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.
A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Šarec visiting Slovenian troops in Balkans
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina/PRISHTINA, Kosovo - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec is visiting Slovenian soldiers deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo until Tuesday. Meeting top NATO and EUFOR officials in Sarajevo and Prishtina, Šarec heard praise of Slovenian troops. He said EUFOR and NATO presence in Bosnia was important for preserving stability in the region and stressed Slovenia was not considering scaling down its presence. Fourteen Slovenian soldiers are deployed in Bosnia and around 250 in Kosovo. Šarec also regretted the country transforming the Kosovo Security Force into a professional military force without changing the constitution.
FM: Slovenia not in favour of qualified majority decision-making
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia does not support making decisions by qualified or any other kind of majority in the EU foreign policy, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said after the EU's Foreign Affairs Council session. "Slovenia has never supported making decisions by qualified or any kind of majority. We advocate for the EU decision-making to be based on consensus," said Cerar. Nevertheless, the country has signed an informal document strengthening the foreign policy's efficiency, which could be interpreted as paving the way for qualified majority. However, Cerar said the document did not endorse qualified majority voting.
FM supports EU sanctioning human rights violations
BRUSSELS, Belgium - On the eve of Human Rights Day, the EU's Foreign Affairs Council agreed on launching preparations for a new EU sanctions regime to sanction human rights abusers, with Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar backing the move. The initiative is based on the US 2012 Magnitsky Act, which sanctions human rights offenders worldwide, freezing their assets and banning them from entering the US. Cerar also met the foreign ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, calling for starting EU accession talks with both countries by March next year.
Židan and Schäuble discuss EU presidency trio priorities
BERLIN, Germany - Speaker Dejan Židan met President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble for informal talks about the six-month EU presidency spells between July 2020 and December 2021 held successively by Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. They singled out green policies among the possible joint priority topics. After the meeting, Židan said the trio was close to aligning priority points. In addition to green policies, he and Schäuble also mentioned strengthening the EU and the rule of law.
Ex-MEP Mlinar nominated for cohesion minister despite citizenship issues
LJUBLJANA - The coalition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) nominated Angelika Mlinar, a former Austrian MEP and a member of the Slovenian minority in Austria, for cohesion policy minister. However, her appointment is not certain because it is not clear whether Austria will allow her to become a dual citizen after Mlinar applied for Slovenian citizenship last week. SAB leader Alenka Bratušek expects the issue to be resolved as soon as possible so that Mlinar could be appointed by 7 January, the deadline by which a new minister must be appointed. PM Marjan Šarec hopes the citizenship issue would be resolved swiftly for the new minister to be appointed already at the December session of parliament.
On eve of Human Rights Day, Ombudsman Svetina urges dignity
BRDO PRI KRANJU - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina pointed to the need of dignity in everyday communication as he hosted an annual Human Rights Day reception on the eve of the international day, stressing that "all people are born free, have the same dignity and the same rights". He noted technological development had brought new challenges for human rights and stressed the state was losing touch with the real problems of the people. He also urged acting ethically in the public arena and criticised the authorities for not acting responsibly in addressing environmental changes.
Corruption perception in Slovenia above EU average
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A Eurobarometer survey released on International Anti-Corruption Day showed that nine out of ten Slovenian companies believe that corruption is widespread in the country, which compares to the EU average of 63%. However, the discrepancy between the perception and experience of corruption remains very high with 96% of the Slovenian companies surveyed saying they did not in fact experience state employees seeking a present, favour or extra money to issue key documents or permits. Marking Anti-Corruption Day, Transparency International Slovenia urged leading policy-makers to present further measures for implementing integrity and transparency.
Anti-graft watchdog head to seek reappointment
LJUBLJANA - Boris Šefanec, the head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, announced he would seek reappointment despite his term being mired in controversy and criticism. Štefanec, whose six-year term expires at the end of March 2020 and who has already reached retirement age, has been criticised because of conflict with staff, which is seen as having hurt the watchdog's reputation. Štefanec disagrees, blaming the watchdog's inefficiency on unresponsive authorities.
Climate policy panel recommends declaring climate emergency
LJUBLJANA - The permanent consultative climate policy committee, a body attached to President Borut Pahor's office, recommended to the government and both chambers of parliament to consider declaring a climate and environmental emergency as soon possible. The seven-member panel also urged the Slovenian authorities to immediately draft and adopt ambitious, comprehensive and financially feasible measures to address the climate and environmental crisis.
Yaskawa preparing for expansion of Kočevje plant
KOČEVJE - Just seven months after launching production in Kočevje, Yaskawa Europe Robotics purchased land to expand production at the site. The 4.5-hectare plot was sold by the municipality for EUR 740,000. The existing plant produces industrial robots and houses Yaskawa's European centre for the development of robotics. The new plant will specialise in servo motors and controllers. The state supported the land purchase by providing basic infrastructure for the site worth about EUR 1.5 million.
SDS takes lead in two more polls
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) came ahead of the senior coalition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) in two more public opinion polls. The poll run by the newspaper Delo has the SDS on 16.3%, up from 15.2% last month. The LMŠ gained 0.7 percentage points to 16.1%. The opposition Left in third lost nearly three points to 8.4%. A poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster Nova24TV has the SDS at 26.5% ahead of the LMŠ on 24.4%, taking into account only decided respondents. The coalition SocDems switched places with the Left in third, polling at 11.3%. Voter approval rating for the government fell in both polls.
Incidents in Slovenian-Croatian Piran Bay continue
LJUBLJANA - Nearly two years since Slovenia implemented the course of the border as set by a Hague-based arbitration tribunal, there is no end to incidents in the Piran Bay, which it shares with Croatia. What is more, a 25% rise in Croatian police boats sailing into Slovenian waters has been recorded this year. Slovenian police processed 1,191 cases of Croatian patrol boats sailing into Slovenian waters from 1 January to 1 December, up 939 year on year, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said. The police moreover processed 579 cases of Croatian fishing boats sailing into the Slovenian part of the bay between 29 December 2017, the day when Slovenia unilaterally implemented the arbitration decision, and the end of November 2019.
Financial Times ranks Faculty of Economics among top 95
LJUBLJANA - British business newspaper Financial Times has ranked the University of Ljubljana's School of Economics and Business among the 95 best business schools in Europe for the second consecutive time. The faculty sees this achievement as a recognition of its quality in the international arena. The ranking requires having at least one of the top international accreditations - the AACSB and EQUIS-accredited Ljubljana school has both as well as the AMBA accreditation, while its International Master in Business programme has been ranked as one of the best business programmes.
Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
