According to Siol.si, Ljubljana City government is preparing changes and amendments to the Ordinance on the Special Use of Public Lands in the section that regulates the field of spontaneous street performances, aka busking. The final proposals are expected to be known in March, reports Siol.si.

Spontaneous performances in the city centre, explains the website, are regulated by the abovementioned  decree, which was adopted by Ljubljana City government several years ago, due to the constant performances of the same persons in the city centre, who have completely saturated the area with their programme. Among other restrictions and regulations, on most of the streets of the City Centre such street performances are allowed between 16:00 and 22:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 on weekends and holidays, without any use of loudspeakers.

These restrictions, however, seem not to have calmed residents concerns. Last year, writes Siol.si, 18 initiatives on the matter were filed with the City Initiatives Section, seven of which expressed concern with the Triple Bridge accordion player, who not only occupies the same space daily but also demands money to stop playing if someone else would like to use space for their activities. Apparently he even applied this tactic to a Planet TV crew when they chose the location to live stream their programme, so that they eventually had to move to another place.

STA, 9 January 2020 - Actor and comedian Boris Kobal has been given a 15-month suspended sentence with a probation period of three years after pleading guilty to plagiarising an Italian play in early 2019.

Under the terms of the plea bargain, the prosecution proposed an eight-month suspended sentence for fraud and the same punishment for copyright violation. The Celje District court pronounced a combined 15-month sentence on Thursday.

The scandal broke out in January last year, when it transpired that a play which Kobal presented as his original work and even entered in a competition for the best original Slovenian comedy is essentially a remake of Italian comedy La Prova Generale by playwright Aldo Nicolaj.

The production at SLG Celje theatre was subsequently withdrawn and Kobal was sacked as director of Šentjakobsko Gledališče, a Ljubljana-based theatre promoting comedy.

Kobal also paid back a EUR 13,000 fee he had received for the play, which the court considered as an attenuating circumstance. He has expressed remorse about his actions.

STA, 9 January 2020 - Jadran Lenarčič, the director of the Jožef Stefan Institute, the country's top research institution, was declared the Person of the Year 2019 by the newspaper publisher Delo as the award ceremony was held in Cankarjev Dom on Thursday evening.

 Lenarčič is the long-serving head of Slovenia's largest and most important scientific institution, who has been successfully managing 500 doctors of science "who create the future of our country", the award jury said.

As a scientist, he is one of the pioneers in robot kinematics, biorobotics and humanoid robots, and today is among the most appreciated authors and lecturers in this scientific field, it added.

In the past year, Lenarčič held lectures at the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna and, as a member of a task force of the European Commission, participated in the drafting of a document on promising technologies.

Lenarčič, who was picked among ten nominees by Delo readers and editors, was also decorated with the insignia of chevalier in the French National Order of Merit in 2019.

He knows "how to listen to inspiration, which is the most important guide for him, because he says that ratio keeps a person in the same place, while it is only possible to take a step into the unknown with imagination."

Addressing the ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, the award winner said he was glad that the title had been given to a scientist, and that he was a scientist at heart.

Lenarčič said that the Jožef Stefan Institute was a symbol of Slovenian science, research, technological progress, innovation and creativity and bore the name of "one of the greatest physicists of in history of mankind".

"Slovenia is small ... and we will be successful only if we are open, if we exchange and compete with people outside our borders," he said, adding that "science is like a parachute - it works if it is open."

He concluded by saying what he had told the prime minister as he visited the institute two months ago - "investing in science is not cheap, but it is not the most expensive thing in the world, not investing is science is."

Šarec said prior to the announcement that being the person of the year was an honour and responsibility. "This person must be aware that people follow them and admire them," he added.

Lenarčič succeeds Uroš Ahčan and Vojko Didanovič, the first surgeons to complete a full nose reconstruction from own tissue, who were declared the Person of the Year by Delo last year.

You can learn more about the Jožef Stefan Institute here.

STA, 9 January 2020 - Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's only seaport, generated EUR 224.5 million in net sales revenue last year, a 1% uptick compared to the previous year, preliminary data show. Meanwhile, ship-to-ship transshipment dropped by 5% over 2018 to 22.8 million tonnes, the group announced on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Container transshipment stayed level over 2018, while liquid cargo transshipment increased by 12%. On the other hand, bulk cargo transshipment decreased by 17%, vehicle transshipment by 4% and general cargo transshipment by 16%.

Related - Invest in Slovenia: Meet the Companies in the Benchmark Investment Index, the SBI TOP

 Luka Koper said that liquid cargo transshipment was record-high in 2019, mainly due to favourable trends in fuel transport and sufficient terminal capacities.

The second half of 2019 was marked by economic cooling, which affected Luka Koper's operations as well, most notably in goods transshipment. Apart from manufacturing slowdown, the situation was made more precarious by trade wars and political conflicts overseas.

All our stories about Luka Koper are here

STA, 9 January 2020 - The six Slovenian troops who have served in the international operation Inherent Resolve in Erbil in northern Iraq have been safely brought home following a decision to relocate them in the wake of Iran's attacks on Iraqi bases in the night to Wednesday. However, Slovenia is not ending its presence in Iraq.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Defence Minister Karl Erjavec assured the public that the decision to bring the current rotation home early did not mean Slovenia was withdrawing from Iraq.

Speaking after briefing MPs on the latest developments at a joint session of the parliamentary committees on defence and foreign policy, Erjavec said a new rotation would be deployed by 1 February at the latest.

He said the six soldiers deployed at Erbil base to train Iraqi security forces so far were unable to perform their duties anyway at the moment because of the security situation.

He said that a new rotation was ready to start work "as soon as training resumes, if necessary even before 1 February".

This was echoed by Šarec, who told reporters that Slovenia was staying on all international missions it was participating in.

The missions are what enhances the international reputation of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) and Slovenia. "If we are a trustworthy partner, we must act in such a way that our partners can count on us." Šarec said.

The Slovenian soldiers were flown from Erbil to Ankara airport in the afternoon before being flown to Slovenia aboard the government jet.

Slovenia decided to evacuate the troops after Iran attacked Erbil airport in the night to Wednesday in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Slovenia being part of a German-led group in Erbil, the soldiers were originally supposed to withdraw with German logistic support, but Germany decided against withdrawing on Wednesday evening following US President Donald Trump's statement indicating a de-escalation in the US-Iran crisis.

The developments were discussed by the parliamentary committees on defence and foreign policy at a joint session behind closed doors for three hours.

No special resolutions were adopted but the committees voted down an initiative by the opposition Left to call on the government to end Slovenia's deployment in the operation Inherent Resolve.

Matjaž Nemec, the chair of the Foreign Policy Committee, told reporters after the session that the important message of the session was that Slovenia remained part of the anti-Daesh coalition.

"Slovenia participates in the mission as part of the global anti-Daesh coalition. We are implementing all tasks in accordance with our presence," said Erjavec, adding that Slovenia had coordinated its activities with other allied and partner countries participating in the operation Inherent Resolve.

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.

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

This summary is provided by the STA:

Slovenian troops flown home from Erbil

LJUBLJANA - The six Slovenian soldiers who have served in the international operation Inherent Resolve in Erbil in northern Iraq were flown home following a decision to relocate them in the wake of Iran's attacks on Iraqi bases in the night to Wednesday. However, the decision does not mean Slovenia is ending its presence in Iraq where a new Slovenian rotation will be deployed by 1 February at latest. Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Defence Minister Karl Erjavec pledged Slovenia's continued commitment to the global anti-Daesh coalition, a position also supported by the parliamentary committees on defence and foreign policy at a join session.

Four picked as anti-graft boss candidates, Štefanec snubbed

LJUBLJANA - The commission authorised to select appropriate candidates for the leadership of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has proposed to President Borut Pahor four candidates for the body's president, with the list not including the incumbent president, Boris Štefanec. President Pahor now has 30 days to appoint the new president of the anti-graft commission, and may pick only among the candidates from the list. He may also decide not to appoint any and repeat the call for applications for the post.

Annulment of Rupnik's death sentence draws ire

LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court's annulment of the 1946 death sentencing of general Leon Rupnik for collaboration with the Fascist Italian and Nazi German occupation drew protests from the Association of WWII Veterans, the Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana and the Social Democrats. The Jewish Cultural Centre labelled the decision the "first step in the politically-motivated aspiration to rehabilitate the criminal collaborationist regime during WWII". The centre plans to inform the world public of the decision and monitor and actively oppose further "denial of the Holocaust, revision and perversion of history and revival and justification of Fascist and Nazi atrocities".

Protest as debate held on 5G spectrum auctions

LJUBLJANA - Some 50 people staged a protest against plans to introduce 5G wireless technology in Slovenia as the Agency for Communication Networks and Services (AKOS) hosted a consultation on 5G spectrum auctions to bring operators up to date on its activities. In line with EU guidelines, the Slovenian government last year committed to award the frequencies by 30 June this year. "5G is coming, but the question is in what way and how fast," AKOS director Tanja Muha said.

More entities to be subject to Court of Audit

LJUBLJANA - The Court of Audit will have the power to audit subsidiaries of companies in state or municipal ownership under amendments to the act governing the court's operation that the government adopted today. Any company in which the state, municipalities or body governed by public law has a 40% direct or indirect stake, individually or combined, will be subject to periodic Court of Audit checks.

Slovenia's exports up 4% y/y in November, imports rise by 0.4%

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's exports and imports rose by 4% and 0.4% respectively in November 2019 compared to the year before, the Statistics Office said, attributing this to the increased value of trade with EU non-member countries. Exports amounted to EUR 2.94 billion, while imports reached EUR 2.85 billion in November.

SID Bank EU partner in CEF Transport Blending Facility

LJUBLJANA - SID Bank, the Slovenian state-run export and development bank, has singed an administrative agreement on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport Blending Facility with the EU. Announcing the signing, SID Bank called on potential partners in the field of mobility to check financing possibilities for their projects with it.

Luka Koper revenue grows despite economic slowdown

KOPER - Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's only sea port, generated EUR 224.5 million in net sales revenue last year, a 1% uptick compared to the previous year, preliminary data show. Meanwhile, ship to ship transshipment dropped by 5% over 2018 to 22.8 million tonnes. Container transshipment stayed level over 2018, while liquid cargo transshipment increased by 12%. On the other hand, bulk cargo transshipment decreased by 17%, vehicle transshipment by 4% and general cargo transshipment by 16%.

Slovenia's inflation in 2019 at 1.8%, not 1.9%

LJUBLJANA - Annual inflation in Slovenia in 2019 reached 1.8%, not 1.9% as reported by the Statistics Office (SURS) at the end of December. SURS corrected the figure after detecting an error in the statistical data. Prices of services increased by an average 2.9%, not by 2.6%, with prices of goods rising by 1.3% over 2018.

Jožef Stefan Institute boss declared Delo Person of the Year

LJUBLJANA - Jadran Lenarčič, director of the Jožef Stefan Institute, the country's top research institution, was declared the Person of 2019 by the newspaper publisher Delo. Lenarčič is the long-serving head of Slovenia's largest and most important scientific institution, successfully managing 500 doctors of science "who create the future of our country", the award jury said. In his acceptance speech Lenarčič called on the government to invest in science.

"Climate" declared Slovenian word of the year

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian word of the year 2019 is "podnebje" or climate, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) announced. Second place went to "Šarecism", alluding to a discourse used by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, followed by "carbon-neutral". Meanwhile, the sign language gesture of the year is "ustava" or constitution.

Trump effigy in Moravče torched

MORAVČE - A large-scale wooden effigy of US President Donald Trump, which had recently been relocated to Moravče, some 30 kilometres east of Ljubljana, has been torched, the Moravče municipality said. The statue, standing almost eight metres tall and mimicking the Statue of Liberty, had originally been erected in Selo, a small village some 20 kilometres north of Ljubljana, in August, but was relocated to Moravče in late December due to unease that it was causing among the Selo locals and the media interest that came with it.

Comedian gets 15 months suspended sentence for plagiarism

LJUBLJANA - Actor and comedian Boris Kobal has been given a 15-month suspended sentence with a probation period of three years after pleading guilty to plagiarising an Italian play in early 2019. Under the terms of the plea bargain, the prosecution proposed an eight-month suspended sentence for fraud and the same punishment for copyright violation. The Celje District court pronounced a combined 15-month sentence today.

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

At the Jewish Cultural Centre in  Ljubljana we were shocked and deeply concerned to learn about the decision of the Slovenian Supreme Court to annul the sentence of Leon Rupnik from 30 August 1946, and to return it for retrial.

It is our assessment that we are witnessing the first step in a politically motivated ambition to rehabilitate the criminal collaborationist regime in Slovenia during WWII whose “president” was the aforementioned Leon Rupnik, and who was justly tried and sentenced to death as a war criminal, and whom even the pre-war Yugoslav Royal Government, then in exile, renounced as a traitor.  

Rupnik’s police under the leadership of Lovro Hacin, likewise sentenced and executed in 1946 as a war criminal, organised the arrests and deprtations of the remaining Slovenian Jews in Ljubljana and its vicinity in the years 1943 and 1944; very few have survived. The Homeguard (Domobranci)  military formations that pledged allegiance to Hitler Rupnik led into a criminal, fratricidal war.  The Homeguard also collaborated in the Holocaust against the Jews in the Trieste region under the leadership of the infamous SS officer and war criminal Odilo Globočnik in the years  1944 - 1945. 

The Jewish Cultural Cenre Ljubljana will notify the world public about the shameful decision of the Slovenian Supreme Court. We will monitor closely all and any further developments of these contemptible acts of Holocaust denial, revision and perversion of history, and attempts at reviving and justifying the Fascist and Nazi horrors, and oppose them indefatigably.

Robert Waltl, director JCC Ljubljana

You can see videos of Leon Rupnik as the main speaker at a pro-Nazi rally in the centre of Ljubljana, saluting a Nazi flag, below

More on this story can be found here

STA, 9 January 2020 - The Association of WWII Veterans is appalled by the Supreme Court's annulment of the death sentence of Slovenian general Leon Rupnik (1880-1946), saying that numerous documents undoubtedly prove that he actively collaborated with the Fascist Italian and Nazi German occupation forces. Protest has also been expressed by the Social Democrats (SD).

The association promoting the values of the resistance movement in WWI said on Thursday it had received with indignation the report by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer about the verdict against Rupnik being sent for retrial at the Ljubljana District Court.

Rupnik collaborated with the occupation forces during WWII as he served as the head of government of the Nazi-occupied Province of Ljubljana in 1943-1945, and was also chief inspector of the Domobranci collaborationist militia.

In May 1945, he fled to Austria, where he was arrested by the British and returned to Yugoslavia in early 1946. He was court-martialled and executed for treason and collaboration with the occupiers later that year.

One of his descendants, allegedly a grandson, had filed an appeal on a point of law, arguing that the verdict had not been sufficiently explained, that the reasons conflict each other, that his right to defence was violated, and that judges who had reached the verdict should have been excluded.

The appeal has now been granted by the Supreme Court, the verdict annulled and the case returned to the Ljubljana District Court for retrial.

The Association of WWII Veterans said in its response that Rupnik was also the mayor of Ljubljana under Nazi Germany and that he "led the treasonous fight against his own nation and subjected himself to the ideas of Nazism."

According to its president Marijan Križman, treason cannot be erased even with "bureaucratic pardon of the crimes that the traitors had committed against their own nation."

Court has thus become a tool for those who are not able to get over the shame and pain of treachery and use the judicial system for retaliation and spreading of hatred."

The Social Democrats (SD) said it would never accept "those who preferred collaboration with the occupier to the survival of the nation get acquitted," adding that Rupnik was "loyal to the alliance with the occupier to the last moment."

The party said that "untruthful interpretation of Slovenian history with rehabilitation of collaboration and Fascism" did not lead to reconciliation, but only takes Slovenians further away from dealing with the past.

The Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana also responded to the Supreme Court's decision with "indignation and concern", saying that it was the "first step in the politically-motivated aspiration to rehabilitate the criminal collaborationist regime during WWII".

It noted that Rupnik's police, under the leadership of the co-defendant Lovro Hacin, had organised in 1943 and 1944 arrests and deportations of Slovenian Jews from the Province of Ljubljana, with only a handful of them surviving the ordeal.

The latest statistical data on baby names reveals the latest trends in Slovenia., and according to the Statistics Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, in the last full year for data is available, 2018, the most popular names were Luka for boys and Ema for girls.

The most common names in Slovenia, even if out of fashion for about half a century, remain Franc and Marija. On possible reasons for their perseverance, click here.

However, just a few years from now Franc’s leading position might be in trouble. Luka has been popular for several decades and, as we can see above, it doesn’t seem to be losing momentum. Luka already occupies the ninth place overall and it’s only a matter of time when Franc loses his throne.

After all, how many Lukas do you know, and how many Francs?

STA, 9 January 2020 - The new operator of Bovec airport, a grass airfield in the Julian Alps, has decided to bring skiers from around Slovenia to the town of Bovec in the north-west by plane. The town hopes this service will help it stand out in Europe.

The airport's operator Aviofun intends to partner up with other smaller airfields around Slovenia in providing the full service to visitors of the Kanin-Sella Nevea ski slopes.

From Bovec, skiers will be taken to the ski slopes on Mt Kanin, the highest ski slopes in the country, by van.

The first flight took place on 2 January, and according to the Bovec municipality, which owns the airfield, the flight from the other part of Slovenia, Libeliče in the north, took 35 minutes.

"We want to offer something new to Bovec locals and visitors to the Soča Valley, so we'll also operate the route with small planes in the summer," Aviofun director Damjan Cehner told the STA.

The company expects to receive a licence to operate commercial passenger flights shortly, he added.

Aviofun was founded in 2005 and offers charter flights, panoramic flights, skydiving, maintenance, continuing airworthiness (CAMO) and aerial photography, according to its website. It operates Pilatus PC-6, Cessna Caravan C208 and Cessna C172 planes.

Cehnar believes flights will be a huge advantage for Bovec.

"Since we believe in the project we will shortly bring in another, bigger 15-seat plane with a special area for skiing equipment," he said when the first flight was organised.

The project was also welcomed by Mayor Valter Mlekuž, who hopes it would better connect the Kanin ski slopes and the municipality with the world.

More than 3,000 skiers skied on Kanin's ski slopes between 31 December and 2 January, with many also crossing onto the Slovenian side from Italy.

Several years ago a joint ski pass was introduced with the near-by Italian ski slope of Sella Nevea.