STA, 21 June 2022 - The 70th Ljubljana Festival, one of the most high-profile festivals in the country, will open in Congress Square with tonight's tribute to the Slovenian poets who have contributed lyrics for some of the most memorable Slovenian pop songs, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Summer Night concert coincides with the 60th anniversary of Slovenian Pop Song, a festival that has produced some of the best Slovenian Golden Oldies.

Twenty-three songs will be sung by 13 singers, including Lado Leskovar, 80, who won his first award at the Slovenian Pop Song festival in 1963 with Malokdaj Se Srečava (We Rarely Meet).

The singers will be accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra and the Big Band of RTV Slovenija under the baton of conductor Patrik Greblo.

The concert is dedicated to acclaimed poets, such as Gregor Strniša, Miroslav Košuta, Svetlana Makarovič, Frane Milčinski Ježk, Ciril Zlobec, Milan Dekleva, Milan Jesih, Elza Buda and Dušan Velkaverh.

The concert goers will get a chance to hear V Ljubljano (To Ljubljana), a song Marjana Deržaj (1936-2005) sang in 1965 whose lyrics were penned by Makarovič.

Another classic, Leti Leti Lastovka (Fly Fly Swallow), will also be sung; the 1973 song was originally sung by Edvin Fliser with lyrics written by Strniša (1930-1987).

The Ljubljana Festival brings over 80 classical music concerts, opera and ballet performances until 8 September, when it closes with a Vienna Philharmonic concert.

One of the highlights will be Verdi's Requiem, as well as concerts by established sopranos and tenors, including Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov and Placido Domingo.

The London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will also give a concert, while US actor John Malkovich will play the theatre piece The Music Critic.

Orchestras from more far-away countries will also be featured, including the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, and as practically every year, Slovenian singer Vlado Kreslin will give a concert, and so will the band Laibach.

See all the details at the official website

STA, 21 June 2022 - The regions of Štajerska and Koroška in north-eastern Slovenia were hit by a violent storm on Monday evening that uprooted many trees, uncovered roofs and damaged other infrastructure, the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief has reported.

The largest number of firefighter interventions were needed in the municipality of Maribor, where according to the fire brigade commander Primož Osojnik they were mostly removing fallen trees, but also temporarily repairing roofs and removing light debris.

"Luckily there was no hail or flooding, but there was a violent storm that knocked down trees and uncovers roofs," he told the STA.

However, hail did hit some other parts, including the Koroška region in the north, where trees were toppled and roads and some buildings flooded in the Dravograd municipality. A school was meanwhile flooded in the Prevalje municipality.

In Šmartno pri Slovenj Gradcu, the wind peeled off around 50 square metres of a church roof and broke off the cross from the bell tower, which led to a local road closure.

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This summary is provided by the STA:

Fajon presents proposal on Bosnia's EU candidate status to EU counterparts

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Slovenia's proposal that the EU should grant Bosnia EU candidate status as soon as possible received a great deal of support and, above all, a great deal of understanding at today's meeting of EU foreign ministers, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said after she outlined it to her counterparts at a session of the Foreign Affairs Council. Some met it with approval while it took others by surprise, she said adding "it's important to send a political signal that Slovenia is promoting the enlargement process in the region and that it will not forget these countries", while it also strongly support awarding the candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Pahor urges support for Bosnia's EU candidate status

RIGA, Latvia - President Borut Pahor urged the leaders of Three Seas EU countries to endorse Slovenia's proposal at the EU summit later this week to give Bosnia the status of EU candidate country, as he addressed the summit of the Three Seas initiative in Latvia. He reiterated the importance of the EU's prompt expansion to the Western Balkans, saying he is convinced the candidate status will strengthen the pro-European forces in Bosnia and accelerate the pace with which the country adjusts to EU standards. Some leaders explicitly supported Slovenia's proposal, while nobody openly disagreed with it, which gives hope the necessary consensus could be reached for the EU summit to endorse it.

PM outraged at fuel shortages, economy minister assures country has enough fuel

LJUBLJANA - As drivers rushed to service stations in anticipation of Tuesday's price hike, which resulted in many service stations running out of fuel, Economy Minister Matjaž Han assured the public the country has sufficient reserves of fuel. He attributed the problem to logistics, but said market inspectors are on the ground examining whether fuel retailers might not comply with the rules. PM Rober Golob, on the other hand, finds the situation scandalous, saying the retailers should have foreseen the rise in demand and prepare for it. Energy company Petrol chairman Nada Drobne Popovič denied the shortages were created by fuel retailers to profit from higher prices on Tuesday. If the current level of demand continues, shortages could not be eliminated before Friday or even later, she said, explaining that all available fuel trucks have been working since Wednesday.

Petrol prices to rise more than 10% on Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - The prices of regular petrol and diesel at pumps outside motorways will rise by nearly 20 cents a litre on Tuesday. Regular petrol will cost EUR 1.755 a litre, up from EUR 1.56, while diesel will cost EUR 1.848 a litre, compared to EUR 1.668 at the moment. The new prices will remain in place until 4 July when they are adjusted again. Fuel prices in Slovenia have been unchanged since May 11, when the previous government capped them amid rapidly growing energy prices. Last week, the new government reintroduced for a year as of 21 June a system of price margin regulation at service stations outside the motorway network, while completely liberalising the prices along motorways.

RTV Slovenija staff on strike urge decision-makers to protect broadcaster against political interference

LJUBLJANA - RTV Slovenija journalists continued the strike they first staged on 23 May, ending the day with a rally protesting against political interference and calling on decision-makers to act. The public broadcaster's heads meanwhile ordered that news shows be radically short or cancelled today, a move the staff see as an attempt to undermine the strike. The strike committee said RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough and TV news programme editor-in-chief Jadranka Rebernik "have interfered gravely with our strike", adding that this was a criminal offence. The programme council was to discuss the director general's plan to severely cut the international network of correspondents, which the staff and journalist organisations oppose, but rescheduled the session to tomorrow.

Ministry concerned about RTV, announces legislative changes

LJUBLJANA - As the in-house trade unions at RTV Slovenija went on strike at 2pm after talks on their demands following the 23 May strike brought no progress, the Culture Ministry expressed concern over the situation at the public broadcaster. Minister Asta Vrečko announced legislative changes to give more decision-making power in the broadcaster's bodies to the civil society and staff rather than politics. She also said the ministry supported the strike, noting the announcement of the abolition of the international network of correspondents was cause for concern.

NLB bank well prepared for turbulent times, chairman says

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest bank NLB is in excellent shape and well prepared for turbulent times ahead, chairman of the board Blaž Brodnjak said after today's shareholder meeting. He is also not concerned by the tightening of monetary policy in the eurozone. When necessary, households and companies will be assisted, he announced. "If companies should have liquidity problems, we will know how to approach and restructure them. And we will try to do the same for households if they have difficulties in paying out their loans." As for possible acquisitions, he said nothing concrete was on the table, but estimates that opportunities will arise in several markets in the region.

SAB endorses merger with Freedom Movement

LJUBLJANA - The membership of the non-parliamentary Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) endorsed the party's merger with the ruling Freedom Movement as they cast their votes during a 13-15 June congress that was held remotely. 91.5% of the members that attended the congress voted for the merger, the SAB said. The ongoing consolidation of the liberal block includes another non-parliamentary party, the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), which has already endorsed the merger. The Freedom Movement will now hold a congress to endorse the consolidation with the two parties.

Slovenia still attractive to German investors despite challenges

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia remains attractive for German companies, mainly due to its geostrategic location and skilled workforce, shows this year's survey of German chambers of commerce in 15 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, criticism is levelled at Slovenia's rigid labour legislation and high labour costs. the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce's president Dagmar von Bohnstein said the economic impact of the Covid pandemic and Russia's attack on Ukraine have reduced the expected growth rate for this year to 3.9%, but 68% of German companies in Slovenia are still satisfied with the economic situation and consider it good.

Coronavirus infections up over the weekend

LJUBLJANA - A total of 325 new coronavirus infections were confirmed in Slovenia over the weekend, which is a 56% weekly increase. No Covid patient has died since Friday, the Health Ministry said. Latest reports from hospitals show that 36 Covid patients were at regular Covid wards and five in intensive care during the weekend. The 7-day average case count is at 398 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 of the population at 227.

Expert: Covid cases higher than test numbers

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has seen an increase in the number of coronavirus cases recently, yet the official figures have remained relatively low, with only 325 new infections confirmed over the weekend, but infectologist Mateja Logar said the actual number of infections is likely three to four times higher. Logar, who used to head a government-appointed task force for coping with the pandemic, said this was due to scaled-back testing and advises easier access to testing.

Govt and public sector unions set agenda, priorities for pay talks

LJUBLJANA - The government and public sector trade unions met to start pay talks, which both sides would like to end as soon as possible, expectedly in the autumn. The meeting set the format of talks and priorities, said Public Administration Minister Sanja Ajanović Hovnik, head of the government's negotiating team. The unions want a prompt agreement on holiday allowance and on the value of individual pay brackets. The other two issues are extremely low wages at the bottom third of the pay scale and disrupted wage ratios between various professions after some sector secured pay rises. The talks will start in earnest in early July.

World Refugee Day marked by calls for appropriate migration policy, inclusion

LJUBLJANA - Officials dealing with refugee issues in Slovenia called for safe migration policies and inclusion of migrants on World Refugee Day, observed today. Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar said a new national migration strategy would be based on the respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights and ensuring safety for all. Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina said World Refugee Day was an opportunity for sympathy with the distress of refugees and their aspirations to lead a normal life.

Illegal crossings of border up by 75% in first five months

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian police recorded 4,333 attempts at illegal crossing of the border in the first five months of the year, which is 75% more than in the same period last year, when 2,466 such attempts were recorded. Afghanis account for almost a quarter of those intercepted, the police statistics show. In the first five months of 2022, the number of intentions to submit a request for international protection was four times higher than in the same period last year, totalling 3,798.

Effective work accounts for 69% of working time in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - In 2020 Slovenian employees spent 68.7% of their available working time effectively working, while absence from work accounted for 26.9% of their working time and meal breaks 4.4%, the Statistics Office has reported. The effective working time of employees in Slovenia amounted to 69% in the private sector and 67% in the public sector. The working time structure has changed drastically since 2016, when absence from work represented 18.6% of total working time.

STA, 20 June 2022 - The prices of regular petrol and diesel will rise by nearly 20 cents a litre on Tuesday. Regular petrol will cost EUR 1.755 a litre, up from EUR 1.56, while diesel will cost EUR 1.848 a litre, compared to EUR 1.668 at the moment. The new prices will remain in place until 4 July, when they will be adjusted again.

Fuel prices in Slovenia have remained unchanged since May 11, when they were capped by the previous government amid rapidly growing energy prices.

Last week, the new government decided to reintroduce a system of margin regulation at service stations outside the motorway network, while completely liberalising the prices of fuel at pumps along motorways.

In response to the rising prices of fuel, the government also temporarily abolished several environmental taxes on fuel.

The expected price hike has resulted in a rush to petrol stations across the entire country, with many fuel retailers running out of fuel at the weekend and today.

STA, 20 June 2022 - As drivers are rushing to service stations in anticipation of a price hike on Tuesday, which resulted in some stations running out of fuel, Economy Minister Matjaž Han assured the public that there were sufficient reserves of fuel. This is not a major market disruption, but a logistical problem, he said, also announcing inspections.

Speaking to the press in Ljubljana on Monday, Han admitted that occasional shortages of fuel had occurred in some parts of the country over the weekend, and that this was also happening today.

The minister noted that distributors reported that sales had more than doubled, adding that nevertheless there should be no fears that Slovenia would run out of motor fuels, which was also being guaranteed by distributors.

According to Han, the problems are related to logistics, which is in part a normal occurrence ahead of announced changes in prices.

He, however, also noted that traffic had been heavy in Slovenia over the weekend due to holidays in the neighbouring countries, which had also slowed down the delivery of fuel to petrol stations.

The commodity reserves of petroleum are full, Han said, explaining that the state could release them only in the event of major market disruptions, which was currently not the case.

The minister noted that the state could not release commodity reserves to regulate prices of petroleum products, as the quantity of commodity reserves was required by the EU. "There are enough [reserves] for 90 days in case of any disturbances."

The ministry is closely monitoring the developments, and a meeting with distributors will be held today to clarify the situation.

What is more, market inspectors are on the ground to examine whether retailers comply with the current regulated price and to examine sales and stocks, and whether consumers are possibly being mislead, the minister said.

"If it turns out that there have been violations of law, our inspection services will take action," he said, adding that the first information will be available already this afternoon.

The demand for motor fuel has increased after the government last week adopted a decree that reintroduces regulation of prices of regular petrol and diesel outside of the motorway network for a year, and liberalises prices on the motorway network.

The decree that also suspended certain environmental duties that determine the final price of fuel ends the regulation that entered into force on 11 May and that set the price of regular petrol at EUR 1.56 and diesel at EUR 1.668 per litre.

"The price at petrol stations outside motorways will be set every 14 days under the model set out in the regulation," said Han, who expects that the prices on motorways will be similar to those in the neighbouring countries, despite the inevitable increases.

Considering the recent rise in petroleum and petroleum products and the still weak exchange rate for the euro, a significant rise in prices is expected on Tuesday despite the restrictions on margins and the abolition of certain excise duties.

The business newspaper Finance has calculated that the price of regular petrol in Slovenia will increase to EUR 1.74 and that of diesel to EUR 1.81 per litre. Han said that the official prices would be known around 5pm today.

Han also touched on aid to farmers and hauliers, saying that the precise measures to help hauliers have not yet been agreed, as the government was waiting for concrete proposals from the other side. Farmers are expected to be reimbursed for excise duties.

The minister announced that the government will reject all claims for damages due to price regulations filed by fuel retailers, noting that "we have no data or basis on which these claims have been filed."

"We will start talks with retailers today about how, if at all, the state will reimburse them retroactively," Han said.

The previous government had indicated it would reimburse the fuel trades for the loss of income from a period in the spring when prices were capped, but the previous economy minister had later said this would not entail automatic reimbursement.

STA, 20 June 2022 - The in-house trade unions at RTV Slovenija will go on strike between 2pm and 11pm after talks on their demands following the 23 May strike brought no progress. The management is meanwhile surprised that the staff will resume the May strike, arguing that a number of proposals had been offered to implement the strike demands.

Before the strike, Culture Minister Asta Vrečko, whose ministry is in charge of media policy, will give a statement to the press about the situation at RTV Slovenija.

The new government has announced to change media legislation, including the RTV Slovenija law, to eliminate the influence of politics on the public broadcaster.

The trade unions claim the talks with the management have brought no progress on journalistic, editorial and institutional autonomy, changes to staffing policy and a raise in the lowest wages, their main demands.

As part of today's strike a rally will be held at 7pm in Republic Square, across the street from the National Assembly, to urge action from decision makers.

The public broadcaster's Programme Council will meanwhile meet to decide on its approval of sport journalist Urban Laurenčič's candidacy for TV Slovenija director.

The broadcaster's TV arm has been without a full-fledged director since Natalija Gorščak was dismissed last August.

The council will also discuss the management's proposal to severely reduce the network of correspondents abroad, a move strongly opposed by the staff and journalist organisations.

A day before the strike, the management urged the trade unions to cancel the strike to prevent the damage it would cause to the broadcaster, arguing it had offered to address all strike demands in a strike agreement.

The unions responded by saying the strike will go on as planned, adding that some strike demands had been addressed in the talks but not the main ones. They labelled director general Andrej Grah Whatmough's latest appeal and offer to sign the strike agreement by Monday 10am as an ultimatum and another attempt at preventing the strike.

STA, 19 June 2022 - Slovenia has produced a proposal to grant Bosnia-Herzegovina EU candidate status as early as at the EU summit next week. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon will present it to her EU counterparts on Monday at a session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

The proposal obtained by the STA shows that Bosnia would be awarded the status at the 23-24 June summit, which will be attended by PM Robert Golob.

Golob suggested during his Brussels visit earlier this week that he will propose awarding Bosnia-Herzegovina the candidate status.

Under the proposal, Bosnia would have to adopt the laws set out in the political agreement reached by Bosnian political parties at talks in Brussels a week ago before accession talks could start.

These are the law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the law on courts, the law on prevention of conflict of interest and the law on public procurement.

Once these laws enter into force, negotiating chapters 23 on justice and fundamental rights and 24 on justice, freedom and security could be open.

The other negotiating chapters would be opened once Bosnia has met the criteria set out in the Brussels agreement in the area of elections and other relevant areas.

As sources at the EU told the STA, Minister Fajon will, if she gets the opportunity, present the proposal at Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers.

President Borut Pahor has been recently actively advocating granting Bosnia the candidate status.

This week, he outlined the initiative in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, while he is expected to seek support for it at the Three Seas initiative summit in Latvia on Monday.

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 wants Bosnia to get candidate status at next week's EU summit

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia has produced a proposal to grant Bosnia-Herzegovina EU candidate status as early as at the EU summit next week, which will be attended by PM Robert Golob. Under the proposal, Bosnia would have to adopt the laws set out in the political agreement reached by Bosnian political parties at talks in Brussels a week ago before accession talks could start. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon is expected to present it to her EU counterparts at Monday's session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. President Borut Pahor is meanwhile expected to seek support for it at the Three Seas initiative summit in Latvia on Monday.

Tadej Pogačar wins his second Tour of Slovenia

NOVO MESTO - Slovenia's star rider Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won the 28th Tour of Slovenia to defend the title from last year, as he won the last, fifth stage on Sunday between Vrhnika, central Slovenia, and Novo Mesto, SE. The 23-year-old two-time Tour of France winner finished the Slovenian race ahead of his Polish teammate Rafal Majka, with Slovenia's Domen Novak (Bahrain-Victorius) finishing third. Pogačar sees the Tour of Slovenia as a good rehearsal before the upcoming Tour de France.

Ambassador Borut Šuklje dies

LJUBLJANA - Diplomat Borut Šuklje has died aged 63 following a long illness, his family said on Sunday. Šuklje served as Slovenia's first ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, posted there in 2001. In recent years he worked as international adviser on SE Europe and the Western Balkans.

SDS condemns foreign minister's RTV Slovenija appeal

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) strongly condemn a letter Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon addressed earlier this week to RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough urging him to reconsider his plan to cut the public broadcaster's international network of correspondents. The SDS sees her move as unacceptable political pressure.

RTV Slovenija boss urges staff to cancel 20 June strike

LJUBLJANA - RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough urged the public broadcaster's in-house trade unions to cancel the strike planned for Monday and sign the strike agreement he had offered them in a bid to prevent "irreparable damage to news programmes". The unions responded by saying the strike will go ahead as planned, adding that the appeal is an ultimatum and yet another attempt at preventing and obstructing the strike.

Fuel shortages at service stations before Tuesday's price rise

LJUBLJANA - Owners of motor vehicles headed for service stations en masse as regular petrol and diesel prices are expected to rise considerably when a new pricing model kicks in on 21 June. All three major fuels providers, Petrol, OMV and MOL, experienced occasional shortages today. Demand is additionally driven by numerous tourists filling up as they are returning home from the seaside, especially from Croatia, which has higher fuel prices.

Nearly two-thirds of employers intend to raise wages

LJUBLJANA - Nearly two thirds of Slovenian employers intend to raise wages in the second half of 2022, shows Manpower's survey on wage trends. Employers plan to raise wages to retain or attract employees, with most pay rises planned in IT and tourism sectors.

Heavy traffic, congestion on sunny weekend

LJUBLJANA - Traffic was slow on Slovenian roads throughout the day and the weekend, with long waiting times at some border crossings with Croatia and Austria. The situation was further aggravated by an accident on the busy Primorska motorway near Postojna, SW, with the travel time prolonged by 90 minutes. While the situation calmed at border crossings in the south-west, queues at some border crossings in the south-east and east of the country remained long well into the afternoon. It for instance took as long as four hours to enter Slovenia from Croatia at Gruškovje.

Cukrarna hosts charity auction for Ukraine's Kharkiv

LJUBLJANA - The Cukrarna art gallery will host a charity auction on Monday evening to raise funds for post-war reconstruction of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Up for sale will be iconic Lupina (Shell) chairs made by Slovenian industrial designer Niko Kralj with a new touch by a number of visual artists. The "reworked" chairs are already on display at Cukrarna.

STA, 19 June 2022 - Owners of motor vehicles are heading for Slovenian service stations en masse on Sunday as regular petrol and diesel prices are expected to rise considerably when a new pricing model kicks in on Tuesday. All three major fuels providers, Petrol, OMV and MOL, have experienced occasional shortages today.

Today's demand considerably exceeds the long-term daily average demand so individual service stations have had some minor shortages, fuel company Petrol told the STA.

In recent months, this has been the case primarily at the petrol stations where large fuel customers such as farmers fill up.

However, supply has already been increased to meet the demand, although increased traffic and occasional congestion on Slovenian roads, as well as time limits imposed on motorways for trucks carrying fuel delay deliveries.

Nevertheless, the largest fuel retailer said that they are well stocked so there is no fear of fuel shortages.

24ur.com news site meanwhile reported that their users from around the country have sent in information that diesel and petrol or both are not available at some Petrol and OMV Slovenija service stations, where signs have been put up saying "currently out of stock due to increased demand".

MOL Slovenija initially experienced no problems, but the situation has already deteriorated.

Demand is additionally driven by numerous tourists filling up as they are returning home from the seaside, especially from Croatia, which has higher fuel prices.

On Wednesday, the government decided to return on 21 June to a pricing model where fuel retailers' price margins at service stations outside motorways are regulated while prices of fuels sold along motorways will be fully liberalised.

The new regime, which Slovenia had until a few years ago before it gradually introduced full liberalisation, will be in place for a year.

The new regime brings to an end the regime the previous government introduced on 11 May that capped the retail price of regular petrol at EUR 1.560 a litre and diesel at EUR 1.668 for the entire country amid the increasing cost-of-living crisis. As a result, prices are currently much lower than in the country's neighbours, except Hungary.