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This summary is provided by the STA:
EU-Turkey ties high on agenda as Cavusoglu visits Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's positions on issues relevant to EU-Turkey relations and its EU presidency priorities topped the agenda aside from bilateral relations as FM Anže Logar hosted his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. They dedicated a great part of their meeting to plans to boost bilateral cooperation, in particular direct investment, and to balance bilateral goods trade. Cavusoglu also met President Borut Pahor and PM Janez Janša, with the talks with the latter revolving around bilateral relations, EU presidency preparations, the situation in the east Mediterranean and other current issues.
Pahor to host regional summit on 17 May
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian President Borut Pahor will host the leaders of the Brdo-Brijuni process of enhanced cooperation in the Western Balkans for a summit at Brdo estate on 17 May as he continues to meet them separately in the run-up to the event. Pahor will meet his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Đukanović in Podgorica on Wednesday before travelling on to Tirana for talks with Albanian President Ilir Meta on Thursday, his office announced.
Coronavirus cases ticking up again
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 894 coronavirus cases for Monday in the second day the case count has been up week-on-week as pressure on hospitals has been somewhat relieved. Four Covid-19 patients died, government figures show. Hospitalisations declined by 24 to 584 after 74 patients were discharged yesterday. So has the number of patients in intensive care units fallen by four to 143. The 7-day average of new cases rose further to 675.
Standoff on redistribution of seats on working bodies continues
LJUBLJANA - A proposal to reshuffle parliamentary working bodies to accommodate four unaffiliated MPs, including the speaker of parliament, who have recently defected from the Modern Centre Party (SMC) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) was rejected for the third time today. The vote prompted the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) to announce they would boycott the parliament's work with the exception of major votes such as the forthcoming impeachment motion. The remaining opposition factions meanwhile argued a boycott would be counter-productive and pave the way for fast-tracking of legislation.
EU funds for vaccination booking system
LJUBLJANA - The Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EUR 1.5 million in EU funds for IT support for a centralised system to book Covid-19 vaccination appointments at the primary level. Announcing the grant, the office said the project, run by the Health Ministry, would guarantee safety and equal treatment of patients through a single vaccination booking solution.
Ministry says only quality journalism worth strengthening
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Culture Ministry has marked World Press Freedom Day, observed yesterday, with a message saying that press freedom should be pursued every day throughout the year, and that it is important to strengthen only quality journalism. The ministry, which is responsible for the media, joined the UN's call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good, and exploring what can be done to strengthen journalism.
Tikhanouskaya received by President Pahor, Speaker Zorčič
LJUBLJANA - Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya was received by President Borut Pahor and parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič, with the latter expressing support for efforts for democratic change in her country. Zorčič told Tikhanouskaya that democracy was fragile and that it needed to be fought for every day, the National Assembly said in a press release, adding that the Belarusian opposition leader had also met heads of parliamentary deputy groups. The European Parliament office in Slovenia tweeted that it had hosted Tikhanouskaya in the EU House in Ljubljana.
STA turns to EU for direct financial support, Pahor insists funding must be restored
LJUBLJANA - The STA staff addressed a letter to the European Commission highlighting the government's failure to meet its financing obligations despite receiving a green light for EUR 2.5 million in annual funds for the STA from Brussels. They urged the Commission to help by "allocating direct financial support" to the STA to prevent its collapse. The president's office meanwhile said that President Pahor insisted that financing of the public service performed by the STA must be restored, after the president yesterday tweeted that the agency plays an irreplaceable role.
Conservative NGOs urge European media to stop "one-sided propaganda"
LJUBLJANA - Several NGOs that bring together conservative and liberal intellectuals have sent a letter to European media to alert of what they call a misrepresentation on the state of press freedom in Slovenia, urging them to stop "one-sided propaganda" and to get informed on the situation from all world-view groups ahead of Slovenia's EU presidency.
Household deposits in Slovenia up to record EUR 23bn, central bank says
LJUBLJANA - Household deposits at banks rose by over EUR 2 billion to a record EUR 23 billion in the epidemic year of 2020 from 2019, the Slovenian central bank said on Tuesday. It attributed the rise to the labour market measures taken during the epidemic, which enabled income growth. But since many shops were closed, much of the income was not spent.
Steel group SIJ secures EUR 148m long-term loan
LJUBLJANA - SIJ, Slovenia's largest steel producer, has secured a EUR 148 million long-term syndicated loan from a consortium of banks led by Slovenia's NLB. The proceeds will be used to refinance a 2017 loan worth EUR 240 million, provide a liquidity cushion, and to finance development projects, the company said. "We sincerely thank the banks for confidence in the SIJ Group's business model and support of our business in these uncertain times," SIJ vice-president Igor Malevanov said.
SVIZ launching campaign for Kustec to step down
LJUBLJANA - The SVIZ trade union of teachers will launch a campaign to collect signatures among teachers to call on Education Minister Simona Kustec to resign, in a bid to send out a clear message that the Education Ministry has not been run well over the past year, that is during the coronavirus epidemic. Responding, Kustec said the government had taken a number of measures to accommodate for the needs of schools, including labour-related measures as part of coronavirus emergency legislation.
Secondary school-leaving exam gets under way
LJUBLJANA - The secondary school-leaving exam started for some 17,000 final-year students today. This is the second year in a row that the matura exam is taking place during the coronavirus epidemic, and after matura candidates were on distance learning for several months. Almost 7,200 candidates have registered to take the general matura in spring alongside 10,620 who registered for the vocational matura exam.
