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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Cerar, Lavrov discuss W Balkans, bilateral cooperation
LJUBLJANA - Topical issues, above all the Western Balkans, dominated the agenda as Foreign Minister Miro Cerar hosted his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for a visit. Addressing a joint press conference, the pair noted good political ties between the two countries. Cerar underlined the importance of the EU's role in the Western Balkans, while Lavrov said all issues in the region must be resolved through dialogue. Bilateral relations and the Ukraine crisis were in the focus as Lavrov met President Borut Pahor and PM Marjan Šarec. The latter will visit Russia in September.
Šarec urges fast appointment of top EU officials
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec called for a rapid "package decision" on the appointments of top EU officials at Monday's post-election EU summit in Brussels. "The outside world will not wait," he said. Šarec, whose LMŠ party is an ALDE member, reiterated his opposition to the Spitzenkandidaten concept, arguing it reduced options too much. He repeated he would like to see Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, the incumbent competition commissioner, as commission president.
Tonin says testimonies by SOVA bosses, arbitration agent do not add up
LJUBLJANA - Matej Tonin, the chair of the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission, which heard two Slovenian officials that were embroiled in the 2015 border arbitration intelligence scandal, said that the testimonies by two former directors of the intelligence agency and that of arbitration agent Simona Drenik did not add up. "Their testimonies did not match," Tonin said, announcing that the commission would interview on 4 June other former directors of SOVA and continue to check which part of the story held true.
Slovenia hails recommendation to start accession talks with Albania and N Macedonia
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's Foreign Ministry welcomed the European Commission's recommendation for the EU to launch accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. The ministry reiterated Slovenia's position that member states should approve the launch at the June summit. The ministry agrees with the Commission that the EU's enlargement policy is a strategic investment in peace, security, progress and stability of Europe.
Poklukar announces additional measures on southern border
ČRNOMELJ - Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar visited the south-eastern region of Bela Krajina to assure the locals that the police will introduce video surveillance to boost the protection of the southern border from illegal migration. He labelled the smuggling of persons by organised groups as the biggest problem. After meeting Andrej Kavšek, the mayor of Črnomelj, the minister said the police had been using both visible and concealed measures on the border with Croatia, adding that the statistics showed the police were effective. He added that the police were also being successful in detecting smugglers of illegal migrants, arresting 120 of them this year.
Slovenia honours UN Peacekeepers Day
LJUBLJANA - Observing the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Slovenia's Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude and respect for professionalism and courage of those deployed in UN operations and missions. The ministry also honoured the UN peacekeepers who lost their lives while striving to preserve peace. So far, Slovenia has taken part in six missions, deploying some 560 soldiers and 140 police officers. In April, 15 soldiers were stationed in Lebanon (UNIFIL mission) and thee in Syria (UNSMIS mission).
Social consensus vital in combat against precarious work
LJUBLJANA - A national debate featuring several ministers and other officials heard that the fight against precarious work required systemic measures and participation of the entire society. The officials urged precarious workers to join trade unions and to report labour law violations. There were an estimated 322,000 precarious workers in Slovenia in 2017, representing 35% of all workers. A strategy to help tackle the issue is expected to be drawn up by next spring.
Bankers discuss regulation, other challenges
LJUBLJANA - Bank regulation and supervision were in the focus of a conference hosted by the Slovenian Bank Association (ZBS) in Ljubljana. ZBS head Stanislava Zadravec Caprirolo urged striking a balance between regulation and supervision to provide for a quality risk management framework without hindering business crediting as the industry's basic mission. Gonzalo Gasos, banking supervision head at the European Banking Federation, described the crisis due to a lack of profitability as a major challenge.
Adria Airways denies seeking govt help
LJUBLJANA - The German-owned air carrier Adria Airways confirmed that its director general Holger Kowarschs visited PM Marjan Šarec last week to discuss cooperation, including during Slovenia's stint as EU presiding country in 2021. However, the company denied the allegation by the news web portal Siol that Adria was seeking the government's help and was threatening to close shop and lay off the employees. "We are actively looking for ways to improve cooperation," Adria said in a press release.
Fisheries inspectorate gets new cutting-edge vessel
PORTOROŽ - The Inspectorate for Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting and Fisheries obtained a new cutting-edge vessel for conducting fisheries inspections and sea rescues. The EUR 400,000 boat was bought in Croatia, with the EU covering 75% of the cost. Next to classic engines, the boat also has electric engines and is equipped with cutting-edge navigation, communication and video systems, including thermographic cameras. The fisheries inspectorate has powers not only on Slovenia's territory but the entire EU territory.
Slovenia world's third safest country for children
WASHINGTON, US - Slovenia, Finland and Norway placed third on the list of the safest countries for children to grow up in globally in the latest End of Childhood index, released by the NGO Save the Children on Tuesday. Slovenia thus slipped from the first place it shared last year with Singapore, which remains the world leader ahead of Sweden. The index takes into account nutrition, access to education, infant mortality, child marriages, child labour, teenage pregnancies and regional conflicts.
SAZU scholars urge protection of Slovenian language
LJUBLJANA - Twenty-eight members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) sent a letter of protest to the government, parliament and the Constitutional Court, claiming that constitutionally and legally laid down care for the Slovenian language was being neglected. They urged the public to start looking after Slovenian in all areas of life. Their petition mentions "an endless sea of English signs", English lectures at university, and a lack of Slovenian language support in Apple's operating systems.
Fewer graduates last year than decade ago
LJUBLJANA - Last year, 16,680 students in Slovenia completed higher education, which indicates a slight upward trend (+1.3%) over the previous year. On the other hand, the figure shows a decrease of 3.1% compared to ten years ago, according to data released by the Statistics Office. Most of last year's graduates completed business, administration or law studies (some 20% altogether). As in previous years, female graduates (61%) outnumbered male graduates in 2018, except for higher vocational education, where 55.2% of graduates were men.
Locals demand bear and wolf cull
LJUBLJANA - Three local civil initiatives demanded legislative changes and an immediate cull of bears and wolves in areas where livestock is being attacked, in what is an escalation of long-simmering tensions over how to deal with Slovenia's growing population of large carnivores. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Marjan Šarec earlier this week, the civil initiatives demand that hunters immediately shoot the number of bears and wolves designated for culling by the Forest Service but repealed by court.
Public forest service praised for securing billions in gains
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia Forest Service marked its 25 anniversary with officials praising it for having produced net gains of over EUR 10 billion. In the last 25 years the growing stock increased by 58%, increment by 47%, and potential cut by 116%. The value of the growing stock is estimated to have grown from EUR 14 billion to EUR 21 billion. "The forests we have today are much stronger and much more vital, all the disasters notwithstanding," the services' head Damjan Oražem told reporters.
This May coldest since 1991
LJUBLJANA - After a spell of 13 months with above average temperatures, May average in Slovenia will be the lowest since 1991. This month has also been much wetter and duller than usual, with record low amounts of sunshine in some places. The average temperature in the last month of meteorological spring, which ends on Friday, will be two to three degrees Celsius lower than the long-term average, according to the Environment Agency. The rainy spell is expected to stop by Thursday evening across the country.
