren Prizes, the highest national accolade for lifetime achievement in culture and arts.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a rule under which all those who have had a high-risk contact with a person highly suspected to be infected with the Omicron variant have to quarantine at home. The rule, which entered into force on 4 December, also applies to those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - An EU-Western Balkans ministerial focussing on judiciary urged cooperation of Western Balkan countries with the EPPO, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and Slovenian Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič said. The region has expressed readiness for cooperation with the EPPO, said Dikaučič.
        KOPER - The supervisory board of Luka Koper appointed Boštjan Napast the president of the management board of the state-owned port operator for a five-year term. Napast had been until recently the head of the board of the gas distributor Geoplin.
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Policy Committee approved a new bill on deployment in civilian missions and international organisations in second reading. The proposal is intended to enable the timely nomination and deployment of Slovenian experts, said Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Education Committee endorsed amendments to the organisation and financing of education act, which would change the composition of school and kindergarten councils to increase the influence of the founder - government or municipality, as members of the opposition obstructed the vote.
        BUDVA, Montenegro - PM Janez Janša discussed the need to bring the Western Balkans into the EU as he addressed by video link the summit of the Central European Initiative (CEI).
        ROME, Italy - Attending the Rome MED 2021 - Mediterranean Dialogues conference, FM Anže Logar said that economic development in Africa was key to reducing the migration pressure.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted on 2 December a revised 2021 business and financial plan for the Eco Fund under which an additional EUR 71.8 million will be allocated to the fund. The extra amount will go for environmental investment loans, energy efficiency grants and sustainable construction.
        FRANKFURT, Germany - Rating agency Fitch affirmed Slovenia's credit rating at A with a stable outlook, Fitch said, adding that this reflected the agency's expectations of a permanent recovery of the Slovenian economy thanks to the expected increase in investment and continued exports.
        LJUBLJANA - The government decided to ban as of 4 December the serving of food and drinks at outdoor stalls, with the exception of roasted chestnut. As for outdoor fairs, organisers are required to observe Covid-19 rules.
        LJUBLJANA - A collection of Slovenian cultural and natural heritage, folk tales, stories and traditions was presented as part of the Google Arts & Culture portal to promote the country. Google Arts and Culture Director Amit Sood said that Google's new service was available free of charge, online or as a smartphone app.

SATURDAY, 4 December
        LJUBLJANA - A group of protesters against government Covid-19 measures and the new bill on additional measures to curb the epidemic and mitigate its impact gathered in the Ljubljana city centre. There were some clashes with police and a few protesters were detained.
        CELJE - The coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) and the non-parliamentary Economically Active Party (GAS) merged at a congress into a new party called Concretely that will focus on the social and economic development of Slovenia.
        LJUBLJANA - Dnevnik reported that Police Commissioner Anton Olaj had allegedly signed dismissal warnings for the heads of the two police trade unions. The main trade unions in the country later said that this constituted an abuse of the dismissal warning institute.
        BRNIK - Fraport Slovenija's managing director Babett Stapel, who took over at the helm of the company operating Ljubljana's international airport in October, told the STA she was optimistic about the airline industry and airport's future despite the pandemic, but she expected a full recovery only in 2025.

SUNDAY, 5 December
        KRANJ - Six Italian military doctors and nurses arrived in Slovenia to help the medical teams of the Slovenian Armed Force assisting at Covid-19 hospitals. Another nine joined them a day later. Under the current agreement, the Italian medical staff will help in Slovenia until the end of the year.
        LJUBLJANA - The 37th Slovenian Book Fair ended with an awards ceremony, which saw art editor Pavle Učakar receiving the Schwenter Award for his contribution to publishing and Erica Johnson Debeljak winning the Book of the Year Award for her book about widowhood Devica, Kraljica, Vdova, Prasica (Virgo, Queen, Widow, Bitch).
        LJUBLJANA - The Jury Grand Prix of the 18th Animateka international animated film festival was conferred on Impossible Figures and Other Stories I by Polish director Marta Pajek as the festival ended. The award is given to a film competing in the Eastern and Central European section.

MONDAY, 6 December
        LJUBLJANA - The EU's chief prosecutor Laura Kovesi said, as she visited Ljubljana, no one could dismiss European delegated prosecutors without her consent. The Slovenian pair have been appointed for fully-fledged five-year terms, she added. She told the STA that given the statistics so far, she has no doubts that the pair will be kept "very busy".
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court found the government's regulation imposing Covid-19 recovery or vaccination mandate (PC) on state administration employees at work place in disagreement with the constitution for not being aligned with the relevant law.
        PTUJ - Silvo Drevenšek, who had pleaded guilty to murdering his former spouse and her parents in front of his four-year-old son on Christmas Eve 2020, was sentenced to life in prison, the first time a Slovenian court has handed down this sentence since it was reintroduced to the criminal code in 2008.
        LJUBLJANA - As a representative of the Slovenian EU presidency, FM Anže Logar expressed strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of the EU and its member states as he addressed via video call the 20th session of the assembly of states parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC.
        LJUBLJANA - Some estimates suggest Slovenia could be losing up to EUR 3.5 billion a year due to corruption, which amounts to 13.5% of its GDP, Robert Šumi, the head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, said ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU's Employment and Social Policy Council reached an agreement on a minimum wage directive which is aimed at securing fair pay. Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said he was happy such an important agreement had been reached after intensive talks.
        KLAGENFURT, Austria - An umbrella organisation of the Slovenian minority in the Austrian state of Carinthia urged new Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and his government to immediately initiate reform legislation on ethnic minorities.
        LJUBLJANA - The economy is held hostage by higher energy costs, which makes development and investment funds the victims, said the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) as it presented its proposals for a state aid scheme to help companies, especially energy-intensive ones.
        LJUBLJANA - Marica Uršič Zupan, a journalist for the regional newspaper Primorske Novice, was appointed ombudsman at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija. She will start her five-year term on 18 January pending approval by the public broadcaster's general manager.
        LJUBLJANA - The government approved a EUR 9.8 million subsidy for a Li-ion battery plant that TAB, the Slovenian maker of starter and industrial batteries, plans to set up with its Chinese partner Haidi Energy Technology.
        KOPER - A 31-year-old citizen of Bangladesh was found dead in the Dragonja valley in the border area between Slovenia and Croatia with initial information indicating hypothermia as the cause of death, the Koper Police Department reported.
        LJUBLJANA - Aljoša Rehar took over as the new editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) after serving as the head of the agency's digital strategy group for the last seven years. He succeeded Barbara Štrukelj, who was the content chief for 12 years and decided not to seek another term.

TUESDAY, 7 December
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU finance ministers reached political consensus to upgrade the EU rules on reduced VAT rates. The meeting failed to clinch agreement on review of the 1997 Code of Conduct on Business Taxation, with Slovenia's Andrej Šircelj saying a new proposal would now have to be drawn up.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU health ministers called for fast and coordinated action to tackle the surge in coronavirus and the spread of the Omicron variant. Slovenia's Janez Poklukar said the ministers did not discuss mandatory vaccination, which he believes should be a last resort measure.
        LJUBLJANA/BRUSSELS, Belgium - Defence Minister Matej Tonin and Slovenia's EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič hosted a virtual event on knowledge exchange and dialogue in civil protection and disaster management at EU level.
        LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Matej Tonin took part in the 2021 annual conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA), which focused on innovation in the field of defence. He highlighted the role of defence innovation for the development of strategic and technological sovereignty, said the ministry.
        BERN, Switzerland - Slovenia sold to Serbia its stake in a property in the Swiss capital of Bern which used to house the embassy of the former Yugoslavia and is currently home to the Serbian embassy in Switzerland, for 1.089 million Swiss francs (EUR 1.046 million), the Foreign Ministry announced.
        LJUBLJANA - A parliamentary inquiry looking into allegedly unlawful financing of the ruling Democrats (SDS) heard allegations about shady financing deals involving Nova24TV being dismissed by several persons with links to the media outlet, including Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, a former director of Nova24TV.
        LJUBLJANA - Prosecutor Blanka Žgajnar said she did not know why the Supreme Court had annulled the verdict in the Balkan Warrior drug trafficking case and released the defendants, as she was yet to get the ruling. She doubts a retrial could be completed in two years before the case becomes statute barred.

WEDNESDAY, 8 December
        LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar told the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee that he would visit the US on 20 December to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss Slovenian-US cooperation.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee confirmed a bill ratifying the agreement between Slovenia and the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation for the purchase of 45 eight-wheeled Boxer armoured personnel carries.
        STRASBOURG, France - The EU Parliament will take a vote on a resolution on the rule of law and fundamental rights in Slovenia at the plenary session in Strasbourg on 16 December, followed from the agenda endorsed by the Conference of Presidents.
        LJUBLJANA - Tatjana Bobnar, who was replaced as police commissioner as the Janez Janša government took over, told a parliamentary inquiry into alleged political interference in police that she was being bullied for the past year and a half. Commissioner Anton Olaj rejected the allegations about the political interference.
        LJUBLJANA - Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek noted at a virtual conference that the main file of the Slovenian EU presidency in agriculture, environment and climate change had been the reform of the common agricultural policy to make it fairer and greener.
        LJUBLJANA - The anti-viral drug molnupiravir will be available for treatment of Covid-19 in Slovenia expectedly from 13 December after doses for over 5,700 treatments have already arrived in the country. Slovenia's national medical ethics committee said earlier it had no reservations towards the drug.
        LJUBLJANA - Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Miha Lobnik found the permanent ban on blood donations for men who have sexual relations with men discriminatory, noting this exclusion was in place despite the fact that the safety of blood donations is ensured by additional testing for viruses.

THURSDAY, 9 December
        LJUBLJANA - Government officials met with representatives of the US tech giant Google to discuss the achievements of the Slovenian EU presidency in digital transformation and sign a cooperation agreement under which Google will invest EUR 2.5 million over the next two years to support Slovenia's digital transformation.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed in a narrow vote the act on long-term care that brings a number of measures for adults who depend on other people's assistance to perform basic activities. This field is now being systemically regulated after some 20 years of efforts.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Following a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, Slovenia's Aleš Hojs said it had been agreed that Croatia meets the conditions for entering the Schengen Area. Hojs believes other steps towards a final decision on the expansion of the no-passport zone will follow relatively soon.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium- Interior Minister Aleš Hojs expressed the hope that progress could still be made by the end of 2021 on changes to the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (EURODAC), a part of the new Migration Pact. He noted that there would not be a major breakthrough regarding the pact during the Slovenian EU presidency and it had not been expected either.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Council of the EU, currently chaired by Slovenia, reached a provisional agreement to extend the EU's "roam-like-at-home scheme", which allows for roaming without extra costs, until 2032.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Slovenian EU presidency and the EU Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a proposal for a regulation on the e-CODEX system. The system aims to enable digitalisation of cross-border judicial communication and provide better access to judicial protection.
        NEW YORK, US/LJUBLJANA - Slovenia formally announced its candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2024-2025 period. Elections in the General Assembly will be held in June 2023.
        LJUBLJANA - The government decided to increase the monthly wages of employees of the police force and the Interior Ministry by EUR 100-130 gross due to the increased volume of work and special workload related to support tasks of the police.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed changes to the medical services act that facilitate licensing of doctors, transfer the jurisdiction of professional exams to the Medical Chamber and simplify hiring of foreign doctors with regard to Slovenian language skills.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed an amendment to the identity cards act under which new biometric ID cards will start to be issued on 28 March 2022, instead of 3 January 2022, as initially planned. In line with the change, it will be possible to use expired ID cards until the end of March.
        WASHINGTON, US/LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor called for a respectful dialogue at US President Joe Biden's virtual summit for democracy. Pahor said Slovenia and other countries could and must do more for liberal democracy, which was based on the rule of law and full respect for human rights.
        LJUBLJANA - The latest government figures showed that Slovenia logged 1,687 new coronavirus infections for Wednesday as a week-on-week drop in cases continued. Hospitalisations decreased to 948, of which 248 were ICU cases. This week saw the former figure drop below 1,000 for the first time since mid-November.
        LJUBLJANA - After failing to get another term as CEO of the energy trader GEN-I, Robert Golob announced he was entering politics through a non-partisan movement. He is not ruling out a bid in the April general election.
        LJUBLJANA - The anti-graft watchdog has not established any breach of integrity in 12 procedures targetting five employees of the Commodity Reserves Agency over suspicion of irregularities in the purchases of protective equipment last year.

11 Dec 2021, 08:15 AM

Slovenian MEPs Disappointed with Slovenia’s EU Presidency

STA, 10 December 2021 - Slovenia could have left a better impression during its EU presidency - while work has been good at technical level, political divisions and the government's action about the European delegated prosecutors (EDP) and the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has cast the country in a poor light, three of Slovenia's eight MEPs said on Friday.

Franc Bogovič (EPP), Tanja Fajon (S&D) and Ljudmila Novak (EPP) took part in the Coffee with MEPs talk in Brussels, which focused on Slovenia's EU presidency.

As most critical of the three, Fajon said the presidency has been largely a missed opportunity while admitting that work at technical level in Brussels has been good.

Fajon, a member of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), believes too much focus was on the rule of law in Slovenia, which has cast a shadow on the presidency.

Novak, a member of the coalition New Slovenia (NSi), regrets the image the government projected with its action regarding the EDP and STA has been more seen that the good and intensive work and the progress made.

She highlighted among the presidency's achievements the agreement reached on the minimum wage, saying it was a very tough issue and nobody had expected a breakthrough.

Bogovič stressed the excellent work of many Slovenian representatives while criticising Fajon and some other Slovenian MEPs, including Klemen Grošelj (Renew), for what he said was exporting internal political topics to the European Parliament.

"Our internal divisions will not be solved by European newspapers, but by us," said Bogovič, a member of the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS).

The MEPs also touched on some other topics, including the Western Balkans and EU enlargement, foremost North Macedonia and Albania.

Fajon regretted there has been no breakthrough for accession talks with the two countries to be launched, but admitted the Slovenian presidency could not be blamed for it.

All three MEPs also commented on a resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia that has been submitted to the European Parliament by the Social-Democrats, Liberals, Greens and the Left and on which the MEPs will vote in Thursday.

Fajon said the document is very critical, Novak said the EPP had tried very hard for it to be balanced, while Bogovič said it does not treat Slovenia negatively because it says that the fundamental mechanisms of the rule of law work and that there are no such flaws as there are in Poland and Hungary, or in Malta and Slovakia, where journalists are being killed.

11 Dec 2021, 04:55 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Saturday, 11 December 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:

EU Parliament's draft Slovenia resolution expresses concern over polarisation

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Four political groups in the European Parliament - Social Democrats, Liberals, the Greens and United Left - have submitted a resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia, on which MEPs will vote on Thursday. Much like a report by the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), it expresses great concern over deep polarisation in the country. The 11-page draft resolution, obtained by the STA, which has not been published yet, mentions the concerning level of public debate, an atmosphere of hostility, distrust and deep polarisation, which has undermined the trust in public bodies and among them.

Slovenia not participating in Afghan resettlement scheme

BRUSSELS, Belgium/LJUBLJANA - After European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced that 15 EU member states pledged to provide for the resettlement and protection of nearly 40,000 Afghans, the Interior Ministry told the STA "Slovenia has not made a commitment in this scheme". The Netherlands, Spain and France are mentioned among the participating countries.

Vrtovec discusses Fit for 55 transport dossiers in Brussels

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec announced yesterday that the Slovenian EU presidency achieved progress on important Fit for 55 transport dossiers. This was after debate among EU transport ministers showed broad support for ambitious goals in the transition to a zero-carbon society, as well as a commitment to fast-tracking the negotiations. "An agreement on transport dossiers is essential if we want to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 as we will have to reduce transport emissions by as much as 90%," said the minister.

Slovenia happy EPPO is up and running, achieving results

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU justice ministers discussed the work of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), with Slovenia's Marjan Dikaučič, who chaired the session as representative of the EU presiding country, noting that the EPPO "has already opened hundreds of lawsuits for damages estimated at billions of euros". The ministers took note of the work of the EPPO in recent months and expressed satisfaction that the office responsible for investigating and prosecuting crime against the EU's financial interests is already investigating numerous cases of fraud.

Minister Hojs visits Interpol to stress its importance

LYON, France - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs visited the seat of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) to stress the organisation's importance in the fight against international crime. "Interpol makes a very important contribution to global security," he said. Hojs and Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock advocated coordinated activities between Interpol, EU member states and various EU agencies, and praised the excellent cooperation between the Slovenian police and Interpol.

Slovenia on agenda as ALDE meets in Rome

ROME, Italy - As the Council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) meets for a two-day session in Rome the agenda includes a resolution on respect for liberal values proposed by two Slovenian opposition parties, LMŠ and SAB, and the question of membership of the Slovenian coalition party SMC, which has merged with the Economically Active Party (GAS) into Concretely. In the resolution, the LMŠ and SAB claim the SMC had departed from liberal values after joining the Janez Janša government.

On Human Rights Day, appeal for personal responsibility

LJUBLJANA - As Slovenia joins observation of Human Rights Day, the country's human rights ombudsman, Peter Svetina pointed to the inequalities and distrust reinforced by the Covid pandemic, appealing to everyone to do their bit for society to find a way out of what is a health as well as social crisis. As social rules are put to test, he said it was "especially important to respect the decisions of the bodies that judge which rules should apply in society so that the dignity of everyone will be respected". Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič stressed the importance of human rights for a more resilient society.

Environment minister supports NGO's container deposit system proposal

LJUBLJANA - Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak supports an NGO's proposal to introduce a container deposit system for waste packaging, saying it is line with the the new environment protection bill. The ministry will thus try to introduce it into the bill - adopted by the government in early November - with amendments in parliamentary procedure. The proposal is also supported by the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), which says it would save Slovenia some money while facilitating making new products from waste.

Plans for regional hospital in focus as govt visits Gorenjska

KRANJ - The government is visiting the northern Gorenjska region with talks expected to focus on the issues related to a new regional hospital. Other matters the mayors want to discuss are anti-flooding measures, environment issues and protection of architectural heritage. Gorenjska is the only region without a central, regional hospital, Kranj Mayor Matjaž Rakovec said ahead of the visit. Gorenjska is one of the most affluent Slovenian region and unlike the rest of the country has seen a positive natural increase.

New green party Vesna to be set up in January 2022

LJUBLJANA - Another green party is to be established in Slovenia in January 2022 to contest the general election in April 2022. The new party, named Vesna, will be led by a pair of prominent environmental activists, Urša Zgojznik and Uroš Macerl, the head of Ecologists Without Borders and the head of the NGO Eko Krog, respectively. Vesna has received the support of the European Green Party. The new party's programme is based on four pillars: the environment, democracy and transparency, equality and social justice and creativity.

TV Slovenija faces censorship allegation

LJUBLJANA - Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija has become embroiled in a heated debate over whether Ivan Simič, the director of the Financial Administration, violated taxpayer confidentiality laws, after a statement by a prominent expert on data privacy had been cut from a report on the matter without the report's author knowing about it. Amid allegations of censorship, TV Slovenija news programme staff condemned "any attempts to restrict journalistic or editorial autonomy", as the broadcaster's leadership said it respected editorial autonomy.

Pošta Slovenije supervisor alleges political pressure

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) confirmed having received a complaint against Miha Rebolj, the secretary of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), now the Concretely party, for pressuring a member of the supervisory board of postal operator Pošta Slovenije over the appointment of CEO. Media reports say supervisor Matjaž Fortič alleges being pressured to back the appointment Tomaž Kokot, an affiliate of the ruling Democrats (SDS), as CEO for a full term although he does not have the required experience for the post.

Coronavirus situation keeps improving

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia saw 1,323 new coronavirus infections confirmed on Thursday, almost a quarter less than the same day a week ago, as 19 more Covid-19 patients died. The situation at hospitals improved with 914 Covid-19 patients hospitalised this morning, 34 fewer than the day before. 244 are still in intensive care, government data shows. The 7-day average of new cases dropped by 59 from the day before to 1,507 and the cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 people fell by 50 to 1,135.

MPs ask for audit of concession contract for Sava hydro power stations

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Public Finance Oversight unanimously decided, acting upon a proposal from the centre-left opposition Left, to ask the Court of Audit to audit the October 2020 concession contract for several power stations planned on the river Sava between Ježica and Suhadol. The contract was signed between the government and state-owned power utility HSE for the central part of the Slovenian section of the Sava for nine to twelve power stations to be built between Ježica, north of Ljubljana, and Suhadol, some 50 km to the east, with the first three expected to be constructed in ten years.

Ten-year-old Turkish girl swept away by Dragonja River

PIRAN - The police rescued a 47-year-old Turkish woman from the Dragonja River on Thursday evening, as she was trying to cross it to enter Slovenia with her three children. However, it later turned out her 10-year-old daughter that she had carried on her shoulders fell into the water and was swept downstream. Although a rescue mission was launched immediately, the child has not been found yet.

MPs pass two construction bills

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed on Thursday amendments to the construction act, which are to speed up the procedures to acquire building permits, and the spatial management act, which extends the deadline for new municipal spatial plans until the end of 2024 or until a municipality adopts the new plan. The stated goal of the new legislation is to shorten administrative procedures and speed up Slovenia's sustainable economic development but there have also been allegations of rules being tailored to an MP to legalise his house.

Exports and imports at 10-year high in October

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia exported EUR 3.6 billion worth of goods in October and imported EUR 4 billion in merchandise in what is the highest volume on both sides for that month in ten years. Slovenia recorded a trade gap for the seventh straight month, amounting to EUR 0.4 billion. Year-on-year, exports were up by 14.2% and imports surged by 35.7%, data from the Statistics Office shows. Both exports and imports were also up on October 2019, by 16.9% and 26%, respectively.

Industrial output slightly up in October

LJUBLJANA - Industrial output in Slovenia in October was up by 0.5% compared to the month before and by 6.2% compared to October 2020. It was up in mining and quarrying, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply and in manufacturing, the Statistics Office said. In October, total turnover in industry was 0.9% higher at the monthly level and rose by 12.2% year-on-year and by 8.7% compared with October 2019.

Top science awards go to women researchers

LJUBLJANA - Statistician Anuška Ferligoj and nanotechnology researcher Julijana Kristi were honoured for their contributions as the Zois Prizes for lifetime achievement in science and research were handed out at Cankarjev Dom. Ferligoj, a researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Social Science in Ljubljana, was honoured for her work in statistics, while Kristi works for the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana as a leading researcher and scientist in pharmaceutical nanotechnology. Internet pioneer Borka Jerman Blažič meanwhile received the Puh Prize for lifetime achievement.

Ski jumper Urša Bogataj third in Klingenthal

KLIGENTHAL, Germany - Slovenian ski jumper Urša Bogataj finished third at a World Cup event in Klingenthal, Germany, achieving her third podium finish this season. The winner was Marita Kramer from Austria, who clinched her third win of the season and retained the lead in the overall standings."We achieved another nice team success, all of our ski jumpers got points, with another podium finish for Urša," said Slovenia's head coach Zoran Zupančič.

Polka band from Koroška gets into Guinness Book of Records

SLOVENJ GRADEC - A Slovenian folk music ensemble called Štirje Kovači (Four Blacksmiths) from the northern Koroška region has made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest active polka music band in the world. The ensemble has been making music for nearly seven decades, and has been striving to get into the book for a year and a half and this week it finally received a certificate confirming its Guinness feat. The band was formed in 1954 by four young boys who worked at an ironwork company.

10 Dec 2021, 16:37 PM

New Winter Collection T-Shirts Released by BREG Design Co.

Back in May 2020 we reported on the launch of a new Slovenia-inspired apparel brand – BREG Design Co.

Despite starting up in a pandemic, BREG have survived lockdown, and even released several new designs including a new winter collection. We caught up with the creator – Sam Baldwin - to find out how things were going.

What are the new designs about?

As always, I look for interesting elements of Slovene culture, history, food, landscape or language, and base my designs on those. I find no shortage of fascinating Slovene things which inspire me.

The Slovene Grammar [https://www.bregdesign.com/slovene-grammar/] design is for anyone who ever tried to learn Slovene; a language with grammar so complex, it has been known to cause brain damage. It’s inspired by a classic brand of Slovenian cigarettes that used to be made in Ljubljana at the tobačna.

The Velika Planina [https://www.bregdesign.com/velika-planina-hut-head/] design celebrates the iconic shape of these beautiful Shepard’s huts which are unique to Slovenia and have a really interesting form.

The Bled Block t-shirt [https://www.bregdesign.com/bled/] plays with the town’s most iconic cake, and TR3 design [https://www.bregdesign.com/ljubljana-tr3/] celebrates the ‘brutal beauty’ of Ljubljana’s twin tower blocks.

And finally, BREG Classic [https://www.bregdesign.com/classic/] is a simple design that plays with the Slovene language.

Where can people buy BREG shirts?

For the full range of designs, colours and garments, the online store is the easiest place to buy: BregDesign.com.

If you’re based in Slovenia, you can also find selected lines at our partner retailers in Ljubljana [https://www.bregdesign.com/buy] centre, Šiška, and Vrhnika.

How has the pandemic affected the business?

Covid appeared at exactly the wrong time for starting a new venture! I had just hung the first shirts up in a café in Ljubljana (the excellent Črno Zrno) when lockdown struck and everyone closed their doors for business. So it wasn’t quite the launch I was hoping for. (I wrote a bit about that experience here: How I started a Slovenian T-shirt Brand During a Pandemic

But in hindsight there have been some good things to come out of the Covid situation too. Online sales have been strong, especially outside of Slovenia, and the situation also gave me time to experiment with different approaches.

Despite all the travel restrictions and corona chaos, I still managed to build up a network of retailers and hundreds of shirts have been sold. My thinking was: if I can make this work during a pandemic, then I can make it work anytime.

Will there be more designs to come?

Yes. I am constantly sketching out new designs. For the shirts sold in stores in Slovenia, we normally do a limited print run of just 100 shirts. I normally prefer to then print a new design rather than repeat a previous one. So, there’ll always be fresh BREG designs coming!

I’m working with my design partner Valeriya of One Line Art, and there’ll be plenty more fresh designs coming in 2022.

To see all designs visit: www.BregDesign.com

10 Dec 2021, 16:32 PM

Pošta Slovenije Supervisor Claims Political Pressure from SMC

STA, 10 December 2021 - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) has received a complaint saying that the secretary general of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), now the Concretely party, Miha Rebolj, was pressurising a supervisor of postal operator Pošta Slovenije over the appointment of Pošta's new director general, newspaper Delo and web portal Necenzurirano reported.

According to Delo, politics has been trying to find a way to appoint Pošta's acting director Tomaž Kokot, entrepreneur and a local politician for the ruling Democrats (SDS) in Poljčane, for a full term although he does not have the required qualifications.

Reportedly, supervisor Matjaž Fortič, who was appointed from the SMC's quota, is obstructing these efforts. He was reportedly the one who reported the illegal political pressure to SSH, the custodian of state assets.

According to Necenzurirano, his resignation was allegedly demanded by the office of Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek.

Razkrivamo nov spopad za državno Pošto Slovenije. Kaj je svetovalka @PocivalsekZ zahtevala od nadzornika, ki ni želel kršiti pravil in imenovati izbranca @strankaSDS? in kaj ima pri tem Franci Matoz?https://t.co/RHTk0cCBmZ
— necenzurirano.si (@necenzurirano_) December 10, 2021

SSH confirmed for the STA today that it had received a complaint from a member of the supervisory board of a state-owned company alleging illegal pressure on them on 8 December.

"SSH finds any pressure on independent exercise of functions in the bodies of companies or any pressure with other unacceptable content that run contrary to the law and corporative management practices inadmissible. SSH is processing the report with due diligence and in accordance with its internal procedures," the holding said.

It also urged all members of supervisory boards to act in line with the law and report any pressure.

Rebolj has not responded to the reports yet, but Minister Počivalšek, the head of Concretely, told the press today that he had spoken with Rebolj and that he had told him that he and Fortič had had a talk.

They discussed party issues and Rebolj allegedly told him that he had lost trust in him because of some issues, Počivalšek said, refusing to elaborate.

"Since Fortič then left the party, he proposed him to quit all his posts. There were no threats or suggestions involved," the minister said during a government visit to the Gorenjska region.

The Commission for Corruption Prevention (KPK) told the STA its had not received any reports connected to Pošta's supervisory board and would not comment.

It did stress though that in cases of illegal pressure on officials all circumstances needed to be clarified and explanations of all those involved obtained before any comments could be made.

It noted the KPK could only investigate suspicions related to public office holders, which party secretaries general are not.

Irena Prijović, executive director of the Directors' Association, told the STA today that the association and the KPK had drafted a protocol for members of supervisory boards for reporting pressure and other unethical forms of influencing on their independent decisions.

She said she would like the KPK to receive more such reports, as this would significantly contribute to such political pressure becoming very risky behaviour. A problem is having supervisors who act as they are instructed by politics, she said.

Efforts to appoint Kokot for a full term have been under way for months. Both chief supervisor Franci Mihelič and supervisor Aleš Buležan, from the quotas of the coalition New Slovenia (NSi) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), stepped down in the meantime.

Although they cited personal reasons unofficial information suggest they did not want to take responsibility for the moves of the interim director.

A few weeks ago, management members Vinko Filipič and Andrej Rihter also left the state-owned company.

Current chief supervisor Ervin Renko would not comment on the procedure to appoint the new director as it is still ongoing.

10 Dec 2021, 13:57 PM

Slovenia Not Part of EU’s Afghan Resettlement Scheme

STA, 10 December - Fifteen EU member states have pledged to provide for the resettlement and protection of nearly 40,000 Afghans, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced on Twitter. Slovenia is not among the countries included in this scheme, the Interior Ministry told the STA.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday evening, Johansson said that it was a remarkable act of solidarity by EU member states to welcome 40,000 Afghans as part of a resettlement and evacuation scheme.

The Netherlands, Spain and France are mentioned among the participating countries, while Slovenia is not among them. According to the Interior Ministry, "Slovenia has not made a commitment in this scheme".

In October, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on EU member states to take in half of the 85,000 Afghans, who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, under a resettlement scheme over the next five years.

At the time, EU Commissioner Johansson considered the target feasible, but added that it was up to the member states to decide for themselves how many people they would take in under the resettlement scheme.

In Afghanistan, where the Taliban took over in the summer after the withdrawal of US and other foreign military forces, half of the population is in need of humanitarian aid.

The risk of famine and a complete collapse of the economy is high, there is no money, food prices are rising and the health system is weak, Johansson outlined the situation.

10 Dec 2021, 11:14 AM

Turkish Woman Rescued, Daughter Missing on Dragonja River

STA, 10 December 2021 - The police rescued a 47-year-old Turkish woman from the Dragonja River on Thursday evening, as she was trying to cross it to enter Slovenia, carrying on her shoulders her 10-year-old daughter, who fell into the water and was swept downstream. Although a rescue mission was launched immediately, the child has not been found yet.

The Koper Police Department announced on Friday that somebody noticed a group of people on Thursday evening, who were trying to swim across the Dragonja River and cross the border between Croatia and Slovenia illegally.

Police officers from Piran were dispatched to the scene, and upon arrival, they noticed a woman holding on to a tree in the middle of the river. An officer from Croatia had already attempted to help her, but due to the raging water, neither of them could make it back to the riverbank.

Slovenian officers joined the rescue attempt and managed to get the Croatian officer and the woman out of the water, with the help of the citizen who called the police and was still present at the scene, and a ladder brought from the Croatian side.

The woman was found to be a 47-year-old Turkish national. Two of her children, aged 18 and 5, were already on the Slovenian side, while her third child, aged 13, was still on the Croatian side. As the whole situation took place at the border line, they were all returned to Croatia.

During the subsequent proceedings, the police found that the woman had another child on her shoulders while crossing the river, a 10-year-old girl who fell into the water and was swept away by the river.

Seven police officers, two police dog handlers and 20 firefighters searched the riverside area during the night but did not manage to find the child. The search continues today.

10 Dec 2021, 11:06 AM

Inspectors Close Food, Drink Stalls in Ljubljana's Pogačar Square, Threaten Fines

STA, 10 December 2021 - Financial inspectors have closed down food and drink stalls at Ljubljana's marketplace in Pogačar Square, according to media reports on Thursday, after having previously issued a warning to the stall vendors.

The inspectors visited the stalls on Wednesday, warned the vendors about breaching the anti-epidemic regulations, and announced that they would return the next day and issue fines to the owners of any stalls found to be reopened.

The inspectors' threats were carried out and all four food stalls were closed, according to media reports, while Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told Radio Slovenia that the government had done everything to allow food stall vendors to operate normally.

Restaurants can still serve food and drinks to guests who are seated, said Počivalšek, adding that the government had done a lot to "keep the main part of the business alive". He also called on people to respect the decrees adopted by the government.

The government imposed a ban last Friday on the serving of food and drinks at outdoor stalls, but the city of Ljubljana initially appeared to have found a loophole, arguing that the ban affected hospitality at fairs rather than markets.

Andrej Orač, director of the utility operating the Ljubljana open-air markets, said on Wednesday that market activity in Pogačar Square was allowed, including hospitality.

He added the ban on sale at Ljubljana's open-air markets was incomprehensible as the goods involved were sold there throughout the year, which included the food court and stalls selling garments.

10 Dec 2021, 04:28 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 10 December 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:

Slovenia signs cooperation agreement with Google

LJUBLJANA - Government representatives met with representatives of the US internet giant Google to discuss the achievements of the Slovenian EU presidency in digital transformation and sign a cooperation agreement under which Google will invest EUR 2.5 million over the next two years to support Slovenia's digital transformation. "This is the largest investment of its kind in our history and will make a significant contribution to Slovenia's digital breakthrough," said Digital Transformation Minister Mark Boris Andrijanič.

Hojs says EURODAC reform elusive during Slovenia's presidency

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs expressed the hope that progress could still be made by the end of 2021 on changes to the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (EURODAC), a part of the new Migration Pact. He noted that there would not be a major breakthrough regarding the pact during the Slovenian EU presidency and it had not been expected either.

Hojs says Croatia meets conditions for entering Schengen Area

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Coming out of a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, Slovenia's Aleš Hojs said it had been agreed that Croatia meets the conditions for entering the Schengen Area, and that it was a key step towards a final decision on the expansion of the no-passport zone. Hojs believes other steps will follow relatively soon.

Much overdue long-term care act passed in narrow vote

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed in a narrow vote the act on long-term care that brings a number of measures for adults who depend on other people's assistance to perform basic activities. This field is now being systemically regulated after some 20 years of efforts. Under the act, adults who depend on other people's assistance will be able to choose between institutional care, home care, care by a family member and financial compensation.

Govt raises wages of police employees over increased workload

LJUBLJANA - The government decided to increase wages of employees of the police force and the Interior Ministry due to the increased volume of work and special workload related to support tasks of the police. The decision will be applied as of December wages. The increase in monthly wages will range from EUR 100 to EUR 130 gross, depending on the classification of individual employees, the government said.

MPs pass medical act changes facilitating licensing of doctors

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed changes to the medical services act that facilitate licensing of doctors, transfer the jurisdiction of professional exams to the Medical Chamber and simplify hiring of foreign doctors with regard to Slovenian language skills. The Health Ministry has argued that the changes would improve the functioning and accessibility of the healthcare system, in particular at primary level.

Deal reached to extend roam-like-at-home scheme until 2032

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Council of the EU, currently chaired by Slovenia, has reached a provisional agreement to extend the EU's "roam-like-at-home scheme", which allows for roaming without extra costs, until 2032. The current roaming regulation, which entered into force in 2017, expires on 30 June 2022, so a revised regulation has been drawn up to extend the scheme with negotiators from Council and Parliament reaching a provisional agreement on the update today.

Financing of 2022 budget will require over EUR 5bn in borrowing

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a budget financing programme envisaging that the implementation of the state budget for 2022 would require borrowing to the tune of EUR 5.05 billion. The amount of financing of the implementation of the state budget has been estimated in view of the adopted supplementary budget for next year, which shows a total deficit of EUR 2.735 billion.

Govt endorses project to boost primary healthcare

LJUBLJANA - The government gave its go-ahead for more money to be secured to make primary healthcare more accessible through an increase in staff, incentives for teams facing increased workload and a system where services will be paid based on realisation rather than plan. The plan was set out as the government adopted an annex to the general healthcare agreement for the year, which provides the basis for the public health insurer ZZZS to pay providers for their services.

New investment and internationalisation promotion plan adopted

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a new programme for the promotion of investment and internationalisation of the economy, which focuses on sustainability, innovation and digitalisation. It systematically defines measures for promoting Slovenian investments abroad for the first time, and deals with development of a common Slovenian economic space. The programme drafted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology sets out out an ambitious vision of internationalisation of the Slovenian economy under the Green, Creative, Smart slogan.

Provisional agreement on e-CODEX reached

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached on Wednesday a provisional agreement on a proposal for a regulation on the e-CODEX system. The main aim of the system is to enable digitalisation of cross-border judicial communication and provide better access to judicial protection for citizens and businesses. The e-CODEX system will become the digital backbone of the EU's judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, said Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič.

Slovenia to bid for non-permanent seat on UN Security Council

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will formally announce in New York its candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2024-2025 period, the Foreign Ministry said. Elections in the General Assembly will be held in June 2023. The country was a non-permanent member of the Security Council before, in 1998-1999.

Pahor calls for respectful dialogue at Biden's democracy summit

WASHINGTON, US - President Borut Pahor took part in a virtual summit for democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden to draw attention to the crisis of confidence in democratic institutions and the low level of political and legal culture. He called for a respectful dialogue that includes the willingness to reconcile different views. In his video address, Pahor said Slovenia and other countries could and must do more for liberal democracy, which was based on the rule of law and full respect for human rights.

Podgoršek points to role of new technologies in agriculture

LJUBLJANA - New technologies in agriculture are an important aspect of the reform of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP), sustainable agriculture and rural development as part of the European Green Deal, Slovenian Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek said at Agrobiznis, a conference organised by newspaper Finance with support of his ministry. The CAP reform, sustainable agriculture and rural development are three of the priorities of Slovenian EU presidency, the ministry said in a release after the conference.

Issuing of biometric ID cards to start at end of March 2022

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the government-proposed amendment to the identity cards act under which new biometric ID cards will start to be issued on 28 March 2022, instead of 3 January 2022, as initially planned. In line with the change, it will be possible to use expired ID cards until the end of March. Whoever needs a new ID card before that date will be able to get one, but it will not yet be biometric, the Interior Ministry has explained.

Weekly drop in Covid infections continues

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 1,687 new coronavirus infections for Wednesday as a week-on-week drop in cases continued, show fresh data by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Nine Covid-related deaths were recorded, according to government data. The number of persons hospitalised with Covid-19 stood at 948, down by 15 compared to the day before, of whom 248 were in intensive care, a daily drop of 10.

Ex-energy boss Golob entering politics

LJUBLJANA - After failing to get another term as CEO of the energy trader GEN-I, Robert Golob is entering politics. He told the newspaper Delo his decision to get active in politics through a non-partisan movement was final, and is not ruling out a bid in the April general election. Golob is planning to get active through a movement in which he would like to connect different players with a view to giving civil society a much bigger role in mobilising people to cast their vote and in particular in changing political culture in the country.

Five Commodity Reserves Agency employees cleared of integrity breaches

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) has not established any violations of integrity legislation in 12 procedures targetting five employees of Slovenia's Commodity Reserves Agency over suspicion of irregularities in the agency's purchases of protective equipment last year. The procedures against them have been therefore closed, the anti-graft watchdog said, including four procedures against the agency's former acting director Tomi Rumpf and one against former director Anton Zakrajšek.

Poorest households soon to get energy vouchers

LJUBLJANA - Amid rising energy prices, the government and the centre-left opposition are working on separate proposals to help the most vulnerable households with energy vouchers. The Infrastructure Ministry has indicated those could be available in the first quarter of 2022. Unofficially, 66,000 poorest families are to be eligible for the vouchers. The opposition plans to table its bill on Monday.

Bill on whistleblower protection in the making

LJUBLJANA - Transparency International (TI) Slovenia urged the government to adopt a quality law when transposing the EU whistleblower protection directive, as it issued a written statement on International Anti-Corruption Day. The ministry said that it was intensively engaged in drafting the bill, but provided no details about its content. The NGO would like the Slovenian law to bring better protection than the directive guarantees, and has thus provided examples of good and bad practices as part of a supplemented analysis by Transparency International.

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