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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
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This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia, Austria join forces for UNESCO listing of Lipizzan horses
GOING, Austria - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl signed a joint statement for the countries to submit a multinational bid to have traditional breeding of the Lipizzan horses listed as UNESCO intangible heritage. The initiative will also include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovakia. The bid is to be filed by March 2020, so that the listing could take place in 2021. Cerar started a two-day informal visit to Austria's Tirol on Monday.
SDS announces motion to oust Defence Minister Erjavec
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) announced they would bring a motion of no confidence in Defence Minister Karl Erjavec by the end of the week. The SDS will present details in the coming days, but the motion is likely linked to the allegation by the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission that Erjavec abused the ministry's intelligence service to spy on Brigadier General Miha Škerbinc before sacking him as the army's force commander. The soldiers' trade union SVS urged such a motion against Erjavec yesterday. Erjavec called the motion unwarranted and PM Marjan Šarec said it had been expected.
Brussels keeps Slovenia growth forecast unchanged
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission kept the growth outlook for Slovenia in its spring economic forecast unchanged at 3.1% for this year and 2.8% for 2020, both of which are way above EU and eurozone average. Slovenia's general government surplus is to remain unchanged at 0.7% of GDP this year, before improving to 0.9% of GDP in 2020, but the structural deficit is to deteriorate further to 0.8% of GDP this year before, before improving to 0.3% of GDP the next.
FinMin argues need for structural reforms
PORTOROŽ - Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj argued that Slovenia should set itself ambitious goals and try to achieve them, but said key task were reforms, as he addressed a two-day financial conference that opened in Portorož. "We need a pact for development breakthrough," he said, noting the solid economic outlook for the country. Meanwhile, Egon Zakrajšek from the US Federal Reserve outlined the situation in global markets, saying indicators in the US showed the likelihood of recession was almost 60%.
Bankers agree market consolidation will continue
PORTOROŽ - Speaking at a round table debate at the Financial Conference, bankers shared the view that there are too many banks in Slovenia and that consolidation of the market will continue. Marko Košak of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics said that consolidation of the system remained in focus, as the growth potential of the existing banks was limited, with economies of scale being increasingly put in the forefront when it comes to cost cutting. Representatives of the banks NLB, NKBM, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo agreed with him.
Pahor highlights May Declaration's momentous role
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor hosted a reception to mark 30 years since a document setting out a demand for Slovenia's sovereignty was read out at a mass rally in Ljubljana's Congress Square. In his address Pahor noted the role that the May Declaration played in Slovenia's independence. "Its greatest value is linking democracy, sovereignty and Slovenia's place in an overhauled Europe, which also makes it important for the future," he said. The reception was also addressed by Dimitrij Rupel, a co-author of the declaration who would later become Slovenia's foreign minister.
Puigdemont to visit Ljubljana on Friday
LJUBLJANA - Former Slovenian President Milan Kučan and MEP Ivo Vajgl (Alde/DeSUS) will host Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont in Ljubljana on Friday. The Kučan-led Forum 21 outfit said Puigdemont had chosen Slovenia as one of his starting European election campaign venues. Puigdemont, who has been living in exile in Belgium, will run for a seat in the European Parliament on a slate featuring several Catalan parties, including his Together for Catalonia.
Ex-Slovenian judge not to stand for EU parliament in France
LJUBLJANA - Boštjan M. Zupančič, a former Slovenian judge at the European Court of Human Rights, will not stand for election to the European Parliament on the ticket of the French Popular Republican Union (UPR). This follows from the list of candidates dubbed Together for Frexit, which was released by the French Interior Ministry on its website. Zupančič, 71, confirmed for the STA in February he had accepted UPR leader Francois Asselineau's invitation to stand on their ticket.
Catholic Church speaks out against euthanasia
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Catholic Church expressed its opposition to euthanasia in response to a petition urging its legalisation, which has been signed by over 5,000 people since February. The Commission for Justice and Peace of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference called on all citizens and Catholics in particular to "defend vigorously the individual's right to appropriate healthcare and care for the elderly, terminally ill and the dying".
Jobless total drops by 3.4% to under 74,000
LJUBLJANA - The positive trend on Slovenia's labour market continued in April, as the jobless total dropped by 5.8% year-on-year and by 3.4% over March to 73,965. The Employment Service registered 4,962 persons as newly unemployed, a 1.2% decrease on March and a 5.2% drop from April 2018. The majority registered after their fixed term contracts expired. Job vacancies in the first four months totalled 50,809, a 5.2% year-on-year increase.
Elan's sale to Finnish fund KJK completed
BEGUNJE NA GORENJSKEM - The sports equipment manufacturer Elan announced that its sale to the Finnish-owned KJK fund had been completed. The new owners say Elan will play a central role in KJK's plans to form a group of sports equipment makers. Elan will continue to be led by CEO Jeffrey Tirman, who will take over at the helm of the new holding company of the group, KJK Sports. The group will also include Estonian sports vessels producer Tahe Outdoors and the Bulgarian bicycle maker Leader 96.
Unicredit Banka Slovenije gets new CEO
LJUBLJANA - The supervisors of Unicredit Banka Slovenija, part of the Italian banking group Unicredit, confirmed the appointment of Marco Esposito as the bank's new CEO. Esposito is to succeed Stefan Vavti on 1 June or after approval from the ECB as the regulator. Esposito is presently Unicredit's head global transaction banking for Central and Eastern Europe. Between 2011 and 2017 he was in charge of business and investment banking at Unicredit's Romanian subsidiary.
Activists urge end to bear culling
LJUBLJANA - A group of around 20 animal rights activists staged a rally in front of the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry headquarters, demanding an end to bear and wolf culling. They called on farmers to turn to other means to protect their produce and farm animals, including electric fencing. The ministry responded by arguing that limited culling, based on expert assessments, was necessary. The government's plans to cull 200 bears and 11 wolves have recently been thwarted by an NGO in court.
