13 Jul 2020, 14:46 PM

Janša Refuses to Apologise for Srebrenica Comments, Calls on UN to Change Resolution on Genocide

STA, 13 July 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša defended his statements regarding the Srebrenica genocide on Monday as the opposition Left and Social Democrats (SD) walked out of the National Assembly session over his refusal to apologise for his comments that have been met with criticism in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Janša wrote a series of posts on Twitter over the weekend to the effect that the Srebrenica genocide would not have happened if the United Nations had condemned Communist crimes the same way they had condemned the Holocaust.

He argued that the perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide, helmed by Bosnian-Serb General Ratko Mladić, had drawn from lessons they had learnt in Yugoslav military schools - that the enemy must be not just defeated but destroyed.

Clarifying his position at the National Assembly today, Janša noted how he had written a study in 2009 analysing the events after the fall of the Berlin Wall, including the developments in the former Yugoslavia in the run-up to the Srebrenica massacre.

Based on this study he had been selected to lead an international initiative to amend the United Nations resolution on genocide, which received the backing of 100 world leaders in 2012.

Since 2009 he says he has referred to this study every year on the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, and he continues to insist that the UN resolution should be amended.

"There would be no Srebrenica, no Rwanda or many similar genocidal acts around the globe if the world was able to condemn all crimes regardless of which ideology prompted them," he said.

"And this is the shortcoming of the world order, this is why we are striving to appropriately amend the UN resolution. As long as it is possible to kill with impunity in the name of one ideology and be condemned when doing it in the name of another ideology, genocides will happen in the world.

"There is consensus about that in the civilised world, nobody objects to that, except in Slovenia," he said.

Janša also pointed out that when he was defence minister in the early 1990s, Slovenia had helped Bosnia diplomatically, by training their troops and by supplying arms. If that had not been the case, "there would be five times more Srebrenicas, at least," he said.

Janša made the statement after he was called upon by the Left and SD to apologise for his comments. Because he did not, MPs of both parties walked out of the parliament's chamber.

The opposition criticised the Twitter comments as inappropriate and insulting.

Left MP Miha Kordiš said Janša was in fact pursuing the same policies that led to the Srebrenica massacre, while LMŠ leader Marjan Šarec warned his statements would tarnish Slovenia's reputation abroad.

Even some coalition MPs were critical, including parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), who said such reinterpretation of history could damage Slovenia's reputation.

Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) MP Franc Jurša said it was not right to use the anniversary of the genocide to speak about something "related to a different matter in history".

Janša was critical later on Twitter of the MPs who walked out of the session. "They left the session because they are incapable of facing their racism. Because they are not capable of condemning all crimes, but only those that were not perpetrated by their role models," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Janša's tweets prompted two MEPs of the LMŠ, Irena Joveva in Klemen Grošelj, to write to European Parliament President David Sassoli, asking him to take the necessary political initiative and start a serious political debate on what is a wider issue.

They argued "the abuse and politicisation of the Srebrenica genocide for exclusively internal ideological and party purposes of Slovenia's PM Janša is only the top of the iceberg of what is a wider and very worrying trend of historical revisionism and relativism brought by the worrying rise of far right and populist force across the EU".

13 Jul 2020, 13:34 PM

Slovenian, Italian Presidents Lay Wreaths to Victims of Fascism, Post-WW2 Massacres

STA, 13 July 2020 - The presidents of Slovenia and Italy, Borut Pahor in Sergio Mattarella, laid wreaths at two memorials in the Italian town of Basovizza on Monday, one to the 1930 Slovenian victims of Fascism and the other to the Italian victims of post-WWII killings. As they stood in front of the memorials, the presidents held hands.

The Memorial to Basovizza Heroes is a memorial to three Slovenians and one Croat whom the Fascist authorities executed in Basovizza on 6 September 1930.

The men were members of an illegal organisation of Slovenian and Croatian youth set up in 1927 to organise a fight against the Fascist regime and its violent assimilation policy. Under Italian law, they are still considered terrorists.

Il Presidente #Mattarella ?? e il Presidente della #Slovenia ?? #Pahor depongono una corona di fiori alla foiba di #Basovizza e al Monumento ai caduti Sloveni pic.twitter.com/3iDCtq2JDs
— Quirinale (@Quirinale) July 13, 2020

The Foiba of Basovizza is meanwhile a Karst chasm which the Italians have chosen as their symbolic memorial site for the victims of post-war killings.

Italy believes the communists threw the executed Italians in it, whereas some historians say it has been proven empty.

Pahor's visit to the foiba memorial recently stirred controversy in Slovenia, with some fearing it would give the Italian revisionists of history a fresh impetus.

The commemoration was attended by representatives of several politicians and NGOs.

Senator Tatjana Rojc, a member of the Slovenian minority, said this was a historic day for Trieste and the area around the border between Slovenia and Italy.

She finds it key for the two presidents to have paid their respects at two symbolic sites chosen by the Slovenian and Italian communities as their memorial sites.

"I think this is the start of a new process, a new future on which we'll build our European identity," she told the press.

As for Pahor's visit to the foiba site, she said all the dead had the right to be respected and should not be abused for political agendas.

Similarly, Walter Bandelj of the SSO Slovenian minority organisation said this was a big day heralding the start of dialogue between the two states. He regretted it had not happened some ten years earlier.

He believes neither the Fascist atrocities nor what happened latter should be forgotten. What is needed is looking ahead and achieving reconciliation, he said.

The commemoration at the foiba will go down in history, because this is the first time that the president of a former Yugoslav republic has paid his respects to the Italian victims of post-war killings, according to Antonio Ballarin of an organisation representing the Italians who left Yugoslavia after WWII. They are known as "esuli" in Italian and "optanti" in Slovenian.

Before the Basovizza commemorations, an estimated 150 people gathered at the Fernetiči border crossing with Italy to protest against Pahor's laying a wreath at the foiba memorial, with one banner reading "traitor".

After the commemoration, a group of protestors gathered at the Memorial to Basoviza Heroes; head of the 13 July Not In My Name civil initiative, Mauro Dornik, said Pahor paid his respects at a chasm which historians proved was empty.

By doing so, Pahor "confirmed that we are a genocidal nation which went about killing Italians just because they were Italians" and sided with Fascists, he said.

Dornik believes this opens the door to the organisations representing the esuli to claim back the property they left behind in Istria and Dalmatia.

Mattarella has not posthumously amnestied the Slovenian anti-Fascists killed at the Memorial to Basovizza Heroes, which proves that both presidents' tribute to the Slovenian victims of Fascism was not sincere, he added.

A rally against Pahor's act and in support of the people of Primorska region, including Slovenians in Trieste, is also planned for tonight in Ljubljana.

The wreath-lying commemorations were held on the sideline of today's signing of a document which triggered the restitution of National Hall in Trieste to the Slovenian minority. The ceremony took place exactly 100 years since the Fascists burnt down National Hall.

Its restitution is seen by the Slovenian side as a symbolic act of reconciliation and of utmost importance for future ties between Slovenia and Italy.

It is meanwhile opposed by the Italian far-right movement CasaPound, which according to the Slovenian minority daily Primorski Dnevnik today mounted a protest in Trieste.

13 Jul 2020, 12:12 PM

Slovenia's Covid-App Will Use German System, Be Voluntary; 8 New Cases Sunday

STA, 13 July 2020 - The coronavirus contact tracing app, which Slovenia will develop using the German open source solution, will be voluntary for everyone, Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik announced on Monday. The government previously sought to make installing the app mandatory for those with confirmed infections and those sent into quarantine.

The statement comes after the ministry on Sunday released a call for applications for the localisation of the German app, which is already used by several million residents in Germany and in several other countries, and is based on technology developed jointly by US tech giants Google and Apple.

The German app uses Bluetooth technology and does not store location information, which is a major concern of privacy advocates. As Koritnik put it, "the only purpose of the application is to let people know whether they have been in contact with someone who has been infected".

Under the open call, the app must be ready for deployment by 1 August. The call is for what is called a "contract below threshold", which means the value of the deal may not exceed EUR 40,000.

The rules for such contracts stipulate that the contracting authority must get a minimum of three bids and select among them.

The open call triggered criticism in the app developer community due to the short deadline. Koritnik said the deadline was so short because the contract does not involve complex solutions while the government wants the app to be available as soon as possible.

Koritnik pointed out that Germany had spent millions developing the app, while Slovenia will be able to localise it for a fraction of the price. He also said Germany's data privacy laws were as strict if not stricter than Slovenia's.

The government will consult the Information Commissioner on the proposed specifications and any changes as needed.

The legal basis for the deployment of a contract tracing app was created with the latest package of anti-corona legislation, which the National Assembly passed on 9 July.

STA, 13 July 2020 - Slovenia's coronavirus case count has increased to 1,849 after eight of the 440 tests for Sars-CoV-2 came back positive on Sunday, fresh official statistics show. One patient is in intensive care, but there were no Covid-19 related fatalities recorded yesterday.

A total of 17 patients are hospitalised with Covid-19, one more than the day before. One patient was discharged yesterday.

Currently, there are 265 active cases in Slovenia, according to the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Slovenia has not recorded Covid-19 related fatalities for a month and a half now. The death toll remains at 111.

13 Jul 2020, 10:20 AM

Janša Criticised in Bosnia for Suggesting Link Between Communism, Srebrenica

STA, 12 July 2020 - Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša has become the target of criticism in Bosnia-Herzegovina after implying on Twitter that the Srebrenica massacre would not have occurred had post-WWII summary executions been adequately condemned.

Janša published a tweet on Saturday, the 25th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica, stating that the massacre "would not have occurred if Communist ideology had been done away with in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and post-war killings in Slovenia and elsewhere condemned."

A few hours later he tweeted that "the Srebrenica massacre would not have occurred if the United Nations had condemned Communist genocides the same way they condemned the Holocaust. Because this did not happen, the JLA [Yugoslav People's Army] doctrine that the opponent must be physically destroyed sprung to life again during the break-up of Yugoslavia".

Srebrenice 1995 ne bi bilo, če bi #OZN komunistične genocide obsodil enako kot holokavst. Ker se to kljub večjemu št. pomorjenih ni zgodilo, je doktrina JLA, da je treba nasprotnika fizično uničiti, ponovno zaživela ob razpadu Jugoslavije. #Srebrenica25 https://t.co/cZe7D585nS
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) July 11, 2020

Both tweets came with a link to a story about an article he wrote in 2009 entitled "Did the Berlin Wall really come down on both sides?".

How #Srebrenica25 was at all possible and what the West overlooked in post-communist former #Yugoslavia

Did the Berlin Wall really come down on both sides? | SpringerLink https://t.co/EcXDLVPRzW
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) July 11, 2020

Oslobođenje, a major Bosnian newspaper, said that "while the whole world talks about the genocide in Srebrenica, this politician is diverting public attention to something else, by expressing messages that may be interpreted as fascist. Is this an attempt by Janez Janša to amnesty criminals who perpetrated one of the biggest genocides in this region?"

Slobodna Bosna, a news portal, said the statement was a "morbid provocation not becoming of a statesman". It said only an "ignorant or malevolent and unhinged mind is capable of this. And as far as we know, Janez Janša is not ignorant."

Several other Bosnian news outlets carried similar reactions.

Janša expounded on his views with several more Twitter posts on Sunday.

In one tweet, he quoted a statement by an unnamed Bosnian-Serb soldier, apparently from a documentary film on Srebrenica, saying that Yugoslavia had killed hundreds of thousands of prisoners and nobody was held accountable, which led them to believe that the graves around Srebrenica would not be uncovered for another fifty years,

In another post, he said that the genocide in Srebrenica had been "conceived by the evil raised in the Communist JLA academy under the red star (and not in a nationalist religious school). #JLA generals and officers were taught that the fundamental goal of armed struggle was to liquidate the opponent. Mladić and his ilk are products of that school."

The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Bosnian-Serb general Ratko Mladić, a convicted war criminal, wearing a Yugoslav army uniform with a red star on his side cap.

13 Jul 2020, 03:51 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Monday, 13 July 2020

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:

Prime minister under fire over Srebrenica tweets

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša became the target of criticism in Bosnia-Herzegovina after implying on Twitter that the Srebrenica massacre would not have occurred had post-WWII summary executions been adequately condemned. Janša published a tweet on Saturday, the 25th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica, stating that the massacre "would not have occurred if Communist ideology had been done away with in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and post-war killings in Slovenia and elsewhere condemned." He followed up with several tweets clarifying his reasoning. Oslobođenje, a major Bosnian newspaper, wondered whether the statement was "an attempt to amnesty criminals who perpetrated one of the biggest genocides in this region", while Slobodna Bosna said it was a "morbid provocation not becoming of a statesman".

Interior minister to rethink his decision to resign

LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said he will rethink his decision to step down, after he was urged by Prime Minister Janez Janša to reconsider. "In the next two, three days I will definitely thoroughly think about that," Hojs told TV Slovenija on Saturday evening, adding that he would in any case wait until an opposition motion to oust him is debated in parliament. Janša said on Friday he had not yet opened the envelope containing Hojs's resignation letter - which Hojs published on Twitter - arguing that Slovenia was in a situation where it "urgently needs a minister who is operational 24 hours per day".

Slovenia records 14 new coronavirus infections, hospital numbers stable

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 14 new coronavirus infections in 560 tests performed on Saturday. The number of patients in hospital remained flat at 16 and none needed intensive care. The new cases were recorded in ten municipalities across the country, two of which had not had a single recorded case before, according to Covid-19 Sledilnik, a coronavirus tracking website. Much like in previous days, the new cases were mostly among the younger populations with 3 recorded in children under four years of age and only two among those over 65.

Hidria cautious, expects end-year sales down by a fifth

IDRIJA - Industrial conglomerate Hidria, a major car industry supplier, expects end-year sales to decline by a fifth compared to 2019 due to coronavirus, CEO Iztok Seljak told the STA. He said the situation in the automotive industry, which accounts for some 70% of group sales, was very complex and coronavirus would accelerate certain processes, including the transition to highly efficient diesel and gasoline engines, hybridisation and electrification, and new sharing economy models. Seljak thinks Hidria is well placed to benefit from these trends.

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12 Jul 2020, 11:51 AM

Slovenia Marks 25th Anniversary of Srebrenica Genocide

STA, 11 July 2020 - Srebrenica needs to stay in our memory as a warning to the international community that such atrocities must never repeat or be permitted again. Denying or relativising these tragic events is unacceptable, the Foreign Ministry wrote to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. President Borut Pahor meanwhile urged reconciliation.

The ministry expects this year's commemoration to also be directed into the future. Slovenia is striving for a process of reconciliation in the area of the former Yugoslavia and for stability in the Western Balkans as a whole.

Many men began to leave the forests and surrender after realizing they had no escape. One such man was Ramo Osmanovic, who was forced by Serb soldiers to call his son, Nermin, into surrender. Both father and son were executed. #SrebrenicaGenocide pic.twitter.com/QwXsXgtPQK
— Bosnian History (@BosnianHistory) July 11, 2020

The reconciliation process is key for harmony and mutual trust among nations and a European future for the region, Saturday's press release by the ministry says.

A quarter of a century is passing this year since more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims, mainly men and boys, were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in a three-day massacre in and around the town of Srebrenica. Since 2009, 11 July has been a day for EU commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide.

The central ceremony is taking place at the Potočari memorial centre near Srebernica today, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic foreign state officials are not present in person.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor addressed participants via video, saying history could not change, but the future could. Key for the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina is truth as opposed to denial, respect as opposed to hate, open dialogue as opposed to conflicts, he said.

Forgiveness and respect for diversity is vital, he added, arguing reconciliation is not action of the past but a guarantee for coexistence and friendship that comes from a shared pain.

Moreover, a peaceful, European future for Bosnia-Herzegovina requires courage. Courage is the only thing - despite terrible pain that accompanies the memory of the victims of genocide - that can lead to forgiveness, reconciliation, dialogue, cooperation and restored trust, Pahor added in the address published on Twitter.

12 Jul 2020, 10:14 AM

Another Mass Grave Found in Kočevski Rog

STA, 11 July 2020 - Cavers exploring the karst caves in the Kočevski Rog woods in south-eastern Slovenia have found what appears to be another mass grave in what is an area containing the remains of several thousand people killed in summary executions after the end of World War II.

The chair of the government commission for mass graves Jože Dežman wrote on Saturday that the chasm contains the remains of at least 35 people, while dozens more are expected to be exhumed.

All but possibly one of the remains examined so far appear to be male remains, Dežman added, explaining the operation only started on Friday.

The karst chasms in Kočevski Rog contain the remains of thousands of bodies, especially those of members of the nearby Novo Mesto group of the Domobranci anti-communist home-guard who did not manage to escape abroad. They were hunted for months after the war and most were murdered, Dežman said.

He spoke of several more locations in the area, including the Rugarski klanci site that contains the remains of what appear to have been 22 members of the armed forces of the Ustasha-governed Croatian NDH state.

The latest research in Kočevski Rog meanwhile confirmed that the Macesnova Gorica chasm "is probably the biggest Slovenian slaughter site and mass grave". The commission hopes the exhumation of the victims will be able to begin next year.

Related: Post-War Massacres in Slovenia

As for the Kren site, which had been perceived as the largest mass grave of the Domobranci, it seems that it was mostly members of the Serb and Montenegrin Chetnik royalist and nationalist units who ended up there.

Meanwhile, Dežman added that it was today that the commemoration was held for the Muslims killed in Srebrenica in 1995. "If we condemn the crimes against POWs and civilians in Srebernica then we also condemn the crimes against POWs and civilians being discovered in Kočevski Rog and elsewhere around Slovenia," he wrote.

12 Jul 2020, 04:24 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Sunday, 12 July 2020

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:

Friday's tests confirm 34 new Sars-CoV-2 cases, highest number since mid-April

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 34 Sars-CoV-2 infections on Friday in what is a doubling of Thursday's figure and a record high after 16 April. There were no new deaths and the number of people in hospital, none of which in intensive care, remained 16. The high number of new cases, discovered in 1,159 tests, comes after the daily figure mostly hovered around 20 in the past two weeks, an exception being a 30 cases spike on 3 July. PM Janez Janša tweeted that Slovenia was at a crossroads and that only consistent honouring of urgent restrictions, quarantine orders and hygiene rules in all circumstances could prevent mass infections, deaths and the collapse of healthcare - as well as a repeat of the lockdown.

Janša indicates border solution with Croatia far away, labels media changes minor

OTOČEC - While saying Croatia's ignoring of the border arbitration decision was not broached on Friday with counterpart Andrej Plenković, PM Janez Janša told TV Slovenija he was a realist and that the two countries would be able to make a step forward here once Croatia has an approximate plan for solving its border issue with other neighbours. Asked whether Slovenia's consent to Croatia's entry into the ERM II mechanism meant Slovenia would not hinder its southern neighbour on this path, Janša said recent history had shown how loud shouting about how the neighbouring country would be blocked etc. never brought any benefit. Also commenting on the proposed changes to media legislation, which include a EUR 13 million cut for public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, Janša said "these are only minor changes" that "should have been done long ago".

Minority organisations express deep gratitude to Pahor, Mattarella over Trieste visit

TRIESTE, Italy - The two umbrella organisations of the Slovenian minority in Italy, the Council of Slovenian Organisations (SSO) and the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Association (SKGZ), welcomed ahead of Monday's return of the National Hall in Trieste to the minority the arrival of President Borut Pahor and Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella to the city. While being a tragic anniversary - 100 years since the home was burnt down by Fascists - Monday will also be a day "allowing us to transition from the perspective of memory to the perspective of the future", the SSO and SKGZ wrote, not joining those criticisng Pahor for also choosing to visit the Foiba of Basovizza monument to honour Italian victims of summary executions.

Foreign Ministry says atrocities like Srebrenica must not be allowed to repeat

LJUBLJANA - Srebrenica needs to stay in our memory as a warning to the international community that such atrocities must never repeat or be permitted again. Denying or relativising these tragic events is unacceptable, the Foreign Ministry wrote to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. President Borut Pahor sent out a video address, in which he urged reconciliation. He history could not change, but the future could. Key for the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina is truth as opposed to denial, respect as opposed to hate, open dialogue as opposed to conflicts.

Janša insists letter to state prosecutor general was permissible and warranted

LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša has rejected the claims of the State Prosecutors' Council that he was breaching state prosecutors' sovereignty and independence when protesting with the state prosecutor general about the absence of prosecution targeting anti-government protesters using the slogans and banners calling for "Death to Janšism". Janša disagrees the prosecutors' sovereignty is being encroached upon, arguing state prosecutors need to observe the general instructions on criminal prosecution policy drawn up by the body in charge of this. He is "even less so" convinced by the breach of independence claims, saying the state prosecution is not part of the judicial but of the executive branch of power.

Another mass grave discovered in Kočevski Rog

NOVO MESTO - Cavers exploring the karst caves in the Kočevski Rog woods in south-eastern Slovenia have found what appears to be another mass grave in what is an area containing the remains of several thousand people killed in summary executions after the end of World War II. The chair of the government commission for mass graves Jože Dežman wrote on Saturday that the chasm contains the remains of at least 35 people, while dozens more are expected to be exhumed. The karst chasms in Kočevski Rog contain the remains of thousands of bodies, especially those of members of the nearby Novo Mesto group of the Domobranci anti-communist home-guard who did not manage to escape abroad, Dežman said.

Railways operator to lay off 1,000 staff, CEO urges infrastructure fund

LJUBLJANA - The CEO of railways operator Slovenske Železnice sees a number of challenges ahead for the company after the coronavirus epidemic. The group plans to lay off 1,000 people this year, bringing their total number to 6,000 and is just now introducing new passenger trains into its fleet. He also says Slovenia needs a long-term infrastructure fund. Talking to the STA, Dušan Mes, who started his third term at the helm of the company this spring, said he also wanted to double the profit of the cargo arm, SŽ-Tovorni Promet with the help of a strategic partner.

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11 Jul 2020, 16:35 PM

Old Postcards from Celje

Celje is the third largest town in the country and home to the most influential late medieval noble dynasty on the territory that eventually became known as Slovenia, the Counts of Celje.

Lying at a great location in the lower part of Savinja River Valley, Celje has a long history going back to the Hallstattt era. Celje’s original and oldest name that we know of was Keleia which was changed to Celeia in Roman times. The city continued its relative importance throughout history, and was one of the first to get a railway connection in 1846.

After the Second World War, the town on the riverbanks of the Savinja turned into a lively industrial and commercial centre, and today it has all the characteristics of a regional, administrative, business, cultural, school, health and tourist centre.

Ulica XVI. Divizije:

Postcard_of_Celje_1909_(4).jpg

1909

1918

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1927

Postcard_of_Celje_(29).jpg

1956

Prešernova ulica:

1914

Postcard_of_Celje_1930_(2).jpg

presernova ulica 1930s.jpg

Krekov trg:

Postcard_of_Celje_(58).jpg

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1937

1954

Gledališki trg:

gledališki trg 1905.jpg

1905

1960

1961_postcard_of_Celje_(2).jpg

1961

Stara grofija:

grofija 1905.jpg

1905

Ljubljanska ulica:

Postcard_of_Celje_1907_(3).jpg

1907

Miscelaneous:

Postcard_of_St._Joseph's_Parish_Church,_Celje_1916.jpg

St Joseph's Parish Church, 1916

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Postcard_of_Celje_(50).jpg

11 Jul 2020, 14:13 PM

Croatian Tourism Minister: Tourists From Slovenia Safe & Welcome

HINA, July 11, 2020 – The Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Friday evening that Slovenian tourists did not need to worry about their arrivals in Croatia, particularly in the coastal Adriatic area where the epidemiological situation was good.

Cappelli, who was in Croatia's delegation led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for the talks with their Slovenian hosts in Otocec ob Krki on Friday, said that the meeting had also revolved around tourism-related issues against a backdrop of the epidemiological situation.

"During the meeting in Slovenia we emphasised the importance of Slovenian visitors for the Croatian tourism industry. Currently, there are 92,000 Slovenians vacationing here, and 70% of them are in three Adriatic counties: Istria, Promorje-Gorski Kotar and Zadar, which are labelled as green areas that is epidemiologically safe and favourable just as the remaining four coastal counties," the minister told Hina.

Slovenes Bought Most Properties in Croatia Since 2013, Followed by Germans, Austrians, Italians & Swedes

The minister said that most Slovenian guests were staying in camp-site facilities and reassured them that that they did not have to worry about self-isolation.

In the coming days, Croatian and Slovenian epidemiologists will give additional recommendations for monitoring trends in the tourist trade and other events between the two countries on a daily basis, he said.

Special attention will be paid to efforts to prevent the emerging of any new hotspots of the virus in connection with public and private gatherings.

"I urge all tourists to abide by the current and new measures from the Croatian COVID-19 crisis management team. This is the only way to ensure the tourist trade and other economic activities can go on this year," Cappelli concluded.

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