STA, 26 February - The coalition government that is being formed by Janez Janša is planning to reintroduce military conscription, effectively secure the border, decentralise the country and increase local government funding, as well as introduce a general child benefit.

This follows from a 13-page draft coalition agreement obtained by the STA. The draft was initialled on Monday by Janša's Democrats (SDS), New Slovenia (NSi), Modern Centre Party (SMC) and Pensioners Party (DeSUS), but unofficial information indicates the parties have already signed the agreement.

Under the draft, the partners plan to gradually reintroduce conscription, which Slovenia abandoned in 2003, and a six-month military service. They also pledge to "tackle the situation" in the police force and consistently implement asylum procedures.

More on the conscription plans here

The parties have also committed to implement the Constitutional Court ruling mandating equal funding of private and public primary schools, and complete the system to fund science and research.

The per-capita funding of municipalities is to be raised to EUR 623.96 in 2020 and EUR 628.20 in 2021, which compares to EUR 589.11 and EUR 588.30, respectively, under the valid budget implementation act.

The coalition pledge to put in place a housing scheme for young families, build rental flats and establish a demographic and pension fund, headquartered in Maribor. Slovenia's second city will also host a government demographic fund. Pension rights are not to be changed.

The coalition also plan to reform social transfers policy and introduce free kindergarten for second or more children simultaneously enrolled in pre-school care and education. Family-friendly policies also include plans to introduce a universal child allowance.

The coalition pledge to secure extra financing from pubic and other funds in order to establish a financially sustainable and stable financing of the national health system and long-term care, and take effective measures to cut short waiting times in healthcare by engaging all staff resources.

The commitments include adopting legislation on long-term care and reforming the healthcare and health insurance act to change the management and functioning of the Health Insurance Institute and transform top-up health insurance.

Under the plans, employees will be able to take three days of sick leave without seeing a doctor, but only up to nine days a year. Measures are also planned to increase the vaccination rate and to set up an agency for quality of medical services.

The coalition have also committed to reduce taxes on performance bonuses and to reform the public sector wage system by pegging part of pay to performance.

Plans in the judiciary include making court rulings fully public and giving judges the option to pass dissenting opinions. Legislative changes are to affect the Judicial Council, state prosecution service, insolvency law and penal procedure.

The foreign policy agenda includes a pledge to support Western Balkan countries in their integration in the EU and NATO.

Other concrete projects include introducing e-motorway toll stickers and considering the option to transfer the Koper-Divača railway project and its manager 2TDK to the national railways operator.

The coalition would also like to reform land policies and the Farmland Fund, amend the co-operatives act and regulate production and use of cannabis in medicine and industry.

The coalition agreement sets out that the partners are taking the responsibility to manage the state according to voters' will, constitutional values, and rights and obligations as set forth in the agreement, based on the principles of equality and partnership.

The coalition pledges to focus on what connects and unites people in the country, and to advocate cooperation based on the willingness to work for the common good.

Under the draft, the SDS will be responsible for the departments of home and foreign affairs, finance, culture, which includes media, as well as the environment, diaspora and cohesion. The SMC was allocated the briefs of education, economy, public administration and justice, the NSi labour, infrastructure and defence, and DeSUS health, agriculture and the demographic fund.

This is the first in a series on the new government’s plans, to be posted in the next few days, with the whole set here

STA, 25 February 2020 - Public institutions in Slovenia have started taking precautionary measures to protect staff against coronavirus infections after first cases of the virus were confirmed in neighbouring Italy, Austria and Croatia.

Some schools have cancelled planned activities, including parent-teacher conferences. One secondary school in Ljubljana, Gimnazija Poljane, said it had called off international exchanges with Italy and an excursion to Rome planned in April.

The University of Ljubljana has called on all students and faculty who have been to parts of Italian affected by the coronavirus in the last ten days to remain in self-imposed quarantine for two weeks.

The Education Ministry has issued general guidance to educational institutions urging head teachers and directors to prepare contingency plans to make sure teaching and research may continue without disruption.

Schools have been given discretion to estimate risk and adjust their activities accordingly.

Half the schools in the country are closed this week anyway, as students in the eastern half of Slovenia have their week-long winter holiday.

In Primorske, the region closest to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, cultural institutions have started cancelling events as well.

A concert in Piran dedicated to the 250th death anniversary of the composer Giuseppe Tartini has been called off, as has the opening show of a Slovenian-Italian cross-border theatre festival in Gorizia.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry State Secretary Simona Repar Bornšek told the parliamentary Health Committee that life must not come to a halt.

"In terms of expertise, there is no reason to call off public events... Institutions must make sure that health care workers and those at the borders are protected but there are no special instructions for healthy people," she said, repeating once again that there is no reason for healthy people to wear face masks.

The committee session was also attended by Italian Ambassador to Slovenia Carlo Campanile, who presented the situation in Italy and called for transparent communication to fight misinformation.

Repar Bornšek also said that patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19 will be directed to health centres that provide 24/7 services. Only severe cases will be hospitalised, therefore the existing capacities are expected to suffice.

Meanwhile, a meeting hosted by Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza resulted in the decision of health ministers from neighbouring countries, including Slovenia's Aleš Šabeder, to keep the borders open.

Keep up with all the news on coronavirus and Slovenia here

STA, 25 February 2020 - Providing a key seal of approval for a new centre-right government in Slovenia, the executive councils of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi), the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), and the Democrats (SDS) all backed on Tuesday the entry into a coalition led by SDS president Janez Janša.

Profile: Janez Janša – Constant Player and Bête Noire of the Left

The nods came after weeks of talks held following the 27 January resignation of PM Marjan Šarec, who had formed a minority centre-left government in September 2018.

The draft coalition agreement was initialled by the four parties on Monday, while consultation talks were held today with President Borut Pahor, who is likely to nominate Janša for his third stint as prime minister on Wednesday.

The parties, which have 48 votes in the 90-member National Assembly, have already divided the ministerial posts among them.

Several media reported that SMC head Zdravko Počivalšek would stay economy minister and DeSUS leader Aleksandra Pivec would remain in charge of the Agriculture Ministry, while NSi head Matej Tonin would become defence minister.

Other names circulated include the SDS's Anže Logar as foreign minister, the SDS's Zvonko Černač as interior minister, the SDS's Andrej Šircelj as finance minister, DeSUS's Tomaž Gantar as health minister, the SMC's Igor Zorčič as justice minister, the NSi's Cveto Uršič as labour, family and social affairs minister, and the NSi's Jernej Vrtovec as infrastructure minister. The SDS will allegedly also head the culture ministry.

Tonin indicated after the NSi's executive council session that the party had expected a little more from the coalition agreement, in particular bolder steps in healthcare.

56 of the NSi's 88 executive council members cast their vote today, all voting in favour.

Tonin confirmed the NSi had gotten the three departments mentioned by the media and that he would be put forward for defence minister. The candidates for the two remaining NSi cabinet posts are on the other hand still being discussed.

The second party to reveal its decision was the SMC, where Jani Möderndorfer, one of the SMC 10 MPs, was the only to vote against.

RTV Slovenija reported that some of the SMC's MPs allegedly received an offer from Marjan Šarec's LMŠ to vote against today and instead join the LMŠ to get favourable treatment on the party's slates in the next general elections.

SMC head Počivalšek told the press after the vote that "Slovenia needs an operational and mature government, capable of facing the challenges ahead".

"It is important to say that this will not be a coalition of one party... of one [party] president, this will be a coalition of four parties operating in consensus.

"This will also be a government for which 47% of voters voted in the last election and I am confident that such a government will work for the good of all of us," said Počivalšek.

Pivec of DeSUS revealed her party's decision shortly after, saying DeSUS was content with what it secured in the coalition negotiations.

Along with the agriculture and health minister, DeSUS is also expected to head the planned government demographic office. The vote on the executive council was 12:1 and on the council 45:5.

Addressing the press on behalf of the SDS was the party's MP Anže Logar, who explained that 219 of 219 SDS executive council members had voted in favour today.

He hopes the decisions adopted today will also be reflected in the parliamentary votes on the PM nominee and the ministerial team, which he hopes will proceed promptly.

Keep up with Slovenian politics here

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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

This summary is provided by the STA:

SDS, SMC, NSi and DeSUS agree to form govt

LJUBLJANA - The top bodies of the Democrats (SDS), Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) confirmed entry in a coalition led by SDS head Janez Janša. The SDS's proposal to appoint Janša prime minister was submitted to President Borut Pahor, who makes the formal nomination. Outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said he was not surprised at the prospect of a new Janša government, which he saw from the start as one of the possible outcomes of his resignation.

Serbian govt unofficially decides to sell bank to NLB

BELGRADE, Serbia - The Serbian government has decided to sell the 83% state stake in the bank Komercijalna Banka to the Slovenian market leader NLB, the local newspaper Blic reported, citing unofficial information. The paper reports that the contract to sell the bank, which has a 11% market share in Serbia, is ready and is to be signed soon. It is not clear how much NLB is to pay for Komercijalna Banka, but media reported in the past months that its bid reached up to EUR 450 million.

Former Chinese lessee of Maribor Airport to sue the state

MARIBOR - A company in Chinese ownership that used to lease the Maribor Airport plans to file a damage suit against the state after it terminated the lease in early 2019, whereupon the airport management was turned over to a state-owned consulting and engineering company. Aerodrom Maribor said it will demand EUR 2.1 million in damages plus costs and lost profits. The lawsuit will claim that the state dragged its feet on the adoption of a zoning plan that would have allowed the airport to extend the runway, and engaged in violations of the law by continuing to use real estate at the airport that the company owns. Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said the plaintiff had absolutely no chance of success.

Slovenia hopeful N Macedonia, Albania will get EU talks approval in March

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Matej Marn, attending an EU ministerial on a recently-proposed reform of the enlargement process, said that based on the debate, it was very likely that North Macedonia and Albania will get the green light to start accession talks in March. EU member states also unanimously confirmed the guidelines for negotiations on future relations with Great Britain, with Marn listing the economic aspects of the ties at the top of the priorities highlighted by Slovenia.

Ambassadors from Sweden, South Africa present credentials

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor was presented with the credentials of newly appointed Swedish Ambassador Dag Hartelius and South African Ambassador Rapulane Sydney Molekane. Hartelius has previously served as ambassador to Poland and Estonia as well as permanent representative of Sweden to the EU. Molekane's most recent posting before becoming South African ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia was ambassador to France, Monaco and permanent delegate of South Africa to the UNESCO. Molekane will cover Slovenia from Vienna, while Hartelius will be based out of Budapest.

Banks report continued decline in fresh retail loans

LJUBLJANA - The Bank Association has observed a "marked fall" in freshly approved retail loans in the months following the central bank's brake on lending to households, both for consumer and housing loans. Data that 13 banks submitted to the association show the number of newly approved consumer loans reduced from 10,816 in September and 13,484 in October to 5,566 in November, 5,009 in December and 6,277 in January. The number of housing loans dropped from 1,154 in September, 1,701 in October, 1,160 in November, 984 in December and 1,019 in January.

Cimos profit plummets

KOPER - Car parts maker Cimos recorded EUR 180,432 in profit last year, a significant drop from EUR 4.7 million in 2018. Operating revenue dropped from EUR 211.1 million to EUR 187 million. Sales revenue reached EUR 184.9 million, down from EUR 203.9 million in 2018. Cimos said the results were in line with plans except in the part connected to the new projects for car maker Audi, where the start of a serial production was delayed because of the situation on all markets.

Public institutions taking precautionary measures to protect against coronavirus

LJUBLJANA - Public institutions started taking precautionary measures to protect staff against coronavirus infections after first cases of the virus were confirmed in neighbouring Italy, Austria and Croatia. Some schools have cancelled planned activities, including parent-teacher conferences and international exchanges. The University of Ljubljana called on all students and faculty who have been to parts of Italian affected by the coronavirus over last ten days to remain in self-imposed quarantine for two weeks. Meanwhile, retailers report increased footfall as shoppers grabbed by panic are stocking up.

Slovenia's tourism bullish in January

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian tourism figures recorded an upward trend in January. The number of tourists grew by 8% year-on-year, while the number of nights increased by some 4%, show Statistics Office data. Almost 286,000 arrivals and some 789,000 nights were recorded in January. Foreign tourists accounted for 64% of all nights. Domestic arrivals totalled some 97,000, a 8% increase compared to the same month in 2019. International arrivals grew by 8% year-on-year as well, to 189,000.

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

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

According to the national broadcaster's portal MMC, waste packaging is pilling in the yards of the utility companies again. A total of 16,400 tonnes of packaging waste have already accumulated across the country.

The largest pile of garbage lies on the outskirts of the capital. Voca Snaga collects garbage in eleven municipalities and covers waste disposal for one fifth of the country. Nina Sankovič from Voka Snaga told the MMC that "the situation is terrible. We were desperate in 2018, but today we can say that the times we thought we could handle the situation are now gone. Piled up packaging in the size of 17 Olympic swimming pools might catch a fire and we are only a kilometre away from a residential area."

The main reason behind the growing piles of disposed packaging is that the six Slovenian packaging waste management companies (DROE) don't collect it. That is because these companies finance their work from a packaging tax, only paid by companies which produce or import more than 15 tonnes of packaging. According to the Court of Auditor's data, as much as 53 percent of packaging waste is not included in this system.

For a while DROEs were required to collect all of the waste packaging until the Administrative Court reversed the changes to the environmental permits issued by the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARSO) in December 2019. Since January 1^st 2020, the companies have started to comply with the provisions of the original environmental permits, which only contract them to take care of the amount of packaging waste produced or imported by those who pay the aforementioned tax. Thus what is piling up in the yards of the utility companies is “orphan” waste packaging.

Although the discussion has dragged on since 2018, the problem of fair packaging payment still hasn’t been settled. Besides, packaging imports are very difficult to control and are also increasing because of the growth of online commerce.

The director of the Chamber of Public Utilities Sebastijan Zupan stated that the current 16,400 tonnes of stalled waste packaging could increase by 5,700 additional tonnes every month, and we could end up with 65,000 tonnes of unmanaged garbage by the end of the year.

According to Zupanc, utility companies are supposed to have a seven-day storage capability and in reality all sites have fourteen day storage capability facilities, but they don’t have a capability to store waste for months and months. For this reason waste packaging is being stored in inappropriate places and carried around by the wind, attracting birds, rodents and cockroaches and producing unappealing odours. The most worrying of all is that it presents a considerable fire risk.

However, Zupanc explained that the situation could be resolved by a new intervention law which would cost the country around € 8.7 million. As it has not yet developed a waste management strategy, the state will most likely have to address the situation with emergency laws and financial injections.

At the end of the press conference, Zupanc said that the problem does not reside in the sorting capacity of the waste packaging management systems in Slovenia. He mentioned that five workers had recently been laid off at such a facility in Grosuplje, and that waste packaging had to be imported from Austria in order to keep it going. He added that the capacity of the sorters is large enough for all the packaging we produce. The problem lays in the steps between the collecting sites and sorting facilities.

Ex-Yu Aviation, the best site for regional air travel website for people in the industry and those who rely on them, reports that easyJet, the budget carrier for people who don’t mind bringing their own sandwiches, is introducing a third route from around London to Ljubljana. The new flights will be from Luton, and come in addition to those to and from Gatwick and Stanstead. This replaces the Luton-Ljubljana service that was run by Wizz Air until October 2019.

The new service is set to run year round, and will begin on 30 March (2020) with four flights a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. On Mondays and Sundays the flights leave Luton at 07:15, and on Thursdays and Fridays at 07:00. Going the other way, the planes take off from Ljubljana Airport at 11:05 on Mondays and Sundays, and 11:50 on Thursdays and Fridays.

STA, 25 February 2020 - The Democrats (SDS), Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) have reached an agreement on forming a coalition, the head of the SDS deputy group Danijel Krivec announced on Tuesday.

He said the SDS's proposal to appoint party head Janez Janša prime minister had already been forwarded to President Borut Pahor.

The four parties have found common ground and the final decisions of the executive bodies of the SMC, NSi and DeSUS are expected this evening, Krivec said.

He noted that the SDS had secured 26 MP votes for the appointment of the new government while the number of additional votes would be clear this evening.

The SDS deputy head did not confirm unofficial information that the draft coalition agreement was initialled on Monday.

He also said that staffing decisions were yet to be finalised and did not confirm unofficial media reports on the distribution of ministries among the four parties.

He said this would depend on the decision of parties' bodies.

According to unofficial reports, SMC head Zdravko Počivalšek would stay economy minister and DeSUS leader Aleksandra Pivec would remain in charge of the Agriculture Ministry, while NSi head Matej Tonin would become defence minister.

Pahor is conducting a second round of talks on the coalition building with the heads of SMC, NSi and DeSUS deputy groups today.

SMC deputy group head Igor Zorčič told Pahor that a draft coalition agreement among the SDS, SMC, NSi and DeSUS had been agreed on Monday evening.

He said the agreement met the SMC's demands and dispelled fears about some SDS policies that had been raised by the civil society.

He also said that an agreement had been reached on the distribution of government posts but he would not go into detail.

Both was confirmed by NSi deputy group head Jožef Horvat after his meeting with Pahor. But Horvat stressed that the final decision would be made by the party council this evening.

Horvat said it had been agreed that the NSi would nominate the defence, infrastructure and labour ministers. The party has not picked the candidates yet.

DeSUS deputy group head Franc Jurša said the coalition agreement included the establishment of an office for demographics, which the party would lead along with the ministries of agriculture and health.

If all three deputy group heads express support to Janša as prime minister, Pahor will hold an official meeting with him on Wednesday. If they do not, Pahor will notify the National Assembly that he will be not putting forward a PM-designate.

The deadline for his decision is this Friday.

All our stories on Janez Janša are here

STA, 24 February 2020 - There were many cases of alleged animal neglect in Slovenia last year, with the Environment Ministry's Environment and Nature Inspection Service opening up inquiries into ten alleged instances of mistreatment of free-living animals, including monkeys, lions, bears, snakes and spiders.

Relevant inspectors dealt with an advert put on a Czech web page by a small Slovenian zoo aiming to sell a Barbary macaque infant and determined that the zoo kept 10 such apes which were acquired lawfully and were taken care of. The zoo cancelled the advert following the inspection though.

However, the black-tufted marmosets were found to be living in inappropriate conditions and were relocated to another zoo.

The inspection service took action in a case of two lions as well - the zoo had to implement additional measures to ensure the two animals could not escape their enclosed area.

Another case included an owner of two bears who was reminded to microchip them. Furthermore, an inquiry was opened into the conduct of an owner of a rhea and ostrich who can be spotted walking them in Ljubljana. He has also visited Venice with the animals. The case is still pending.

Regarding species protected under EU law, a sand martin bird was allegedly kept in captivity for more than three hours without a permit by bird identification officials working for the Slovenian Museum of Natural History. Following a report, the inspection service has opened up an inquiry into that.

A number of irregularities have also been found in cases of a commercial parrot breeder raising protected parrot species and a commercial breeder of snakes, spiders, amphibians and lizards, including protected species such as the veiled chameleon, ball python and tarantula. Both breeders have heeded the warnings and amended the situation.

There was also a case of an ara parrot found to be wearing an identification leg band belonging to an animal who died in 2013. The owner bought the ara wearing the leg band from a Hungarian dealer. The case is still pending.

STA, 24 February 2020 - The novel coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak has so far had no profound effect on Slovenia's economy, but problems have arisen in certain areas. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Monday that the government was deliberating mitigation measures, such as subsidies to compensate for shorter working time.

The minister pointed out though that any measures to protect public health must not interrupt the flow of goods because the country's exports depended on that.

After meeting several CEOs whose companies have been feeling the consequences of the outbreak, Počivalšek said that the ministry had been keeping track of the situation and its effect on the economy since the start.

He said the situation in Slovenia had been under control so far, but since the country had no influence on future global developments, it needed to be ready to deal with potential challenges.

Despite no major effects being determined so far, the ministry has decided to act in prevention and consider a future strategy in cooperation with economy representatives. Počivalšek intends to present potential measures at the government session on Thursday.

Problems have so far been detected mainly in tourism and logistics while a drop in sales and orders has been recorded in manufacturing, which could lead to a slowdown in production. The government is considering introducing subsidies for those waiting for work to help the affected companies and avoid lay-offs.

Slovenia introduced this measure a decade ago during the economic crisis and Počivalšek said he hoped it would not need to be introduced again.

Closing the borders would be the country's last resort, he stressed.

Slovenia's tourism has been worst hit by the outbreak of the coronavirus - mostly due to travel cancellations of Asian tourists. The situation could be exacerbated by the virus spreading to neighbouring countries.

Last year, 160,00 Chinese tourists visited Slovenia, while Italy is a key market, with 600,000 guests visiting Slovenia a year.

The Slovenian Tourist Board will step up its promotion efforts in nearby countries and it is also hoping to get EU funds for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the Chinese-owned household appliances maker Gorenje said that the situation was under control, but there was some disruption in supplies in China.

Port operator Luka Koper expects to feel the effects of coronavirus in the next two weeks, with its transshipment from or to China accounting for 30% of its total transshipment.

All our stories on cornonavirus and Slovenia are here

STA, 25 February 2020 - A company in Chinese ownership that used to lease the Maribor Airport plans to file a damage suit against the state after it terminated the lease in early 2019, whereupon the airport management was turned over to a state-owned consulting and engineering company.

The company, Aerodrom Maribor, said in a press release Tuesday it will demand EUR 2.1 million in damages, the equivalent of the lease payments for the duration of the agreement, plus costs and lost profits.

The lawsuit will claim that the state dragged its feet on the adoption of a zoning plan that would have allowed the Edvard Rusjan Maribor airport to extend the runway.

Aerodrom Maribor will claim that after the company terminated the lease, the state engaged in violations of the law by continuing to use real estate at the airport that remains in the ownership of Aerodrom Maribor.

Consequently, they will demand the erasure from the land register of an easement on the property that they say the state entered into the records based on a contract that never took effect.

Aerodrom Maribor also accuses the state of continuing to deceive potential investors by stating in a recent call for public-private partnership that a zoning law was in the making.

"It appears the state continues with its contentious conduct - by misleadingly attracting new investors willing to invest in the Maribor Airport in the conviction that the state will fulfil its promises," the company said.

After the lease was terminated, the management of the airport was entrusted to the state-owned firm DRI, which also hired all workers.

The move was designed as a stop-gap measure to keep the airport open until a new operator is found so as to prevent a scenario under which it would have to return EU funds: in accordance with the commitments accompanying a EUR 6 million injection of EU funds, the airport must stay open at least until mid-November 2021.

The termination of the lease ended a testy relationship between the state and a lessee that promised investments in excess of EUR 600 million and passenger numbers reaching two million by 2028, figures widely seen as unrealistic considering the location of the airport and nearby rivals Graz and Zagreb.

The company however maintains that its plans had been viable, assuming the state would keep its promises.

Outgoing Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek responded to the development today by arguing the first assessments indicated the plaintiff had absolutely no chance of success.

She stressed that Aerodrom Maribor stopped paying rent almost immediately after she became minister and that it was Aerodrom Maribor that cancelled the lease.

"The ministry had honoured all the terms set down in the contract," Bratušek added, while saying that a kind of promise that the zoning plan would be changed by March 2018, issued in writing by the then Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Jure Leben, was not binding on the state.

"The relevant institutions will be the ones to judge if this letter entails any commitments for the state," the minister said, while arguing that the Infrastructure Ministry was in fact not authorised for making such zoning changes.

Maribor airport remains virtually abandoned: without a single scheduled flight, it is confined to occasional charter flights and small sports aircraft.

It recorded only 2,700 passengers in 2018, the latest year for which figures are available.