STA, 1 June 2022 - Below are the biographies of ministers in Slovenia's 15th government. The cabinet line-up will change once the law on the government is amended as planned by the coalition to add several more portfolios. Some of the ministries will be renamed. 

Tanja Fajon, Social Democrats, minister for foreign affairs

Born in Ljubljana in 1971, Fajon graduated in journalism from the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences before going on to complete a post-graduate course in international politics at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies in Paris.

Beginning her career as a radio and newspaper journalist, she went on to work at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija from 1995 to 2009, serving for several years as its Brussels correspondent.

She was first elected to the European Parliament on the SD ticket in 2009 and then again in 2014 and 2019. She gave up her MEP seat after being elected to the National Assembly in April. As MEP she was member of the Socialists and Democrats Group, her priority being the Western Balkans. She has served as SD leader since 2020.

She speaks English, German, French and Croatian.

Presenting her vision to MPs, she said that as minister she would be committed to the rule of law and common EU values. She stressed the importance of good relations with neighbouring countries and expressed support to EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

She announced Slovenia would return to the "EU's core" and be committed to multilateralism and international law.

Succeeding Anže Logar as the first Slovenian female foreign minister, she plans to modernise the Foreign Ministry to reflect global challenges.

Luka Mesec, Left, minister of labour, the family, social affairs and equal opportunities

Born in Kranj in 1987, Mesec graduated in European studies from the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences in 2012. He has been active politically since his student years and served as director of the Institute for Labour Studies from 2013 to 2014.

He was a founding member and coordinator of the party called Initiative for Democratic Socialism, a precursor to the Left, and was first elected to the National Assembly in 2014 as a candidate for the United Left to become the head of the deputy faction.

He is currently what the Left calls "coordinator" of the party, staying in the post after offering resignation following the party's sup-par performance in the April election, but won a vote of confidence.

Mesec announced that as minister he would advocate welfare of all and put an emphasis on fighting poverty and precarious forms of work, and cutting red tape in welfare procedures.

He said the ministry would work to ensure that pension for full-time pensionable service is at least EUR 700 net. The minimum wage would be raised to at least EUR 800, as written down in the coalition agreement.

The post is a placeholder for Mesec, who will become the minister for a solidarity-based future once the government is expanded, in charge of housing and intergenerational solidarity.

Klemen Boštjančič, Freedom Movement, finance minister

Boštjančič is a 50-year-old economist. He served as chief supervisor at construction company Vegrad, which went into receivership in 2009. In 2011 and 2012 he was the CEO of the now defunct flag carrier Adria Airways, from 2013 to 2017 he was a supervisor at hardware retailer Merkur and between 2014 and 2017 at logistics company Intereuropa. Between 2016 and 2017 he was the CFO of Montecristo SL.

Since December 2016 he has served as the chairman of the state-controlled tourism company Sava and since 2017 also as the chief supervisor of Sava's key subsidiary Sava Turizem. Boštjančič is the sole owner and head of the consultancy Brio Svetovalni Center.

As minister he is expected to be in the spotlight over the announced new property tax. He would not say during his presentation in parliament when the bill could be expected but mentioned the year 2023. A precondition is that ownership, possession, and other rights in land are formally recorded "otherwise we will have a serious problem", he said.

He also indicated that he did not plan to rush with legislative tax changes although he has quite a few proposals. Regarding the changes to the income tax act implemented this year, which the new government would like to partly annul, he said it would take months to prepare changes.

He will strive for restructuring public spending, especially raising productivity and reducing structural deficit, which he sees as the main public financial issue.

Danijel Bešič Loredan, Freedom Movement, health minister

Hailing from Izola, Bešič Loredan became a doctor in 1999 and an orthopaedic surgeon in 2006. Starting his career at Ljubljana's UKC hospital, he proceeded to work for 13 years at the Orthopaedic Hospital Valdoltra in Ankaran. He has also worked in Switzerland and ran the orthopaedic department at the Nova Gorica Hospital in 2016- 2021.

The 50-year-old's current employers are the private medical centres Bitenc in Ljubljana and Šalara in Koper. Bešič Loredan has attracted public attention for highlighting corruption issues in the healthcare system.

Before the election he had indicated that he wished to remove politics from healthcare and "change what is understood under 'public healthcare'". "Public healthcare is the right of people to receive treatment ..., which needs to be secured by the state and it is through politics that fair, social and accessible healthcare can be attained".

After the coalition agreement caused a stir, saying that doctors and dentists in the public sector will be banned from working for private providers and that a non-compete clause will apply to them, Bešič Loredan downplayed the plans by explaining that both measures were planned for 2024, when the health system would be different and comparable to the systems of western countries.

During his hearing in parliament, he announced a clear strategy to deal with possible new waves of the Covid-19 epidemic by 15 September and plans to boost the primary level of healthcare to relieve the burden on the secondary level, including with an additional EUR 500 million in the next 18 months.

He also announced efforts to engage all capacities, including concessionaires and private providers, to shorten waiting times, with one of the first steps of the new team at the ministry being paying for all healthcare services performed this year and in 2023.

Tatjana Bobnar, Freedom Movement, interior minister

Bobnar, born in 1969, was the first woman to become the head of the Slovenian police force when she was appointed police commissioner under the Marjan Šarec government in late 2018. She was replaced by the next, Janez Janša government in March 2020 and assigned to a newly-established task force for migrations, in what was widely seen as an attempt to sideline her.

When it was announced that she was a candidate for interior minister, several civil society groups denounced her candidacy over pushbacks police conducted while she was the commissioner. Bobnar has said that if appointed, the basic tenet of her work will be a definitive strengthening of the rule of law, respect for human rights and basic freedoms.

Bobnar holds a master's degree from the Ljubljana Faculty of Law, but started her career at the Ljubljana Police Department as an investigator of juvenile crime, also investigating sexual abuse of children. Among the senior posts she has held are deputy police commissioner and Criminal Police Department deputy director.

As she presented her vision for the ministry at the parliamentary committee, she stressed efforts to restore trust in police work, independence and depoliticisation. She plans to pay special attention to femicide, and replace the border fence with cameras and drones, while also including the civil society, NGOs and local communities in efforts to tackle migrations.

She announced changes to the appointment of the police commissioner and chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and potentially an internal overhaul of the NBI, which has been criticised for becoming too politicised during the Janša government.

Marjan Šarec, Freedom Movement, defence minister

Šarec, born in 1977, became Slovenia's prime minister in 2018 after entering the national political arena as a newcomer in 2017 when he made it to the run-off of the presidential election in late 2017 with incumbent Borut Pahor. He had been a prominent TV and radio comedian before entering politics by winning the mayorship in Kamnik.

Having obtained a university degree in acting in 2001, he started working for public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and soon made a name for himself as a voice imitator on the broadcaster's flagship satirical show Radio Ga-Ga and its several TV offshoots, excelling as the voice of two Slovenian presidents and several party leaders.

Elected mayor in 2010, he served two terms before entering the presidential race, and formed a minority government after the June 2018 general election. He stepped down two years into the job hoping for an early election, a move which backfired and led to the formation of the Janez Janša government. His LMŠ party failed to enter parliament this year and is merging with the Freedom Party, hence his ministerial candidacy.

He has announced that he will re-introduce the concept of territorial defence, and transfer the power of deploying Slovenian troops abroad to the National Assembly.

As the coalition agreement prioritises updating the concept of defence policy, he intends to revise some key documents that are considered outdated or inadequate.

Within NATO, he wants to open a discussion on target capabilities and assess whether the concept of building a medium-sized battalion group and a reconnaissance battalion goes in the right direction.

He announced changes to the long-term programme of development and equipment for the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF), the law on investments in the SAF for 2021-2026, and the defence programme until 2026.

Dominika Švarc Pipan, Social Democrats, justice minister

Born in 1978, Švarc Pipan graduated from the Ljubljana Faculty of Law in 2003, and in 2011 she earned the PhD degree in political sciences at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences.

Švarc Pipan has worked as specialised assistant at the International Court of Justice and as defence counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

She was a state secretary at the Justice Ministry between 2018 and 2020. Currently, she runs a legal and business consultancy company. She is a vice-president of the Social Democrats (SD).

Appearing before the relevant parliamentary committee, she expressed her commitment to the rule of law as an ideal that everyone should aspire to and an essential element to restore trust in society.

Setting out her priorities, she pledged to focus on ensuring quality cooperation between the prosecution and the police in the phase of investigation not yet run by the court.

Among measures that would go beyond one government term, she listed a project to reform the court network, remove politics from appointments of judges and reform the system of the national bar exam.

Matjaž Han, Social Democrats, economy minister

Born in Celje in 1971, Han graduated from the Celje Secondary School of Trade and Commerce. He has been been a member of the National Assembly since 2004, doing double duty as the mayor of Radeče from 2006 to 2011.

He is considered one of the most influential senior members of the Social Democrats and headed the party's deputy group from 2013 through to the end of the previous parliament's term.

His family have a company, M&M International, that he ran between 1992 and 2004 before his spouse took over. He plans to divest his stake.

Han announced robust social dialogue but said there would be no cap on social contributions under the new government. He believes businesses should be helped in other ways, for instance through funds for development-oriented jobs.

His priorities will be better access to sources of financing, a more efficient business environment and more efficient administrative procedures, also for building permits.

Regarding the mini tax reform of the outgoing government, he said he would keep the solutions that have little impact on budget revenue.

Once the reform of the government portfolios is completed, Han will also take charge of sport.

Bojan Kumer, Freedom Movement, infrastructure minister

Born in July 1974, Kumer has a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Ljubljana Faculty of Electrical Engineering. His first job was with the power distributor Elektro Celje. His most recent job was at energy trader GEN-I in 2009, where he was a close associate of Robert Golob.

He was a state secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure in 2013-2014 and in 2018-2020, in between the terms and after he served as director of Elektro Energija, a power provider affiliated with GEN-I.

Once amendments to the government have been endorsed, Kumer is to take over as minister of climate and energy, and Alenka Bratušek is to return as infrastructure minister, a post she held in 2018-20. Until then Bratušek will serve as one of the state secretaries at the ministry.

In his presentation on the parliamentary committee, Kumer pledged to make green transition the guiding principle of energy and infrastructure policies. He promised further investment in railways and renewables, digitalisation of traffic flows and measures to mitigate soaring energy prices.

The cornerstones of energy policy would be stimulating investment in renewable energy, mitigating the impact of rising energy prices and creating a basis for a fair transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

He announced a special law to ease the siting of renewable energy sources in locations where this is possible. He sees potential in self-supply, community supply, and plans to promote development of agrovoltaics to give farmers the chance to self-supply.

Rising energy prices would be mitigated by means of targeted-measures to help vulnerable individuals and the businesses which contribute responsibly to development, as well as farmers. If necessary prices for all vulnerable consumers would be regulated. Kumer also mentioned emergency gas supply.

Uroš Brežan, Freedom Movement, environment and spatial planning minister

Brežan, born in 1972, is coming to the ministerial office from his fourth four-year term as Tolmin mayor, a post he was first elected to in 2006. He holds a university degree in economics from the Ljubljana School of Economics and Business.

Brežan served as a vice-president of the Slovenian Youth Party (SMS) in 2004-2014 and as a member of the upper chamber of parliament in 2012-2017. He entered this year's election race on the slate of the newly-formed Freedom Movement.

He announced changes to the recently passed environment protection act as well as action in water management, climate and housing policies while stressing the importance of environment protection. He plans to tackle degraded areas and improve oversight over emissions.

He will seek a broad social consensus and promote circular economy. He thinks a limited amount of waste could be processed in Slovenia in line with the highest environment standards.

In spatial planning, Brežan will give priority to the public and common interests over private interests, while he promised to draft a spatial development strategy until 2050.

Once the government is expanded, Brežan is slated to take over the new ministry of natural resources and spatial planning.

Igor Papič, Freedom Movement, minister of education, science and sport

Papič, born in 1966, holds a PhD from the Ljubljana Faculty of Electrical Engineering and served one term as the rector of the University of Ljubljana in 2017-2021. He is currently a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

During his career he has also worked at Siemens in Germany, was a visiting professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada, in 2001, while also lecturing at various other universities. He has also served as dean of his faculty, and has led a number of projects, including international ones.

Before the parliamentary Education Committee, Papič announced a white paper on education would be compiled to set guidance for a decade, repeated the new coalition's pledge to raise science and research funding to 1.5% of GDP over the next four years, and pledged to assess the impact remote schooling has had on students.

As for public schools having private competition, he said "no-one opposes concessions, but the rules must be clear for everyone". Competition should be enhanced by having more quality universities, he said, adding that Slovenian public universities had fierce competition abroad but not at home.

Papič also wants changes to the national exams at primary schools, whose results should be one of the criteria for admission to the secondary school of choice, announced free textbooks and school meals, and said the workload on teachers should be reduced through recruitment of additional staff and less paperwork.

Papič will take over as minister of higher education, science and innovation when the current education ministry is split under the government's plans.

Sanja Ajanović Hovnik, Freedom Movement, public administration minister

Born in 1977, Ajanović Hovnik has a master's degree from the Ljubljana Faculty of Public Administration. She has served as a secretary of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) deputy group and worked at the Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development.

She has also served as deputy director of the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy. Most recently she has been CEO of the company Smart Centre. She is the head of the Freedom Movement programme committee.

Appearing in parliament to present her vision, Ajanović Hovnik announced she would name a team to start talks with trade unions to reform the public sector pay system as soon as she gets appointed. The talks, which she expects to start this month, will be conducted in two-tier-way, to negotiate wages and the pay system.

She also identified as her priorities a reorganisation of administrative units to ensure greater flexibility of their services and changes to the administrative procedure act. The act would be reformed within two years to become a modern procedural rulebook to apply to both general and individual administrative decisions.

Irena Šinko, Freedom Movement, minister of agriculture, forestry and food

Šinko, who holds dual bachelor's degrees in zootechnics and law, has so far served as a senior adviser at the department for environment and spacial planning at the Murska Sobota administrative unit, a job she took after two stints as the director of the Farmland and Forest Fund between 2010 and 2018.

Before 2010, she was the head of the department for agriculture and economy at the Murska Sobota administrative unit.

She started her career as a technologist at the food company ABC Pomurka, and then went on to become an agriculture inspector at the inspection service of the Gornja Radgona, Lendava, Ljutomer and Murska Sobota municipalities, and a teacher of animal husbandry at the Rakičan secondary school for agriculture.

Šinko stressed the need for sustainable farming, environment protection and social sustainability in her presentation at the relevant parliamentary committee.

As minister she will strive to strengthen fair partnership among stakeholders, while paying special attention to producers. She announced measures to improve food self-sufficiency and adjusting to climate change.

Asta Vrečko, Left, culture minister

Born in Celje in 1984, Vrečko got a bachelor's degree in art history from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, where she also got her PhD in 2014 following a stint as early-stage researcher at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. She is currently an assistant professor there.

She has also done extensive curatorial work, including at the Božidar Jakac Gallery, and has conducted research at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana focusing on Slovenian and Yugoslav 20th century art.

Vrečko has long been politically active, first as a member of the informal Workers' and Punks' University and then as a founding member of one of the precursors of the Left. She is a local councillor for the Left and vice-president of the party.

She has announced that her priorities as culture minister will be a development-oriented, modern and inclusive culture policy. She plans to overhaul media legislation and the status of the self-employed, and promote systemic investment in culture.

She also intends to review the decisions taken by her predecessor and restore dialogue with all stakeholders.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh, Freedom Movement, minister without portfolio for digital transformation

Stojmenova Duh was born in Macedonia in 1985 and emigrated to Slovenia as a 16-year-old. In 2009, she graduated in electrical engineering from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in Maribor, where she also earned her master's and PhD.

She is currently an associate professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, where she also heads the digital innovation hub 4PDIH, having previously founded the national network of innovation labs FabLab Slovenija and headed the Digital Innovation Hub between 2014 and 2016.

Long a gender equality activist, Stojmenova Duh rose to public prominence as a vocal advocate of students arrested during protests against school closures during Covid and for publicly clashing with the Janez Janša government over digital spending and appointments at the National Research Agency. She ran for parliament on the Social Democratic ticket but has since left the party.

In presenting her vision to the parliamentary Committee for Interior Affairs, Public Administration and Local Government, she said she would strive to promote education of the young, especially women, in technical fields.

One of her first steps will be an analysis of the situation in digital transformation and continuation of measures that have proven successful so far. Her priority will be to reduce the digital gap and form a basis for efficient digital transformation of the society.

After the law on the government is amended as planned, the Government Office for Digital Transformation is to be transformed into a ministry.

Aleksander Jevšek, Social Democrats, minister without portfolio for development and European cohesion policy

Jevšek, born in 1961, started his career in the police force, where he rose to the rank of director of the Criminal Police Department in 2007. After leaving the force, he was elected mayor of Murska Sobota in 2014 as a member of the Social Democrats (SD), the office from which he is coming to the new ministry.

Jevšek has said that as a great advocate of Slovenia's decentralisation, he would like his ministry to be headquartered in Maribor, a city much closer to Murska Sobota than Ljubljana. He would also support proposals to transfer some other ministries from the capital.

He announced a bill on balanced regional development and a new development strategy. Jevšek advocates decentralisation with the creation of provinces; redefinition of general development tasks at regional level; and creating new business opportunities for less developed and border areas.

He urged introducing two principles in regional development policy - subsidiarity and the state providing funds when imposing a new service on municipalities.

He is confident Slovenia will fully draw funds from the 2014-2020 EU budget until the deadline at the end of 2023.

Matej Arčon, Freedom Movement, minister without portfolio for Slovenians abroad

Arčon is a 49-year-old electrician who started his political career early, as president of the Nova Gorica students' club. He went on to become city councillor in Nova Gorica and deputy mayor before serving two terms as mayor starting in 2010.

Previously a prominent member of the now defunct Liberal Democrats (LDS), he became the secretary of the Freedom Movement on its founding as a close ally and confidante of Robert Golob.

He won more than 15,000 votes in two districts in the last general election, more than any other candidate by far.

He believes his coming from the border area, with Italy, helps him understand the challenges Slovenians abroad face.

He plans to strive for cross-border cooperation, cooperation of ethnic communities, the Slovenian language and digitalisation, as well as providing Slovenian minority associations abroad with adequate information and funding.

* The indication of party does not necessarily mean that the candidate is a member of the party, they just fill quota assigned to the coalition party under the coalition agreement.

STA, 1 June 2022 - Prime Minister Robert Golob's cabinet was sworn in on Wednesday and immediately took office after the line-up was confirmed in a 53:28 vote in the National Assembly 38 days after the general election. 

The left-liberal government, a coalition of Golob's Freedom Movement, Social Democrats (SD) and the Left, takes office amidst heightened international uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and the looming energy and food crisis.

Golob acknowledged that it would not get the customary 100-day grace period and would have to get down to work right away, which is why his team features a combination of seasoned politicians and experts.

"I'm pleased we have such a good team and I look forward to the weeks, months, years and terms in office ahead, where I know this team will deliver good results," he said.

The new government team will initially have 17 ministers, three of whom without portfolio, but will be expanded once the act on the government is amended.

Golob has said tackling rising food and energy prices would be an immediate priority, along with making preparations for autumn, when the next wave of Covid is likely to hit.

In the longer term, the government plans to focus on the green transformation and climate change, reform of the health system and social security system, and a sharp focus on knowledge-based services.

Golob was elected on a pledge to normalise society and reform the way politics is done after a turbulent two years under the conservative Janez Janša government.

In his first remarks after the confirmation of the cabinet, he announced that a review of "all damaging measures" of the previous government would be conducted in a week, including all appointments, reassignments and legislative changes.

"We want to have a clear picture," he said, adding that they would decide what needed to be "restored to its previous shape if we want a normal state."

While domestic policies have been in the focus in recent weeks, Golob also said the new government would return Slovenia to its rightful place at the EU's core.

EU partners can expect that the new government will be more predictable and focused on strengthening the EU, instead of "going on solo actions trying to find a starring role."

Golob formally took over from Janša just hours after he got his new cabinet in a handover ceremony that saw the new and old prime minister take a conciliatory tone that contrasted with heated exchanges they had during the campaign.

Janša advised the new government to take his government as a role model when it comes to achievements.

He said the public finances were in good shape and the seas calmer than when his government took over two years ago, but he acknowledged that the there were many dangerous reefs in the water.

"We wish the government achieves good results. If they are good, it is good for all of us, if they are bad, it will be bad for all of us," Janša said.

Golob thanked Janša for a productive and in-depth handover and for everything good his government had done. "I would have done many things differently, but this does not reduce the importance of the successes they achieved."

He said they "agreed on many things," including the fortuitous timing, with the government starting its term early enough so that it can prepare through the summer for the challenges ahead in autumn.

"I wish the seas will be calm. But we have the privilege of the voters having been clear and giving us a lot of seats in parliament so that we have a firm coalition.

"I am confident that we can be successful and will not have to look for excuses anywhere outside of our circle... It is now time to stop talking and get down to work," he said.

STA, 31 May 2022 - The company Nova Obzorja, which publishes weekly Demokracija and web portal Škandal24.si, has a new majority owner. The two-third majority share has been transferred from Hungarian company R-Post-R to NovaTV24.si, the company running the Nova24TV news television channel.

According to data by AJPES, the agency for public legal records, the Hungarian company owned by businessman Peter Schatz, one of the key players in Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's media expansion in the Balkans, is no longer the owner of 65.85% of Nova Obzorja.

As of 25 May, the new majority owner is NovaTV24.si, while the remaining 30.14% is still owned by the Democratic Party (SDS) and 4% by SDS MP Dejan Kaloh.

But based on the share register and other sources, media reported in recent years that three of NovaTV24.si's largest owners were Hungarian companies associated with Orban and his Fidesz party, which has recently been strengthening its rule in Hungary and spreading its influence in the region.

Reportedly, three largest owners of NovaTV24.si are asset management company Hespereia, financial holding Okeanis and media publisher Ridikul, each owning a 29.3% share. The remaining 12.1% are owned by small shareholders, many of whom are prominent SDS members and people associated with the party.

Hespereia also owns 73% of media company Nova Hiša, the company running web portal Nova24TV. The remaining 27% is owned by small shareholders, many of whom are again prominent SDS members and people associated with the party.

Nova Hiša ownership has remained unchanged for now, and there has also been no reports of ownership changes at NovaTV24.si.

According to unofficial information by portal Necenzurirano, the ownership changes are part of preparations for the sale of the entire media empire associated with the SDS and withdrawal of the Hungarian capital.

The Hungarian financing of these media outlets has been the subject of parliamentary inquiries in recent years while media reported before the start of the term of the outgoing Janez Janša government that the issue was also being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation.

STA, 31 May - Slovenia's annual inflation hit 8.1% in May, the highest rate since 2002, on the back of soaring fuel and food prices, the latest Statistics Office figures show. The monthly rate stood at 2%.

Liquid fuels were almost 43% more expensive than a year ago, contributing 1.9 percentage points to the headline rate. Food prices, having risen by more than 11%, added another 1.7 points.

Prices in other principal groups rose as well, most notably housing (+10.5%) and cars (+11.1%), respectively contributing 0.8 and 0.6 percentage points to the inflation rate.

The only major segments where prices went down were electricity, which was 15.8% cheaper, and telephone services, which were down 6.3%. Combined, they reduced headline inflation by almost a full percentage point.

At the monthly level inflation stood at 2%, largely due to prices of oil derivatives, clothing, footwear and food. Electricity, natural gas, heating and holidays were more expensive as well.

The harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU benchmark, rose by 8.7% at the annual level.

In its monthly report on the economic situation in Slovenia, the central bank said the effect of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine and the related sanctions on the Slovenian economy has been limited. "The shock is mainly reflected in high energy and raw material price hikes, which additionally power inflation through rising import prices," Banka Slovenije said.

More on this data

STA, 31 May 2020 - The upper Vipava Valley had been looking at an exceptional harvest of cherries this year, but the plans of local fruit growers were thwarted by the strong bora wind, which virtually swept away the ripened cherries, also tearing down branches and young cherry trees.

Fruit growers in the area in western Slovenia had it the worst on Saturday and Sunday, but they nevertheless expect that the unripened cherries will recover from the bora attack and fully develop.

"The damage is immense. As for the ripe cherries, the bora swept them across the ground and destroyed them," Bogdan Slokar, a fruit grower from Lokavec near Ajdovščina, has told the STA.

"We hope that the cherries that are still ripening will recover," said Slokar, who assessed that the bora has destroyed about 80% of the ripe cherries in the area.

Marta Koruza of the counselling service of the local agricultural and forestry chamber said that the "bora did what we had feared the most - extensive damage to cherries that were fully ripening".

She noted that the cherries were dented and as such were not appropriate for sale, which was a great loss for the growers.

The strong wind has also done some damage to cherries in exposed areas in the hilly Goriška Brda area north-west of Nova Gorica. Local growers hope that the late varieties will be able to ripen normally.

The disaster comes right before the Cherry Festival is to be held in the upper Vipava Valley and Goriška Brda over the upcoming weekend.

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:

STA, 31 May 2022 - Starting on Tuesday, the French carrier Air France will operate two daily flights to Ljubljana airport from Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris) during the summer months.

The carrier will fly to Paris from Ljubljana in the morning and in the afternoon. Passengers will be able to take a return flight to Ljubljana in the afternoon and in the evening, said an Air France spokesperson.

"The additional flight will bring greater connectivity to other Air France's destinations and the time slots are ideal for planning a weekend getaway," Air France-KLM's regional sales manager Ildiko McPartlin-Kiss was quoted in a press release, adding this would bring more foreign tourists to Slovenia.

Babett Stapel, managing director of Fraport Slovenia, is also pleased with the development of the Ljubljana-Paris flight connections. "We are very pleased we have managed to upgrade the long-standing partnership with Air France with a stronger presence on the market, and air traffic is even greater than in the pre-pandemic era," she said.

According to the carrier, they will offer flights to 200 destinations from Charles de Gaulle airport this summer, increasing the number of flights to 90% compared to their 2019 passenger traffic, while also adding some new destinations to their flight itinerary.

Ljubljana Airport is currently served by twelve other airlines, and the summer schedule is expected to include the launch of Israir flights to Tel Aviv and Air Montenegro flights to Tivat.

STA, 31 May 2022 - The coastal town of Izola is ready for the 18th iteration of the Isola Cinema International Film Festival, which will take place from 1 to 5 June. Lovers of art film can look forward to 41 carefully picked feature and 71 short films, which will mostly be screened at three open air and two indoor venues in Izola.

Screenings and events are also planned in Ljubljana, Cerknica, Idrija, Sežana and Tolmin, with some already scheduled before the official start of the festival. The festival's director Tanja Hladnik has told the press that the scope of the programme is comparable again to the pre-pandemic years.

According to selector Varja Močnik, the films chosen demonstrate how much intimate life is intertwined with political developments, with the latter pushing some people to the edge of society.

The official opening film of the festival is Disappearing/Verschwinden/Izginjanje by Andrina Mračnikar, an Austrian filmmaker with Slovenian roots, who addressed the situation of the Slovenian language in Austria's bilingual province of Carinthia. The film won the audience award at the Diagonale festival in Graz.

The main open air venue films moreover include Luzzu by Alex Camilleri, who portrays the impact of EU regulations on traditional fishing in Malta, The Staffroom by Croatia's Sonja Tarokoć, who explored the dynamics of the education system, and Pier Paolo Pasolini's Love Meetings.

Pasolini's classic will not be the only trip down memory lane in Izola, as the festival will also join a Ljubljana cinematheque-organised retrospective dedicated to Hungarian director Marta Meszaros.

The festival, which will also host a number of filmmaker guests, will moreover feature a selection of short films by rising independent filmmakers in the relaxed atmosphere of the Video on the Beach section, a programme of films and activities for children, young people and families, and a programme for film professionals.

What is more, this year, Isola Cinema committed to implementing measures for preventing and reducing the amount of produced waste and thus became the first film event in Slovenia to have received the title of a Zero Waste Event conferred by the Ecologists Without Borders association.

Explore the schedule, in English, here, and the festival has collected some trailers on YouTube

STA, 30 May 2022 - A 45-year-old Koper man wanted in Slovenia since 2015 for swindling the NLB bank out of more than half a million euro has been arrested in Rijeka, Croatia, and is now awaiting extradition to Slovenia, a Croatian news portal has reported.

The Croatian police confirmed the man's arrest last week, explaining the person had been wanted on an international arrest warrant since 2015 on suspicion of committing corporate crime.

The news portal telegram.hr, which first reported about the arrest, identified the man as Aleš Semolič of Koper.

Semolič is suspected of fraud whereby he cheated NLB bank out of EUR 569,741 in collusion with four other suspects.

One of the most wanted Slovenians on the run, he was reportedly last spotted in the areas of Ljubljana and Croatia's Rovinj in 2015.

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:

Boris Pahor, Trieste-based Slovenian writer, dies

TRIESTE, Italy - Boris Pahor, the internationally-renowned Trieste-born Slovenian writer who wrote about his own experience of Fascism and the suffering in Nazi death camps during World War II, has died at his home in Trieste, aged 108, Radio Slovenija reported. Pahor spent his life raising awareness of the dangers of totalitarian regimes. He has been immortalised in several documentaries, including the BBC's 2019 documentary The Man Who Saw Too Much, which portrayed him as the oldest living survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. Writers, politicians, media, minority representatives and others are sharing their thoughts and expressing condolences, with the main message being that a great man has died.

Fajon announces return to EU core, credible foreign policy

LJUBLJANA - Tanja Fajon, candidate for foreign minister, announced that Slovenia would return to the core EU countries as she singled out commitment to shared values and the rule of law, and a distancing from the Visegrad bloc, in her presentation to the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, which endorsed her candidacy. "I realise that we face hard work to restore credibility and the country's unfortunately eroded reputation," she said.

Incoming finance minister plans tax changes, but not rushed

LJUBLJANA - Klemen Boštjančič was endorsed as candidate for finance minister after laying out a blueprint for tax changes that would result in higher proceeds centred around a real estate tax, and tweaks to existing taxes coupled with more effective collection. Boštjančič said the prospects for additional tax sources were "fairly limited" but noted that a real estate tax was feasible provided the real estate records are good. "By that I don't mean a tax on the property you live in, but for the second or third property," he said, adding that these changes will not be rushed though.

Švarc Pipan declares commitment to rule of law in hearing

LJUBLJANA - Dominika Švarc Pipan, the candidate for minister of justice, expressed her commitment to the rule of law as an ideal that everyone should aspire to and an essential element to restore trust in society in a presentation that earned her the go-ahead from the relevant parliamentary committee. Švarc Pipan, a jurist who served as a state secretary at the Justice Ministry between 2018 and 2020, criticised the outgoing government for "ruling carelessly by decrees, which were serially overturned by the Constitutional Court", and pledged to focus on ensuring quality cooperation between the prosecution and the police.

Šarec supports territorial defence, parliament having power to deploy soldiers

LJUBLJANA - Marjan Šarec appeared as the candidate for defence minister before the relevant parliamentary committee, noting that whether Slovenia should have an army was not a dilemma. "We can only talk about how it should look like and how it should be equipped," he said. The former prime minister (2018-2020) told the MPs before being endorsed by the committee he would re-introduce the concept of territorial defence, and transfer the power of deploying Slovenian troops abroad to the National Assembly. He also intends to revise some key documents that are outdated or inadequate, if appointed minister.

Interior minister candidate plans to rebuild police's reputation

LJUBLJANA - Tatjana Bobnar, the candidate for interior minister, presented her vision for the ministry at the relevant parliamentary committee, stressing efforts to restore trust in police work, independence and depoliticisation. She plans to pay special attention to femicide, and replace border fence with video surveillance. The former police commissioner, who was endorsed in a 9:4 vote, said she had accepted the candidacy for minister to rebuild the reputation and trust in police. "I will perform the ministerial tasks as an expert and will never urge police officers on Twitter to be rough," she said.

Ajanović Hovnik to start talks on pay system reform right away

LJUBLJANA - Sanja Ajanović Hovnik announced she would name a team to start talks with trade unions to reform the public sector pay system as soon as she gets appointed public administration minister, as she set out her priorities on the relevant parliamentary committee on Monday before getting its clearance. The member of the Freedom Movement who has worked in public administration, also identified a reorganisation of administrative units and changes to the administrative procedure act as her priorities, apart from resuming social dialogue.

Constitutional Court judge Pavčnik asks to end term early

LJUBLJANA - Constitutional Court judge Marijan Pavčnik has asked to be relieved of his duties at the end of this year, halfway into his nine-year term, kicking off proceedings for the election of a new judge several years before a new round of judicial appointments was scheduled to start. The news was revealed as President Borut Pahor asked parliament to relieve Pavčnik of his duties effective on 31 December this year in line with the law governing the Constitutional Court. Once Pavčnik is relieved of his duties, Pahor will issue a call for applications to holding a vote on the candidate "before the end of the year."

Outgoing government lifts all remaining Covid restrictions

LJUBLJANA - The outgoing government lifted all remaining Covid restrictions as it repealed the main decree governing anti-Covid measures under a motion by the Health Ministry's advisory group for coronavirus, the Government Communication Office said. The group led by Mateja Logar had proposed it be dissolved and Health Minister Janez Poklukar endorsed this.

EUR 6 million subsidy for Carthago plant confirmed

LJUBLJANA - The government confirmed a EUR 6 million subsidy for German-owned motorhome maker Carthago, which is building a second production facility in Slovenia, in Ormož. The project is valued at EUR 45.5 million VAT excluded and the company will receive the subsidy in two instalments, the Government Communication Office said. The plant will create 120 new jobs in the economically disadvantaged region.

Report: Polish Enterprise Investors to sell Intersport

LJUBLJANA - Finance reported that the Polish Enterprise Investors fund, which acquired the Naklo-based sporting goods retailer Intersport ISI from Mercator back in 2016, is now looking for a buyer. The polish acquired Intersport ISI, the owner of the Intersport Group brand for the Wester Balkans, in December of 2016 for EUR 34.5 million as part of operational restructuring and disinvestment in Slovenia's largest retailer. The investors have set their expectations high regarding the price, over EUR 100 million according to the newspaper, whose source says the plan is to sell to a retailer and not another fund.

Health Ministry official appointed chair of WHO executive board

GENEVA, Switzerland - The executive board of the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the appointment of Vesna Kerstin Petrič, head of the public health directorate at the Health Ministry, as the chair of the WHO executive board, the government said in a press release. The WHO executive board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms. The board meets twice a year - in January when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly, and in May-June, as a follow-up to the Health Assembly. Kerstin Petrič was first elected to the board for the 2021-2024 period two years ago.

Country's prime theatre festival opening in Maribor

MARIBOR - The Maribor Theatre Festival, the country's biggest, is getting under way in Slovenia's second largest city with a section devoted to development of new theatre audiences. The two-week festival will see 16 productions in the running for awards, plus eight Slovenian and five foreign productions in the accompanying programme. The official opening of the festival on Friday will feature Outwitting the Devil, a production by the UK dance troupe Akram Khan Company.

Man who swindled NLB out of half a million euro apprehended in Rijeka

RIJEKA, Croatia - A 45-year-old Koper man wanted in Slovenia since 2015 for swindling the NLB bank out of more than half a million euro has been arrested in Rijeka, Croatia, and is now awaiting extradition to Slovenia, the Croatian news portal telegram.hr reported, identifying the man as Aleš Semolič. One of the most wanted Slovenians on the run is suspected of fraud in collusion with four other suspects.