Politics
STA, 15 April 2022 - Parties that polls suggest have a chance of making it to parliament in the 24 April general election support building unit 2 of the Krško nuclear power plant (NEK 2), but most say it should be put to a referendum first. The Left says the project should be put on hold until broad public debate is held on issues involved.
Judging by their answers to the STA's questions, the parties oppose extending the lifespan of the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant (TEŠ) and only the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) allows for a potential extension if such a decision was taken in dialogue with the local community.
All parties also underscore the need for a just restructuring of the Šalek Valley, which is home to TEŠ and the mine supplying its coal.
While there is unity on the need to increase supply from renewable sources, the Left and some smaller non-parliamentary parties oppose building new hydro power stations on the Central Sava, citing negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystems.
On NEK 2, the Left says it should be suspended in order to conduct a broad debate on potential alternatives and issues such as storage of nuclear waste, while the final decision should be taken by citizens in a referendum.
The Freedom Movement, the party of Robert Golob, a former energy executive, urges setting out a long-term programme of nuclear energy production, examining all potential technologies and suppliers, and drawing up comprehensive investment paperwork, which should be subject to an independent audit.
"Only once we have a comprehensive picture, it's right that people take an informed decision on the matter in a referendum," the party says. In fact all centre-left opposition parties advocate holding such a referendum.
Like its coalition partners, the ruling Democratic Party (SDS) supports NEK 2, describing preparations and the launch of procedures for the project as the most important commitment delivered in the field of energy by this government (an energy permit for unit 2 has been issued under this government).
Connecting Slovenia, an alliance that also includes the ruling coalition party Concretely, sees NEK 2 as a transitional solution in a bid to increase Slovenia's self-supply and preserve lower prices. However, for a long-term sustainability Slovenia needs projects to tap on its potential in geo-thermal energy, wood biomass, wind, sun and micro hydro power plants.
Another government party, New Slovenia (NSi) supports NEK 2 and hydro-power plants as well as geothermal and solar energy, and sees hydrogen as a fuel of the future. The goal is for Slovenia to become a net electricity exporter.
The party promises financial schemes to cover investments in renewables though savings and earnings and tackling red tape so that small hydro power stations can be built on rivers and streams.
The centre-left opposition parties support NEK 2, provided "transparent financial and technological project plan, broad public and expert debate held beforehand and a consultative referendum" as the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) put it, warning that NEK 2 should not become another TEŠ 6 where "some government moves are not inspiring trust that this would not happen".
Given the project is supported in a referendum, the SAB would support building a modular-reactor power station. Apart from increasing production from renewable sources, they also see investment in power distribution networks and energy storage facilities as urgently needed.
In a bid to reduce dependency on exports, such investments are also supported by several other parties. The Social Democrats (SD) call for investment in all types of renewables, including in producing and extracting green gases, green hydrogen and synthetic methane. The party will also support hydro power stations on the Central Sava if the project is adopted in a strategic document.
Meanwhile, the opposition National Party (SNS) says that while they absolutely support building NEK 2, it should not be built in cooperation with Croatia, which owns half of the Krško nuclear power plant. The party also opposes wind farms, which it says have proved to be bad investment in Slovenia.
Some parties propose dates when Slovenia should phase out coal and shut down TEŠ; the Left says coal should be fully abandoned by 2030 and the SDS says TEŠ should end its operation by 2032 as the Freedom Movement says extending TEŠ's lifespan beyond 2033 would not solve challenges of safe supply with fossil fuels.
All parties support boosting investment in renewables, where the SDS would favour those which do not create additional financial burdens on the population and businesses due to support schemes. One of the key solutions they see is building a liquefied natural gas terminal as soon as possible.
The Freedom Movement finds it worth continuing to exploit the energy of the Sava if siting of new stations can be done in a socially and environmentally acceptable way. Domestic production of biofuels, synthetic fuels and hydrogen would help Slovenia reduce its reliance on exports.
The Left bets on solar, wind and geothermal energy, reducing the volume of car traffic and increasing public passenger traffic and boosting energy efficiency of households and businesses.
The Pirate Party is in favour of NEK 2 if the contractor is picked based on appropriate references, but "strongly against" any further procedures to build hydro power stations on the Central Sava.
STA, 15 April 2022 - A total of 18,415 Ukrainian refugees have been officially registered Slovenia so far, but only 4,718 are still registered, as most only pass through the country. At present, 1,225 have temporary protection status.
The data was presented to the press in Ljubljana on Friday by the head of the Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants Katarina Štrukelj, who added that some of the roughly 5,000 registered refugees were already returning home.
Accommodation centres are admitting 10 new refugees on average a day, with 325 refugees currently residing in Logatec, 95 in Debeli Rtič and 10 in Maribor.
A government regulation came into force on 10 March that activated the temporary protection of displaced persons act to provide aid to persons displaced from Ukraine after 24 February 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion.
The refugees can apply for temporary protection as well as for financial assistance in case they reside at a private address. So far 198 requests for such aid have been filed and all of the 43 that were complete have been granted - the resolution of the remaining ones is ongoing.
Meanwhile, Štrukelj also explained that the twenty orphans from Ukraine to be relocated to Slovenia in line with a plan adopted by the Slovenian government are to reside in the village of Slavina near Postojna.
The orphans, aged 1 to 7, come from the Luhansk orphanage in Eastern Ukraine and are presently in Lviv. They will be accompanied to Slovenia by 18 staff members from the orphanage. According to unofficial reports, the relocation will take place within 10 days.
STA, 14 April 2022 - Robert Golob, the leader of the Freedom Movement and an ex-energy company CEO, has revealed his income earned in 2020 and part of his employment contract as GEN-I chairman, after he was recently urged to do so by the interior minister in an election debate. He said that he had nothing to hide and that the data from the two documents matched.
The statement of the 2020 income issued by the Financial Administration (FURS) shows that Golob had just over EUR 433,000 in taxable income that year.
Another document he provided to journalists on Thursday shows that his annual salary as GEN-I chairman was slightly over EUR 438,000 gross, or just over EUR 214,000 net.
Golob failed to win another term as GEN-I boss in November, when he said that the move had been politically motivated, and eventually decided to enter politics.
Ever since he has lost the top job at the electricity retailer, his allegedly high salary has been making headlines, especially in right-wing media.
The segment of his job contract he presented today shows he had a monthly gross salary of EUR 11,950 apart from being entitled to a performance bonus of up to 15% of the salary and to an annual performance bonus.
Golob told the press that he had earned all his income in Slovenia, where he also pays taxes. "My assets have a known source and nothing is hidden, even less so somewhere abroad."
He did not disclose his income tax statement saying that he does not want to reveal data about his family members. Nevertheless, he is willing to show it for 2021 under the condition that he does not have to show the data about the family members.
Asked why he had not shown the FURS income statement before, he said he would not allow "the police minister to dictate which data he has to give to the media or anyone else".
This is in reference to Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, who urged Golob in an election debate to disclose his income tax statement for 2020.
Hojs had argued that all the other party leaders had already send their income tax statements to public broadcaster RTV Slovenija. Asked by Golob how he knew that, Hojs said that the editors had told him.
Responding to Golob's move, Hojs said today that Golob was probably showing a statement from Gen-I, not his income tax returns. "This does not mean that this is all he earned. He should show the income tax return, just like everybody else."
STA, 14 April 2022 - Parties standing for seats in parliament in the 24 April election largely support the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, but are more reserved when it comes to NATO expansion. They all declare support for the rule of law in the EU and part of them favour deepening the bloc's integration but disagree weather Slovenia is part of the core EU.
Unlike incumbent ruling coalition parties, which see Slovenia as part of the core Europe, most of the current centre-left opposition parties blame the government for removing Slovenia from that core, a process they say should be reversed, as some others, such as the Left or the National Party (SNS), say it has never been part of that core.
The parties have very different ideas as to the areas the EU should deepen its integration, with the SNS standing out in opposing any further integration or even enlargement of the EU or NATO and even arguing Slovenia should quit NATO.
The Freedom Movement advocates deepening European integration in various fields in a bid to increase the Europeans' prosperity. The party also supports stepping up the process to integrate Western Balkan countries and Eastern Europe into the EU. It advocates NATO's expansion to the partner countries and enhancing Slovenia's role in the alliance.
Likewise, EU and NATO enlargement is advocated by the ruling coalition parties. The Democrats (SDS) would have NATO invite democratic countries in the vicinity which want to join and which share the same values. The party believes the EU's integration should deepen in cyber security, healthcare, defence and military technology, humanitarian aid, migration and climate change.
Its coalition partner, New Slovenia (NSi) supports the EU's enlargement to Western Balkan countries and Ukraine when they meet the requirements, and NATO's enlargement on condition the countries meet the criteria and take a sovereign decision to join. They say decisions on the EU's foreign and security policy should be taken by qualified majority.
The Connecting Slovenia alliance, which also includes the ruling coalition party Concretely, supports all forms of cooperation between EU member states that enhance the bond among them. They see healthcare and development of the energy network and food security as areas where integration should be upgraded. They say enlargement to the Western Balkans is in the EU's geostrategic interest and believe NATO is pursuing a responsible enlargement policy.
The Left stands out among the four-centre left opposition parties as being staunchly opposed to NATO enlargement. The party would like to see the EU's integration to deepen over social and worker rights and tax policy, and the legal framework in support of solidarity and equality. They do not think EU enlargement should be an end in itself, but say the EU needs reform that is not based solely on the free movement of goods and capital.
The Social Democrats (SD) and Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) advocate a strong and united EU with the former advocating enhancing strategic autonomy in the common security and defence policy and the latter favouring the EU's phased confederal development and arguing the EU should distance itself from illiberal policies.
The two parties, along with their partner Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), support speeding up EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, with the SD and LMŠ also explicitly mentioning Ukraine and the SD noting the need for a clear timetable for the Western Balkans and a long-term European perspective for Ukraine. The parties also support NATO enlargement, but the LMŠ does not deem it realistic in the mid-term and the SD says it must be well thought-through.
The SAB is in favour of a common European security policy and a single European control of external border surveillance.
All the parties vocally supported the need to respect the rule of law, but the SNS and several conservative non-parliamentary parties oppose procedures taken against Hungary and Poland. The NSi called for building a new bridge of trust and dialogue between Western and Eastern Europe over the rule of law.
Our Land, the party of the former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec, says they support EU values, but oppose political action taken against individual countries over their political beliefs. They say Poland was welcoming refugees from Ukraine just as the EU took action against the country.
The SNS made the same argument while going a step further by saying Hungary and Poland were not answerable to Brussels bureaucrats.
Judging by their answers to STA queries, perhaps the strongest advocates of a comprehensive deepening of integration and even federalisation of the EU, complete with a social and fiscal union, are the Pirate Party and the green party Vesna, both non-parliamentary parties.
STA, 13 April 2022 - Parties contesting the 24 April general election have prepared various measures to cut waiting times in Slovenia's healthcare, one of the most pressing issues even before the Covid pandemic hit. Meanwhile, most of them say in their responses to STA questions about healthcare that top-up health insurance should be abolished.
The parties would use all available capacities, including private doctors, to cut waiting times, although they would prioritise public healthcare providers.
Most of them would reform the system to a certain degree, reduce administrative burdens, introduce long-term staffing plans, reward more and better work, ensure transparency of public procurement, and fight against corruption.
Those parties that advocate allowing private practitioners to also work in the public healthcare system highlight the need for oversight and certain limits to this practice.
Only New Slovenia (NSi) and the Patriotic League would not abolish top-up insurance - a monthly sum of around EUR 35 paid directly to insurance companies in addition to monthly contributions employees and employers pay from wages to the ZZZS public health fund. The Democrats (SDS) have meanwhile not responded to this question.
The SDS believes the ZZZS must become an active buyer of services for its insurance policy holders and introduce a permanent mechanism to cut waiting times while integrating all health professionals into the effort. The party would allow doctors from the public system to work for private providers under clear conditions.
The Freedom Movement notes the list of waiting times is no longer kept, and would set up a task force to make waiting times acceptable. It would reform top-up insurance, before which a consensus should be reached how to raise the EUR 600 million from this source annually. They want to raise funds for healthcare to 10% of GDP.
The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) believes that more funds should be secured to cut waiting times and services should be paid as they are performed, especially where waiting lines are extremely long. Ljubljana and Maribor should get city hospitals, while top-up insurance should be abolished and the public health system strengthened.
Strongly supporting public healthcare, the Left would abolish the practice of doctors from the public sector working in the private sector, as a result of which their interest in having long waiting lines would wane. To cope with a shortage of doctors, one measure would be to import foreign doctors in an organised and controlled way.
The Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) would first overhaul waiting lists to exclude those who have received services in the private sector, while noting no other country has doctors working in both public and private systems. Before abolishing top-up insurance, all of its aspects must be examined not to worsen access to health services.
According to Our Land, waiting times could be cut by reforming healthcare, including abolishing top-up insurance, while the ZZZS public fund should be organised as a mutual insurer where those who pay insurance manage it. The state is responsible for quality, solidarity-based and accessible healthcare, and if the health fund does not have enough money to provide it, the state should help in with the funds from the budget.
New Slovenia (NSi) would involve all health providers into efforts to cut waiting times, which need better oversight. They would improve access to family doctors by allowing more enrolments at medical schools, while conditions should be created to attract Slovenian doctors working abroad. The party would abolish the ZZZS's monopoly to introduce competition in mandatory health insurance.
The Connecting Slovenia alliance of parties wants to create stimulating conditions to keep young doctors at home, while enhancing digitalisation and telemedicine. Changing or abolishing top-up insurance should be a matter of a broad consensus, while it promotes public healthcare but does not oppose public doctors working for private providers.
The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) would like to strengthen public healthcare by increasing investment to increase its quality and accessibility, while also increasing the number of family doctors and improving working conditions with less administrative burden and more digitalisation. A clear line is needed between public and private healthcare.
The Social Democrats (SD) want to cut waiting times for appointments with a specialist to no more than 30 says, which they would achieve with a set of measures, including a EUR 200 million emergency fund to cut waiting lines. They favour doctors employed at public providers to work overtime within the public system not in the private sector.
The National Party (SNS) believes that waiting times could be cut with good organisation and no corruption. The public health system must be preserved while private initiative should also be allowed.
The Pirates believe waiting times could be cut by changing standards and norms, financing and by reducing administrative burdens. They would not ban doctors working in the public system from working for private providers, but would enhance oversight.
The Patriotic League holds that doctors working in the public and private system in fact help keep the public system afloat, so they would not abolish this practice, arguing that patients are not interested where they are treated as long as they receive a quality service.
The Truth party would cut waiting lines by introducing "a public health system" as it argues the country currently has "a state health system". They promote fighting corruption, which would result in more money for healthcare and doctor pay.
STA, 13 April 2022 - Commercial channel KANAL A hosted on Tuesday evening the first televised debate between PM Janez Janša and Robert Golob, who are considered to be the main rivals in the upcoming general election. The debate, also featuring the leaders of the Social Democrats (SD) and New Slovenia (NSi), revolved around rising prices.
Janša's Democratic Party (SDS), Golob's Freedom Movement, the SD and NSi presented their views on how to best address the energy and food price hikes caused by the war in Ukraine.
The prime minister said that Slovenia had deflation of more than 1% in March due to lower electricity prices, which resulted from a government measure. On the other hand, Golob believes that many Slovenians are already feeling the pressure from the hikes.
Janša highlighted the measures his government has already taken and those that are in the works, adding that the existing measures could be extended.
The government is also working to secure other sources of oil supply, which will have an impact on stabilising energy prices, he said.
Janša also believes that Slovenia needs more land intended for food production, while NSi leader Matej Tonin mentioned a EUR 215,000 measure that should allow public institutions to buy produce directly from local farmers.
Slovenian farmers will receive EUR 30 million in an effort to mitigate the rising prices. Another measure that is being prepared is EUR 315 million for agricultural restructuring, he said.
Both Janša and Tonin noted that price hikes were part of global developments, stressing the role of the EU's actions, including joint procurement of natural gas and sanctions against Russia. The next package of sanctions will be oil-related but it will not yet involve gas supplies, Janša said.
Golob thinks that for the short term, a clear distinction should be made between households on the one hand and industry on the other, stressing that households should have regulated gas prices. The industry should meanwhile manage using costlier gas from Algeria or Qatar or realise that this will not do, which may lead to the closure of some major industrial polluters.
"Money will run out. That's why we need measures that are detailed and targeted and for which we know where the money will come from," he said. Moreover, the Freedom Movement would regulate the food chain, a measure that is also advocated by the SD.
The state must prioritise the purchase of domestically produced food, restrict exports abroad and subsidise raw materials for farmers, said SD leader Tanja Fajon.
Stressing the importance of diversifying resources, she also listed measures such as regulating fuel and energy prices, additional energy bonuses for people most hit by the crisis and a EUR 1.5 billion fund to help out companies.
Addressing youth problems, Janša pointed to the recently adopted housing state guarantee scheme for the young, highlighting the importance of digital and green transitions for improving the situation of young people.
The SD meanwhile proposes new public non-profit flats and efforts to tackle precarious work and brain drain and pursue family-friendly policies.
The Freedom Movement's proposals include reduced taxation for the first ten years of employment, or a tax break for those who want to invest in property. The party is also in favour of building rental flats that young people could buy after five years.
The NSi stressed the importance of improving the business environment and work-life balance to help young people. Tonin sees lower taxes as the solution to high property prices.
Moving on to problems facing the elderly, Janša noted that many do not receive a decent-living pension. The issue cannot be resolved overnight, he said, pointing out that increased life expectancy meant people would have to work longer.
Golob said the Freedom Movement would advocate raising the minimum pension to 10% above the poverty threshold. He also sees a solution in employing those pensioners who would like to continue working and their pension would not be reduced because of this.
Tonin noted the importance of the second pension pillar and efforts to ensure Slovenia has enough people working to contribute to the pension system.
The SocDems would meanwhile increase the minimum pension to EUR 700 by changing the care allowance scheme and enacting the demographic reserves bill to fill up the state pension purse, Fajon said.
STA, 12 April 2022 - Prime Minister Janez Janša told the parliamentary inquiry looking into the financing of political parties on Tuesday that his Democratic Party (SDS) was not financed from abroad or from illegal sources. He also denied that the EUR 450,000 loan taken from a Bosnian citizen in 2017 was money laundering.
It was a continuation of the interview with the prime minister and president of the ruling SDS party after a session held on 3 March.
At the time, Janša denied any influence of the SDS in the companies running the Nova24TV news television channel and its web portal nova24tv.
He told the MPs that the SDS had not influenced in any way in the past the operation of NTV24, as it was a limited liability company, or the operations of Nova Hiša, which runs the web portal.
Today, the prime minister was asked about the EUR 450,000 loan taken by the SDS from Bosnian citizen Dijana Đuđić by several members of the parliamentary inquiry.
Marko Bandelli of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) noted that the inquiry had found that Đuđić had been suspected of abusing the tax system, falsifying and destroying tax documents and facilitating pyramid schemes.
Janša confirmed that he as the SDS president had signed the loan taken out from Đuđić, as stipulated by the party's statute at the time. The party did not out the loan abroad, but "in Slovenia from a person who had a Slovenian tax number," he said.
"A notary confirmed that [the person] acted in accordance with the rules," Janša said, adding that the loan had been investigated by all possible authorities and institutions.
The only irregularity that was found was the amount of loan, due to which the party paid a fine, while "nothing else was disputable here, there was no money laundering or any other criminal act."
Janša said this was the first and last time that he met Đuđić. "There was no Snežič in between," he said when asked by Jani Möderndorfer of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) to confirm or deny that the deal had been proposed by tax advisor Rok Snežič.
Regarding allegations that the SDS is financed from Hungary and that Hungarian money was used directly for the party's campaign, he noted that it was private capital and that private companies from EU could invest money wherever they wanted.
Janša noted that EUR 800,000 in Hungarian capital had been invested in Nova24TV, while foreign capital investment in the commercial broadcaster POP TV amounted to EUR 200 million.
"These are the relationships we are talking about. EUR 200 million in capital in another media outlet that is attacking our party," he added.
The prime minister confirmed that he had become a co-owner of Nova Hiša, which runs the nova24tv web portal, and that his influence on the media outlet was proportional to his stake in the company - 0.1%.
STA, 11 April - The Kočevje municipality in southern Slovenia had been forging ties with the Bucha municipality near Kyiv before the war in Ukraine erupted in February. The two were preparing to become twin towns, a process to continue after the war. In the meantime Kočevje is trying to help Bucha, an area now notorious for reports of atrocities.
Kočevje made contact with Bucha local authorities in 2019 through U-Lead Bridges of Trust, a programme funded by donors from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and Slovenia that aims to strengthen ties between Ukrainian and EU municipalities, Kočevje Mayor Vladimir Prebilič told the STA.
The two municipalities signed a letter of intent as a precondition for town twinning, but the process was then suspended because of the war, he said, adding it would go on after the war ends.
Prebilič currently has no contact with Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk as the latter has been busy since the beginning of the war in efforts to protect his town, and he was also wounded. Prebilič is in contact with another senior Bucha official though and from time to time Kočevje learns of the current situation in the Ukrainian town.
Being eager to help out, the Slovenian town launched a donation campaign for its twin town to-be that raised some 50 tonnes of material aid.
Bucha, home to some 29,000 residents, is one of the smallest Ukrainian municipalities. It has recently become notorious as a site of documented atrocities against civilians committed by Russian troops. The battle for Bucha ended in late March with the withdrawal of Russian forces.
STA, 12 April 2022 - To cope with rising energy bills, pensioners whose pension was lower than EUR 1,000 last December will receive a one-off energy voucher of EUR 150 on Tuesday.
The solidarity allowance as the aid is termed is set down in the law on emergency measures to alleviate the consequences of high energy prices, passed in February.
It will be paid out by the ZPIZ public pension fund, including to those on disability pension.
Those who became eligible for their pension on 1 January 2022 or later are not entitled to the aid.
Pensioners are, however, only one of the groups that will receive the one-off energy voucher.
Recipients of various social transfers, such as welfare, child benefit, large-family benefit or foster carers, will receive it on Thursday from the Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
Pensioners on an occupational pension, which is typical for workers in arduous or hazardous jobs, received the vouchers already last Friday, paid out by the KAD state-owned fund.
STA, 11 April 2022 - The Freedom Movement party has condemned in the strongest terms a tweet by Žan Mahnič, the state secretary for national security at the prime minister's office, which labelled one of their candidates, Faila Pašić, a "radical Islamist" and accused the party of opening doors to Islamisation and Shariah law of Slovenia.
Responding to the tweet that was posted on Sunday, Tereza Novak, another Freedom Movement candidate that will stand in the 24 April general election, said that this was an act of "inciting religious intolerance and spreading lies and hatred". It was also an attack on a woman of whom Slovenia can be proud, she told the press on Monday.
#Elektrotajkun, gospod 15 % Robert Golob, na volitve vabi v družbi radikalne islamistke Faile Pašić. @Gibanje_Svoboda nam prinaša islamizacijo in šeriatizacijo Slovenije ter masovni uvoz Arabcev. pic.twitter.com/BT6hgUMWCk
— Žan Mahnič (@ZanMahnic) April 10, 2022
Pašić, a well-known humanitarian and human rights advocate, said that the tweet "humiliated, degraded and dehumanised" her. "It's an act I condemn and, after all, have been fighting against through my activism" and projects that have brought Slovenia international recognition, she said. Muslims are part of Slovenian society and strive to be so, she noted.
In his tweet, Mahnič also wrote that the Freedom Movement would bring "massive imports of Arabs" to Slovenia. Both Pašić and the party are considering to press charges against him for defamation and incitement to hatred. Their legal representative, Nataša Pirc Musar, said that the tweet constituted several offences.
Posted by a senior member of the ruling Democrats (SDS), the tweet "shows all the elements of the discourse of extreme political groups, which should have no place in Slovenian and European society", said Novak. Moreover, the fact that Mahnič is state secretary for national security is "certainly not a mitigating circumstance", added Pirc Musar.
Pašić finds it important to respond to such actions to tackle hate speech and raise awareness about the mechanisms that can be used in this fight. The least Mahnič could do is to apologise and delete the tweet, but "after decades of extremely negative comments about my work, my religious beliefs, my personal circumstances", her tolerance threshold has become lower, she added.
Responding to this, Mahnič told the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija as well as commercial broadcasters POP TV and KANAL A that his tweet should be understood solely in the context of ensuring national security, an effort for which he is responsible, and of informing the public.
He said Pašić had been a subject of a discussion by the parliamentary Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services in 2014-2018 in connection with radical Islam and links with foreign countries, including Iran.
Mahnič is not afraid of criminal complaints, citing freedom of speech. He also stressed he had not intended to offend anyone. If anyone does feel offended, he apologises to them, he added.
STA, 11 April 2022 - With a fortnight to go to the general election in Slovenia, the Freedom Movement is in the lead at 19.8%, 1.2 percentage points ahead of the ruling Democrats (SDS) in a poll conducted by Mediana for the newspaper Delo and commercial broadcaster POP TV.
The party of the ousted energy exec Robert Golob has gained 3.1 percentage points from March as the SDS added 1.8 points.
The opposition Social Democrats (SD) continue in third at 7.9%, down 1.5 points from March, ahead of the Left, which slipped back 1.4 points to 5.8%.
New Slovenia (NSi), the SDS's coalition partners, gained half a point to 5.5% and the LMŠ, the party of former PM Marjan Šarec, improved by 0.8 points to 4.6%.
Teetering on the verge of parliamentary threshold are five parties; the SAB of the former PM Alenka Bratušek is currently at 2.9% and Connecting Slovenia, an alliance that includes the coalition party Concretely, polled at 2.8%.
The non-parliamentary Pirate Party and Our Land of former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec both polled at 2.4% and the opposition National Party (SNS) mustered 2.3%.
The proportion of the decided respondents rose to 80% from 60% in March. Just over one in ten is still undecided (11.7%), 2.9% would not say which party they would vote for and 3.9% would vote for none.
Considering only those who are likely to cast their ballots, the Freedom Movement is projected to win 22.5%, the SDS 20.2%, the SD 9.5% and the Left 7.9%. The only other parties projected to make it to parliament are the NSi (5.8%) and the LMŠ (5%).
Asked about the current government's job, 48% rate it as negative or very negative and 27.7% rate it as positive or very positive with 22% giving it an average score.
President Borut Pahor remains the most popular politicians ahead of Robert Golob and three ministers: Janez Poklukar (health), Jernej Vrtovec (infrastructure) and Anže Logar (foreign affairs).
The poll was conducted among 1,027 respondents between 4 and 7 April.
