STA, 20 September - The Cukrarna Gallery, managed by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML), will open its doors to the public on 24 September in a completely renovated former sugar factory on the banks of the river Ljubljanica, in what marks the creation of a new platform for contemporary art. The renovation paid tribute to the building's history.

MGML director Blaž Peršin has told the STA that the design of the Cukrarna Gallery itself already expresses a duality - a historic exterior and a completely modern interior. In terms of content, it will be dedicated to contemporary art of various genres.

The Cukrarna Gallery is located in a former sugar refinery, while it was home to several famous writers of Slovenian Modernism at the beginning of the 20th century, who also brought modernity into the building, albeit in a very different way.

Now, Cukrarna will try to bring new perspectives on "where contemporary art is going and what problems today's society is facing", and become an open public space for visitors from home and abroad.

Before starting to develop their vision, strategy and programme, MGML familiarised themselves with the work of similar institutions abroad, but according to Peršin, they are aware that they needed to find their own path.

He also said that the Cukrarna Gallery will not create its own collection, but it will house a library. Alenka Gregorič, Cukrarna's artistic director, explained that it will be designed with careful consideration and themed around contemporary art.

"Much like the building itself. We're slowly moving in, bringing in content, and making long-term alliances with artists. We invite them to cooperate, to help us build the Cukrarna Gallery programme with their projects, ideas and aspirations, and to contribute to the vision of this new contemporary art centre," she added.

A separate space at the Cukrarna Gallery will be dedicated to Slovenian Modernism. According to Peršin, comic artist Andrej Štular will interpret the history of Cukrarna and the authors of Slovenian Modernism in a playful way in the corridor opposite the future library.

A multi-purpose hall and a small classroom/conference room have also been set up in the basement, and will be used for workshops during the day and lectures in the evenings, while the amphitheatre behind Cukrarna will be the venue for events such as screenings, concerts and social gatherings.

Gregorič said that because they dared to think big, they had also shaped their team according to the needs of the space. For example, they have hired a special curator for performing arts and producers, which is rare in museums and galleries.

The Cukrarna Gallery will open its doors with the international exhibition entitled The Wonderfulness of Memory (Čudovitost Spomina). The title itself is a paraphrase of a sentence from a letter by Modernist poet Dragotin Kette to Modernist writer Ivan Cankar, and the entire exhibition will be dedicated to the theme of memory, both collective and individual.

According to Gregorič, the theme of memory is certainly appropriate for the space in which the exhibition will be put up: "Cukrarna is deeply ingrained in all of our memories, whether from our school days or from the years of watching it fall into disrepair.

"But if we explore it further, we can see that it also contains many bright stories of joy and happiness, not just misery and sadness that are usually associated with it. We want to show that in life, one goes hand in hand with the other," she added.

The opening exhibition will feature works by artists including Jimmie Durham, winner of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale, Sophie Calle, Rosa Barba, Janet Cardiff and Ernesto Neto.

The exhibition will also bring a selection of works by Slovenian artists Marjetica Potrč, Vadim Fiškin, Miha Štrukelj, Tobias Putrih and Aleksandra Vajd. It will be on display across the whole Cukrarna building.

Learn more at the gallery's website

STA, 20 September 2021 - The Covid pass mandate introduced last week has led to a surge in vaccination. Almost 84,000 shots were administered last week, the highest weekly figure since early June, show data from the national vaccination registry.

The rate of vaccine uptake is however still significantly below the peak of the vaccination drive, when 100,000-plus jabs were delivered into arms each week, according to data published by the tracker covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Going to Gatherings of 50+ People Now Needs COVID Pass

The structure of vaccines has changed substantially as well. The Pfizer/BioNTech jab remains in high demand, but in the past two weeks people have sought out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires a single jab.

At the same time, demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine, where eight weeks at a minimum must pass between the first and second shot, has plummeted and the vaccine now accounts for a tiny fraction of all shots delivered.

From October 1 Slovenian Civil Servants Must Be Recovered or Vaccinated, Negative COVID Test No Longer an Option

At present 46% of Slovenia's population is fully vaccinated and 52% have received at least one jab. Among adults, the rates are 55% and 61%, respectively.

Official data show Slovenia still has roughly a million doses in stock, enough to deliver at least the first shot to all those who have not been vaccinated yet.

See the latest data on COVID and Slovenia

STA, 19 September 2021 - Slovenia have the second consecutive silver at the European Volleyball Championship after losing to Italy 2:3 in Sunday's final.

With silver medals from the 2015 and 2019 tournaments Slovenia were hoping to take it one step further this time, but Italy proved too strong in a game of equals.

The Slovenian team mounted a strong start and won the opening set 25:22, but Italy kept up the pace to win the second set.

Third set went to Slovenia with 25:20, only for Italy to recover and win the last two sets thanks to a strong serving performance.

The two teams faced off in the group stage and Italy won that game 3:1. In fact, the Italians did not lose a single game the whole tournament.

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: 

 Slovenia win silver at European Volleyball Championship

KATOWICE, Poland - Slovenia have the second consecutive silver at the European Volleyball Championship after losing to Italy 2:3. With silver medals from the 2015 and 2019 tournaments Slovenia were hoping to take it one step further this time, but Italy proved too strong in a game of equals.

545 new coronavirus cases confirmed, hospital figures flat

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 545 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, down slightly on the week before. The 14-day case notification rate per 100,000 population stood at 621 and the seven-day average of new daily cases at 1,038, according to the National Institute of Public Health. Hospital numbers remained broadly flat with 360 patients in hospital, of which 90 in intensive care. Four patients with Covid-19 died.

Gender pay gap in Slovenia at 2.2% in 2020

LJUBLJANA - The pay gap between men and women in Slovenia narrowed slightly in 2020, by 3.6 points annually to 2.2%, preliminary figures released by the Statistics Office show. The gap in the private sector stood at 6.5% and at 10.7% in the public sector. Average monthly net pay in the country increased by 5.4% to EUR 1,252 in 2020 over 2019. Men's average monthly net pay was 0.7% above the average, while women's was 0.8% below the average.

Jasmine Paolini wins Portorož WTA tournament

PORTOROŽ - Italian tennis player Jasmine Paolini won the WTA tournament in Portorož, defeating Alison Riske of the US in straight sets 7:6 (4), 6:2 to clinch her maiden WTA title. Paolini knocked out four seeded players, including Dayana Yastremska, Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva, on the way to her first final.

STA, 19 September - The pay gap between men and women in Slovenia narrowed slightly in 2020, by 3.6 points annually to 2.2%, preliminary figures released by the Statistics Office show. The gap in the private sector stood at 6.5% and at 10.7% in the public sector.

Average monthly net pay in the country increased by 5.4% to EUR 1,252 in 2020 over 2019.

Men's average monthly net pay was 0.7% above the average, while women's was 0.8% below the average.

Average net pay increased last year over the year before for men and women, with women's increasing by 7.3% and men's by 3.9%.

Almost 64% of Slovenia's employees received lower monthly net pay than the national average.

The median of the monthly net pay - a value splitting the population into two equal parts - stood at EUR 1,066, and was practically the same for men and women.

Men with higher education meanwhile earned the most last year, with their average monthly pay at EUR 1,774 net, 42% above the national average.

Women with the same level of education earned much less, EUR 1,529 net a month.

The average monthly net pay dropped under EUR 1,000 in the category of women with secondary education, to stand at EUR 977.

For those who have completed only primary school, it stood at EUR 917 for men and EUR 832 for women.

Average monthly pay was below the national average in more than half of all sectors, and below EUR 1,000 in four, the lowest in hospitality - EUR 884.

The electricity, gas and steam supply sector meanwhile had double the monthly net pay in hospitality, followed by financial services and insurance.

More on this data

STA, 18 September 2021 - Mag-Lev Audio, a Slovenian start-up that developed the first levitating turntable in the world and collected EUR 800,000 in Kickstarter and Indie Gogo campaigns, has gone into receivership. After launching production, the company failed to find a market for its product.

The Nova Gorica District Court launched receivership proceedings on 10 September, according to the AJPES agency for legal records.

The company led by Davorin Furlan and Tomaž Pegan was one of the most successful Slovenian companies on crowdfunding platforms.

The MAG-LEV Audio team manufactured the first levitating turntable in 2016 to raise over EUR 800,000 on Kickstarter and Indie Gogo.

It launched production in a rented facility in Nova Gorica in 2018 and hired staff.

The company planned to make about 1,500 levitating turntables a month at first to sell them mostly in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan. The founders counted on their investment to return in a few months.

But things did not go as planned, as the company never found the right market. It reported on this to its buyers and supporters on crowdfunding platforms, the newspaper Finance said a few days ago.

According to Finance, the company said at the end of last June that in November and December 2019 it managed to sell at least one product a day, but sales slowed down in 2020 and the company could no longer cover its costs.

The problem was allegedly the price of the product, which should be between EUR 600 and EUR 900 for sales to pick up, which the company said would however not cover the costs due to the quality of the product and expensive technology used. The turntables were sold at EUR 1,000-3,000.

Furlan told Finance the value of the investment had been underestimated and put a part of the blame also on the epidemic. "We hope the story is not over yet and that it will continue some day despite receivership," he said.

STA, 18 September 2021 - Slovenia defeated Poland 3:1 on Saturday to enter the final of the European Volleyball Championship for the third time in the last four championships.

A nail-biting fourth set that lasted for almost an hour capped a three-hour game.

Poland won the first set, but in the marathon second set Slovenia staged a turnaround and carried the momentum through to the end of the game.

Slovenia will take on Italy in Sunday's Final.

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: 

Tonin discusses cooperation with Czech counterpart

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Defence Minister Matej Tonin, who is concluding a two-day visit to the Czech Republic on Saturday, meet his Czech counterpart Lubomir Metnar on the sidelines of NATO Days on Friday to discuss cooperation in international operations and bilateral cooperation in defence, including in mountain warfare.

1,248 new coronavirus infections recorded on Friday, three deaths

LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,248 new coronavirus infections were recorded in Slovenia on Friday, according to the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Three Covid-19 patients died and the number of patients in hospitals has increased but the share of adults who have received the first shot of a Covid vaccine topped 60%, the government said.

Minister says Covid pass introduced to restrain epidemic not enforce vaccination

MARIBOR - Health Minister Janez Poklukar said in an interview with the newspaper Večer that the expansion of the Covid pass requirement had been introduced to put the epidemic under control not to force anyone to get vaccinated. He said hospitals would soon need to restrict access to their services due to rising Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Fraport Slovenija to get new head in October

LJUBLJANA - Fraport Slovenija, the company managing the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, will get a new head next month, as the term of Zmago Skobir expires at the end of September. He will be succeeded by Babett Stapel, who is currently serving as managing director, Fraport Slovenija told the STA. Skobir will remain a procurator and adviser to the management.

Catholic youth gathering in Stična celebrates 40th anniversary

STIČNA - Youth Stična, a gathering of Catholic youths, is under way today, focussing on the issue of fear and insecurity among the young. Marking the 40th anniversary, the event was addressed by President Borut Pahor and Alojzij Cvikl, the archbishop of Marbor. Pahor urged the youth to strive for dialogue, tolerance and respect.

Best youth and children's book prize goes to Sebastijan Pregelj

MARIBOR - Sebastijan Pregelj is the winner of this year's Večernica prize for the best youth and children's book written in the past year. He won the award given out by the Maribor-based newspaper Večer for his book Vrnitev (Return), the sixth book from a series of stories on life in the late Stone Age in the Ljubljana marshes. Večer reported online. Pregelj will accept the award worth EUR 3,000 at a literary festival in the city of Murska Sobota on 19 September.

ICT sector maintains robust growth

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenia sector of information and communications technologies (ICT) continued to grow in 2020. Both the number of staff working in the sector and its revenue rose, show the latest Statistics Office data. The number of employees and the self-employed working in ICT rose by 2% to almost 30,000. Revenue likewise rose by 2% to EUR 4.55 billion, which compares to a 6% drop in revenue for the corporate sector as a whole.

Floorings maker Juteks reports higher sales, profit

ŽALEC - Juteks, a maker of floorings owned by the Belgian Beaulieu International Group, has not been affected much by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales revenue rose by 2.3% to EUR 43.3 million in 2020 and net profit was up by more than 30% to EUR 5.8 million. Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation was almost a quarter higher at EUR 9 million, whereas operating profit, at EUR 7.1 million, was up by 31% over the year before, shows the company's annual report.

Levitating turntable maker goes into receivership

LJUBLJANA - Mag-Lev Audio, a Slovenian startup that developed the first levitating turntable in the world and collected EUR 800,000 in Kickstarter and Indie Gogo campaigns, has gone into receivership. After launching production, the company failed to find a market for its product. The Nova Gorica District Court launched receivership proceedings on 10 September, according to the AJPES agency for legal records.

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

If you’d like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.

FRIDAY, 10 September
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - EU finance ministers meeting to discuss the health and economic situation in the EU and eurozone, expressed optimism about the developments, noting the situation was significantly better than expected months ago. However, they also cautioned that the danger was not over yet.
        KARPACZ, Poland - Prime Minister Janez Janša received the award for person of the year in Central and Eastern Europe at the Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland. In his speech, he underlined the region's key role in the bloc and its Christian heritage.
        LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša and IMF executive director Kristalina Georgieva and OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann discussed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy and recovery plans. The meeting with Cormann also focussed on other challenges of OECD members. Cormann also met Foreign Minister Anže Logar, with the pair expressing optimism about the global economic recovery.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor hosted a meeting with Health Minister Janez Poklukar and members of the government Covid advisory group over the coronavirus outbreak to call for vaccination, especially for all over 50 years of age.
        LJUBLJANA - The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad announced that a total of 63 ethnic-Slovenian residents of Venezuela had so far been repatriated to Slovenia. All of them are doing well, with many of them already in employment, and students included in the education system.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor offered his condolences to his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on the death of the country's former President Jorge Sampaio. In a post on his Twitter profile Pahor described Sampaio as a great statesman who promoted dialogue, solidarity and freedom.
        LJUBLJANA - The KSJS confederation of public sector trade unions called on the government to meet its obligations towards the public media, chiefly to pay for the public service performed by the STA and provide adequate funding for public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

SATURDAY, 11 September
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - EU finance ministers spoke in favour of a continuation of the bloc's current investment cycle. Slovenia's Andrej Šircelj said everyone showed a great desire for Europe to continue with this investment cycle and to become stronger after the pandemic.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar said Slovenia remained deeply committed to the prevention and terrorism and radicalisation, placing special emphasis on the fight against terrorism in Western Balkans, noting that Slovenia would continue to work closely with the US and other allies as he paid tribute to the victims of the 11 September terrorist attacks.
        IDRIJA - The main ceremony remembering the return of the western Primorska region to the homeland was held in Idrija with Mayor Tomaž Vencelj saying it was important the event was held in Idrija, which had been an important part of Primorska for half a century and made the region richer with its natural beauty, heritage and successful economy.

SUNDAY, 12 September
        BASOVIZZA, Italy - A ceremony for four victims of Fascism executed in September 1930, known among Slovenians as the Basovizza Heroes, was held at the memorial site, with Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch saying that it was a reminder of how much misery and pain humans and authorities could cause if they let hatred and exclusion win.
        ŽUŽEMBERK - The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) held its annual informal gathering, with its president Matej Tonin saying that it was not possible to build a stable government without cooperation through the political centre and without the NSi.
        BOLOGNA, Italy - Slovenian President Borut Pahor addressed a meeting of the G20 Interfaith Forum, saying that divisions, in particular political and ideological, were one of the societal wounds that need to be urgently healed. He also proposed a meeting of senior religious representatives in the Western Balkan region.
        PTUJ - The poultry group Perutnina Ptuj, which was taken over by Ukrainian Holding MHP in early 2019, reported EUR 294 million in sales revenue for 2020, a new record and 3% increase on the year before. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were up 7% to EUR 47.7 million.

MONDAY, 13 September
        GENEVA, Switzerland/LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar announced at the international donor conference for Afghanistan that Slovenia will donate EUR 300,000 in aid to help the country amid a deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
        NEW YORK, US - Darja Bavdaž Kuret, a seasoned diplomat who served as Slovenia's former permanent representative to the UN, was appointed special adviser to Abdulla Shahid, the president of the 76th UN General Assembly to take the second highest post ever held by a Slovenian representative to the UN after Danilo Türk served as UN assistant secretary general for political affairs from 2000 to 2005.
        LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša addressed a session of the WHO Regional Office for Europe to stress the importance of preparedness and effective responsiveness to future health crises. He also discussed the importance of science and solidarity in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
        BOLOGNA, Italy - President Borut Pahor was awarded Sigillum Magnum, the highest recognition from the University of Bologna given to influential figures. Pahor said he understood the honour as recognition of his efforts for dialogue, reconciliation and better future.
        LJUBLJANA - A panel held as part of the Future Unlocked online conference agreed the creative and culture sector plays an important role in generating economic growth. The main topics of the two-day online conference hosted by Slovenia as the EU presiding country is the role of the creative sector in the green transition, social innovation and economic growth, and in attaining sustainable goals.
        BLED - The rights and obligations of small shareholders were in the focus of an international investors' conference in Bled, with panellists highlighting access to information, cross-border share holdings and sustainable corporate governance as some of the key issues.
        LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Damjan Žugelj a full-fledged director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, after he led it as acting head since 15 March. He will take over on 15 September for a five-year term, with the option of reappointment.
        LJUBLJANA - The ruling Democrats (SDS) continued to top the party rankings at 18.3% in the latest monthly Mediana poll conducted for the newspaper Delo, with their support rising 1.2 percentage points compared to August. The SDS was followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD), whose support dropped by 2.4 points to 10.3%.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Armed Forces estimated the interest in voluntary service has increased by 40% to 50% this year as a new concept of voluntary service was introduced on 5 July.
        
TUESDAY, 14 September
        STRASBOURG, France - The European Court of Human Rights ruled Slovenia violated Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights in dispossessing holders of shares and subordinated bonds as part of the 2013/14 bank bailout, finding they had no reasonable opportunity to challenge or seek compensation for the Slovenian central bank's measure.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition demanded answers after POP TV released photos showing Prime Minister Janez Janša spending time with the lobbyist Božo Dimnik on a yacht owned by the businessmen Andrej Marčič in 2016. The POP TV report said this showed Janša and Marčič had not been meeting accidentally, as Marčič claimed back when photos were published of the two playing golf in Mauritius almost two decades ago. Janša said his playing golf with Dimnik and Marčič had nothing to do with lobbying and he denied doing any deals with them. later in the week, Janša failed to attend a session of a parliamentary commission that wanted to debate allegations of his improper lobbying contacts.
        MILAN, Italy - President Borut Pahor met Attilio Fontana, the president of the Italian region of Lombardy, for what his office said were talks about cooperation, in particularly economic ties, and opportunities to develop and enhance bilateral relations.
        CELJE - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs announced Slovenia planned to erect several dozen kilometres of new fencing on the border with Croatia in an effort to crack down on illegal migrations. The construction work should start within two or three weeks.
        LJUBLJANA - Economy Ministry State Secretary Simon Zajc said Slovenia had been recording solid tourism figures this year but the sector was not expected to bounce back before 2023 or, more likely, 2024. Asian guests are unlikely to return before 2023, he said.
        LJUBLJANA - The steel group SIJ generated EUR 451.6 million in sales revenue in the first half of the year, or 24.4% more year-on-year, while bouncing from a loss in the first half of 2020 to more than EUR 10 million in net profit.

WEDNESDAY, 15 September
        LJUBLJANA - As the Covid pass mandate came into effect, a crowd of about 8,000 people gathered for a rally in front of the parliament building to protest against the new rules. The protest turned into a riot and police had to use a water canon and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Seven police officers were injured. In response officials and politicians from both sides of the isle condemned the violence.
        CELJE - Prime Minister Janez Janša and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban were on hand for the launch of the the 53rd Celje International Trade Fair as Hungary is featured as the partner country. They both expressed optimism about the post-Covid economic recovery and the future.
        CELJE - The governments of Slovenia and Hungary held a joint session with officials conducting an overview of existing cooperation and signing a letter of intent on a joint fund for Prekmurje and Porabje, the border regions populated by the Hungarian and Slovenian ethnic minorities, and a memorandum of understanding on development cooperation.
        CELJE - The home affairs ministers of Slovenia and Hungary, Aleš Hojs and Sandor Pinter, agreed at a meeting about the urgent need to prevent mass migration flows in the EU and pressure on the bloc's external borders. Meanwhile, the two defence ministers, Matej Tonin and Tibor Benko, discussed bilateral military and defence cooperation.
        ROME, Italy - President Borut Pahor upheld the key points from the State of the Union address by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as addressed a meeting in Rome with the heads of state of 15 EU countries as part of the Arraiolos initiative discussing the path to strategic autonomy.
        LJUBLJANA - In assessing the annual address to the European Parliament by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Slovenian MEPs said her speech was realistic but lacked concrete proposals, including on social policy. Some welcomed the announced legislation on media freedom.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary foreign policy and defence committees took note of Slovenia's plans to increase the number of personnel in NATO's mission in Iraq to up to 15 soldiers and civilian experts under a decision adopted by the government in the summer.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia was allotted a diplomatic apartment in Rome as part of the succession process after the break-up of Yugoslavia. The country already uses the apartment as a residence of the ambassador to the Holy See.
        LJUBLJANA - UNESCO, the United Nations educational scientific and cultural organisation, formally declared a biosphere reserve spanning the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, the first five-country biosphere in the world.
        CELJE - Slovenian maker of ultralight aircraft Pipistrel signed an aircraft manufacturing agreement with Hungary's Genevation Aircraft on the manufacture, marketing and provision of after-sales support for select markets, a deal the company says is worth in excess of EUR 100 million over ten years.
        LJUBLJANA - Spanish company Glovo announced it had finalised the acquisition of the food delivery platform Ehrana, after announcing in May that it would take over one of the largest home delivery providers in Slovenia.
        
THURSDAY, 16 September
        LJUBLJANA - The Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, the government's economic forecaster, upgraded Slovenia's growth forecast for the year to 6.1%, 1.5 percentage points up from its spring outlook. It projects for GDP growth to then ease off to 4.7% in 2022 and 3.3% in 2023.
        PORTOROŽ - A two-day meeting of the management board of the European Asylum Support Office started, with one of the topics being reforming the office into a European agency for asylum, with which it would assume new obligations and tasks.
        CLEVELAND, US - Helena Jaklitsch, the minister for Slovenians abroad, started a 10-day visit to Slovenians in the USA, beginning in Cleveland, Ohio and concluding in Lemont, Illinois. The overarching theme is the 30th anniversary of Slovenian independence.
        CELJE - Delegates of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) gave party leader Zdravko Počivalšek the mandate for a merger, a tie-up and cooperation with other related parties and lists at the next general election. The party is to merge with the Economically Active Party (GAS), a pro-business party headed by National Council President Alojz Kovšca, possibly before the end of the year.
        NAZARJE - The Nazarje-based home appliance maker BSH Hišni aparati, a Slovenian subsidiary of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, was approved a state subsidy worth EUR 7.7 million to support an investment that will create 62 new jobs.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Michelin starred chef Ana Roš from Hiša Franko placed seventh in the rankings of the world's top chefs compiled by The Best Chef Awards 2021, climbing 11 spots from last year, according to The Best Chef Awards website.
        LJUBLJANA - The recipient of this year's Badjura Award, given out for lifetime achievements in film since 1995, is the innovator and film sound engineer Emilija Soklič, one of the first Slovenian professional female film industry workers and an innovator in sound design.
        LJUBLJANA - Robert Simonišek, an author and art historian born in Celje in 1977, has won the 2021 Rožanc Prize for best collection of essays for Pejsaži - Sanjati na Soncu (Landscapes - Dreaming in the Sun).

STA, 17 September 2021 - Slovenia officially became a member of the club of Mediterranean EU countries henceforth known as EU Med, which has grown from seven to nine members with the inclusion of Slovenia and Croatia at a summit in Athens on Friday.

Prime Minister Janez Janša said after the meeting that it was a great honour for Slovenia to join the group, which was expanding at a crucial time during Slovenia's presidency of the EU. "This gives Slovenia a new opportunity for coordinating all open issues on the agenda."

Janša said a variety of important issues had been discussed affecting not just the Mediterranean member states but the entire EU, including major things that fit into the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe, including strategic autonomy, climate change, green transition, migrations, security, Covid-19, recovery and resilience.

"Slovenia is a Mediterranean country and in this Med context it will strive for realisation of presidency slogan Together. Resilient. Europe.," he said.

Slovenia has long lobbied to become a member and its formal application dates back to 2015. Janša's office said prior to the summit that Slovenia's inclusion was the result of its long-standing efforts to increase its presence in the Mediterranean area and forge closer links with Mediterranean countries.

Earlier this year, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said that participation in the group would benefit Slovenia and increase its political weight in talks with other EU member states.