STA, 18 February 2021 - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting 29 house searches around Slovenia on Thursday as it is investigating an EU-funded tourism project, including at the home of former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec.

Fourteen persons and one legal entity are suspected of fraud involving EU funds and of abuse of office, while no-one has been detained, the NBI said.

The unlawful gain from the suspected crimes, which carry a prison sentence between one and eight years, is over EUR 100,000.

Pivec said in a written statement police had arrived at her home this morning investigating the Strategic Development Innovation Partnership Tourism (SRIPT) case.

She was invited to take part in the project in 2017 while serving as a state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad, and received EUR 35,000 gross for her contribution.

Auditors meanwhile questioned the amount of work she put in and even her copyright, but she has denied any wrongdoing on several occasions.

"Only a completed independent investigation will finally confirm that I did nothing unlawful as part of SRIPT," she said today.

The SRIPT project by the Chamber of Tourism and Hospitality was eligible for EUR 390,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.

In mid-2019, the Economy Ministry reported suspicion of fraud and forgery to the prosecution after going through co-funding contracts for the project.

But the ministry apparently did not file a criminal complaint against Pivec.

According to news portal Necenzurirano, criminal complaints were filed only against Klavdija Perger, a former director of the Tourism and Hospitality Chamber, Boštjan Brumen, the dean of the Brežice-based Faculty of Tourism, and against Maja Uran Maravič, a lecturer at the Turistica tourism school from Portorož.

SRIPT was designed to bring together different stakeholders in business and R&D, and boost investment in sustainable tourism development projects.

Pivec's job on it terminated a day before she became agriculture, forestry and food minister in September 2018.

She hopes that once the investigation is over, "the media lynching and unjustified allegations" against her, which she said appeared when she became DeSUS leader in January 2020 to remove her from the political scene, would finally end.

STA, 18 February 2021 - A total of 872 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Wednesday as the rolling 7-day average of new cases dropped to 768, data released by the government show. A further ten patients with Covid-19 died.

The latest case count marks a decline of 36% from Wednesday a week ago. The cases were confirmed in 4,271 PCR tests for a positivity rate of 20.4%. The count includes retested positives suggested by 24,005 rapid antigen tests.

Hospitalisations kept declining further, dropping by 29 to 619 as 61 patients were discharged and 42 were newly admitted. The number of patients in intensive care units fell by ten to 116.

To move from orange to yellow tier of coronavirus restrictions under the government plan, hospitalisations would have to fall below 500 and the 7-day average of new confirmed cases below 600.

Slovenia has so far reported 182,484 coronavirus cases with an estimated 11,234 still active, data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) shows.

According to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org, a total of 3,755 Covid-19 patients have died.

The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents is 532 and the 7-day incidence is 256, according to NIJZ. The highest incidence is in the Obalno-Kraška region, at 710 and 397, respectively.

Commenting on the situation at the daily press briefing, Bojana Beović, the government's chief Covid-19 adviser, noted that the improving epidemiological situation was the product of measures that were in force ten to 14 days ago.

The figures do not reflect the recent easing of restrictions, she said, warning that any premature or too extensive relaxation could trigger a third wave, even without an outbreak of the more virulent variants of the virus.

"All the paths are still open, the epidemic is not over yet," said the infectious diseases expert, who will take over as the head of the Medical Chamber following today's confirmation and will thus no longer head the Covid-19 advisory group.

She is particularly concerned about the South African variant, which she said was in fact a new disease. Those who have recovered from coronavirus are not immunised against this variant and likewise are the Covid-19 vaccines so far approved by the EU not effective against it.

On a positive note, she said sample analyses so far indicated the country had managed to control the UK variant. She also believes that immunity acquired through infection has a major role in curbing the epidemic, along with precautionary measures.

Get the latest data on Slovenia and coronavirus

STA, 17 February 20121 - Collection of 5,000 voter signatures in support of an only-yes-means-yes [samo ja pomeni ja] rape law got under way on Wednesday amid controversy over accessibility of one of the administrative offices in Ljubljana where verified signatures can be submitted. 

The law to redefine rape and sexual violence to use affirmative consent standard is being proposed by the NGO Inštitut 8. Marec, which has 60 days to collect the needed signatures to put the bill forward to the National Assembly.

Signatures in support of the proposal can be submitted in person at an administrative unit or using an electronic signature via e-Administration [see here].

The NGO complained that voters were unable to fill in the form at one of the Ljubljana administrative unit's offices without prior appointment this morning despite assurances by the authorities that this would be possible without appointment during office hours.

The NGO argued that such practice was tantamount to obstruction of basic democratic procedures constitutional rights, urging the relevant authorities to allow unhindered submission of voter signatures.

The Public Administration Ministry and the Ljubljana administrative unit denied the allegation of obstruction to signature registering, explaining that due to coronavirus infections a special counter for signature registration at the Linhartova unit could not be secured so voters can submit their signatures by prior appointment or wait for a free time slot.

A special window for signature registration is available in the Tobačna unit.

Provided enough signatures are collected, the National Assembly will read the proposal following the same procedure as other bills.

You can sign your name here

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Janez Poklukar gets committee nod to become new health minister

LJUBLJANA - Janez Poklukar, the director of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, was endorsed by the Health Committee as candidate for health minister. The 42-year-old doctor said that in addition to fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, his priorities would be to strengthen primary care, expand integrated care, reform financing, and improve work conditions for staff. In fighting the epidemic, vaccination would be key. The National Assembly vote is scheduled for next week.

Four doctors, sales rep sentenced to prison in healthcare corruption trial

LJUBLJANA - Four orthopaedic surgeons and a sales representative were sentenced to jail terms ranging from ten months to three years in what was the largest healthcare corruption trial in Slovenia. The Ljubljana District Court also imposed fines, while three of the doctors will also have their unlawfully gained assets seized. The verdicts are not final yet, with both the defence and the prosecution announcing appeals.

Restrictions remain unchanged

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government conducted its weekly review of coronavirus restrictions and except for some minor changes, the existing rules associated with the orange tier remain in place at last until 26 February. The decision is expected given that the benchmarks used to determine the transition from one phase of restrictions to another have not changed much in recent days. While the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital continues to gradually decline, the average daily number of new cases has been stagnant.

New coronavirus cases again to 1,000, as 12 patients die

LJUBLJANA - After the number of new coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths dropped to the lowest level in months on Monday, the number of new cases exceeded 1,000 again on Tuesday, but hospitalisation continued to drop. A total of 1,097 out of 5,115 PCR tests conducted, came back positive yesterday for a positivity rate of 21.4%. The number of patients requiring hospital treatment dropped by 43 to 648, of whom 126 needed intensive care, one fewer than the day before. 12 people died.

Actress Skrbinac files complaint over sexual harassment

LJUBLJANA - Actress Mia Skrbinac, who has publicly accused her drama teacher of sexually harassing her while she was a student, has officially filed a sexual harassment complaint to the University of Ljubljana. The alleged harasser is Matjaž Tribušon, a 58-year-old award-winning film and theatre actor, RTV Slovenija reported on Tuesday, adding that Tribušon had so far not responded to journalist calls. The Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) said Tribušon would be suspended from teaching.

Signatures collected for law redefining rape

LJUBLJANA - Collection of 5,000 voter signatures in support of an only-yes-means-yes rape law got under way on Wednesday amid controversy over accessibility of one of the administrative offices in Ljubljana where verified signatures can be submitted. The law to redefine rape and sexual violence to use affirmative consent standard is being proposed by the NGO Inštitut 8. Marec, which has 60 days to collect the needed signatures to put the bill forward to the National Assembly.

Opposition presents its proposals for recovery and resilience spending

LJUBLJANA - Four opposition parties filed a request for a plenary session to discuss Slovenia's national recovery and resilience plan, a document required to draw EUR 5.2 billion in EU recovery funds that the government has so far kept under wraps. "The government's secret model of Slovenia's development is asphalt and concrete, which will be very hard to make green let alone digital," said SocDem MP Franc Trček. The Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy sees the plenary as "an opportunity to exchange opinions about our common future" and debunk lies and manipulations concerning this document.

Fajon on no-confidence vote: Janša feels the end coming

LJUBLJANA - Opposition Social Democrats (SD) leader Tanja Fajon believes Monday's no-confidence vote against the government has shown the political reality. She said ruling Democrat (SDS) MPs not having picked up the ballots showed that they were afraid and that the 41 votes the Janez Janša government enjoys was not a beginning but the end. The 41 figure Fajon mentions refers to the fact that out of a total of only 53 ballots picked up, 47 returned valid and six invalid.

DaiBau raises fresh funds

LJUBLJANA - DaiBau, which runs portals in multiple countries where investors can link up with building contractors, has received fresh funding from the German chemical company Henkel. Henkel made the investment via its subsidiary Adhesive Technologies. The scale of the investment has not been disclosed beyond the companies saying it was a seven-figure amount. The company operates portals in Austria, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Romania.

2020 a boom year for mutual funds

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian mutual funds had a bumper 2020, as inflows exceeded payouts by almost EUR 150 million, the highest figure since 2007, according to figures by Vzajemci, a mutual funds consultancy. The number of individual investors increased by over 10,000 to 466,283 and Slovenian mutual fund managers had EUR 3,235 assets under management at the end of the year.

Taxi drivers staging protests over frequent testing requirement

LJUBLJANA - Taxi drivers have been protesting for several days against the demand that they be tested for the new coronavirus every 72 hours. They have been expressing their discontent by driving around the Ljubljana city centre, honking and closing their call centres. "The rest can do their job in line with the recommendations of the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) without tests, while for taxi service tests are required every 72 hours," said Saška Kiara Kumer from the trade union of transport and connections.

Slovenia's Dončić and Garnbret make TIME's list of rising stars

NEW YORK, US - Slovenian NBA player Luka Dončić and sport climber Janja Garnbret have made US magazine TIME's list of 100 rising stars for 2021, Time 100 Next. The 21-year-olds are featured in the Phenoms category of rising stars in sports. Garnbret was meanwhile labelled a favourite for gold at the Tokyo Olympics, where competitive climbing will make its debut. Dončić was lauded for his crazy moves and billed as a player who is set to earn many more honours.

Biathlon: Laegreid takes men's individual tile

POKLJUKA - Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid took his second gold at the Biathlon World Championships on Pokljuka, beating Germany's Arnd Peiffer and compatriot Johannes Dale in the men's individual event.

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STA, 17 February 2021 - Four orthopaedic surgeons and a salesperson were sentenced to jail terms ranging from ten months to three years on Wednesday in what is the largest healthcare corruption trial in Slovenia. The Ljubljana District Court also imposed fines on them, while three of the doctors will also have their unlawfully gained assets seized.

Darko Žafran, a former sales representative at medical supplier Emporio Medical, was found guilty of giving bribes and sentenced to a year and six months in prison.

The doctors were sentenced for receiving the bribes, Robert Janez Cirman to three years, Rok Vengust to two years and two months, Vane Antolič to a year and six months, and Samo Karl Fokter to ten months.

The scandal broke out in December 2013, when police carried out house searches at almost 60 addresses around Slovenia, finding large amounts of cash and even gold bars.

Emporio Medical was at the centre of it, suspected of bribing the doctors in exchange for continuing ordering medical supplies made by a particular producer.

Urška Jurkovič, Emporio Medical's former director and co-owner, was the main witness for the prosecution, while the defence team questioned her credibility.

Neither defendant pleaded guilty when prosecutor Iztok Krumpak offered them a plea bargain in exchange for lower sentences before the trial started in January 2020.

In his closing argument last week, Krumpak said it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt the defendants had committed the criminal acts for which they were on trial.

Judge Dejana Fekonja also handed down fines totalling around EUR 59,000, ranging from EUR 6,000 to EUR 20,000.

Cirman, Fokter and Vengust will also have the unlawfully gained assets seized - around EUR 53,000, EUR 6,000 and almost EUR 33,000, respectively.

Despite finding them guilty, the judge did not go along with the prosecution's demand to temporarily strip the doctors of their licences.

She argued that they had not committed the crime in connection with medical treatment. The prosecution plans to lodge an appeal.

The judge meanwhile said "the court is not naive to think today's verdicts will change anything in the field of corruption in Slovenia. But it should be clear that anyone will be sentenced who has been proved to have asked for, accepted or given bribes, whether a state secretary, doctor, technician or warehouse employee."

She said it had been proven the doctors had had a say in deciding what medical supplies will be used, citing the example of UKC Ljubljana's Orthopaedic Clinic's spine division, which chose Emporio Medical as a supplier on the initiative of Vengust as the head of the division.

Fekonja said the doctors had received the kickbacks in various ways: as a payment of subscription fees for medical journals, a payment of registration fee for conferences, a payment of Christmas parties, deposits on bank accounts or in cash, with Žafran a middleman between the doctors and Emporio Medical.

Žafran received the bribe money from the company's former co-owners And and Urška Jurkovič on his special bank account in Croatia to distribute it to the doctors.

The defence will also appeal the verdict, with Fokter's lawyer Janez Koščak saying "the judge did not dare take a different decision because the media have done an excellent job".

He said the verdict was not based on evidence but on drawing conclusions. He said the doctors had been sentenced on the basis of notes made at Emporio Medical on which none of them had any influence. "They were sentenced on the basis of some notes made by third persons and rather diabolic drawing of conclusions by the court."

Before the trial started last year, the judge split it into several smaller ones due to as many as eleven defendants. Today's handing down of the verdicts thus brings only the first trial to an end.

The Medical Chamber stressed today it had zero tolerance towards corruption. It said however it would comment only when the verdicts became final, referring to the presumption of innocence.

If the guilty verdicts become final after the appeals, the chamber's committee for legal and ethical matters will discuss each case and inform the public of its conclusions, the chamber told the STA.

STA, 17 February 2021 - Actress Mia Skrbinac, who has publicly accused her drama teacher of sexually harassing her while she was a student, has officially filed a sexual harassment complaint to the University of Ljubljana. The alleged harasser is Matjaž Tribušon, a 58-year-old award-winning film and theatre actor, RTV Slovenija reported on Tuesday.

Skrbinac told the public broadcaster little more than two weeks ago that her drama teacher had sexually harassed her for two years.

Tribušon, who was not named immediately, has so far not responded to journalist calls, TV Slovenija said in the evening news show.

The Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) told the STA today it had been notified of the complaint, noting that Tribušon would not be engaged in any pedagogical activities until further notice.

The academy said it had reported a suspicion of a criminal act to the state prosecution before being notified of the complaint.

According to TV Slovenija, this is not the only case of sexual harassment at the academy. NGO Inšitut 8. Marec and groups Rezistenca and Študent Prodekan have received anonymous complaints naming at least three other professors.

The AGRFT told the STA that all other complaints the academy had received were anonymous and did not contain elements that would raise suspicion of a criminal act so they had not been forwarded to the law enforcement. The persons mentioned have nevertheless been informed and the matter will be investigated by the University of Ljubljana, it added.

Skrbinac was the first public figure in Slovenia to come forward as a victim of sexual harassment since the start of the Slovenian offshoot of the #MeToo movement.

In a programme aired on the main news and the magazine show Tednik on TV Slovenija at the beginning of the month she revealed how she had been subjected to psychological and physical violence by an unnamed actor professor during acting classes and outside class between 2014 and 2016.

"He would wait for me outside the toilets, at the Drama [theatre house] bar, and elsewhere," she said. A fellow student of hers at the time, Sara Lucu, corroborated the professor's inappropriate behaviour for the programme.

STA, 16 February 2021 - The National Assembly passed in a 45:28 vote on Tuesday legislation that redraws the boundaries of multiple electoral districts in compliance with a 2018 Constitutional Court decision.

The amendments on the act governing electoral district come after the Constitutional Court found that the sizes of electoral districts had become so different over the years the "one voter, one vote" system was effectively undermined.

It gave the National Assembly two years to change legislation, but stopped short of saying exactly how that should be done.

Two possible pathways emerged in talks sponsored by President Borut Pahor, the one passed today and a rival motion that would have abolished electoral districts altogether in favour of ranked-choice voting at the level of electoral units.

The second proposal would require a two-thirds majority and consecutive attempts by mostly smaller parties failed, while the option endorsed today required just a regular majority.

This option had originally been promoted by the SDS, SMC and DeSUS while the latter was still in the coalition. Eventually, the fourth coalition partner, the NSi, also came on board.

MPs also overwhelmingly endorsed amendments to the general election act that simplify the way the two MPs representing the Italian and Hungarian minorities are elected.

The current system of reverse ranked voting will be replaced by a first-past-the-post majoritarian system.

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: 

National Assembly passes legislation redrawing electoral districts

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed legislation that redraws the boundaries of multiple electoral districts in compliance with a 2018 Constitutional Court decision. At present the difference in the number of voters between the smallest and largest district is 1:3.7; under the amendments, which change the size of 15 of Slovenia's 88 districts, the maximum difference will be 1:2.7. President Borut Pahor, who had been warning for months about the dangers of Slovenia heading to the polls without the legislation being amended, said the amendments came as a relief and would make it "much easier to take decisions concerning elections".

Daily Covid death toll at four-month low

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 740 new coronavirus cases from 4,402 PCR tests performed on Monday as five patients with Covid-19 died, the lowest daily death toll in nearly four months. Hospitalisations hit their lowest since late October at 691, including 127 in intensive care. The 7-day average of new cases rose by 57 to 879, government data show. Slovenia has so far recorded 180,507 coronavirus cases with an estimated 12,077 still active. A total of 3,733 Covid-19 patients have died.

Minister says Slovenia on pace in drafting recovery plan

BRUSSELS - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said Slovenia was in constant touch with the European Commission in drafting its recovery plan and would meet the deadline. He said he would like to see as little red tape as possible while declining to announce when the plan will be in Brussels, saying that "this is not a competition." "We would not like to see too much red tape ... that could delay implementation of such plans," he said after a session of EU finance ministers.

Bank profits after-tax down by 15% in 2020

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks saw their cumulative after-tax profit decline by 15.1% to EUR 450.3 million in 2020. Pre-tax profit fell by a fifth to EUR 472 million, but would have more than halved were it not for the one-off impact of the merger of Abanka and NKBM, a report by the central bank finds. Despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which is expected to continue to affect bank operations, the central bank said the banking system's profit was "relatively high".

Liquidity of businesses good but deteriorating, FinMin says

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The liquidity of companies in Slovenia is good, but deteriorating. The government is working on new schemes to help businesses capable of surviving the crisis, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told his counterparts from other EU countries and the Eurozone in online meetings on Monday and Tuesday. Some schemes already exist, while new ones will also be drawn up, including for the Enterprise Fund. Šircelj also noted that the government adopted last week the decision to join the European Investment Bank's Pan-European Guarantee Fund.

Analysts divided on whether govt will finish its term

LJUBLJANA - After the vote of no confidence in the government failed with the opposition falling six votes short of an outright majority, political analysts quizzed by the STA are divided as to what this means for the coalition. Columnist Rok Čakš believes the vote made the coalition more stable and would mark an end to attempts to bring down the government. Meanwhile, political blogger and podcaster Aljaž Pengov Bitenc expects more ouster motions. He is not sure the coalition is stronger.

Judge sues state secretary over leaked private Facebook post

LJUBLJANA - Urška Klakočar Zupančič, a Ljubljana Local Court judge who has lost her post after criticising Prime Minister Janez Janša in a closed Facebook group is suing Vinko Gorenak, the state secretary in the prime minister's office, who had found about the post and published it. The law firm Pirc Musar & Lemut Strle said that judge "does not accept her not having the right to think in her private life and entrust her thoughts to somebody."

Court throws out Thompson concert case

LJUBLJANA - The Administrative Court has thrown out a lawsuit by the State Attorney's Office against the state over a decision by the Interior Ministry to overrule the Maribor Administrative Unit and allow a concert by Marko Perković Thompson, a Croatian singer accused of glorifying the nationalist Ustasha movement. Going back as far as 2017, the case ultimately led to an ouster motion against Interior Minister Aleš Hojs in 2020 following the ministry's decision to allow the concert.

Top court outlaws free party advertising in local newsletters

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court annulled provisions in decrees that allowed three municipalities to issue local newsletters in which political parties and lists represented on municipal councils were able to be advertised cost free. The decision comes upon an initiative from the Court of Audit after it had reviewed the operations of a total of twelve political parties in 2014. It challenged free party advertising in the newsletters of Pivka, Moravske Toplice and Trebnje.

Court stays development permit for Mokrice project

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Native Fish Association (DPRS) announced that the Administrative Court stayed the issuance of a development permit for the planned Mokrice hydro plant on the Sava. The power producer HESS, which will operate the plant, said the procedure to acquire the permit can continue. The court decided the permit cannot be issued until its decision on whether the public interest of renewable energy prevails over the public interest of nature conservation becomes final.

Climate fund to finance combustion of sewage sludge

LJUBLJANA - The Environment Ministry proposes allocating EUR 13 million from the fund for climate change in 2021-2023 for processing of sewage sludge in mono-combustion. The ministry published a plan of financing at a website E-demokracija this week under which EUR 355 million would be spent on measures dealing with climate change until 2023, of which EUR 145.6 million would be spent this year, EUR 11.5 million next year and EUR 97.7 million in 2023.

WTA tournament returning to Portorož after ten years

LJUBLJANA - A tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) series is returning to Slovenia, as the national federation has been successful in bidding to host a US$125,000 prize money tournament for ladies in the seaside resort of Portorož between 13 and 19 September. Gregor Krušič, the head of the Slovenian Tennis Federation, told the STA that the federation had taken advantage of the coronavirus crisis to bring back the best female tennis players to Slovenia.

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STA, 11 February 2021 - The Slovenian and Hungarian police have prevented what would have been a lucrative forgery business. Suspects apprehended last year in Ljubljana had attempted to earn three million euro by selling forged manuscripts that partly featured pages of authentic medieval religious books, the General Police Department said Thursday.

The Hungarian transnational crime authorities were tipped off in the summer of 2019 that a number of persons were looking for buyers for allegedly hundreds of years old medieval books or manuscripts.

The Hungarian authorities later learned that the suspects were Hungarian as well as foreign citizens and that the alleged forgery ring sought to sell three leather manuscripts containing religious motifs that are presumed to have originated from the Middle East, the General Police Department said today.

The Slovenian and Hungarian authorities joined forces to conduct an undercover investigation in Slovenia launched by the European Investigation Order. The suspects were identified and information about their meeting with a potential foreign buyer in Ljubljana uncovered.

The arrests followed in Slovenia's capital in August last year when five suspects, two Hungarian citizens, two Slovenian citizens and a Croatian citizen, were apprehended and three items or books seized.

The authorities conducted interviews with the suspects as well as house searches. The confiscated books were handed over to the Hungarian authorities in September.

Expert analyses of the forgeries showed that the items had been made to appear as authentic as possible, including by containing individual pages of genuine religious books. Additional authentication has indicated that some pages originate from the 7th century, while others belong to the period between the 12th and 16th centuries, the police said.

The investigation and further expert analyses in Hungary are ongoing to establish the source of the confiscated artefacts. The authentic parts of the books are deemed protected cultural heritage in line with Hungary's law and international conventions.

STA, 15 February 2021 - The Slovenian military will spend nearly EUR 8.5 million on new equipment, including underwear, boots, uniforms, backpacks and sleeping bags, in the next two years, the Defence Ministry said on Monday.

The objective was to get new, more functional and lighter equipment. Some equipment has already been tested and is the best the commercial market has to offer, Colonel Anže Rode told the press on Monday.

High-tech materials will be used and camouflage patterns have been changed. Outerwear will be fire-proof, while underwear will offer a high level of protection from cuts, Veronika Vrhunc of the Defence Ministry's logistics directorate said.

Since 2015, the military has been involved in developing a new fabric, which has replaced the previously used 100% cotton. The moisture-wicking fabric is four times as wear-resistant as cotton.

Soldiers will also get new winter fatigues, new rain and winter uniforms, summer boots and moisture-wicking polo shirts. Rode underlined that the new uniforms will be 25% lighter than the old ones.

For the first time, soldiers will also get equipment for outdoor sleeping: bivouacs, summer and winter sleeping bags, sleeping mats, ponchos, tarps and gaiters, said Aleš Lebar of the logistics directorate. Ponchos and gaiters also provide IR detection protection against night-vision devices.

Rode said that Slovenian soldiers will be getting the most advanced equipment, which will provide protection and comfort in any condition for the next 10 to 15 years.