29 Mar 2020, 19:49 PM

COVID-19 & Slovenia, Night 29 March: Movement Restrictions, Mandatory Masks, More Aid for Individuals

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Aleksander Sandi. You can see more of his work here.

Contents

Two deaths and 46 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Saturday, putting totals at 11 and 730

Lockdown restrictions tightened as most movement restricted to home municipality

Govt puts forward EUR 3bn stimulus package, expands aid to individuals

Two deaths and 46 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Saturday, putting totals at 11 and 730

STA, 29 March 2020 - Two more persons died in Slovenia as a result of Covid-19 on Saturday, putting the total number at 11. The number of confirmed cases rose by 46 to 730, with the increase comparing to 52 on Friday and 70 on Thursday.

While strict lockdown rules have been in place since 20 March, the government decided on Sunday to step up the restrictions in the aftermath of reports of people continuing to visit popular weekend destinations despite being advised to stay home.

For most daily activities, Slovenians will thus be confined to their home municipalities except to go to work, to do farm work, provide assistance to persons in need of care, and access emergency services, pharmacies, diplomatic missions and judicial authorities.

Within their municipality people will still be allowed to go to shops and access services that are provided despite the sweeping lockdown, and if such services are not available in their municipality they will be allowed to go to the nearest place where they are available.

For most people public parks have been the only nature they have been able to enjoy during the lockdown and the new decree stipulates that people may only access parks within their own municipality. Mayors may introduce additional restrictions.

But for those who do venture to shops, face masks, even ones made at home, or equivalents such as scarves that cover the mouth and nose will be mandatory along with protective gloves; the decree stipulates that masks and gloves need to be worn in indoor public spaces.

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said that after a "touristy Saturday" the government had been forced to tighten the measures. "We are concerned looking at the next six to ten days, when yesterday's frolicking by many will lead to an increase in infections across Slovenia."

He said the government would introduce even stricter measures if necessary. "We have to fight this epidemic seriously, responsibly as a mature nation."

The new decree marks a significant stepping-up of restrictions and had been widely expected given the measures taken by some other countries and considering widespread reports of some people not taking the previous restrictions seriously.

And oversight of people's movement beyond the immediate restrictions on movement may become even more strict soon as the umbrella law to fight the coronavirus epidemic, presented on Sunday, contains provisions giving police sweeping powers to control the movement of individuals.

Under the proposal, police would be able to monitor the location of individuals who opt for self-isolation instead of mandatory quarantine, to which such individuals would have to explicitly consent.

Moreover, in order to contain epidemics police would have access to face recognition, the power to erect roadblocks, enter apartments, and temporarily apprehend persons.

To do that, they would also get health data collected by the National Institute of Public Health.

The data would be stored for as long as measures to contain the epidemic remain in place and up to 30 days after the epidemic ends, whereupon it would be destroyed.

Prime Minister Janez Janša told the press today that the police already had some of the required powers while some were new since they had to be connected with the provisions of the communicable diseases act.

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Govt puts forward EUR 3bn stimulus package, expands aid to individuals

STA, 29 March 2020 - The government has adopted a new stimulus package meant mitigate the impact of coronavirus. It upgraded some of the initial measures supporting companies and expanded them to the self-employed, pensioners and other vulnerable groups. Estimated at EUR 3 billion, the package includes bonuses for vital staff and a pay cut for public office holders.

While upgrading support measures for companies like pay compensation for temporary lay-offs, tax and loan payment deferrals and adding things like loan guarantees and financing of social contributions, the scheme has been expanded to also include temporary basic income for the self-employed and allowances for pensioners, large families and students.

A notable upgrade of the support scheme for companies, originally adopted on 20 March, is the decision that the state cover the entire pay compensation, meaning 80% of the wage, secured to temporary redundant workers. The original measure had employers covering 60% of this sum and the state 40%.

Moreover, for two months the state will cover all social contributions for workers who continue working, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the press on Sunday.

Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj elaborated on the loan guarantees scheme, explaining the total amount to be provided for companies affected by the crisis is EUR 200 million, a figure he said also took into account the fact banks' loan portfolios had been cleaned up a few years ago.

"We expect banks will get actively involved in the salvaging of the economy and of the population, especially when it comes to lending," he added.

Meanwhile, the temporary basic income scheme provides the self-employed with EUR 350 for March if they prove at least a 25% drop in income over February and EUR 700 in April and May if their income is down at least 50%. The state will moreover cover all social contributions, also an upgrade of what was initially conceived as a deferral.

What is more, a one-off allowance of EUR 150 will be secured for all students, families with three children will get an additional one-off allowance of EUR 100 and those with four or more EUR 200.

Pensioners getting less than EUR 700 can expect a one-off bonus of between 130 and 300 euros, while an extra EUR 150 will also be secured once to welfare recipients.

Pay bonuses of up to EUR 200 are envisaged for workers in the private sector who are disproportionately exposed and are working overtime during the epidemic. The funds will be provided by employers, who will however be exempt from pension contribution payments.

Moreover, sick pay of all those who fall ill during the crisis will be fully covered by the public health insurance rather than employers having to cover the first 30 working days of absence. Unemployment benefits will automatically kick in on the first day of unemployment.

The package moreover envisages a special set of measures dedicated to farmers, with financial aid, direct transfers and cancelled contributions planned for farmers who may contract coronavirus. The three-month temporary basic income aid also applies for farmers.

The list of measures, which are presently meant to be in place until 31 May, involves some saving efforts as well, including a 30% pay cut for holders of public office and a 30% cut in fees for members of supervisory boards in state-owned companies.

While the judiciary will be exempted under a Constitutional Court ruling on the matter, Prime Minister Janez Janša has called on decision-makers there to voluntarily join the effort.

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29 Mar 2020, 14:19 PM

COVID-19 & Slovenia, Afternoon 29 March: Deaths, Flight Ban, Spain

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Ciku Peppe. You can see more of his work here.

Contents

Two deaths and 46 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Saturday, putting totals at 11 and 730

Passenger flight ban extended

Group evacuated from Spain quarantined in Postojna

Two deaths and 46 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Saturday, putting totals at 11 and 730

STA, 29 March 2020 - Two more persons died in Slovenia as a result of Covid-19 on Saturday, putting the total number at 11. The number of confirmed cases rose by 46 to 730, with the increase comparing to 52 on Friday and 70 on Thursday.

A total of 997 persons were tested on Saturday, down from 1,387 on Friday and 1,075 on Thursday.

The number of hospitalised patients increased by 11 to 101 on Saturday, 23 of which need intensive care, the Government Communication Office said on Sunday.

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Passenger flight ban extended

STA, 29 March 2020 - Slovenian air traffic will remain severely restricted as the government has extended a ban on passenger flights that had originally been put in place on 17 March.

Flights to and from non-EU countries are banned until further notice while flights to and from EU destinations will remain suspended until 13 April, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette on Saturday.

The reason why a two-week suspension applies to EU destinations is because EU rules require member states to apply such bans only for 14 days and then extend them if necessary.

The ban does not apply to aircraft transporting cargo or mail, aircraft conducting special transport without passengers or ferry flights, or to foreign planes or helicopters on humanitarian or health missions.

Any other exemptions must by approved by the infrastructure or foreign ministries.

Passenger traffic has ground to a halt across the world as countries try to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Individual flights have landed in Ljubljana since the ban took effect, but most were evacuation flights bringing home Slovenians and other EU nationals.

The Jože Pučnik Ljubljana Airport had already been hammered by last year's bankruptcy of Adria Airways, the biggest operator of flights into Slovenia, and the ban will only add to its woes.

Airport operator Fraport Slovenija says it is impossible to assess the damage to the aviation industry due to the airport closures and aircraft grounding, but it will be "enormous".

"It is unclear how fast and to what extent air traffic will recover," the company told the STA.

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Group evacuated from Spain quarantined in Postojna

STA, 29 March 2020 - A group of 40 Slovenian nationals was flown in from Spain Saturday night on the latest evacuation flight organised by the Foreign Ministry. They have been placed in mandatory 14-day quarantine in a hotel in Postojna.

The individuals had been in quarantine in Spain and none of them has tested positive for coronavirus. They will however be tested again, either on Sunday or next week, Postojna Mayor Igor Marentič told the STA.

The group will spend the next two weeks at Epic Hotel, which its owner had recently made available for quarantine purposes. They will be looked after by members of the civil protection force and the Red Cross, with a security guard stationed in front of the hotel.

This is the second group of Slovenians evacuated from Spain, one of the European countries with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, that has been placed in mandatory quarantine. The first group, numbering 42 people, was quarantined in Velenje on Thursday.

While persons who had been in high-risk areas had previously been told to self-isolate, the government has recently decreed that all those coming from coronavirus hotspots must be quarantined for two weeks. They will be put up in hotels and similar facilities around the country.

Several hundred nationals have been airlifted to Slovenia in recent days and Foreign Ministry information suggests several hundred more are abroad seeking to return home.

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29 Mar 2020, 11:26 AM

8-10am Now Reserved for Pensioners, Vulnerable in Stores, Elderly Limited to Those Hours

STA, 29 March 2020 - Pensioners in Slovenia will only be allowed into stores between 8am and 10am as of Monday as new shopping restrictions have been put in place to protect the most vulnerable groups against coronavirus.

Under a previous decree that took effect on 19 March, shops had to give priority during the 8-10am slot to older persons, the disabled and pregnant women.

Now, this time slow will be reserved exclusively for these vulnerable groups while pensioners will not be allowed into shops after 10am at all.

The government said the best way to additionally protect vulnerable groups was to separate them physically from other consumers.

Other restrictions that shops are subject to remain in place. Most shops except those selling food, pharmacies and petrol stations remain closed until further notice. Those that are open operate from 8am to 6pm Monday through Saturday, a restriction that does not apply to petrol stations and pharmacies.

How old is a pensioner? There’s no official guidance on the age here, but I’d assume “the elderly”, and interpret that as you will (JL Flanner)

28 Mar 2020, 21:26 PM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Sunday, 29 March 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:

52 new Covid-19 cases confirmed, no cabinet member infected

LJUBLJANA - 52 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed but no new deaths recorded in Slovenia on Friday, putting the national total of infected persons at 684 and death toll at nine. The daily rise in new cases is below Thursday's record 70. 1,387 persons were tested for the virus on Friday. By that day 90 infected persons were admitted to hospital, of whom 25 are in intensive case and the majority need a ventilator, the government's spokesperson for the coronavirus crisis Jelko Kacin told the press. He also announced that due to the complexity of the matter, the government is unlikely to adopt the EUR 2 billion economic stimulus package today. It is more likely that it will complete the session on Sunday, when it is also expected to present it to the press. Kacin also said that no cabinet member was infected.

Over 80 residents in six nusing homes infected

LJUBLJANA - 83 residents of six nursing homes and 23 staff were infected with Covid-19 in Slovenia as of Friday, government figures show. A nusing home in Postojna could become a hotspot after an employee tested positive for the virus yesterday; all residents - there are some 40 - and staff are being tested today. Nine infected persons have so far died in Slovenia, all of them elderly persons with underlaying conditions, and several of them residents of nusing homes. The government announced that a special body bringing together directors of hospitals, community health centres and nursing homes would be set up in the coming days to see what else could be done to prevent the virus from spreading to nursing homes.

Poll shows 58% trust government on coronavirus action

LJUBLJANA - More than 58% of those polled trust the government it is doing the right thing amid the coronavirus epidemic, with 22% not trusting it, a poll released by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer shows. Over 55% believe the planned measures to help business, sole proprietors and the self-employed are sufficient, around 25% consider them inadequate and 20% said they were not familiar well enough with them to comment. The online survey was carried out by pollster Ninamedia among 1,300 people on 25 and 26 March.

Kopp new sole provider of maritime piloting services

LJUBLJANA - The government concluded on Friday a contract with the state-owned Kopp Izobraževanje company to provide maritime piloting services in the port of Koper as a public service. So far these services have been provided by private company Piloti Koper. A decree to set up a public company as the sole provider of maritime piloting services in the port was adopted by the previous government last month, with the new government concluding the contract with Kopp, a company established and operated by state asset custodian Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH). Under the decree, the contract is concluded for up to ten years, the Government Communication Office said.

Spas' revenue could drop by a third due to coronavirus

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian spas have been closed since mid-March due to the coronavirus epidemic, and estimate "an alarming 30-35% loss of revenue this year", Association of Slovenian Natural Spas director Iztok Altbauer told the STA. "Nobody knows how we'll cover such a loss of revenue." The association thus asked its members to come up with proposals for measures that could help tourism companies survive. One of the proposals sent to the government is the Austrian aid model, which entails EUR 1,000 a month for a tourist worker, as well as other liquidity, employment and marketing measures.

Saharan dust brings record concentration of PM10 particles

LJUBLJANA - The Environment Agency (ARSO) has issued a warning for Saturday about extremely high concentrations of harmful PM10 particles for Slovenia after Saharan dust reached Europe on Friday. It has advised people to stay indoors. An average daily concentration was expected to exceed 100 microgrammes per cubic metre, while the allowed daily concentration is 50 microgrammes. The situation should gradually improve on Sunday, yet high concentrations are still expected in central and southern Slovenia. Very high concentrations, even around 400 microgrammes per cubic metre, were recorded already on Friday. Janja Turšič from ARSO told the STA she could not remember Slovenia ever having recorded such high levels.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

28 Mar 2020, 21:04 PM

COVID-19 & Slovenia, Night 28 March: Nursing Home Infections, Most Trust Govt. Actions

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Igor Andjelić. You can see more of their work here.

Contents

Nursing homes hit by infections

Survey says most respondents trust government

Over 80 residents in six nursing homes infected

STA, 28 March 2020 - Eighty-three residents of nursing homes and 23 staff were infected with Covid-19 in Slovenia as of Friday, data from the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities show.

Infections have been confirmed in six nursing homes around the country, apart from Metlika and Šmarje pri Jelšah also in Ljubljana, Naklo, Horjul and Ljutomer.

One of the nursing homes in Postojna could also become a hotspot after an employee tested positive for the virus yesterday. All residents - there are some 40 - and staff are being tested today.

Nine infected persons have so far died in Slovenia, all of them elderly persons with underlaying conditions. Several of them were residents of nursing homes.

The government's spokesperson for the coronavirus crisis Jelko Kacin told the press today that a special body bringing together directors of hospitals, community health centres and nursing homes would be set up in the coming days to see what else could be done to prevent the virus from spreading to nursing homes.

"We would like to protect nursing home residents from the virus at all cost," he said.

Strict measures to prevent the spreading of the virus to nursing homes are already in place, including a ban on visits, but State Secretary at the Labour Ministry Mateja Ribič again urged everyone today to stick to them to the benefit of all.

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Poll shows 58% trust government on coronavirus action

STA, 28 March 2020 - More than 58% of those polled trust the government it is doing the right thing amid the coronavirus epidemic, with 22% not trusting it, a poll released by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer on Saturday shows.

Votes of all four coalition parties trust the Janez Janša government the most as well as some voters of the opposition National Party, non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS) and the opposition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB).

Less supportive of the government's action are voters of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), Left and Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ).

The least thrilled with the government's mode of coping with the epidemic are younger voters, the unemployed and voters from south-western Slovenia.

Over 55% meanwhile believe that the planned measures to help business, sole proprietors and the self-employed are sufficient.

Around a quarter consider them inadequate and 20% said they were not familiar well enough with them.

A vast majority of 78.5% are against the government's decision to move ministers and state secretaries to the highest public sector pay bracket. Not even the voters of the ruling Democrats (SDS) support the measure. Almost 17% however agrees with it.

However, more than 80% welcome the government's subsequent decision to cut public office holders' pay by 30% for the duration of the epidemic, with over 11% against it.

The online survey was carried out by pollster Ninamedia among 1,300 people on 25 and 26 March.

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28 Mar 2020, 15:44 PM

Warning as Saharan Dust Causes Record Concentration of PM10 Particles

STA, 28 March 2020 - The Environment Agency (ARSO) has issued a warning for today about high concentrations of harmful PM10 particles for Slovenia after Saharan dust reached Europe on Friday. It has advised people to stay indoors.

An average daily concentration is expected to exceed 100 microgrammes per cubic metre, while the allowed daily concentration is 50 microgrammes.

The situation should gradually improve on Sunday, yet high concentrations are still expected in central and southern Slovenia, ARSO says on its website.

Very high concentrations, even around 400 microgrammes per cubic metre, were measured in Slovenia already on Friday.

"We're not used to such high concentrations," Janja Turšič from ARSO told the STA, adding she could not remember Slovenia ever having recorded such high levels.

You can see more details of this here

28 Mar 2020, 13:56 PM

COVID-19 & Slovenia, Mid-day 28 March: 52 New Cases, 90 Hospital Admissions, 25 in ICU

All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Gordana Grlič, who owns the best photo store on Ljubljana's Trubarjeva cesta - Photo Pauli

STA, 28 March 2020 - Fifty-two new Covid-19 cases were confirmed but no new deaths recorded in Slovenia on Friday, putting the national total of infected persons at 684 and death toll at nine. The daily rise in new cases is below Thursday's record 70. A total of 1,387 people were tested for the virus on Friday, the Government Communication Office said on Saturday.

By Friday, 90 infected persons were admitted to hospital, of whom 25 are in intensive care and the majority need a ventilator, the government's spokesperson for the coronavirus crisis Jelko Kacin told the press today.

Answering a question from the press, he also said that no cabinet member was infected, while they all stick to very strict safety measures.

Kacin moreover announced that due to the complexity of the matter, the government is unlikely to adopt the EUR 2 billion economic stimulus package today but tomorrow.

The Government Communication Office said later in the day that the government will meet today at 4pm to continue debating the bill. It is however not clear whether it will complete the debate today.

Infected are however three employees of the national Agency Commodity Reserves, including its director, but they all feel fine and are working from home.

A special body bringing together hospital, community health centre and nursing home directors will be set up in the coming days to see what else could be done to prevent the virus from spreading to nursing homes, announced Kacin.

Several Covid-19 fatalities were residents of nursing homes, with the Šmarje pri Jelšah nursing home one of the hotspots of the epidemic in the country.

While visits to nursing homes are not allowed, State Secretary at the Labour, Family and Social Affairs Ministry Mateja Ribič said the elderly there are well taken care of despite the situation.

She said a number of measures have been taken to protect the staff and residents and urged everyone to stick to them to the benefit of all.

An employee of a nursing home in Postojna tested positive for the virus last evening so extensive testing of all staff and a total of some 40 residents is under way in Postojna today, according to the local Civil Protection unit.

As for personal protective equipment at nursing homes, Ribič said all those who need it, get it. She expects the shortage to ease as new shipments are coming to the country daily.

The country's Civil Protection head Srečko Šestan meanwhile told the STA that Slovenia had enough protective equipment for at least another week.

He said the biggest shortage is for the protection class FFP2 and FFP3 respirator masks, which provide the best protection and are intended primarily for medical staff.

"We'll have to use them sparingly, giving them to nobody else but medical staff," Šestan said.

He said most of the protective equipment coming in goes to healthcare organisations, including hospitals, community health centres, nursing homes, pharmacies and dentists.

The Health Ministry confirmed that two younger persons in quarantine at the Paka Hotel in the town of Velenje tested positive for the virus, but feel fine.

As many as 42 Slovenians who returned from Spain on a plane on Friday were quarantined there for two weeks.

More Slovenians are planned to return home amid the pandemic, with a plane bringing 45 Slovenians from Madrid planned to land at Ljubljana airport around midnight.

The same plane, which will also carry Croatian, Austrian and Hungarian citizens, will then fly on to Croatia's Zagreb to pick 80 Spaniards back home.

Andrej Šter of the Foreign Ministry explained for TV Slovenija that Slovenia will only have to organise the transit of Austrians to their home country.

Another ten Slovenians are expected to arrive in Slovenia from Skopje and Prishtina today.

28 Mar 2020, 09:59 AM

Martin Strel: The Greatest Athlete in the Whole World

John Bills is the author of four books on Europe's better half, electronic versions of which are currently available at special lockdown prices, including a great deal on all four - just under £10 (or just over €11) for the lot with the promo code ENDOFDAYS at poshlostbooks. The text below comes from An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery - as entertaining as it is educational, and as good as it is long, and at well over 500 pages it's very long indeed.

Who is the greatest swimmer of all time? Ask any chap on the street and they'll probably run away due to the strange question, but if they do manage to answer they will come out with the usual suspects. Mark Spitz, Ian Thorpe, Michael Phelps, maybe some other Olympians. The archetypical swimmer, the athletic body, the elegant technique, the great smile and in Spitz's example, the textbook moustache. What if I told you that none of the above can rightly claim to be the greatest swimmer of the human race? What if I told you that at the pinnacle of swimming you will find an overweight man, who may or may not be a raging alcoholic, born in the village of Mokronog in southeastern Slovenia? Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Martin Strel.

Who? Well, pretty much all you need to know is written above. Martin Strel was born in Mokronog on October 1, 1954. He’s overweight. He drinks a lot of alcohol. Oh, and he swims big rivers, from start to finish. And by big rivers, I mean BIG rivers. We're talking Danube big. Mississippi big. Yangtze big. AMAZON big. Martin Strel has created a legend of himself by swimming from the start of a river to the end of a river, usually in an astonishingly quick time, all in the name of greater awareness for the plight of the world’s rivers.

Mokronog itself has had little or no impact on the history of the world. It was once the centre of the leather industry, but the big factory was destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. 11 years later, Martin Strel entered the world. His early years were fraught with difficulty, as his father frequently veered into the abusive territory. As the legend goes, and with Strel the legend is as valid as the truth, his first swim was an attempt to escape the violence of his father. The tales continue, as he supposedly learned to swim by damming the Mirna river to create a pool. One day, when Strel was 10, a troop of soldiers raced in his pool, with a crate of beer for the winner. Despite being half their size and less than half their age, Strel won the race, and subsequently the beer. He has been swimming and drinking ever since.

He went to Ljubljana as a teenager, where he worked an assortment of odd jobs such as paperboy, mechanic and bricklayer. He was discovered, Hollywood style, at the age of 24, by the Yugoslav long-distance swimming coach. Within three months he had completed his first 20-mile race. It was his swimming ability that allowed him to get away with what must surely be a record 42 desertions of the Yugoslav army in his one-year service. That or his ability to complete a Rubik's cube in under a minute. He needed a job post-army though, so he became an infrequent guitar teacher (he's the finest flamenco guitarist in Slovenia) but mostly a professional gambler. Gambling, it could be argued, is the only thing he loves as much as swimming. And alcohol.

His first big swim came in 1992 when he swam the 63 mile Krka river in 28 hours. Non-stop. It was a cold and miserable experience, understandably, but it gave Strel something approaching a new goal, a new mission in life. He was going to do all he could to promote awareness of the state of the rivers of the world, of their pollution, of their decline. As he said himself, without water we are truly nothing. He was going to do this by swimming the longest, most imposing rivers in the world, and he practiced by becoming the first man to swim from Africa to Europe, in 1997. Seven had perished attempting this feat before him. He swam the Danube, the second-longest river in central Europe at 1,867m, in just 58 days. During this swim, he also managed to set a world record for the longest continual swim, when he swam 313 miles in 84 hours, non-stop.

Just let that sink in for a second. 313 miles. Three Hundred, and Thirteen miles. For 84, Eighty-Four hours non-stop. Doing anything for 84 hours is difficult. Heck, doing any single act for four hours is hard enough. Being awake for 24 hours is often impossible. But swimming, for 84 hours? Awe my friends, awe and respect.

He followed this feat by swimming the length of the Mississippi, two thousand three hundred and fifty miles, in 68 days. Then, he swam the Yangtze, China's behemoth (2,487m), in an astonishing 51 days, all the while dodging waste and corpses in one of the most polluted rivers in the world. This was all in preparation for his ultimate challenge, possibly the ultimate challenge in the world of big river swimming. It might not be the longest river in the world, but it is the most difficult regarding swimming. I'm talking about the Amazon.

To describe the Amazon swim as a challenge is a grand understatement. It is doing a disservice to what Strel achieved with this swim. It was such a huge, ambitious project, that a documentary was to be made about it, entitled 'Big River Man'. Strel swam 3,274 miles in 66 days, sleeping around four to five hours a night at most. He could rarely see below the surface of the dirty water and constantly had to deal with the threats of pirates and with tribes that were hostile to his presence and considered Strel to be a demon. This without mentioning the animals that live in the Amazon, the dangerous bastards that Strel would contend with on a day-to-day basis.

The list is pretty much the most terrifying list of all. The Amazon is home to the Bull Shark, the shark that is believed to have killed more humans than any other of its kind. Then there are the piranhas, often considered the most vicious of all fish, stingrays, electric eels, crocodiles, catfish that swallow dogs whole and snakes, oh the snakes. There are so many different types of snake in the Amazon. Oh yeah, and the Candiru, which gets into you through any orifice, locks itself in with a spike and then feeds on your blood. It's most famous route is through your urine, by the way, that is to say through your urethra and up your schlong. This isn’t exactly true, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be heading to the Amazon riverside for a tinkle any time soon. The natives don't swim here, so how would an obese alcohol-fuelled Slovene cope?

Well, he went mad, quite obviously, but he managed to complete the course without any interaction with the animals other than a brief spat with some piranhas. He claims that this is all because of the respect he showed the nature, that and the fact he was escorted a large portion of the way by a group of pink dolphins. That sounds like something out of a crazy dream obviously, and it might be, but the fact is that Martin Strel swam the length of the Amazon, a distance that is longer than the width of the Atlantic Ocean. Let that sink in as well, because holy moly that is a loooooooong river. He did this whilst under immense pressure due to the increased profile and huge production that came along with it. Many livelihoods depending on his being able to continue swimming. His skin blistered to the point where he had to swim in a home-made cloth mask which looks like that worn by an insane asylum dweller in the nineteenth century. His doctor even made him sign a waiver stating that he was swimming against her advice. But still, he did it. Somehow, he did it.

Whatever your opinion of him, it is difficult to not view the achievements of Martin Strel with awe and respect. He drinks two bottles of wine a day and is a fervent believer in the benefits of being overweight. If I was swimming 52 miles a day, I would require some sort of fatty reserves, and Strel has them in abundance. He is a very bullish, confident man, prone to embellishment. Why wouldn't he be? Every time I attempt to criticise the man, I keep coming back to thoughts of his swims. The length of the freakin’ Amazon. Let the guy be rude, he swam for 84 hours non-stop. He's earned the right to be insane.

I wouldn't just say Martin Strel is the greatest swimmer in history. I'd go so far as to say he is the greatest athlete in the history of the world. A modern-day Atlas.

John Bills is the author of four books on Europe's better half, electronic versions of which are currently available at special lockdown prices, including a great deal on all four - just under £10 (or just over €11) for the lot with the promo code ENDOFDAYS at poshlostbooks. The text above comes from An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery - as entertaining as it is educational, and as good as it is long, and at well over 500 pages it's very long indeed. You can learn more about Martin Strel at the man's website, and even go open water swimming with the tour company he and his family run, when this whole covid-19 thing is over.

28 Mar 2020, 09:04 AM

What Mladina & Demokracija Are Saying This Week: Surveillance Capitalism vs Attacks on Govt

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 27 March 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Beware surveillance capitalism

STA, 27 March 2020 - In the times that are coming, democracy will be more important than we could ever imagine and the countries that do not have people fully committed to human rights and democracy in power now will have it hard, the editor-in-chief of the left-wing weekly Mladina, Grega Repovž, argues in Friday's editorial.

"In the coming weeks (!) so much will happen that we will indeed wake up to a different world, a different world order", Repovž says, pointing to restrictive measures and electronic surveillance devices that Asian countries are using to prevent the spread of coronavirus among their citizens.

"The use of such applications is undoubtedly controversial, because they severely encroach on personal privacy. But as long as health arguments are used we are somehow trying to understand them," Repovž says.

However, the world today trembles before another fear: the fear of a great economic collapse. "This fear is getting worse, because for healthy people quarantined today it is much more tangible and known than some unknown diseases. One of the reasons for this is that only a decade has passed since the last major crisis."

It was only a matter of time before those who are primarily concerned about the state of the economy realised that these applications and surveillance of infected persons can actually enable them to allow citizens to return to their jobs early in the name of the economy and assume their role of consumers again.

The technology enabling surveillance of infected persons is sending the message that capitalism can function even before the pandemic is completely contained.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn revealed for Die Zeit this Wednesday that the German government was already working on a plan to revive public life before the end of the epidemic, so that life could return to normal for most people right after Easter, except for the older and the most vulnerable, who would be asked to remain in quarantine.

He argued that in a liberal society it is not possible to restrict contacts between people in the long-term, which Repovž says is a seemingly acceptable view for any liberal. But his next sentence was that digital tracking of people's contacts, meaning tracing people's mobiles, will be inevitable in this scenario.

"And so it has happened. The wall has been penetrated. The one thing we feared has happened: the argument of liberal values has been used to violate those exact values only to let capitalism start its engines again."

The question now is whether we will give up our freedom and privacy to enable life to start again despite the virus that is among us. Will we even have a chance to be against? "Is this the world we want to live in? And primarily: Can you trust your authorities - for example in Slovenia - that they will not abuse the situation?"

But what if this experiment causes the disease to spread even more, and bring even more deaths, Repovž wonders under the headline Surveillance Capitalism Is Coming.

Demokracija: Mainstream media should not attack government

STA, 26 March 2020 - The right-wing magazine Demokracija endorses government restrictions aimed at slowing down the spread of coronavirus in its latest edition, berating mainstream media for accusing the government of censorship.

In the piece headlined What the World Will Be Like After the End of the Outbreak, Jože Biščak, the editor-in-chief, writes that everyone should abide by the restrictions and behave as if they were contagious, including journalists.

"In particular the ladies who are reporting on the ground in front of cameras without protective masks (great example for the viewers indeed), and then when the government cancels live press conferences, go crying that they cannot do their job, complaining about censorship, talking about dictatorship, curbs on the freedom of speech.

"Dear readers, we are at war, at war against a virus we do not know well enough and do not know what consequences it will have on people's health."

Biščak says that no one is denying anyone's right to express their opinion, or hindering journalist work and that no one will be any less informed if the government responds to questions remotely.

He accuses the media mainstream of using the state of emergency to attack the centre-right government, arguing that people are not interested in who has been replaced at the helm of the army or police force at the moment, but rather if and how they will survive the epidemic.

"Things that are completely irrelevant to health at the moment are only of interest to socio-political workers, a phalanx of NGOs and ideological parasites as they are helplessly watching how they are losing their influence and how ordinary people are welcoming government measures."

Biščak says that restrictions will pass and that the current government has no desire to extend the state of emergency beyond what necessary, as mainstream media commentators claim.

"However, this is a time for a rethink what world we want to live in after the end of the outbreak. A globalised one where international elites take decisions that affect us and decide the quality of our lives, or a world where the power would be decentralised, people freer and regions more independent?"

All our posts in this series are here

28 Mar 2020, 04:01 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Saturday, 28 March 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:

Janša warns lack of joint action potentially fateful for EU

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša called for joint EU action to fight the coronavirus crisis. "The scale of the crisis is truly large and may have grave and fateful effects on the cohesion of the EU and the economic and monetary union," he told EU leaders at Thursday's EU summit. He said adequate and timely action was needed to mitigate the social and economic consequences of the crisis. "Considering the extraordinary circumstances, Slovenia has endorsed the initiative for a common debt instrument," Janša was quoted in a Government Communication Office press release.

Covid-19 death toll rises to nine as two more deaths reported

LJUBLJANA - The coronavirus death toll in Slovenia rose to nine as two persons died, the second day in a row that more than one fatality has been confirmed. By Thursday midnight the total number of confirmed infections rose to 632, up by a record 70 cases in a day, the latest government data show. More than 18,000 tests were carried out by midnight on Thursday, over a thousand yesterday alone, while reports from hospitals suggest 101 Covid-19 patients were in hospital today. The National Institute of Public Health expects the growth in cases to slow down because of the lockdown measures imposed in Slovenia nearly two weeks ago.

Hojs optimistic about chances of giving army police powers

LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs is optimistic a two-thirds majority could be mustered to trigger article 37.a of the defence act to temporarily give the Slovenian Armed Forces police powers. After consulting deputy groups, he said he would shortly send them the final proposal updated with some of their proposals so that the government could adopt it and parliament pass next week. With the exception of the National Party (SNS), the opposition is reserved towards the proposal, but would make its mind up once it has seen the final proposal. However, today Hojs praised all opposition parties for being constructive. Among their proposals he finds useful he highlighted strictly limiting the territory along the border with Croatia on which soldiers would be allowed to exert police powers to help the police cope with illegal migration.

Government to continue work on stimulus package on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - The government convened a session to finalise a economic stimulus package estimated at EUR 2 billion, but later announced that it would take a vote on it on Saturday after conducting further talks due to its complexity. The government was only acquainted with the package today, the STA has learned. The proposed measures include loan guarantees for companies, purchase of claims to companies, co-financing of social contributions and temporary layoffs, temporary basic income for the self-employed and a one-off allowance for pensioners. PM Janez Janša has said the ideal scenario would be to pass it by 1 April and parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič has announced that en emergency session would be held in the middle of next week.

Quarantine protocol to apply to all Slovenian returning from hotspots

LJUBLJANA - The government announced all Slovenians returning to Slovenia from coronavirus hotspots will be put into state-administrated quarantine. The announcement was made after 41 Slovenian citizens who were flown in from Madrid late on Thursday were not sent into self-isolation but quarantined in a hotel in Velenje for two weeks. There is some opposition in Velenje, with the local community expressing indignation that it had learnt about the Paka Hotel quarantine from the media. Jelko Kacin, the government's spokesman for the coronavirus crisis, confirmed today the measure would apply to all Slovenians returning from coronavirus hotspots. Another group from Spain is to arrive on Saturday.

Slovenia urges cohesion policy flexibility due to crisis

BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU ministers in charge of development and European cohesion policy appealed to the European Commission to come up with a second set of measures enabling more flexibility in the phasing of EU funds to tackle the coronavirus epidemic ramifications, with Slovenia urging maximum possible wiggle room for taking action. Slovenia's Zvonko Černač urged the greatest possible degree of flexibility in allowing changes and implementing measures to mitigate the coronavirus fallout, adding that every day counted.

Electricity consumption in Slovenia down

LJUBLJANA - In the wake of production shutdowns and public life grinding to a halt, electricity consumption in Slovenia has seen a downward trend in the past two weeks, show the latest data from SODO, the state-owned electricity distribution system operator. Between 12 and 26 March, electricity consumption decreased by 7.85% compared to the same period in 2018 and by 3.89% on 2019. Trends recorded by power supplier Elektro Maribor reflect the shift to nationwide lockdown mode: industrial consumption decreased by 6% in March, while household consumption increased by 6%.

Cavitation researcher Dular wins prestigious Bessel Research Award

BERLIN, Germany - Matevž Dular, a lecturer and researcher at the Ljubljana Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award. This is the second Bessel prize for a Slovenian researcher in as many years, last-year's winner being particle physicist Jure Zupan. Financed by the German government and conferred by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation on around 20 scientists each year, the honour includes a EUR 45,000 grant and a six-month research project in Germany.

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