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.
This summary is provided by the STA:
Pahor would like presidency strengthen Slovenia's role in EU
BRUSSELS, Belgium - President Borut Pahor started his two-day visit to Brussels by appearing in a debate with think-tanks, saying that Slovenia would like to hold another successful presidency. He would like the country to use the opportunity to strengthen the EU and its role in it. The debate organised by the think-tank European Policy Centre focused on the future of Europe and the Western Balkans. Pahor will meet the heads the European Commission, Parliament and European Council tomorrow.
Govt sets up recovery and resilience office
LJUBLJANA - The government established the Recovery and Resilience Office. The new department will operate under the Finance Ministry to coordinate and manage the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plan. The office will be inaugurated on 1 August at the latest. It will perform tasks related to efforts to set up a system to implement the plan and coordinate and manage the implementation of the plan, monitor, check and confirm the targets and conduct oversight.
Access to digital identity eased to facilitate certificate launch
LJUBLJANA - In order to expand the use of digital Covid certificates once they enter into force, the government is expanding the number of points where residents will be able to get their digital identity. In addition to administrative units, those points will include vaccination centres, social work centres, the Financial Administration and other points. According to Health Minister Janez Poklukar, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) is gearing up for the certificate, with a production test with the European Commission scheduled for this week.
Minister Šircelj talks EU presidency with senior EU officials
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj was on a working visit to Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks with senior officials in preparation for the EU presidency. Meeting European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, he emphasised the importance of fast and successful post-pandemic recovery. "I think that it is in our common interest that the recovery and resilience mechanisms start to get implemented as soon as possible," Šircelj said. Šircelj also met Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Financial Stability Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
Slovenia's EU priorities in transport will be sustainability, resilience
LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec attended a meeting of EU transport ministers in Luxembourg to present the priorities of Slovenia's upcoming EU presidency in transport. He said the country would promote sustainability and resilience. "Transport is one of the main sectors that can make the decarbonisation policy a success. On the other hand, transport is one of the sectors that was hit hardest by the pandemic, so we must enable its recovery and improve its resilience," Vrtovec was quoted as saying by his ministry.
Govt urged to restore STA funding
LJUBLJANA - The opposition-dominated parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Public Finances urged the government to resume STA funding as set down in a coronavirus relief law in three days. Culture Ministry State Secretary Ignacija Fridl Jarc told MPs the ministry would like the Government Communication Office and STA to resolve the dispute over contractual obligations, so a relevant decree was being drafted. She assured the MPs that the government did not intend to destroy the STA.
EANA says UKOM missing the point over STA funding dispute
BERN, Switzerland - The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) voiced disappointment over an open letter it received from the Government Communication Office (UKOM) in response to its appeal for the STA funding dispute to be resolved. UKOM is "missing the point" when raising allegations against the STA management, EANA said. The response followed EANA's open letter to Prime Minister Janez Janša in mid-May calling on him to resolve the dispute with the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).
Počivalšek to remain minister
LJUBLJANA - The leader of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), Zdravko Počivalšek, told the party he had decided to remain economy minister rather than return to parliament. This is after an MP of the ruling Democrats (SDS) said last week that Počivalšek returning to parliament to secure the coalition an absolute majority was still an option. The SMC today discussed two potential candidates to replace Lilijana Kozlovič as justice minister, the most likely being Marko Starman, who teaches at the European Faculty of Law at the University of Nova Gorica.
Zorčič takes part in first Three Seas Parliamentary Forum
LJUBLJANA - National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič took part in the first Three Seas Parliamentary Forum, which was held in a virtual format to discuss the role of parliaments in the initiative and how they could contribute to making it more recognisable. In his address, Zorčič described cooperation in the Three Seas initiative as an important instrument in the implementation of Slovenia's foreign policy strategy, voicing Slovenia's commitment to regional cooperation.
Minister visits Slovenian community in Serbia
BELGRADE, Serbia - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch visited the Slovenian ethnic community in Serbia on Wednesday and Thursday, attending a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Slovenian association Sava. She also met Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Gordana Čomić and Archbishop of Belgrade Stanislav Hočevar. Meeting Čomić, Jaklitsch pledged for Slovenia to continue to support Serbia in its bid to join the EU.
Coronavirus figures keep gradually improving
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 273 coronavirus cases for Wednesday as the rolling 7-day average daily case count further dropped by 13 to 260. Three patients with Covid-19 died. The latest cases were confirmed from 3,837 PCR tests, for a positivity rate of 7.1%, down from 9% for Tuesday. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals dropped by one to 213 this morning after 19 were discharged. 60 patients, or two fewer than yesterday, were in intensive care.
Permitted attendance at sport, cultural events increased to 75% of capacity
LJUBLJANA - The government changed the decrees limiting attendance at public sport and cultural events to increase the permitted number of viewers from 50% to 75% of the number of fixed seats at a venue. The eased attendance cap applies both to indoor and outdoor venues. All other conditions and limitations related to public cultural events remain unchanged.
Slovenia's jobless total down 17% y/y to 75,150 in May
LJUBLJANA - A total of 75,148 were registered as unemployed in Slovenia at the end of May, down 5.2% over April and 16.9% over May last year, in what is the fourth month in a row that unemployment decreased, the Employment Service said. The figure dropped because fewer job seekers registered with the Employment Service in May while more jobless persons found a job. The number of newly unemployed, at 3,701, was down almost 5% compared to April and as much as 53% over May 2020.
Flydubai plans to launch flights to Ljubljana in September
LJUBLJANA - Low-cost airline Flydubai intends to start operating flights between its base in Dubai and Ljubljana in September. According to the Ljubljana airport flight schedule, Flydubai will launch flights to Slovenia's capital on 24 September, flying three times per week, aviation portal Exyuaviation.com reported. Flydubai will start flying to Ljubljana just ahead of the start of Expo 2020 Dubai, which was pushed forward due to the pandemic and opens on 1 October this year.
Turkish rail project workers to be committed to a campus
LJUBLJANA - Turkish workers who will work on the 27-km Divača-Koper rail track are arriving in Slovenia. The public broadcaster TV Slovenija reported that about 450 workers would stay in a campus in the village of Orehek near Postojna, and would not be allowed to move freely. Postojna Mayor Igor Marentič told TV Slovenija the workers would "work hard seven days a week". The opposition Left protested, saying the conditions the workers would be subjected to were in violation of workers' rights.
Cinematheque celebrates Fellini with retrospective, exhibitions
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Cinematheque is paying tribute to Federico Fellini, one of Italy's most celebrated cinematographers, with a retrospective, three exhibitions and several accompanying events. It opens tonight with Fellini's first film, The White Sheik, bringing all of his 20 feature films and four documentaries by German-American Gideon Bachmann until 6 July. One of the segments is an exhibition of posters Yugoslav distribution companies used to attract cinema goers to Fellini's films.
Slovenians set Guinness sailing record in a dinghy
DUBROVNIK, Croatia - Slovenians Uroš Kraševac and Maruša Močnik have set a new Guinness world record in distance travelled in a pair with a dinghy-class sailing boat, covering 360 nautical miles in over 80 hours to break the previous record by almost 30 nautical miles. The Slovenians set off for their journey in Slovenia's Izola on Sunday and reached the record near the Croatian island of Mljet on Wednesday.
Police bust drug ring after a tip by DEA
NOVO MESTO - The Novo Mesto criminal police revealed they had apprehended 17 members of a drug trafficking organisation in cooperation with other police departments, seizing a large haul of illegal drugs worth millions of euros. The Slovenian police had been tipped off by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in early 2018. The police seized almost 80 kilos of various drugs, including cocaine, heroine and amphetamine. Slovenia saw an almost 78% increase in detected drug-related organised crime so far this year compared to the same period last year.
