01 Jul 2021, 16:21 PM

Slovenia's Recovery Plan Endorsed by EU Commission, With €1.8bn Grants, €705mn Loans

STA, 1 July 2021 - The European Commission endorsed on Thursday Slovenia's EUR 2.5 billion national recovery and resilience plan. Pending confirmation by member states, Slovenia will be able to draw EUR 1.8 billion in grants and EUR 705 million in loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Slovenia will spend the funds, equivalent to 5.4% of the country's GDP, to support 33 reforms and 50 investments laid out in the plan.

Member states had to strike a balance between reforms and investments in their national plan, and comply with the condition that 37% of funds are set aside for green goals and 20% for digital goals.

Slovenia's plan earmarks 42.4% for green transition goals and 21.4% for digital goals, with 30% set aside for the promotion of smart and inclusive growth, 15% for health, and 13% for digital transformation.

Slovenia plans to spend EUR 230 million on energy efficiency and seismic renovation of buildings, EUR 292 million on investments in railway infrastructure, and EUR 54 million on drinking water supply.

In the digital segment, EUR 114 million has been set aside for digital literacy and lifelong learning, EUR 83 million for digitalisation of healthcare, and EUR 44 million for the digital transition of business.

EUR 79 million in spending is planned to set up a long-term care system, EUR 110 million for increasing the resilience of the health system, EUR 60 million for affordable housing, and EUR 28 million for a faster entry of the young into the labour market.

To boost productivity and innovation, Slovenia plans to spend EUR 305 million to support private investments and reforms to improve the business environment.

The Commission said the Slovenian plan includes "an extensive set of mutually reinforcing reforms and investments that contribute to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of the economic and social challenges outlined in the country-specific recommendations."

It includes important reforms on long-term care, healthcare, pensions and labour market, education and skills, R&D and innovation, business environment and public procurement.

The plan represents "a comprehensive and adequately balanced response to Slovenia's economic and social situation, thereby contributing appropriately to all six pillars referred to in the RRF Regulation."

The Commission assessed the plan across eleven categories, giving ten As and one B.

Confirmation by the Council is expected within four weeks, whereupon an agreement will be signed and Slovenia can get EUR 231 million in pre-financing. Individual payments will be carried out according to the agreement, either in full or on a pro rata basis.

01 Jul 2021, 15:44 PM

Slovenia’s Opposition Will Continue to Oppose Janša During EU Presidency

STA, 1 July 2021 - The centre-left opposition has rejected the coalition's call for a political truce during Slovenia's EU presidency. They are determined to continue to use all the available means at their disposal and are not ruling out a new attempt at a vote of no confidence.

The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) says that if they gave up the instruments at their disposal as the largest opposition party they would also give up democracy.

"When the constitution and laws are being kept violated, when media freedom and fiscal stability are being threatened, when experts and civilian society are not being let to participate in environment legislation, when the government forgets about the problems of children and youth resulting from the epidemic, it's the duty of the opposition not to keep quiet, regardless of the presidency," LMŠ deputy group leader Brane Golubovič said on Thursday as Slovenia formally assumed the rotating EU presidency.

He believes Slovenia will carry out its presidency tasks correctly in technical terms owning to the professionalism of Slovenian diplomats and technical officials.

Similarly, the Left said it "could not and must not" change its positions about the the ruling coalition's record in office for the sake of the presidency with deputy Matej Tašner Vatovec saying Slovenia still needed an early election.

The party criticised the national recovery and resilience plan, which the European Commission approved today, saying it "confounds every vision and all basic principles of democracy".

The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) would like the government to successfully perform its tasks during the presidency because that would benefit Slovenia's reputation. "We are afraid, however, that this government has already made a negative mark in Europe due to all the statements, letters, tweets and mainly actions," SAB deputy leader Maša Kociper said.

She said the opposition would continue to "keep an eye on the government" and they were not ruling out a vote of no confidence if all opposition parties agreed on the motion.

In a somewhat different vein, Tanja Fajon, the leader of the Social Democrats (SD), wished for Slovenia to use the presidency to "mitigate the disastrous impression it has made in Europe in the past year" in the spirit of European values and solidarity.

In a video address on her Twitter profile, Fajon said Slovenia's international reputation was at its lowest ever. "Due to the prime ministers' actions [Slovenia] has been treated on several occasions as a country that has been straying aside from the European path and values."

[NAPOVED] Digitalna izjava @tfajon (S&D/SD) ob 10. uri o začetku predsedovanja Slovenije Svetu EU. https://t.co/uMx54lWaOU
— Socialni demokrati (@strankaSD) July 1, 2021

She said it was dangerous that the violations seen in Hungary and Poland were being promoted in Slovenia.

She would like for the Slovenian presidency to contribute to enhancing recovery and resilience so that Europe to revive its vision as the world's greenest and most innovative economy, but she believes it would take different ambitions to achieve those goals than the ones that the government showed in the national recovery and resilience plan.

01 Jul 2021, 13:36 PM

69th Ljubljana Festival Starts Tonight, With Music & Dance Until 25 July

STA, 1 July 2021 - A concert by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev, will kick off the 69th Ljubljana Festival on Thursday. As the Križanke open-air venue is under renovation, Congress Square will be this year's main venue.

This year's festival will feature an array of Slovenian and foreign singers and musicians with the likes of Russian soprano Ana Netrebko, Algerian tenor Jusif Ejvazov, Slovenian soprano Sabina Cvilak, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the Vienna Boys' Choir, accordion virtuoso Marko Hatlak and Spanish tenor Placido Domingo taking the stage.

The SNG Maribor theatre ensemble will contribute their version of Puccini's famous opera Madama Butterfly.

Dance lovers will be able to enjoy the Tango Story show by Andreja Podlogar and Blaž Bertoncelj and the Peer Gynt ballet show directed by SNG Maribor's Edward Clug. Even theatre-goers will get their money's worth with the Lolita and Chicago musicals.

The main venue, Congress Square. Photo: Andraž Kobe for Ljubljana Festival

The festival will close on 8 September with a concert by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra performing new pieces by the Slovenian composer Vito Žuraj.

The idea behind this year's programme was the same as in the previous years as organizers were counting on certain Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted by summer.

The biggest issue is the musicians mobility, noted the artistic and general director of the Ljubljana Festival, Darko Brlek, explaining that some guest appearances by foreign musicians had to be postponed. He also stressed that last year's festival had been great and one of the few festivals of such calibre to even take pace.

Most of the events will be held in Congress Square, and will move to the Cankarjev Dom art centre and the city's main fairgrounds in case of bad weather. The opening event will be held in Cankarjev Dom in case of bad weather.

Learn more at the website

01 Jul 2021, 10:25 AM

Janša: Schools May Stayed Closed in Autumn if Vaccination Numbers Too Low

STA, 30 June 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša raised the prospect of schools having to be kept closed in the autumn unless everyone gets vaccinated against Covid-19, while he also discussed EU presidency and investment in the Podravje region in a radio interview during the government's visit to the north-eastern region on Wednesday.

"If we get vaccinated, schools and kindergartens will be open in the autumn, if we don't, they won't be and we'll be paying the price again," he told an interview with Radio City.

Like the health minister before him, Janša said it was just a question of time when the more virulent Delta variant of coronavirus would spread and how intensively.

"We have an answer to it and it's vaccination," he said. "Seeing what's happening in Britain, which has one of the highest rates of vaccination and at the same time the most Delta variant, we are no longer talking percentages, we're talking we must all get vaccinated," Janša said.

As Slovenia assumes the rotating EU presidency tomorrow, Janša said the government would get organised so it could continue with regional visits in the coming months and make sure the available funding, including from the EU, be distributed and invested fairly and effectively.

"The government's visit to the region at a time when it is assuming the presidency is a symbolic gesture showing this government will not forget about Slovenia even during the presidency."

Slovenia's eastern cohesion region, which includes Podravje, has EUR 400 more available for investment over the next seven years than in the previous period, Janša said, promising "substantial financial injections" for Maribor.

He pledged the government would do everything in its power to keep the headquarters of NKBM bank, which has recently been acquired by the Hungarian bank OTP, in Maribor. "We'll contact the owners and persuade them that Slovenia is not just Ljubljana, that it's this government's plan to decentralise Slovenia."

01 Jul 2021, 10:19 AM

Tour de France: Pogačar Wins Stage Five (Video)

STA, 30 June 2021 - Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar won stage five of the Tour de France race on Wednesday. Last year's winner of the Tour was 19 seconds faster than Stefan Küng from Switzerland in the 27.2-kilometre individual time trial between Changé and Laval Espace Mayenne. Slovenia's other star, Primož Roglič, was 44 seconds behind, finishing seventh.

Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) started stage five 39 seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) from the Netherlands and finished it with the 26th victory of his career and his fourth time trial victory.

He was eight seconds too slow for the yellow jersey, which remained in the hands of der Poel.

Küng was surprisingly followed by Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) in third place.

"That has been a truly good day for me. I did not make any mistakes and the weather was perfect for me too," said the 22-year-old Pogačar told the organisers after the race, adding that he was looking forward to the rest of the Tour.

Roglič, who is recovering from falls in the first three stages, showed he is in great shape today and finished seventh. "Quite simply, I'm grateful that I'm even here. Then you just try to give your best. As long as we are here, there is hope. Better times can always come," the 31-year-old Roglič told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

Cyclists will next take on a 160.6-kilometre plain route from Tours to Chateauroux on Thursday.

New 7-Stage 290-km Cycling Trail Opens in Julian Alps

01 Jul 2021, 05:43 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Thursday, 1 July 2021

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:

Janša warns of school closures unless people get jab

MARIBOR - Prime Minister Janez Janša raised the prospect of schools having to be kept closed in the autumn unless everyone gets vaccinated against Covid-19, while he also discussed EU presidency and investment in the Podravje region in a radio interview during the government's visit to the north-eastern region. "If we get vaccinated, schools and kindergartens will be open in the autumn, if we don't, they won't be and we'll be paying the price again," he told an interview with Radio City.

Hojs talks security with mayors of external EU border area

PODLEHNIK - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs visited the Gruškovje border crossing to meet with mayors of municipalities located along the southern Schengen border as part of the government's visit to the Podravje region. He announced the deployment of reserve police officers to help guard the border. In the next six months, some 1,000 reserve police officers will be deployed to various locations around Slovenia, Hojs said, adding it was hard to say where the government would send most of them.

Speaker Zorčič takes over EU presidency parliamentary dimension

LJUBLJANA - National Assembly President Igor Zorčič symbolically took over from Portugal the parliamentary dimension of the presidency of the Council of the EU today alongside National Council President Alojz Kovšca. Slovenia's presidency will mainly focus on the EU's post-pandemic recovery and efforts to strengthen the bloc's resilience, Zorčič said.

PM talks EU presidency priorities with diplomatic corps

BRDO PRI KRANJU - PM Janez Janša met on Tuesday the ambassadors of the EU member states for a working lunch, to note that the key challenges of the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU are the Covid-19 situation, economic recovery, improving resilience, the Conference on the Future of Europe and EU enlargement, the government said on its website. At the event hosted by the Portuguese chargé d'affaires, Janša thanked Portugal for the "good and successful presidency".

UNHCR urges Slovenian EU presidency to provide better protection to refugees

BRUSSELS, Belgium - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urged the Slovenian EU presidency on Wednesday to provide better protection to refugees in Europe and around the world. It also called for an agreement on the EU pact on migrations and asylum. By assuming the presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July, Slovenia has an important opportunity to lead and use the momentum for improving the protection of refugees in Europe and the world, wrote Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR's Representative for EU affairs in Brussels.

MFRR report finds media in Slovenia systematically undermined by govt

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian government is overseeing an increasingly systematic effort to undermine critical media, a coalition of press freedom organisations and journalism groups warned in a report released after conducting a virtual fact-finding mission to Slovenia in late May and early June. The report, issued by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) a day before Slovenia assumes the presidency of the Council of the EU, finds that Slovenia has seen press freedom deteriorate ever since Prime Minister Janez Janša returned to power in March 2020.

Government orders special audit of STA operations

LJUBLJANA - The government decided that a special auditor be appointed to check whether the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) is implementing its legal and other obligations. The auditor will present a written report, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said. According to UKOM, the process of selecting and appointing the auditor among authorised auditors will be carried out based on the government decree adopted today.

47 new coronavirus infections confirmed on Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 47 new coronavirus infections confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday in 2,029 PCR tests, the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) announced, as the 7-day average of new cases is down slightly to stand at 27. The share of positive tests was 2.3% yesterday, which is 0.2 of a percentage point more than on the day before. There are currently 68 people in hospital for Covid-19, three fewer than on the day before, and 17 require intensive care, two fewer than yesterday, the government said. There were no Covid-19 deaths yesterday.

More restrictions on services to be lifted on Monday

LJUBLJANA - More restrictions on the services sector will be lifted on Monday, the government decided at a session held as part of its visit to the Podravje region. Casinos will fully reopen and there will be no more restrictions on the number of customers in shops. The rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place indoors.

Slovenia's annual inflation slows to 1.4% in June

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate ran at 1.4% in June, down from 2.1% the month before, sustained by higher prices of petroleum products, while being pushed down by cheaper package holidays, the Statistics Office said. On average, goods prices went up by 2.3% year-on-year, while prices of services dropped by 0.2%. Higher prices of petroleum products contributed one percentage point to the annual inflation rate as prices of liquid fuels soared by 31.1%, diesel prices rose by 24.8% and petrol prices went up by 19.3%.

Slovenia's general government deficit in Q1 at 8.3% of GDP

LJUBLJANA - Measures to mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic affected Slovenia's public finances also in the first quarter of the year, with the general government deficit amounting to EUR 969 million or 8.3% of the country's GDP, the Statistics Office said. This is somewhat less than in the last quarter of 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the growth of total expenditure outpaced the growth of total revenue of the state by 2.5 percentage points. Total revenue in amounted to EUR 5.164 billion, up 8.6% year-on-year, while total expenditure was up by 11.1% to EUR 6.133 billion.

Foreign direct investment expanding in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Slovenia increased by 2.4% to EUR 16.6 billion last year despite there being no major takeovers like the year before, according to a fresh report from the central bank. Austria ranks as the biggest investor with a 25.6% share in the total value of incoming FDI. Austrians are mainly investors in manufacturing and retail industries, and in the sector of motor vehicles maintenance and repairs. Slovenia's outbound FDI last year meanwhile increased by 1.7% to EUR 7 billion. Businesses in full or part Slovenian ownership abroad posted EUR 100 million in profit.

Survey unemployment rate down to 5.1% in May

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's survey unemployment rate stood at 5.1% in May, or 0.1 of a percentage point less than in the month before and 0.3 of a percentage point less year-on-year, the Statistics Office said. The statisticians estimate that around 49,000 people aged 15-74 were unemployed in May. Of these, 42% were men and 58% were women.

Koritnik urges boosted cooperation between AI partnership task forces

LJUBLJANA - Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik participated via videolink in a session of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, calling for closer cooperation between task forces that operate under the partnership to introduce artificial intelligence in work processes safely, both in the public and private sectors.

Pope Francis appoints Andrej Saje new bishop of Novo Mesto

LJUBLJANA - Pope Francis appointed Andrej Saje the new bishop of Novo Mesto, the Slovenian Bishop's Conference announced. So far, the priest of the Ljubljana Archdiocese and native of the town in south-eastern Slovenia has worked as a judicial vicar of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Court in Ljubljana and teacher at the Ljubljana Faculty of Theology. Saje, who will be ordained bishop on 26 September, thanked the pope for the honour, and also thanked the outgoing Novo Mesto Bishop Andrej Glavan, who is retiring as he had already reached the age of 75.

Kukovec convinced he is right candidate for EU General Court

Ljubljana, 30 June - Damjan Kukovec, the nominee for one of Slovenia's two judicial posts on the EU's General Court, said as he presented himself to the public he believed he possessed the required quality and experience for the post. He is also convinced of his success before the vetting committee if confirmed by the National Assembly. Among the challenges faced by the EU's General Court, he singled out access to the court, in particular in terms of procedural obstacles for individuals.

Leveraging savings for growth one of challenges seen by vice-governor nominee

LJUBLJANA - Irena Vodopivec Jean set out three main challenges for the central bank ahead as she presented her bid to be reappointed a vice-governor of Banka Slovenije in her presentation at the Presidential Palace, one of them being how to leverage a large amount of household savings deposits in support of economic growth. She noted the decisive role of the monetary policy in the euro area in support of economic recovery as well as banking oversight and the need to improve the efficiency of the business model of banks as two other main challenges ahead.

Equal opportunities ombudsman Lobnik seeks inclusive dialogue

LJUBLJANA - Advocate of the Principle of Equality Miha Lobnik, whom president Pahor recently proposed for a new mandate, wishes to continue his work and promote inclusive dialogue. He said he believed that all citizens should receive services of good quality to which they are entitled, as he held a public presentation. He believes that issues of discrimination could be addressed in society if everybody was involved in the debate.

Professional firefighters start two-day token strike

LJUBLJANA - Professional firefighters went on a token strike unhappy with collective bargaining with the government. The trade union of professional firefighters said the strike was not directed at the people and they would not feel it as firefighters would still protect lives and property. However, work is being organised like on Sundays. The strike was announced on 26 May, since when they had five rounds of talks with the government. The strike, which the government finds unjustified, will end on Friday morning.

Slovenian community in Austria marks 30 years of Slovenia's independence

KLAGENFURT, Austria - Several events were held in Klagenfurt, Austria, on Wednesday to mark Slovenia's 30th independence anniversary. Participants of a round table debate presented their recollection of events from 30 years ago, including on the Slovenian-Austrian border. The prime minister of Slovenia's first government, Lojze Peterle, stressed the importance of long-term good preparations for the independence, from the late 1860s to 1917, the war and post-war efforts, and the crucial moment in 1991, the Christian Cultural Association (KKZ) said in a press release.

New attempt being made to get opposition to form pre-election alliance

LJUBLJANA - A group of academics affiliated with the anti-government protest movement has mounted a new attempt to bring centre-left opposition parties together to form a pre-election coalition, drawing on the manifesto of the ill-fated Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL). According the web portal N1, academics Rado Bohinc, Stane Pejovnik, Ivan Svetlik and Vito Turk of the Civil Society Alliance, a group formed in October last year as cycling protests were suspended, have compiled a draft agreement on cooperation of four centre-left opposition parties in a coalition for next-year's election.

Pogačar wins stage five of Tour de France

RENNES, France - Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar won stage five of the Tour de France race today. Last year's winner of the Tour was 19 seconds faster than Stefan Küng from Switzerland in the 27.2-kilometre individual time trial between Changé and Laval Espace Mayenne. Slovenia's other star, Primož Roglič, was 44 seconds behind, finishing seventh.

Ana Desetnica theatre festival taking the streets of Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - The Ana Desetnica street theatre festival, offering a plethora of performances by local and foreign artists, kicked off in the capital today, with this year's novelty being the P2P programme offering peer-to-peer learning. The festival events actually started in Maribor on 25 June and now the caravan has arrived in Ljubljana to stay there until 3 July. The question the organisers are trying to address this year is "if we still know how to be together".

30 Jun 2021, 17:40 PM

Many COVID Rules on Services Lifted on Monday, Changes to Green List

STA, 30 June 2021 - More restrictions on the services sector will be lifted on Monday, the government decided at a session held as part of its visit to the Podravje region on Wednesday. Casinos will fully reopen and there will be no more restrictions on the number of customers in shops. The rule of reconvalescence [i.e. recovery], testing or vaccination remains in place indoors.

As of Monday, shops will no longer be restricted to accepting only one customer per 10 square metres, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Twitter.

Bars and restaurants will no longer need to secure a distance of three meters between tables and face masks will no longer be required indoors.

Casinos have been allowed to offer up to 75% of their gaming capacities as of last Monday, and now this restriction too will be lifted.

There will also be no more restrictions for convention activities. So far, 75% of seats were allowed to be occupied with one seat empty in-between. As of Monday, all seats can be occupied, Počivalšek announced.

However, the rule of reconvalescence, testing or vaccination remains in place for customers inside bars and restaurants, casinos, accommodation facilities, night clubs, and for visitors of congresses.

Employees of hair salons, beauty parlours, and providers of non-medical counselling and therapeutical services, education and training etc. will also still need to be vaccinated or tested if they are not reconvalescent.

Clubs and discotheques will remain open from 5am to midnight.

The government also decided today to lift all restrictions for sports and recreational activities be it individual or in group activities. There are no more restrictions on the number of spectators at sports events and they no longer need to wear face masks.

As of Monday, restrictions will be lifted also for libraries, archives, museums and galleries, for cultural events and for visiting cultural heritage sights.

This is the latest in a series of easing of restrictions driven by a favourable epidemiological situation. The new rules will apply from 5 July until 11 July.

The government also made some changes to the green list of countries today, adding entire Croatia and Germany, as well as Switzerland and Montenegro to the Covid safe list as of Saturday. New to the list are also Estonia, Lithuania and Luxembourg, the government said.

Several administrative units of countries were also added to the list, which now includes most of France, and several Greek regions, including the Ionian Islands and Western Greece.

Most of Belgium remains on the orange list, while the Flanders administrative unit is now on the green list.

These changes too will be in place until 11 July.

30 Jun 2021, 15:26 PM

New 7-Stage 290-km Cycling Trail Opens in Julian Alps

STA, 30 June 2021 - A new 290-kilometre circular cycling trail that explores the Julian Alps in north-western Slovenia was inaugurated in Mojstrana on Wednesday. The Juliana Bike trail features seven stages of around 40 kilometres each, and is expected to be further upgraded in the coming years.

The route was inaugurated by representatives of the Kranjska Gora municipality, the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the Julian Alps Community, with a press conference being held before the opening.

Klemen Langus, the coordinator of the Julian Alps Community, which will co-manage and maintain the trail, said that Juliana Bike was created as a continuation of the Juliana Trail.

The Juliana Trail is a 270-kilometre hiking trail circuiting Slovenia's highest peak, Mount Triglav. It was launched in 2018 and it has been declared Best Europe Tourism Project by the British Guild of Travel Writers earlier this year.

The Juliana Trail Presents Some of the Best Views & Hikes in Slovenia

The Juliana Bike cycling trail will pass through Bled, Bohinj, the Soča Valley, Gorje, Jesenice, Kranjska Gora, Radovljica, Žirovnica, Vršič and Pokljuka. The route has seven stages of around 40 kilometres each, with three additional approach stages.

The route mainly follows forest roads and cycling paths, with some parts also passing along main roads. With a cumulative elevation gain of 8,000 metres, the Juliana Bike route requires a good level of fitness from cyclists and good equipment.

Map via julian-alps.com

According to Langus, Juliana Bike was designed as a primary cycling network that will be upgraded in the coming years. A secondary and tertiary network are already being set up, due to be opened next year and in 2023.

The secondary network will link towns along the route, while the tertiary one will run within the towns themselves. This will provide a well-developed and well-maintained network of routes, suitable for cyclists of all abilities, skills and equipment.

Mountain biking or mountain cycling is becoming an increasingly popular activity in the region, added president of the Alpine Association of Slovenia Jože Rovan, who is also the conceptual author of the Slovenian Mountain Bike Route.

The route opened in 2016, covering a large part of the country, passing along all major Slovenian mountain chains, covering around 1,850 km and having an elevation gain of 50 km. The new Juliana Bike route will now also be a part of it.

Learn more on the website

30 Jun 2021, 13:23 PM

EU Commissioners in Slovenia Thursday for Start of EU Presidency (Background)

STA, 30 June 2021 - The government will host the College of European Commissioners for a working visit on Thursday as Slovenia formally takes over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. On the occasion, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present an assessment of Slovenia's recovery and resilience plan.

Such working meetings between the entire College of Commissioners and the government of the presiding country are customary whenever a country starts the rotating presidency with the aim being to review priorities for the next six months.

Slovenia's presidency is expected to focus on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery, enhancing resilience for future crises, green and digital transition and the efforts to push ahead with the enlargement process.

The official programme of the visit is not available yet but the visit is expected to take one day. Before the Covid-19 pandemic such visits typically lasted two days.

While the working meeting with the German government was held in a virtual format, and the visit to Lisbon was downsized, the entire College of Commissioners is expected in Slovenia. Working meetings are to be held at Brdo estate north-west of Ljubljana.

The proceedings are to get under way with a meeting between von der Leyen and Prime Minister Janez Janša, followed by meetings between commissioners and ministers by five thematic sections: the European Green Deal, digital transformation, recovery and resilience, foreign relations with the emphasis on the Western Balkans and migration, security, the rule of law and the Conference on the Future of Europe.

After a working lunch, Janša and von der Leyen are to address a joint press conference. In the afternoon, meetings with President Borut Pahor and National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič are planned.

Upon the Commission's visit, it is customary for the presiding country to organise a ceremony to launch the presidency. In the case of Slovenia, the guests are expected to travel to Bled for the premiere of the ballet Water Man, but this part of the programme has not been confirmed yet.

Between Wednesday and Saturday a group of about 50 Brussels-based correspondents will be visiting Slovenia, which too is in keeping with the custom at the start of each presidency.

While in Slovenia, the Commission president is expected to announce the assessment of Slovenia's recovery and resilience plan. The Commission has not yet adopted such an assessment but it appears Slovenia will become the 13th EU country to get a positive mark.

Once the Commission has given its go-ahead, the plan, which will provide the basis to tap into EU recovery funds, also needs to be endorsed by EU member states. First confirmations are expected on 13 July, at the first session of EU finance ministers under Slovenia's guide.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa indicated at the end of last week that confirmations in mid-July can be expected by the twelve countries that were the first to get the positive assessment. Slovenia would thus not be among them.

The Commission has so far endorsed the recovery plans of Portugal, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia, Germany, Italy, Belgium and France.

It is not clear yet when the first member states can expect to in fact get recovery funds. The Commission has so far borrowed EUR 20 billion in financial markets by issuing the first ten-year bond. Brussels has been indicating the member states with approved plans could get first funds in July.

Asked by the STA whether von der Leyen will broach issues of media freedom, STA financing and delays in the appointment of Slovenia's European delegated prosecutors in her meeting with PM Janša, the Commission said merely it would be possible to pose questions about the topics of talks at Thursday's press conference.

The European Commission has on several occasions called on Slovenia to appoint its delegated prosecutors as part of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which has recently become operational. It remains the only of the participating countries that has not yet appointed its delegated prosecutors.

Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders has recently expressed the expectation for Slovenia to meet its obligations by 1 July, that is by the start of its presidency. If not he indicated that legal action could be initiated against Slovenia.

The Commission has also repeatedly expressed concern over the media situation in Slovenia, in particular over the attempts to undermine sustainable financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

In response to the government decree on the STA a week ago, the Commission said it expected swift solutions to unlock financing that need to fully reserve the agency's independence. I also said that it should be checked at the national level whether the new decree complied with the exiting legislation on the STA.

30 Jun 2021, 10:58 AM

EBRD Raises GDP Forecast for Slovenia to 5% Growth in 2021

STA, 29 June 2021 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has upgraded by 1.5 percentage points its GDP growth forecast for Slovenia in 2021 to 5%. The institution expects that Slovenia's economy will expand by a further 4% next year.

The updated forecast, published on Tuesday, comes after the autumn projection in which the EBRD said it expected the country's GDP to expand by 3.5% this year.

The bank noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had significantly affected the Slovenian economy last year, with GDP dropping by 5.5%. This is, however, 2.5 percentage points fewer than projected by the EBRD last autumn.

It said that the key factors of the contraction were private consumption and investments, which were down 9.7% and 4.1%, respectively.

Slovenia, as a small and open economy strongly integrated in global value chains, also felt shocks in international trade, although exports of goods started recovering by the end of last year, the report says.

While exports of goods continue to grow, exports of services remain well below the pre-pandemic level. On the other hand, investment activity had experienced a rapid recovery by the end of 2020.

The EBRD expects the general government deficit, which last year reached 8.4% of GDP, to increase this year to 8.6%, as the government has largely kept implementing an expansive fiscal policy.

The bank says that vaccination and gradual relaxation of measures to stem the pandemic will lead to gradual recovery of consumption and services, while exports of goods and investment will continue to support economic growth.

The EBRD also warns against short-term risk factors, as new waves of coronavirus infections could restrict the recovery of the tourism sector and other services, while disruptions in supply chains could affect production and exports of goods.

GDP forecast/time of projection     2021      2022     2023
-------------------------------------------------------------
Banka Slovenije/June 2021           5.2%      4.8%     3.1%
OECD/May 2021                       3.5%      4.6%
IMF/May 2021                        3.9%      4.5%     3.6%
European Commission/May 2021        4.9%      5.1%
IMAD/March 2021                     4.6%      4.4%     3.3%
EBRD/June 2021                      5.0%      4.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Individual forecasts

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