12 May 2021, 04:32 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Wednesday, 12 May 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 denies reports over his non-attendance at Strasbourg ceremony

LJUBLJANA/BRUSSELS, Belgium - Prime Minister Janez Janša denied on Twitter media reports that he was being sidelined from the inauguration ceremony of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg on Sunday. Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan, speaking in Brussels told reporters in Brussels Janša could have attended the ceremony if he wanted to. The newspaper Delo reported the co-chair of the executive committee, Guy de Verhofstadt, allegedly did not want Janša to be invited, but Janša said the Council of the EU was represented at the conference by the PM of the current presiding country, Portugal, while he would co-chair the conference next time.

Minister says she's done everything to appoint EU delegated prosecutors

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Following several calls to speed up appointment of Slovenia's two delegated European prosecutors, Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič said she had done all in her power, while it was now on the government to act. The minister made comments as she visited Brussels as part of Slovenia's preparations for EU presidency. She said making the European Public Prosecutor's Office operational was of utmost importance for preventing corruption and money laundering across the EU. The minister will outline her view to European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders tomorrow.

Procedures to buy military aircraft to start this year

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Defence Committee discussed an amended national defence plan for 2018-2023 that would allow for the purchase of a tactical transport aircraft for the army, and two helicopters for the special forces. The procedure to purchase the plane will start this year and for the helicopters by 2023. Defence Ministry State Secretary Uroš Lampret said Slovenia needed its own capabilities due to deterioration in global security and the distance to NATO's international operations. Opposition Left criticised the planned purchases.

Pahor visits Astral Knight exercise

ČRNI KAL - President Borut Pahor as the commander-in-chief of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) visited SAF air defence unit members and their US counterparts who are taking part in the international exercise Astral Knight as part of the Defender Europe 2021 war games. Pahor, who was accompanied by the chief of the SAF general staff, Major General Robert Glavaš, said it was important SAF members were testing their capabilities with partners in international military exercises.

Coalition MPs file bill to raise funding of private primary schools

Ljubljana, 11 May - In a bid to have a Constitutional Court ruling implemented, coalition MPs tabled a bill to secure 100% state funding of private primary schools' obligatory curriculum and 85% of their optional programmes. Public primaries, which present a large majority, are fully funded from the state budget, while state covers only 85% of the obligatory and above-standard curricula at private primaries. The changed funding is to increase annual education spending by EUR 350,000.

Hojs discusses returning of migrants with EU counterparts

LISBON, Portugal - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs took part in a ministerial conference on migration organised by Portugal's EU presidency in Lisbon with EU ministers and ministers of several African countries sharing their experience with migration. The talks focussed on finding a solution to return migrants from the EU to African countries, said Hojs, who was one of the ministers attending the conference in person. He believes countries will likely stick to bilateral agreements.

EUSAIR strategy forum marks end of Slovenia's AII presidency

PORTOROŽ - As Slovenia is concluding its third presidency of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII), the Izola Declaration was adopted at the EUSAIR strategy forum in Portorož, underlining the European perspective of the Western Balkans. At the annual EU Strategy forum for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar also hosted a meeting of the foreign ministers of the nine AII member countries. Slovenia will pass the presidency of the AII to Albania on Wednesday.

Podgoršek presents EU presidency priorities to Kyriakides

LJUBLJANA - Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek discussed Slovenia's EU presidency priorities concerning food safety, and animals and plants with European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides via videoconference. He said Slovenia would devote utmost attention to consumer safety and food traceability. In trade agreements with third countries that concern agriculture, the minister believes the high EU standards need to be protected, especially in veterinary medicine.

Conditions met for yellow tier

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia met the conditions to move to the yellow tier of infections as the 7-day average of new coronavirus cases fell below 600, to 549, the lowest since October, and Covid-19 hospitalisations dropped to 477. This was after 491 new cases were confirmed from 3,642 PCR tests on Monday, a 45% drop from a week ago. Three Covid-19 patients died, while 131 patients require intensive care, government figures show.

Nearly half unwilling to be vaccinated, survey finds

LJUBLJANA - Three-quarters of respondents in a survey supported by the pollster Valicon and the Covid-19 tracker community are somewhat worried about the epidemic, but almost half are still unwilling to be vaccinated. The main reason for people's reluctance to be vaccinated is fear of possible side effects, as out of those who do not want to be vaccinated, more than 80% said they were "at least somewhat" concerned. The poll was conducted on 16-23 April among 1,042 participants.

Former foreign minister tipped for top job at Book Agency

LJUBLJANA - Dimitrij Rupel, a long-serving former foreign minister, is tipped for the job of the director of the Slovenian Book Agency in an interim role after none of the candidates were picked in a call for applications issued in February. "I'm in talks with the ministry, the matter is not definitive yet, a decision has not yet been taken," Rupel told the STA. The 75-year-old served four stints as foreign minister between 1990 and 2008, and he was also a university professor, the editor of several political magazines and mayor of Ljubljana.

NLB bank more than trebles Q1 net profit

LJUBLJANA - NLB, Slovenia's largest banking group, reported a net profit of EUR 64.6 million for the first quarter of the year, about 3.5-fold the figure posted in the same period a year ago. This was as EUR 15.5 million in net impairments and provisions were released. The parent bank posted EUR 39.3 million in profit, which compares to EUR 7.5 million a year ago. While virtually all subsidiaries operated at a profit, the group's results, in particular interest income, were boosted by its latest acquisition, the Serbian group Komercijalna Banka.

Erste Group also interested in NKBM, Finance reports

LJUBLJANA - The business newspaper Finance reported, citing unofficial but reliable sources, that apart from Hungarian bank OTP, Austria's Erste Group is also interested in acquiring NKBM, the second largest bank in Slovenia. While NKBM's owner Apollo, a US private equity fund, declined to confirm the report, sources in the financial industry close to Apollo confirmed that OTP, which entered Slovenia with the acquisition of SKB Bank in 2019, is not an exclusive potential buyer of NKBM. Erste Group is present in Slovenia with its Sparkasse bank and had already sought to expand its presence.

Police officer fined over unauthorised data access

LJUBLJANA - The Koper District Court has fined a Nova Gorica police officer EUR 5,000 due to unauthorised access to police data on almost two dozen persons in 2019, including the defence minister at the time, Karl Erjavec. Officer Zdenko Kabaj accessed the data while working at the Aliens Centre in Postojna. His search triggered a red-flag warning because of Erjavec's status as a protected person, prompting an internal investigation, several media reported.

Croatian journalists express solidarity with STA

ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatian journalists issued a statement to express solidarity with journalists in Slovenia, where "the public and independent press agency STA is exposed to increasing political and financial pressures". The Croatian Journalist Association (HND) and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH) are worried about the situation which forced the STA to seek "donations from citizens, who must be guaranteed the right to information".

Conference remembers 1821 Congress of Laibach

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana is hosting an online conference marking the 200th anniversary of the Congress of Ljubljana, which put what was then a small provincial town in the spotlight of European diplomacy. The congress was an attempt of the monarchical powers of the Holy Alliance to address demands for more political rights in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Ljubljana, at the time called Laibach, was chosen due to its proximity to Austria and Italy, where unrest emerged in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Michelin-starred chef to cook for Slovenia's EU presidency guests

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Distinguished Slovenian chef Tomaž Kavčič will be in charge of cuisine at all top-level events during the upcoming Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU, which makes Slovenia the first country to entrust such a job to a Michelin-starred chef. As announced by JGZ Brdo State Protocol Services, the aim of the cooperation with Kavčič is to combine first-class service, excellent staff and cuisine at the highest level. He will be in charge of the culinary programme at four locations - Villa Tartini, Strmol Castle, Villa Bled and the renovated Elegans Brdo hotel.

Rodent-borne haemorrhagic fever on the rise in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is on the rise in Slovenia as the National Institute of Public Health recorded as many as 95 cases so far this year. More than half of the cases (56) were registered in the Ljubljana area. There were only eight cases of the fever recorded in 2015, 12 cases each in 2016 and 2018, and 76 in 2017, but they peaked in 2019 at 252. The State Forests company said that the increased mice population may be due to a prolific beechnut season.

11 May 2021, 14:14 PM

Slovenian Press Agency Turns to Fundraising Campaign as Govt Continues to Withhold Funding

STA, 10 May 2021 - Some EUR 189,000 has been raised a week into what is planned to be a month-long fundraising campaign to secure funding for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), which the Association of Slovenian Journalists labelled as an exceptional start. This roughly equals the monthly compensation for the public service performed by the STA.

Launched on 3 May and called "Za obSTAnek", the campaign aims to raise two million euro via small SMS donations and from potential larger donors, as the agency has not received budget funds for its public service for four months.

The Association of Slovenian Journalists said on Monday that donors had responded to the association's call for help, launched on World Press Freedom Day, to make sure that almost 100 STA employees get paid for the work they are doing.

It said that the campaign had brought together individuals, various organisations and companies that are aware of the importance of the public service provided by the STA and that "do not accept journalism dictated by the authorities."

Despite the warnings from the domestic public and international organisations, the decision-makers are yet to fulfil their obligations required by law when it comes to financing the STA, which is why the campaign continues, the association added.

The goal is to secure an amount that equals a one-year compensation for public service to ensure stable operation, regardless of what the government does, as the agency is awaiting a court decision in an enforcement procedure and is looking for some other solutions.

"The position in which the advocates of public interest and public services have found themselves is unsustainable, as individuals and companies again finance the performance of public service instead of the state," the association added.

The details of the fundraising campaign are available at https://zaobstanek.si/.

11 May 2021, 12:21 PM

47% of Slovenes Surveyed Unwilling to Take COVID Vaccine

STA, 11 May 2021 - Three-quarters of respondents in a survey supported by the pollster Valicon and the Covid-19 tracker community are somewhat worried about the epidemic, but almost half are still unwilling to be vaccinated. The main reason for people's reluctance to be vaccinated is fear of possible side effects.

The survey was carried out by three Slovenian researchers in collaboration with a team of Polish, Hungarian and Romanian researchers. The key findings for Slovenia were published on the Covid-19 tracker's website.

Almost 37% of respondents say they will be vaccinated against Covid-19 if the vaccine is available and recommended, while 47% say they will not, and 16% are undecided.

Out of those who do not want to be vaccinated, more than 80% says this is because they are "at least somewhat" concerned about the unknown side effects of vaccines.

Almost as many think that vaccination may cause issues that may not yet have been detected, while about two-thirds believe that vaccines can cause unforeseen problems in children.

Almost two-thirds think that vaccines bring large profits to pharmaceutical companies while having no positive effects on ordinary people, and that authorities promote vaccination for profit rather than people's health.

Just over 50% agree with the claim that there is much deception related to the vaccination programmes.

Only a quarter of the vaccinated participants agree that they feel safe after the vaccination, while a third confirmed that they feel protected. Just over a third believe that vaccines will stop serious infectious diseases.

When asked to rate their vaccine preferences, over two-thirds chose the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, two-thirds chose Moderna, followed by Sputnik with 57% and J&J with 52%, while only 31% chose AstraZeneca.

Concerns about possible side-effects is a major discouraging factor for more than 80% of respondents, while over 75% are concerned about vaccine safety. For two-thirds of respondents, the main concern is that the vaccine is new and they would like to see how vaccines work in other people first.

Just over 60% of respondents said they did not trust the government to ensure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, while just over half believe that the vaccine will not work.

The data was collected between 16 and 23 April among 1,042 participants.

11 May 2021, 09:19 AM

Laibach Announce European Tour, Starting October 2021 (Videos)

STA, 10 May 2021 - Laibach have announced a new European tour called The Coming Race, which is to start at the end of October. Before that, the band is scheduled to perform at the Exit Festival in Serbia in July. Whether the festival will happen at all, given the current situation, will be known in the coming weeks.

"The organisers assure us that the festival is confirmed and advertise it as such. We will know in the next few days or weeks whether it will actually happen or whether it will be postponed again," the group said of the Exit festival in Novi Sad, which is scheduled for 8-11 July.

Laibach also announced a new European tour, The Coming Race, with the first concert planned on 29 October in Schorndorf, Germany, although they said that the real tour begins next year. The first part will be in February, the second part probably in the autumn. In the meantime, they plan to play a few more concerts and festival appearances.

The form and structure of their tour abroad are unclear, as it depends on the epidemiological situation, and the situation in the countries they plan to visit is currently similar to Slovenia. On their official website, Laibach announced concerts in Germany, Belgium, Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic until the end of February 2022.

"Concert programmes are diverse, because sometimes we perform at festivals and we generally present a festival programme there, while other times the organisers have expressed the wish for a programme with more emphasis on the diversity of our repertoire," the group explained.

The upcoming tour will feature some new material from the soundtrack album for the film Iron Sky: The Coming Race. In the coming months, Laibach also plan to release a new album with Mute Records, Wir sind das Volk. It is based on the texts of the distinguished German playwright and poet Heiner Müller, created as part of a project also named Wir sind das Volk at the Hebbel am Ufer theatre in Berlin.

"We might also mention that we have just released a documentary album We Forge The Future under the independent Austrian label GOD Records, featuring footage of our concert at Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum in 2017, which coincided with the exhibition Capital to Capital," the group added.

See all the dates and get tickets for Laibach shows here, while here are all our stories on the band

11 May 2021, 04:07 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Tuesday, 11 May 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:

Border police get help from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland

NOVO MESTO - Police officers from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland joined their Slovenian colleagues to help patrol the border with Croatia and prevent illegal migrations. The 21 officers will be deployed for at least a month and up to six months and are soon to be joined by additional officers from several European countries. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said the National Assembly's refusal to clear the deployment of soldiers played a major role in the decision to seek help in the EU.

Janša presenting EU presidency priorities in Athens

ATHENS, Greece - Prime Minister Janez Janša presented the priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency at the Delphi Economic Forum, highlighting resilience to health crises and cyber attacks, and the European way of life. " I think we have all learned a lot in the last few months and that a large majority of Europe agree we must build a Europe that will be resilient to new epidemics but also to other challenges that we have to be better prepared for, one of them being cyber security," he said. Janša also held talks with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas.

FM Logar stresses importance EU's involvement in W Balkans

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Foreign Minister Anže Logar emphasised the importance of the EU's continued engagement in Western Balkans as EU foreign ministers reaffirmed the EU membership prospects of countries in the region. He expressed regret over the standstill of the enlargement process and the negotiating frameworks for North Macedonia and Albania and voiced the hope that Portugal's EU presidency will be successful in efforts to remove any reservations about that.

Logar says Slovenia well prepared for EU presidency

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar told the commercial broadcaster POP TV Sunday that Slovenia would be well prepared to preside the Council of the EU. Asked whether Slovenia being in the spotlight of EU institutions due to the "war with the media" and issues concerning the rule of law was bad for its presidency, Logar said that "this is a matter of individual perception". He described Slovenia as a reliable partner and said the government was not encroaching on media freedom.

Vaccination rollout gathers momentum

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's vaccination rollout is expected to gather momentum as jabs became available to adults under 50 years of age, while older and more vulnerable will continue to take priority. Mass vaccination for all adults comes after a nation-wide vaccination booking app was launched last week. Data from the National Institute of Public Health show nearly half a million or nearly a quarter of Slovenia's population have received one shot and roughly half of them or 12% have been fully vaccinated.

Public told AstraZeneca supplies sufficient for 2nd jab

LJUBLJANA - After the European Commission decided not to order new Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca beyond June, Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, assured those who had already received the first dose that they would also receive the second one. She said 133,000 people had received the first dose and were waiting to get another while almost half a million doses were expected in May and June. Should that fail, they would get a mRNK vaccine.

Covid-19: 7-day average drops further as hospitalisations rise

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 147 coronavirus infections for Sunday as the 7-day average dropped further to 606. Six patients with Covid-19 died, fresh data from the government show. The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 inched back above 500 after falling just below that figure yesterday. Given more hospital discharges and a continuation of the declining trend in new infections, the country could move to the yellow tier of coronavirus restrictions in coming days.

Agreement signed to end police strike

LJUBLJANA - The Police Trade Union (PSS) and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs signed an agreement designed to end a strike that police officers started on January and suspended a month later. Under the terms of the deal, some police wages will increase, a bonus for working on the Schengen border will be reinstated, and talks on a new collective agreement for the force should start within a year. The strike will formally end once the agreement is fully implemented.

SDS and govt make gains in Delo poll

LJUBLJANA - The ruling Democratic Party (SDS) gained two percentage points in the latest Barometer poll commissioned by Delo, to poll at 17.4%, the highest since November. The voter approval rating for the government also increased slightly as the share of those who assess its work negatively dropped from 57% to 55%. The main opposition parties lost some ground, including the SocDems, who rank second at 12.2%. Almost a third of those questioned were undecided or would not vote for anyone.

EU Court candidate wants to continue successful work

LJUBLJANA - Marko Ilešič, the Slovenian judge at the Court of the EU in Luxembourg who has been nominated for another term, said he would like to continue what he deems has been successful work there. Ilešič, who has been representing Slovenia at the court since 2004, said he had decided to run again because this was an intellectual challenge for him and because he believed that he had performed the job well so far, noting that as rapporteur, he had the main say in some of the major decisions of the court, including a 2014 ruling involving Google.

EUR 189,000 raised in first week of campaign for STA

LJUBLJANA - Some EUR 189,000 has been raised a week into what is planned to be a month-long fundraising campaign to secure funding for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), which the Association of Slovenian Journalists labelled as an exceptional start. This roughly equals the monthly compensation for the public service performed by the STA. The Za obSTAnek campaign aims to raise two million euro via small SMS donations and from potential larger donors.

Exports up 18% in March year-on-year

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia exported EUR 3.5 billion worth of goods in March, 18% more than in the same month last year, when trade slowed down due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Imports were up by 20.4% to EUR 3.4 billion, with Germany being the most important partner in both directions of trade. Trade with the EU member states accounted for 68.6% of total exports and 69.8% of total imports, the Statistics Office reported.

Industry records growth in first quarter

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian industry recorded year-on-year growth in the first quarter, with the total value of industrial production increasing by 3%, turnover by 4.1% and inventories by 0.6%. In March, the value of industrial production was 1% lower than in February, while turnover was 1.2% lower. The quarterly increase was driven by manufacturing, where output rose by 3.5%, data from the Statistics Office show.

Laibach announce new European tour

LJUBLJANA - Laibach have announced a new European tour called The Coming Race, which is to start at the end of October. Before that, the band is scheduled to perform at the Exit Festival in Serbia in July. Whether the festival will happen at all, given the current situation, will be clear in the coming weeks. Laibach also plan to release a new album with Mute Records, Wir sind das Volk. It is based on the texts of the German playwright and poet Heiner Müller.

Queue jumping trial ends with acquittal

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana District Court acquitted all the defendants in a case involving queue-jumping at Slovenia's largest hospital, UKC Ljubljana. The judge said that bribery must involve a business activity, which public health service is not. The chief defendant Uroš Smiljić worked at the UKC Ljubljana warehouse at the time when he was said to be accepting bribes in exchange for faster medical treatment; he was involved in neither business nor medical activity.

10 May 2021, 13:28 PM

Postojna Cave Boss: "This Season Will Be Worse Than Last Year's."

STA, 10 May 2021 - The boss of the company operating the Postojna Cave has told the weekly Reporter he does not expect a normal flow of tourists this year due to the strict and rapidly changing restrictions in the EU member states. Speaking about "tourism cannibalism", he says Slovenia is in for a very poor season.

"Restrictions are harsh and they change on a weekly basis. This means there will largely be no normal tourist flow," said Marjan Batagelj of Postojnska Jama, the operator of one of the Slovenia's main landmarks.

In the interview with Reporter, published on Monday, Batagelj added that tourism was not bars and restaurants and their terraces, as the revenue in the sector came mostly from foreign guests.

And if there are no foreign guests in Slovenia, and if the airline industry does not get back on its feet, Slovenia is in for a very poor season. "This is not something that pleases the ear, but it is true. I will be happy if I was wrong."

Batagelj also spoke about what he labelled as "tourism soloing by countries", which implicates the beginning of "tourism cannibalism".

"Before the crisis, tourism regions were united to a certain extent at least when it came to joint promotion in remote, overseas or continental markets. Now there are no friendly tourism countries any more. Every country will bet on their domestic guests, and tourist flows will be stopped."

He noted that the situation for tourism workers had been deteriorating for one year and a half, while he is putting a lot of hope in the upcoming special emergency law for the tourism and hospitality industry.

While Batagelj commended the state aid, he was critical of tourism vouchers, as the idea would have been very good if it was intended for all stakeholders in tourism, which is "not only accommodation, overnight stay."

It is also about sights, natural and cultural heritage of Slovenia, museums, agencies, guides, transport industry, restaurant owners - everybody who serve guests, he said.

The Postojna Cave, which remains closed until the end of the epidemic is declared, last year had EUR 4 million in revenue, compared to the target of EUR 35 million. "I don't even want to mention this year's numbers, because there are no numbers."

Batagelj is worried about this year's season, as he does not think that people will start visiting the landmark now that restrictive measures are being relaxed as tourists are "shyly cautious". "This season will be worse than last year's."

10 May 2021, 12:19 PM

Vaccination Now Open to All Adults in Slovenia

STA, 10 May 2021 - Slovenia's vaccination rollout is expected to gather momentum on Monday as jabs become available to adults under 50 years of age, while older and more vulnerable will continue to take priority.

Mass vaccination for all adults comes after a nation-wide vaccination booking app was launched last week to make the rollout run more smoothly. Roughly 31,000 people registered in less than two days.

Data released by the National Institute of Public Health on Sunday show that nearly half a million or nearly a quarter of Slovenia's population have received the first Covid-19 jab with roughly half of them or 12% already fully vaccinated.

Urging people to get vaccinated for their own sake and the sake of others, Prime Minister Janez Janša said on his Twitter profile last week that enough vaccines would be secured for everyone by summer.

The goal is to fully vaccinate at least 60% of the population to achieve herd immunity. NIJZ data show the rate for both doses has only been achieved in the 80-84 age group, while 60% or more have received the first dose among those aged 70 to 79 and 85 to 89.

"In the supplies are as planned, it is possible to have 60% of the adult population vaccinated by the end of June," Mateja Logar, the government's chief Covid-19 adviser, said earlier this month.

Jelko Kacin, the national coordinator for vaccination logistics, says this month Slovenia expects deliveries of at least 450,000 doses of the four Covid-19 vaccines so far approved in the EU.

However, as the issue of supplies appears to be largely resolved, vaccine hesitancy and aversion may prove to be more of a problem.

To boost public trust in the vaccines, Health Minister Janez Poklukar received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in front of the cameras on Friday, after he got over Covid-19 in the autumn.

As vaccination is being opened to under 50s, Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, says vaccination tiers will still be observed, with those first in line to be invited to get a jab if those higher up the list do not turn up.

Taking into account those recovered, she believes herd immunity could be reached within two months.

NIJZ data show Slovenia has recorded more than 246,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, which corresponds to roughly 12% of Slovenia's population.

Where Can I Get a COVID Test or Vaccine in Slovenia?

See here for the list of testing sites, with links to your local health centre (ZD - zdravstveni dom), where you should also be able to register for a vaccination

10 May 2021, 08:00 AM

Conditions Almost Met for Slovenia to Enter Yellow Tier

STA, 9 May 2021 - Slovenia has all but met the conditions to move to tier yellow of coronavirus restrictions as hospitalisations have fallen below 500 and the 7-day average fell to 614, just 14 above the threshold.

Government data show that 289 coronavirus cases were confirmed on Saturday from 2,406 PCR tests, for a positivity rate of 12%. A total of 8,215 people were screened with rapid antigen tests.

The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 fell to 498 after 28 were discharged yesterday. 128 were in intensive case units this morning, one fewer than yesterday.

What do the different tiers mean? Find out here...

With hospitalisations below 500, the country has met one of the two conditions to move from orange to yellow tier of restrictions. The 7-day average of new cases still needs to fall below 600.

In another encouraging piece of news, data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) show the number of estimated active cases has fallen below 9,000, at 8,980.

The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents declined to 425, down six from the day before.

Slovenia has so far confirmed 246,084 coronavirus cases, according to NIJZ, while Health Ministry data show that 4,595 patients with Covid-19 have died.

According to NIJZ data, 482,035 people have received the first dose of a vaccine against Covid-19 and 251,755 have received two, which represents 23% and 12% of the population, respectively.

10 May 2021, 03:55 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Monday, 10 May 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:

Slovenia soon to have greater involvement in vaccine production

PORTO, Portugal - Prime Minister Janez Janša commented on the proposal to waive patent rights on Covid-19 vaccines by pointing to the problem of insufficient production capacities, which he said not even full liberalisation of patent rights would not solve at the moment. He noted that Slovenia is already involved in vaccine production through a company purifying vaccines. Moreover, he said "one of large Slovenian pharmaceutical companies is establishing capacities as part of the chain it belongs to. First vaccine production is to be launched as early as the end of the year."

Slovenia marks Europe Day

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry marked Europe Day drawing attention to Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU starting on 1 July, saying that "Slovenians can feel the EU and the EU Slovenia even more" this year. "We believe the European Union can offer many good solutions that member countries could not have achieved on their own and it is thus worth aspiring for its further progress," the ministry said on the occasion. Events marking Europe Day have been running in Slovenia since Monday.

Conditions for yellow Covid tier all but met

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia all but met the conditions to move to tier yellow of coronavirus restrictions as hospitalisations fell below 500 and the 7-day average fell to 614, just 14 above the threshold. Government data show that 289 coronavirus cases were confirmed yesterday from 2,406 PCR tests. The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 fell to 498 and seven patients died. According to the National Institute of Public Health, the number of estimated active cases has fallen below 9,000.

70,000 masks for EU presidency events

LJUBLJANA - While it is not yet clear how many of the 185 events planned in Slovenia during its presidency of the Council of the EU will be held in-person, the Foreign Ministry estimates it will need about 70,000 face masks for the presidency events. "We are planning the use of hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants, and of surgical and FFP2 masks," the ministry said. A mobile coronavirus testing unit will be made ready for some events, while the press centre at Brdo and shuttle services from Ljubljana will be adapted to allow precautionary measures are observed.

Minister notes role of cultural tourism in economic recovery

LJUBLJANA - Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti talked about the tourism ecosystem as a major pillar of Europe's economic recovery as he addressed an online event on cultural tourism in a post-Covid era. He said new and innovative models of sustainable tourism are linked to the culture sector and creative industries. Simoniti made the comments in his closing address to the ReDiscover Europe Workshop, an event held under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU on Europe Day.

Home of storied Ljubljana mayor turned into museum

LJUBLJANA - Villa Zlatica, the home of the famed early 20th century Ljubljana Mayor Ivan Hribar, was inaugurated as a museum and the seat of the Forum of Slavic Cultures (FSK) after undergoing an extensive renovation. The villa, situated in the leafy upscale Ljubljana borough of Rožna Dolina Vila, is featuring a permanent exhibition on Hribar (1851-1941) and the life of the Ljubljana upper class, along with temporary displays. One of those will focus on Slavic cultures and the FSK.

Fibre-optic network project launched in Goričko

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09 May 2021, 11:38 AM

Karakter Bar & Gin, Handmade in Bohinj, Get Ready for Summer

Things are finally, slowly opening up again, and one event on the horizon is the Brin Gin Festival, to be held on the 2 and 3 July (2021) in Dutovlje – although check in on Facebook to keep up with developments.

The promise of this event, along with the reopening of bars, is a good excuse to check back with one of Slovenia’s more interesting gin producers, Karakter. We first met the team behind the distillery at Brin 2019, in a long, hot afternoon of sampling food and drink. And to be honest, after your fifth or sixth gin things do tend to become something of a blur, and even a dedicated professional, armed with a pen, notebook and press card to ensure continued access to free booze may think about calling it a day and faking a report. I overcame such doubts, however, and continued my research for the sake of our readers until ending up at what I think was my last stall of the event, Karakter’s. There I heard the story of the handcrafted gin they’d been making in Bohinj, and enjoyed the revelation that is their Cherriot gin, infused with wild cherry and a charming pink, even picking up a bottle, possibly two, to continue my work home.

Juniper berries (Slo. brin), a key ingredient in gin, have a long tradition of cultivation and use in Slovenia, most famously in the spirit brinovec

Waking up the next mid-day with a sore head and surrounded by evidence of personal failings and gross indulgence, high and low, I swore off alcohol for some time, but did eventually return to that bottle of cherry gin and enjoy it. And the other day, almost two years later and with bars reopening, the summer soon upon us, I finally got around to contacting Karakter again, to find out what I’d forgotten.

Note that the following interview with Urban Bajrič – who together with Matic Bezjak and Timi Rožič is behind the various projects – was conducted under covid-secure conditions – at a distance, and with all participants disinfected with gin.

Urban, making gin

How did you get into making gin?
At first in 2016 we started homebrewing beer, and we liked playing with different aromas, flavours, infusions, etc. After brewing quite a few batches of beer we thought about setting up a business, but at that time, there were already many breweries. So we made some research and decided we would try our luck with distilling. We opened up our business in February 2018. After our first two products, which were gin, we got a chance to take over Karakter Bar, called Paviljon at that time, and we did. A year after that, we started Zanoodle, an Asian bistro in centre of Ljubljana. Now, after everything that’s happened in the last year, I think it is time for us to go back to our roots and focus on distilling and fermenting again.

What gins can people try now?

We have two gins at the moment, Imagine and Cherriot.

Imagine Dry Gin, which we used to sell under the name Karakter Gin, is a London Dry type, but not a classical juniper heavy gin, instead it’s very fruity, balanced and fresh. It’s made with 25 botanicals used in total, the traditional and red & black currant berries, along with cranberries, kaffir lime leaves, wild thyme, rose petals, mountain pine and some others we’ll keep a secret for now. On the technical side we use all three ways of preparing the botanicals, percolation, infusion, and extraction, with the distillation taking place using a 100-litre column still. We’re based in Bohinj, and we wanted this gin to reflect that, so some of the botanicals are picked locally, such as wild thyme and mountain pine. We use 8.5 kg of botanicals per 100-litre batch, and 6 kg of that are fresh berries, with this freshness making it into the gin through the slow distilling process and generous cuts, using the foreshots and tails. We’re very proud of this gin, and especially since it won a bronze medal in the New Western style gin at the Craft Spirits Berlin Awards for 2021, the world’s largest competition for handmade craft spirits.

The other gin have now is the Cherriot Infused Gin that you tried before. That’s made with a total of 17 botanicals, the traditional ones plus things like beetroot, almonds, dry pears, and raspberries. Then After distilling that’s infused with wild cherry and hibiscus flowers, As with Imagine, we get the full flavour from the botanicals by using percolation, infusion, and extraction. The result is aroma that’s like a sweet gin, although no sugar or other sweeteners are added, it’s all from the natural ingredients.

So right now we have a traditional gin, with the feeling of Bohinj, and a sweeter, cherry gin, both of which are ideal for drinking neat or with a mixer.

Lake Bohinj - not a bad place to be

You mentioned Bohinj and how it inspired your Imagine gin. What’s it like working there? work?
Bohinj is a special place, everyone knows each other and sometimes people know more about you than you do. Wherever you go you have to drive for at least 30 minutes, and whatever you do, there are a thousand eyes staring at you. Just like any small, isolated community I guess.

But if you can look past some minor setbacks, Bohinj is a fantastic place to live and work. Of course it’s easier to run a business in Ljubljana, but if I had to start the distillery again, with the knowledge I have now, I’d still choose Bohinj. I love it.

Karakter Bar, by day...

...and night

In addition to gin, you also have the Karkater Bar, Zanoodle Bistro & Shop – can you tell us something about those?

Sure, Karakter Bar (opposite Hotel Jezero - Ribčev laz v Bohinju, 4265 Bohinj Jezero) is a place to relax, enjoy a cool gin and tonic and live music on a warm summer evening. Before COVID there was a lot going on, and with any luck there will be again soon, with live concerts from Slovenian jazz, folk and pop artists, culinary events in collaboration with local chefs, along with children’s events, weekend barbecues, and so on.

ZANOODLE is a Slovenian-Asian fusion bistro in Ljubljana not far from Križanke (Rimska cesta 21, 1000 Ljubljana) with an ever-changing menu that includes everything from soups with homemade noodles, to dry aged beef, seafood, desserts and burgers.

Zanoodle outside...

...and in

Can people visit the distillery of they go to Bohinj?

We don’t offer guided distillery tours as a service, but we’re very happy to show people around the distillery when they come and buy a bottle of gin. That kind of ‘tour’ can take up to eight people, and we can walk you through the process from start to finish. The main reason people like to visit and see the distillery is because we don’t hide anything, we’re happy to explain everything about our gin and the production process. This kind of knowledge-sharing and openness is important – for us, the customers and the business. Our process and our ingredients are 100% natural, so we have nothing to hide.

How did COVID affect your work?

To be honest, a lot. We depend on bars and restaurants, and these were closed or had very strict limitations for more than eight months, and that really hit the demand for gin. That said, the situation is now improving and we’re optimistic and hope that everything can get back to normal as soon as possible, that Slovenia can enjoy the summer. When things do reopen we want to encourage people to support their local businesses in these challenging times. Every order you make at a small hospitality business – a restaurant, café or bar – makes a difference and helps them to recover, and with it the local community.

What do have planned next?

There is a brand new product coming in June 2021, with the Brin Gin Festival in July being the first official event where everyone can try it. What we can say is that we are developing experimental fruit brandies that will be available in limited quantities – coming later this year.

Where to find Brin Gin Festival

Where can people try and buy your gin?

A list of locations is available on our Instagram account (we are still working on our website to highlight locations). For a perfect gin and tonic, head to Zanoodle in Ljubljana or Karakter Bar in Bohinj. Bottle purchase is possible in many local shops in Slovenia and of course through our website, with shipping throughout Europe.

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