STA, 13 April 2021 - Trade unionists have come out against legislative amendments that would provide the legal basis for ride hailing platforms such as Uber arguing they often violate labour rights. Refuting the charge, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said the goal was to make transport services cheaper and more modern.

Amendments to the road transport act, which the minister expects to be passed in May, would add app-based ride services for a pre-agreed price to taximeter-based taxi services.

Saška Kiara Kumer, secretary-general of the Trade Union of Transport and Communications Workers, said that ride hailing platforms had proved exceptionally bad for employees.

Addressing reporters on Tuesday, she noted that Uber has many legal disputes open with workers and has lost some of them. "In places where it has been welcomed under its terms, precarisation increased and the safety of rides decreased."

"We're not changing any existing rules with the bill. All drivers, regardless of whether they use a taximeter or an app, will need to have an employment relationship under the valid labour law with all the permits, which vitally excludes undeclared work," Minister Vrtovec said in response to the unionist press conference.

Kumer urged the proposal be withdrawn and submitted for inter-departmental adjustments, arguing the Labour Ministry had not been involved and the bill should have been debated by the Economic and Social Council, an industrial relations forum.

Commenting on that, Vrtovec said the Economic and Social Council had been acquainted with the bill and had backed it by two votes to one. The government and employers voted in favour.

"Some people in this country are for preserving monopolies, they're willing to do everything in their power to keep them, from closing down streets, to making threats, insults, shouting in meetings when we want to talk," said the minister, denouncing the conduct as unacceptable and deplorable.

Taxi drivers are sole proprietors and are using their own cars and leasing costly services from dispatch centres, the minister said, adding: "Under this law the rules will be the same for all."

However, the union disagreed with the claim of a monopoly in the taxi services market. Kumer said even now most drivers barely made ends meet, and if they worked for Uber they would earn even less.

The taxi union's shop steward Petra Krištof said Uber drivers had to pay a much higher cut of the revenue to the platform than Slovenian taxi drivers paid to dispatch centres for linking them with the clients.

Tea Jarc of the youth Trade Union argued the bill would only reduce labour standards and expand the room for precarious work forms. She said Uber was violating worker rights because it does not recognise drivers as employees, and was undermining transport and workplace security standards.

She also noted the issue of vulnerability of Uber's databases on drivers and clients.

Meanwhile, Vrtovec cited an opinion poll by Valicon in which 52% of those questioned said taxi services were often overcharged. "Even more, as many as 57% agree with the claim that foreigners and tourists are often charged higher fares and 40% believe the drivers take the long way."

He said the ministry wanted to lend an ear to the citizens. "We were appointed to improve services. That's also why we took on the changes to the legislation that has a long history."

The minister said the amendments were not drawn up for Uber alone. "Why we're talking only about this provider. We can talk about apps that can also be developed by the Slovenian market. The main thing is that Slovenian labour law is respected and that taxes are paid in Slovenia," he said.

The amendments are to be debated on the relevant parliamentary committee in May, after which they will be put to a vote at the plenary session, expectedly the same month, Vrtovec said, adding that from the end of May on the door would be open to a better system of rides.

STA, 13 April 2021 - The Locked Shields 21 cyber defence and strategic decision-making exercise will start on Tuesday [13 April] in 30 countries, including Slovenia for the first time. The largest and most complex international exercise in the field will in Slovenia also include representatives of businesses.

Organised by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) annually since 2010, the exercise will see Slovenia participate for the first time as the country became a CCDCOE member last year.

Taking place until Friday, it will feature over 2,000 experts in cyber security, strategic decision-making and strategic communication, Viktor Sterle of the Defence Ministry's IT and communications office announced at a press conference.

Sterle added that it would enable countries to be tested in a realistic and safe environment, and improve their capabilities of defence of national information systems and critical infrastructure against cyber attacks.

The first, technical and competitive part of the exercise will feature red teams from excellence centres acting against blue teams comprising the participating countries.

The latter will play the role of national groups for rapid response to cybersecurity events and help a fictitious country solve complex cybersecurity incidents.

The blue teams will be assessed and classified at the end of the exercise. In addition to the Slovenian, it will feature another 21 blue teams from various countries, with 40 experts in each term on average, Sterle said.

In the second part of the exercise, the process of recognition, coordination and decision-making will be tested in simulated cases of complex cybersecurity incidents in accordance with the relevant national legislation.

According to Sterle, the scenario is based on real cybersecurity events, and the exercise environment will feature around 5,000 virtualised systems that will be exposed to more than 4,000 attacks.

He noted that, as the Covid-19 epidemic had made society even more dependent on ICT and virtual services, effective cooperation between the public and private sector had become a must in creating a safe cyberspace.

The Slovenian blue team will thus feature experts from companies associated in the cybersecurity section of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), and experts from the state and public administration.

Gregor Spagnolo, the head of the section and leader of the Slovenian team, welcomed the public-private partnership, and noted that this was the first time intensive cooperation in cybersecurity took place at such a high level in Slovenia.

More details here

STA, 13 April 2021 - The Slovenian aircraft producer Pipistrel has entered a partnership with a Chinese logistics company to develop a large uncrewed commercial aircraft that will be able to carry more than 300 kg of cargo to the distance of 500 kilometres and altitude of 6,000 m.

The aircraft is commissioned by SF Express, and its Munich-based subsidiary Amazilia Aerospace will develop an advanced digital system for the innovative cargo aircraft designed and manufactured by Pipistrel.

Announcing the deal, the Ajdovščina-based company said that the Chinese partner intends to use the aircraft mostly for cargo transportation to remote and hard-to-access locations.

It will be able to carry cargo with a volume of up to 2.3 m3. Vertical take-off and landing will be possible up to an altitude of 2,500 metres.

The unmanned commercial aircraft will be equipped with eight propulsion systems for vertical take-off powered by Pipistrel's E-811 electric motors with high-performance batteries.

It will be able to continue to fly even if two of the eight motors fail, the company said, adding that design and production of the prototype components would take place in Pipistrel facilities.

It is believed that uncrewed aerial vehicles will become the main means of transportation in China, as SF Express alone will need more than a thousand of such aircraft in the next ten years.

On the occasion, Pipistrel director Ivo Boscarol said that "one of the largest logistics companies in the world picking Pipistrel ... is a great acknowledgment to its know-how and achievements in more than a decade of work in electric aviation".

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: 

Many turning down AstraZeneca jab

MARIBOR/LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest two vaccination centres witnessed massive cancellations by those due to get an AstraZeneca jab last week. Half of those invited turned down the jab in Maribor and a third in Ljubljana, the local community health centres said. Bojana Beović, the head of the national immunisation advisory commission, expressed surprise considering the vaccine involves no risk for the age group in principle. She said GPs should talk to their patients to better explain the risks and benefits involved. Under the valid national vaccination strategy, AstraZeneca is currently administered to over 60-year-olds. Beović said that as far as she knew everyone over 60 who had wished so had been vaccinated, so the rollout could move down to the next priority tier.

Nearly 1,050 test positive for coronavirus on Monday, four people die

LJUBLJANA - The coronavirus test positivity rate for Slovenia rose again, reaching 22.9%, as 1,049 people tested positive for the coronavirus in 4,588 PCR tests performed on Monday. The rolling seven-day average of new daily cases rose from 903 on Sunday to 1,014, while the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people dropped slightly from 653.8 to 652.5. The number of people requiring hospital care dropped from 636 the day before to 617, while 146 people, four more, required intensive therapy. 79 people were discharged from hospital. Four people died of Covid-19.

Self-testing to begin at secondary schools on Friday

LJUBLJANA - Voluntary self-testing of secondary school pupils for coronavirus will be launched on Friday, while year six to nine primary school pupils will start to self test after May Day holidays, Health Ministry State Secretary Franc Vindišar announced. He added that self-testing would be preformed in schools ahead of classes and will take about 15 minutes. After Friday, it will be repeated every Monday.

Opposition, coalition MPs on opposite banks over PPE procurement

LJUBLJANA - Parliament debated the Court of Audit's recent findings about the efficiency of personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement during the Covid-19 epidemic last spring. Centre-left opposition MPs insisted there had been serious problems with the purchases, coalition MPs saw today's plenary as a mere show for the public. The session ended without a conclusion as a set of recommendations drafted by the LMŠ, SD, Left and SAB on the basis of the report had been voted down at committee.

Opposition wants debate on W Balkans

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Social Democrats (SD) requested a session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee to quiz Prime Minister Janez Janša and President Borut Pahor about media reports concerning an alleged non paper on the potential redrawing of borders in the Western Balkans. SD deputy Matjaž Nemec said both Janša and Pahor would get the chance to explain their views to MPs. He said the wish was to verify whether Slovenia's positions regarding the Western Balkans had changed.

Logar discusses geopolitics at international conference

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar noted the significance of enhanced cooperation between the EU and the US in the changed international and security environment, as he attended on Tuesday an online international conference called the Raisina Dialogue. Logar underscored the key importance of enhanced cooperation between the EU and the US in the changed international and security environment. Speaking about the EU-China relationship, the minister noted the imbalanced Slovenia-China trade. He said China's recently imposing sanctions against EU citizens was a bad decision that could affect European debates on the EU-China investment agreement.

Trade union challenging decision to abolish crisis bonus for private sector

LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Craft and Small Business said it would file for constitutional review of the 7th package of legislative measures for mitigating the impact of the epidemic, arguing that employees in the private sector could have received a bonus for being exposed to a potential infection but the Health Ministry moved to prevent this. This comes after the representatives of 145,000 workers in the sector asked the Labour Ministry about private sector workers' eligibility for the bonus.

EU Commission launches investigation of Trimo takeover

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Slovenian maker of prefabricated construction elements Trimo by the Irish Kingspan Group. It is concerned that the transaction may reduce competition and lead to price increases. "Together, Kingspan and Trimo would be by far the largest player in Europe and the main supplier of high quality mineral fibre sandwich panels," Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said.

Pipistrel developing unmanned commercial aircraft for Chinese market

AJDOVŠČINA - The Slovenian aircraft producer Pipistrel has entered a partnership with a Chinese logistics company to develop a large uncrewed commercial aircraft that will be able to carry more than 300 kg of cargo to the distance of 500 kilometres and altitude of 6,000 metres. The aircraft is commissioned by SF Express, and its Munich-based subsidiary Amazilia Aerospace will develop an advanced digital system for the innovative cargo aircraft designed and manufactured by Pipistrel.

Unions oppose bill opening door to Uber as minister argues in favour

LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Transport and Communications Workers has came out against legislative amendments that would provide the legal basis for ride hailing platforms such as Uber. They argue the platform had proved to be bad for employees and drove precarious forms of employment. Refuting the charge, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said the goal was to make transport services cheaper and more modern. He said all drivers, regardless of whether they use a taximeter or an app, will need to have an employment relationship under the valid labour law with all the permits.

Award-winning director Aleš Verbič dies

LJUBLJANA - Award-winning director Aleš Verbič, who is perhaps best known for the horror Morana, Slovenia's candidate for Oscar nomination in 1994, has died aged 61, the news portal MMC reported. He is also known for his short Nekoč je bilo (Once Upon a Time, 1988) was nominated for the Golden Bear for best short film at the 1990 Berlinale. Verbič, who studied film directing at the Ljubljana Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, received the Prešeren Prize for students when he graduated in 1987.

Van driver arrested for smuggling 33 migrants

VRHNIKA - A 22-year-old Slovenian citizen from Kranj has been apprehended after being caught out carrying 33 Pakistani migrants in a van on Monday, the Ljubljana Police Department has said. Police pulled the van over on the A1 motorway near Vrhnika just south-west of Ljubljana on Monday afternoon, as it was driving in the direction of Koper. On inspecting the vehicle, they found 33 citizens of Pakistan on board. The migrants had crossed the border illegally.

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STA, 13 April 2021 - The Finance Ministry has drafted a proposal to lower VAT on women's sanitary products from 22% to 9.5%, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said on Tuesday answering a question from an MP.

In her initiative, Bojana Muršič of the opposition Social Democrats (SD) says women's sanitary products in Slovenia are subject to the highest of the two VAT rates, while some other hygiene products for general use, such as cotton wool, gauze or nappies, are taxed at 9.5%.

She thus proposed a change to VAT implementation regulations to place women sanitary products among other hygiene products, as EU VAT rules allow for that.

Last month the opposition Left filed to parliament a bill to lower VAT on women's sanitary products to 5%, with the SD's youth and women's wings also supporting the idea.

The initiatives come after some EU member states have already reduced or are planning to reduce what is nicknamed the "tampon tax".

STA, 13 April 2021 - Voluntary self-testing of secondary school pupils for coronavirus will be launched on Friday, while year six to nine primary school pupils will start to self-test after May Day holidays, a Health Ministry official has announced.

Addressing Tuesday's Covid-19 press briefing, State Secretary Franc Vindišar said self-testing would be performed in schools ahead of classes and will take about 15 minutes. After Friday, it will be repeated every Monday.

If the pupil tests positive, he or she will be isolated and the school will inform their parents, who will contact the pupil's GP to arrange for a PCR test. The pupil's classmates who have tested negative will have classes at school.

If the positive student gets back a negative PCR test, they will return to school. If the test is positive, the student will stay at home, while the classmates will attend classes in school.

Vindišar said self-testing was voluntary and underage pupils will need the parents' consent to self test. However, he said it was possible those pupils who would not self-test would have classes remotely.

Pupil screening is aimed at creating a safe school environment, detect infections on time and thus prevent their spread. Research has shown that regular rapid testing reduces infections by half.

The tests, which are on their way to Slovenia, are easy to use, said Vindišar. The student will insert the swab about 2 to 2.5 centimetres into their nose. The Health Ministry has prepared a video and a poster with instructions, which will be sent to schools, as well as set up a helpline.

Despite self-testing, all preventive measures will remain in place and classes will continue to be held in bubbles.

Vindišar underscored that self-testing was intended for healthy pupils without Covid-19 symptoms. Anyone displaying those should stay at home and contact their GP.

Self-testing has been cleared by the National Medicine Ethics Commission, which has noted that the testing is simple, non-invasive and effective.

The entire population of secondary school pupils, about 80,000 could have been tested on Monday after the half attending school in person this week could get self-tested on Friday. However, initial inquiries suggest only about 20% of pupils are ready to get self-tested.

The ministry is planning to expand self-testing to other groups in education who have expressed their interest. Talks are under way with student organisation representatives so that students could start self-testing as early as May.

Marko Pokorn, the medical director of the Ljubljana Paediatric Clinic, welcomed self-testing in the efforts to allow pupils to return to schools, which he said was vital considering the emotional distress they are witnessing in children and youths.

Since 19 November the clinic has screened over 5,200 children and those accompanying them with rapid antigen tests, 43 of whom tested positive. On checking the positives with PCR tests about half returned positive.

The test that will be used for self-testing at schools has been checked by the Paediatric Clinic and Pokorn said it was safe and could be performed correctly by a six-year-old when supervised.

STA, 13 April 2021 - Slovenia's largest two vaccination centres witnessed massive cancellations by those due to get an AstraZeneca jab last week. Half of those invited turned down the jab in Maribor and a third in Ljubljana.

Under the valid national vaccination strategy, AstraZeneca is being currently administered to over 60-year-olds, while the national immunisation advisory body has approved the vaccine for use on everyone over 18.

The Maribor Community Health Centre has been inviting 60-65s to be inoculated with the jab.

However, the centre's director, Jernej Završnik said they had been noticing people having second thoughts. If someone refuses a particular jab, or does not respond to the invitation, "we call the next one on the list".

Half the people invited to get the jab turned it down, while in case of the other two available vaccines about 10% are turned down, Završnik told the STA on Monday.

So far, the Maribor centre vaccinated 10,400 people with the AstraZeneca jab. In all they had inoculated 41,200 with the first dose and 11,230 with both doses. They expect they will have inoculated all over 60s this week.

Meanwhile, the Ljubljana Community Health Centre saw 1,646 of the 5,040 appointed (33%) to get vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab fail to appear for their appointment last week. Those due to get other vaccines all turned up.

In case of cancellations, the centre has reserve lists of persons in the target group planned for immunisation. "If we are vaccinating over the 60s, over 60s are entered on the reserve list as well," the centre said.

Health Ministry State Secretary Franc Vindišar told reporters on Tuesday that those who turn down a certain vaccine are placed on the bottom of the waiting list, which means their turn will come once there is enough of the desired vaccine available.

"All the vaccines that have been endorsed by the European Medicines Agency are safe and effective," the official underscored.

Last week, the EU medicines regulator said that unusual blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but also said the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.

Bojana Beović, the head of the national immunisation advisory commission, expressed surprise at the vaccine being turned down by the over 60s, considering the vaccine involves no risk for the age group on principle.

"It's the cohort where the risk of the vaccine is minimal compared with the risk of the disease. In the past week or ten days everyone who died from Covid-19, that is about ten people, were in fact over 60 years of age, except individual exceptions," she said.

She believes GPs should talk to their patients to better explain the risks and benefits involved.

The advisory group's decision that the vaccine can be used for all age groups of adults as approved by the EMA means that those who have received the first dose of the vaccine, that is teachers, will get the same jab again.

Beović said that as far as she knew everyone over 60 who had wished so had been vaccinated, so the vaccination rollout could move down to the next priority tier.

Data from the National Institute of Public Health show 101,027 people have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 218 have received two at the national level. In all, 334,706 have been inoculated with the first dose and 122,185 are fully vaccinated.

STA, 12 April 2021 - The Covid-19 vaccination task force at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) has decided the AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered to everyone over 18 years old without any restrictions, a member of the group Alojz Ihan told commercial broadcaster POP TV on Monday. The head of the group, Bojana Beović, confirmed this for the STA.

According to Beović, the AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered to people over 18 years old in line with the priority groups from the vaccination strategy.

"We've decided to vaccinate without age restrictions given that EMA had reviewed documents finding no connection to either age or gender, meaning there is no reason to restrict the vaccination to a certain group of population," Ihan explained.

In line with the vaccination strategy, people over 60 years old remain the priority.

Ihan warned that the virus was spreading in the country, and that the deliberation on the AstraZeneca vaccine had caused delays in the vaccination.

There are currently 16,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the NIJZ's central warehouse.

"Given that the risk is high for all age groups in the current epidemiological situation, if there will be leftover vaccine, it will have to be offered to those who want to be vaccinated. Thus, younger people too will be able to get vaccinated," said Ihan.

The supply of the vaccine will increase in this and the next quarter, especially Pfizer, the national coordinator for vaccination logistics, Jelko Kacin, told POP TV. The Janssen vaccine is also coming.

"By the end of this quarter we will have 250,000 shots of Janssen, which means 250,000 vaccinated people, while the monthly supply of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine in this period, early summer, will rise to almost 300,000 shots a month," Kacin told POP TV, adding that everyone who would want to be vaccinated should get the shot by July.

STA, 12 April 2021 - The European Parliament's democracy monitoring group has addressed almost fifty written questions to the Slovenian government, Prime Minister Janez Janša and Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti, as it is trying to fully assess media freedom in Slovenia.

The follow-up questions were sent out on 31 March after the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group met to discuss the media situation in the country on 26 March.

At the time Janša and Simoniti were expected to present their views virtually, but the group's head Sophie in 't Veld declined to allow Janša to first show a video.

As a result, he declined to take part, accusing the Dutch MEP of censorship, while the group also failed to establish a video link with Simoniti, whose ministry is in charge of media policy.

In 't Veld then announced dialogue would continue, including with the written questionnaire and the group studying the material it had received from Slovenian stakeholders, including Janša's video.

The questions concern a range of topics from media freedom, the judiciary and coronavirus restrictions to NGO funding, and staffing.

The MEPs are particularly interested in the proposed media reform, especially in relation to public outlets RTV Slovenija and STA, and the extent of hate speech.

Some questions concern Janša's attitude towards the media, including his last year's vlog War with the Media and labelling two journalists prostitutes.

The MEPs would also like to know more about Hungarian foundation KESMA's alleged ownership stakes in Janša's SDS party's media outlets, and STA funding suspension.

Some questions are about Slovenia's upcoming EU presidency, with MEPs inquiring how Slovenia would act regarding the "Article 7" procedure against Hungary and Poland.

The questions come from MEPs from the groupings of the S&D, Renew and Greens, while only one questions comes from the EPP, to which Janša's SDS is affiliated.

They are available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/231681/DFRMG 31.03.2021 - Follow-up questions to SL authorities.pdf

The group monitoring the media situation in Slovenia is part of the Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).

It has so far met twice, on 5 and 26 March, to discuss it with several Slovenian stakeholders, who presented their takes on the situation.

Janša said on Twitter today that the group "has no authority to question anyone". "We attended the debate on the matter voluntarily and we expect censor Sophie in 't Veld to translate to members the video we have sent."

He referred to the video about attacks on media and journalists which he insisted should be screened as part of the debate on 26 March, whereas in 't Veld refused to allow that. She did say, however, the video could be shown at the end of the debate. Janša responded by accusing her of censorship.

The prime minister's office later said that Janša and Simoniti would forward responses to the group's questions after the video was screened at a public session of the Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Other stories on media freedom in Slovenia

STA, 12 April 2021 - Ljubljana, 12 April - Slovenian Press Agency (STA) director Bojan Veselinovič has told the government he is granting it access to all books of account and documents, even though the STA has never received a formal request to that effect. He said the government should say, in writing, who will access the documents on its behalf and in what way.

In an open letter sent on Monday, Veselinovič says he is doing that despite the government having never formally transferred its shareholder rights to any government agency or body, which he has said in the past is a prerequisite under Slovenian corporate law to grant access to anyone except the government as such, including the Government Communication Office (UKOM).

Veselinovič acknowledged that the move may be construed as "legally incorrect" but "I have opted for this step having struggled between consistent respect for a clearly defined legal framework which governs the information rights of shareholders, and a repeal of the vapid excuse by the government side which leads to the financial starvation of the STA and jeopardises the social security of the employees."

He also reiterated that the STA has not received the public service fee for this year, even though that obligation is set down in the seventh anti-corona law, which stipulates that it is entitled to the payment regardless of whether a public service agreement with the government has been concluded or not.

Moreover, he said the government has refused to sign a public service agreement even though it had been urged to do so, and he rejected the recent claim by the prime minister's chief-of-staff, Peter Šuhel, that he had been invited twice to sign a public service agreement but refused to.

Noting that the independent auditor has highlighted risks to liquidity in its report on the STA's financial operations, Veselinovič said that "it is the duty of the government as the representative of the founder to honour its legal obligations and prevent the collapse of the STA."

The government said in a tweet that UKOM had called on Veselinovič to sing a new contract on 24 February and 29 March. It also published the two letters, which call on Veselinovič to "clearly say whether he acknowledges UKOM as a representative of the founder so that we can prepare a new contract and also forward all the documents that had been demanded".

The question whether the government would respond to Veselinovič's latest call was left unanswered. UKOM merely said that Veselinovič had not forwarded the requested documents until today.

The STA's supervisory board called on the government at the end of March to meet its legal obligations to the agency, which had been performing the public service of informing the public under the STA act and had been recording very good business results so far.

The board also said that all documents and data were always available to the government as the only STA shareholder.

The head of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) and deputy prime minister, Zdravko Počivalšek, said on Twitter Veselinovič had made the right move today "albeit a bit late". "The STA is an important state institution, so it is essential that this dispute be solved as soon as possible," he said.

The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) did not respond to Veselinovič's call but pointed to a recent letter by the NSi head and deputy prime minister, Matej Tonin, urging Veselinovič to immediately forward the requested documents to UKOM. Tonin also assessed at the time that the relationship between Veselinovič, the government and UKOM had deteriorated so much in the last months that the STA director should offer his resignation for the benefit of the agency.