FRIDAY, 17 September
ATHENS, Greece - Slovenia officially joined the club of Mediterranean EU countries henceforth known as EU Med, which grew from seven to nine members with the inclusion of Slovenia and Croatia at a summit in Athens. PM Janez Janša said it was a great honour for Slovenia to join the group, which was expanding at a crucial time during Slovenia's presidency of the EU.
LJUBLJANA - The European Commission paid out the first, EUR 231 million batch of EU funds to Slovenia as part of the recovery and resilience plan, which is 13% of the total amount the country is to receive. The money will be allocated for sustainable mobility and digital transformation projects.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Defence Minister Matej Tonin meet his Czech counterpart Lubomir Metnar on the sidelines of NATO Days to discuss cooperation in international operations and bilateral cooperation in defence, including in mountain warfare.
LJUBLJANA - The government announced it will introduce on 1 October a stricter Covid pass mandate for 31,500 of the 170,000 public sector employees working in the public administration. Staff at government departments, inspection services, police and army will need to be either Covid-19 reconvalescent or vaccinated to work there, a rule the Trade Union of State Bodies plans to challenge at the Constitutional Court.
LJUBLJANA - Friday protestors who have protested against the Janez Janša government for over a year and a half filed a criminal complaint over corruption against PM Janša. The protest organisers said the corruption and nepotism that had marked every Janša government had reached new proportions in the last year and a half.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission announced the Slovenian Zero Waste House project was one of the winners of the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars awards, given to concepts that exemplify sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness.
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian police processed over 5,830 illegal crossings of the border in the first eight months of 2021, down 43% from the same period last year. The most frequently processed illegal migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, accounting for around a half of the total.
LJUBLJANA - Three persons were injured in a shooting in a bar at the BTC shopping district. Two were wounded with fire arms and the third sustained injuries from a blow with an object, the Ljubljana Police Department said, but did not provide other details beyond saying all three were in hospital, but their lives were not in danger.
SATURDAY, 18 September
LJUBLJANA - It was announced that Fraport Slovenija, the company managing the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, will get a new CEO as Babett Stapel, currently managing director, takes over in October from Zmago Skobir, whose term expires at the end of September.
MARIBOR - Author Sebastijan Pregelj won this year's Večernica prize for best youth and children's book written in the past year. He won the award given out by the newspaper Večer for his book Vrnitev (Return), the sixth in a series of stories on life in the late Stone Age in the Ljubljana marshes.
STIČNA - Youth Stična, a gathering of Catholic youths, focussed on the issue of fear and insecurity among the young as it marked its 40th anniversary. The event was addressed by President Borut Pahor and Maribor Archbishop Alojzij Cvikl.
SUNDAY, 19 September
KATOWICE, Poland - Slovenia won the second consecutive silver at the European Volleyball Championship after losing to Italy 2:3. With silver medals from the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, Slovenia were hoping to take it one step further this time, but Italy proved too strong.
PORTOROŽ - Italian tennis player Jasmine Paolini won the WTA tournament in Portorož, defeating Alison Riske of the US in straight sets 7:6 (4), 6:2 to clinch her maiden WTA title. Paolini knocked out four seeded players, including Dayana Yastremska, Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva, on the way to her first final.
LJUBLJANA - The pay gap between men and women in Slovenia narrowed slightly in 2020, by 3.6 points annually to 2.2%, preliminary figures released by the Statistics Office showed. The gap in the private sector stood at 6.5% and at 10.7% in the public sector.
MONDAY, 20 September
NEW YORK, US - FM Anže Logar urged his EU counterparts to stick with the agreement they reached at an informal meeting in Slovenia earlier this month regarding Afghanistan, as EU foreign ministers held a meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly. He said the EU should pursue a single, coordinated approach to the management of migrations and the provision of humanitarian aid.
NEW YORK, US - President Borut Pahor and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in exchanged state decorations as they held talks on the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting. Moon received the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service, while Pahor was given the Grand Order of Mugunghwa.
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša said the erasure of shareholders and subordinated bondholders as part of Slovenia's 2013/14 bank bailout could pose a risk of potentially high compensations, but added that government was working towards mitigating these risks.
LJUBLJANA - The government removed a controversial cap on social security contributions from the omnibus debureaucratisation bill due to a lack of support. The employer organisations regretted the move, announcing to try to persuade trade unions to support it as a measure to benefit everyone.
LJUBLJANA - The programming council of RTV Slovenija endorsed Valentin Areh as acting director of the public broadcaster's TV programmes, TV Slovenija. The 50-year-old journalist and editor had been put forward by the director general after dismissing Natalija Gorščak in late August.
TUESDAY, 21 September
NEW YORK, US - President Borut Pahor, in New York for the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, held several bilateral meetings, including with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss cooperation, Afghanistan and migrations. The pair assessed Slovenia-Turkey relations as very good, especially since 2011 when the countries signed a strategic partnership.
PORTOROŽ - The situation on the EU's external border, in particular on the border with Belarus, was high on the agenda as the management board of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) started a two-day meeting in Slovenia. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said Frontex had to help EU member states as well as third countries
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The issue of the Aukus pact between Australia, the UK and US was brought up by some EU member states at a session of the General Affairs Council, chaired by Gašper Dovžan, a state secretary at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. Dovžan said the issue was expected to be discussed at future meetings, including EU summit.
LJUBLJANA - Four centre-left opposition parties, the LMŠ, SD, Left and SAB, initialled an agreement on post-election cooperation. The SAB council unanimously endorsed the pact on the same say, with the remaining parties yet to provide the final stamp of approval.
LJUBLJANA - Budget funding for research and development (R&D) stood at EUR 243.5 million in 2020, up 11% over the year before and the fifth consecutive annual increase, show Statistics Office data. Spending increased in relative terms as well, amounting to 0.52% of GDP.
LJUBLJANA - Sanremo, a film about life in a nursing home and dementia, by Miroslav Mandić was selected by a group of experts as the Slovenian entry for a nomination for the best international feature film award at the Oscars 2022.
MOSCOW, Russia - Luka Potočar won silver in the men's lead event at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in what is the best career achievement for the 19-year-old and the 19th medal for Slovenia ever at the competition, the first in the lead event for men.
WEDNESDAY, 22 September
LJUBLJANA - Parliament turned down in a 44:43 vote a controversial bill that would have introduced fines for indecent behaviour when detected by a police officer. Originally, the amendments to the protection of public order act envisaged fines of EUR 500-1,000 for insulting senior officials and their families, but after a backlash in the public, the definition was expanded to make indecent behaviour towards anyone punishable by a fine.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - EU energy ministers discussed ways to tackle rising power and gas prices. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said the European Commission could clear certain short-term measures to curb price growth. Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec meanwhile described the Commission's Fit for 55 package as a much needed step forward. The general consensus is that the package was good, but there is quite a bit of work ahead, he said.
NEW YORK, US - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Stanislav Raščan called for an increase in aid for Yemen as he took part in a special event on the humanitarian crisis in the country on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
LJUBLJANA - The government endorsed a bill amending the budget implementation act for 2021-2022 to create a legal basis for effective use of EU funds for projects included in the national recovery and resilience plan, under which the country is to get EUR 1.8 billion in grants and EUR 705 million in loans.
LJUBLJANA - An audiovisual services act whose core provision was a 6% levy on content providers to finance a new fund for the production of domestic content fell two votes short in a parliamentary vote after it was vetoed by the upper chamber over sharp criticism by content providers and the Association of Slovenian Journalists.
LJUBLJANA - The government approved a donation of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Health Ministry said the donation was Slovenia's humanitarian aid to help the country cope with the pandemic.
LJUBLJANA - Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill that seeks to better protect pets, increase their well-being and enhance the responsibility of their owners.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) reported its half-year net profit increasing more than five-fold year-on-year to EUR 26 million, chiefly as a result of much higher dividend entitlements. Return on equity rose to 6.4% from 4% in the first half of last year, and assets and capital increased by EUR 125 million.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian tobacco prices will rise in November and again in April next year under changes to the excise duty regulation adopted by the government, which should increase annual budget receipts by EUR 15.6 million.
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Slovenian kayak and canoe teams won two bronze medals at the outset of the Canoe Slalom World Championships, in the men's team slalom and the men's team whitewater event. Peter Kauzer, Martin Srabotnik and Niko Testen won the bronze medal in the men's team slalom behind France and Slovakia. In the whitewater event, Anže Urankar, Simon Oven and Nejc Žnidarčič were bested only by the surprise winners Germany and France.
THURSDAY, 23 September
BUDAPEST, Hungary - PM Janez Janša attended the Demographic Summit in Budapest, which he labelled as one of the most important events in the debate on the future of Europe, as demographics is one of the most important issues in the EU. A joint statement adopted at the summit said family policies should remain in the domain of member states.
VIENNA, Austria/NEW YORK, US - Slovenia was elected a member of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 2021-2023. Foreign Minister Anže Logar said that membership was particularly important in the light of the return to the Iranian nuclear agreement.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - EU transport ministers discussed infrastructure for alternative fuels with Slovenia's Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec noting there were quite a few differences between the countries on the issue, but the "essential thing is not to lose the primary momentum and to keep the required level of ambition".
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The whole of Slovenia was dark red on the latest Covid-19 colour-coded map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as the only country or region on the map with such an epidemiological situation. Areas change to dark red when the 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents exceeds 500, with Slovenia's at almost 650.
LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council warned that the continued existence of exceptional circumstances should not be used to adopt measures that reflect the final stage of the political cycle, as it warned the government not to overdo stimulus spending considering that the economy is expanding fast.
LJUBLJANA - Residential property prices rose by 4.5% in the second quarter of 2021 on the quarter before in the most substantial hike in ten years, the Statistics Office said. The value of transactions was the highest on record.
LJUBLJANA - Retail group Mercator posted a net profit of EUR 10.6 million in the first half of the year after reporting a loss of EUR 69 million in the same period a year ago due to property revaluation and writedowns. Sales revenue was down 0.4% to EUR 1.1 billion.
LJUBLJANA - Chef Ana Roš of Hiša Franko kept her two stars in the new edition of the Michelin Guide Slovenia and all five one-starred restaurants kept theirs as Gostišče Grič in Horjul, led by chef Luka Košir, won its first. The coveted stars were awarded to Slovenian restaurants for the second time.
