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:

Watchdog temporarily seizes Mercator shares from Agrokor

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's Competition Protection Agency temporarily seized 70% of Slovenian retailer Mercator shares from its owner, Croatia's Agrokor. The move is to ensure that Agrokor pay a EUR 53.9 million fine the agency imposed in September after Agrokor failed to notify it of its 2016 takeover of Slovenian-based bottled water company Costella. The agency decided to seize the shares on Monday, Fortenova Group, the successor of indebted Agrokor, said today. The agency said the decision was not final and could be challenged with an appeal, with Fortenova announcing it would fight against it with all means available.

Support for ministerial nominee Mlinar in parliament uncertain

LJUBLJANA - PM Marjan Šarec has been put in the position of having to secure votes for cohesion minister candidate Angelika Mlinar, who does not have sufficient support in parliament heading into Thursday's vote. The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), which had put Mlinar forward, expects "more activity" from Šarec given that Mlinar would but a minister in his government. SAB leader Alenka Bratušek said her party would think twice whether to stay in the coalition if Mlinar failed to get appointed. Analysts think Mlinar's failure in parliament, although not very likely, could be damaging for the government, and controlling the outcome will require prudence by Šarec and his party.

Bill passed on loan guarantees for key infrastructure projects

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly endorsed a bill to secure state loan guarantees for the construction of a new rail link connecting the Koper port and Divača, and a part of an expressway connecting the north and south of the country. The law caps the loan guarantee for the Koper-Divača rail project at EUR 417 million, securing up to EUR 360 million in guarantees for the expressway between Slovenj Gradec and Velenje in the north and between Novo Mesto and Osredek in the south, two sections of the link known as Third Development Axis. The law is to enable the state-owned companies 2TDK and DARS to negotiate much lower interest rates for the planned loans.

Parliament briefed on arbitration intel report

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly reviewed a report on the 2015 wiretapping scandal during the Slovenia-Croatia border arbitration process behind closed doors. The report, compiled by the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission (KNOVS), pins the blame for the scandal, which Croatia used as an excuse to withdraw from the arbitration, on Simona Drenik, who served as Slovenia's agent in the procedure. KNOVS chair Matej Tonin from the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) said most MPs assessed the report as useful because they had learnt what went wrong - it was not a systemic problem but rather a human error.

Bad bank working on more frequent flights to major hubs

LJUBLJANA - The Bank Assets Management Company is in talks with several "European regional carriers" to increase flight frequencies on routes connecting Ljubljana with Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Brussels following the bankruptcy of air carrier Adria Airways, its director Matej Pirc told the STA. While Lufthansa and its affiliates have quickly filled the gaps on these routes, which are considered key hubs for Slovenian business executives and tourism, there have been complaints about the absence of morning flights to Brussels, which are often used by public administration officials.

Financial stability strong, some risks remain, c-bank says

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian financial system is sound and risks remain low to moderate, with only one particular area of concern, banks' income, suggests the Slovenian central bank's quarterly financial stability report, released today. The income risk estimate has been raised from moderate in the second quarter to heightened with a negative outlook in the third quarter, mostly as a result of increasing systemic risks associated with the cooling of economic growth and uncertainty in the international environment. The only other risk estimated as heightened stems from the real estate market, but its outlook has been changed to positive as housing prices start to drop.

Lowest allowances for new parents to be raised in 2021

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed legislative changes that raise the lowest maternity, paternity and parental pay from EUR 252 to EUR 402 net a month as of 2021, the level of the national minimal income. The same amount will be paid to parents who are not entitled to maternity, paternity or parental pay because they do not pay parenthood contributions, most often students. The rise will apply for parents of children born after January 2021.

Majority in favour of Slovenia's stance on arbitration

LJUBLJANA - Slovenians are largely in favour of the government's policy towards Croatia with regard to border arbitration, in particular its insistence that the award handed down by a Hague-based arbitration tribunal be implemented despite Croatia's recalcitrance. Almost 78% of respondents of a Delo poll are in favour of this stance and around 14% agree Slovenia should consent to new bilateral talks, a stance held by Croatia and a portion of the centre-right opposition in Slovenia. Asked about the responsibility for the non-implementation of the arbitration decision, almost 39% blamed Croatian politics.

Slovenian suppliers talk e-mobility cooperation with Volkswagen

WOLFSBURG, Germany - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and representatives of Slovenian automotive industry suppliers paid a visit to the headquarters of the Volkswagen Group, designed to boost cooperation, especially in e-mobility, with Volkswagen also being presented investment opportunities in Slovenia. Tanja Mohorič, the head of the Automotive Cluster (ACS), said that the visit opened up new opportunities for cooperation to members of the strategic research and innovation partnership for mobility in Slovenia. Počivalšek said the visit had discussed innovative solutions for carbon-neutral society and e-mobility, adding that the ACS members were up to the task.

Luxury cars tax avoidance scheme exposed

LJUBLJANA - The Financial Administration (FURS) has found some taxpayers are avoiding paying taxes on their luxury cars by registering them abroad but using them in Slovenia. In one such case, an individual was ordered to pay EUR 219,000 in additional tax for two cars he registered in Germany. After analysing the use of the vehicles with foreign licence plates whose users are Slovenian residents, FURS discovered that individuals had been avoiding paying taxes in Slovenia by setting up a company in another EU country with the sole purpose of buying and registering luxury vehicles.

Supernova takes over another ten shopping centres

LJUBLJANA - Supernova, an Austrian manager of shopping centres, confirmed reports from earlier this year it was acquiring new shopping malls in Slovenia from Centrice Real Estate. The company is to acquire ten centres, mostly of the Qlandia brand, for EUR 220 million, after it bought ten centres run by Mercator at the beginning of 2019. The transaction was green-lighted by the Competition Protection Agency in November, according to the watchdog's web site. The acquisition means Supernova will have exceeded EUR 100 million in annual revenue from leases and its Slovenian ventures make up more than 30% of its revenue.

Slovenia remains 35th in human freedom

WASHINGTON, US - Slovenia placed 35th in this year's human freedom index ranking, level with last year. Its index is 7.97, above the average of 6.89. Among the country's neighbours, Austria is the only one doing better, ranking 13th, while all the others lag behind - Italy ranked 32nd, Croatia 37th and Hungary 45th. The ranking includes 162 countries, with New Zealand topping the list. It is based on publicly available data, with the 2019 report based on the 2017 figures.

Extensive Slovenia geography book in English published

LJUBLJANA - Non-Slovenian speakers will be able to get an insight into Slovenia's geographical diversity as the first English-language geographical overview of the country will be officially launched by Springer Publishing in 2020, although it is already available for purchase. Geography of Slovenia - Small but Diverse, a 360-page book written by researchers of the Anton Melik Geography Institute of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, features maps and photographs so as to best present Slovenia as a meeting point of four geographical units: the Alps, Pannonian lowlands, Dinaric Alps and the Mediterranean.

Slovenia's first photo gallery 40 years old

MARIBOR - Housed in a 15th-century tower in Maribor, the first ever Slovenian gallery dedicated specifically to photography is marking its 40th anniversary with an exhibition of minimalist photography. The tower next to the city's former synagogue, was assigned to the local photo club in 1979 by the city council, but it took almost a decade before it was made fit to serve as an exhibition venue. "Maribor may be proud to have the first specialised gallery for photographic art in Slovenia," Branimir Ritonja, the head of the Maribor Photo Club, said as he recalled how its members put in countless hours of voluntary work to refurbish it.

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

Uroš Umek was one of the key players responsible for the development of the electronic scene in Slovenia, and is now one of the most wanted DJs globally. This Friday he’s returning to Kurzschluss, Ljubljana, to present the latest developments on the dancefloor. From his recent Creamfields Festival set we might conclude that faster and harder music is coming back, although whether Umek believes that Kurzschluss is ready for this remains to be seen. We very much hope so.

Kurzschluss opens at 22:00 and tickets for Friday night are available here.

Those who prefer a softer, disco sound, are advised to wait for Saturday night, also at Kurzschluss, and the UK based travelling party called Glitterbox, with Roger Sanches. 

On Saturday Kurzschluss will open at 23:00 and tickets are available here.

The Slovenian Financial Administration (Finančna uprava) has issued a reminder that if you have property advertised on Airbnb, Booking and other non-Slovene providers then any income earned is subject to VAT. As such you much register as soon as possible, and submit your monthly VAT returns retrospectively (if needed) as a self-declaration in order to avoid fines.

If you rent out rooms, apartments or houses through intermediaries or advertising providers on websites (Airbnb, Booking, and the like) that are based outside Slovenia, you must pay 22% VAT as a recipient of brokerage services or advertising space. In order to benefit from such services you must first identify yourself for VAT purposes (even if you are not identified for VAT purposes because your turnover is below the mandatory VAT identification limit of €50,000).

You must submit monthly VAT returns electronically (via eDavki) and are not entitled to deduct VAT. You can correct any errors from previous periods by including them in your first (or current) VAT return. You also have to submit a VAT invoice even if you do not receive any income from the property in a given month (in which case you submit an empty invoice).

You must issue an invoice to the guest to whom you provided the service (i.e., renting out property for tourist leasing) and confirm it in the case of cash transactions. This is the case even if the guest paid for the service with a card or paid the advertising provider (Airbnb, etc) from whom you indirectly received this payment.

Taxpayers who "forget" to submit a monthly VAT return will receive a personal electronic warning in their personal inbox on eDavki. Failure to respond will result in a fine of €2,000. The Financial Administration notes with some regret that many people are not paying attention to the messages they receive on eDavki, and thus is asking all taxpayers to provide an e-mail address to ensure they receive such communication. This e-mail address must be sent to the Administration via the eDavki portal using the eSign-POS form.

Please note that this issue is of extra urgency given that the Administration is set to tighten controls in early 2020.

More information, in Slovene, can be found in a document entitled Oddajanje nepremičnin v turistični najem in DDV (Leasing of real estate for tourism and VAT).

STA, 17 December - Cyclist Primož Roglič, sport climber Janja Garnbret and the men's national volleyball team are the winners of the main awards conferred by the Association of Sports Journalists as the 2019 Athlete of the Year ceremony was held in Ljubljana on Tuesday evening.

Roglič, who entered the world elite this year by finishing 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia and winning the Vuelta a Espana to become the first Slovenian ever to win a Grand Tour race, scored 272 points from 105 Slovenian sport journalists.

Source: Twitter

All our stories on Roglič can be found here

He finished ahead of last year's winner of the Athlete of the Year award for men, basketball player Luka Dončić. The NBA Rookie of the Year received 200 points, while third place went to world motocross champion Tim Gajser (106).

The association noted that "in the fourth season among the elite, [Roglič] only upgraded his previous achievements" and ended the season as the first-ranked cyclist in the prestigious ProCyclingStats (PCS) raking.

Garnbret defended last year's title of the Athlete of the Year among women, winning 269 points ahead of Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec (208), the world downhill champion, and world slalom canoe champion Eva Terčelj (78).

In August, Garnbret won gold medals in bouldering, lead and the combined at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan to become the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championship.

"A majority of her achievements, which have already made history, come with a note that she was the first or youngest to make them," the sports journalist association said about the 20-year-old.

Source: Twitter

 All our stories on Garnbret can be found here

In line with expectations, the Slovenian men's national volleyball team was declared the best team this year, winning 95 out of the possible 105 votes. The award comes after they won silver at the European Championships in September, co-hosted by Ljubljana.

"With their performances, they again unified the Slovenian nation by filling up the Stožice Arena and kept sport lovers in front of their television screens," the association said about the improbable run made by the volleyball players.

The most promising young athlete is tennis player Kaja Juvan, who played in the second round of Wimbledon and peaked at No. 106 in the WTA rankings this season. "The goals in the coming season are much higher," the association said.

Biathlete Alex Cisar won the fair play award for his display of sportsmanship in a Slovenian Cup race in Pokljuka. He gave fellow competitor Tilen Gregorka his ski stick after Gregorka lost one of his own in a collision with Cisar.

STA, 17 December 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec promised Slovenia's further assistance to Serbia in efforts to join the EU, as he visited the country on Tuesday. Talking to the press alongside his counterpart Ana Brnabić in Novi Sad, he said that there was no alternative to Serbia joining the EU.

The EU accession process is the most important tool in preserving economic stability in the region and its slowing down or suspension would carry serious consequences, Šarec said.

Brnabić thanked Šarec for Slovenia's political and technical support, adding that the countries' bilateral cooperation, both economic and political, were at a high level and with no open issues.

She noted that Slovenian companies are among the biggest investors in Serbia and that the number of Serbian investments in Slovenia is rising as well.

There are more than 1,500 companies with Slovenian capital in Serbia, employing some 25,000 people, she said. Trade is increasing, as well, exceeding EUR 1.6 billion in 2018, while the figure for the first nine months of this year was at EUR 870 million, according to Brnabić.

Šarec hopes the countries will strengthen their economic cooperation even further. He added that Slovenia valued highly joint implementation of the former Yugoslavia succession treaty.

He also touched on cooperation of the Slovenian and Serbian police forces in migration management, while Brnabić expressed the wish for a common European policy.

There can be no success in the fight against management unless the EU provides a uniform response and unless Frontex becomes more effective, Šarec also said. It is not up to individual countries to do their homework, everybody needs to take action, he added.

Slovenia and Serbia signed a cooperation protocol on internal security in the police force and a memorandum on technical cooperation in agriculture and rural development.

Šarec and the ministers accompanying him on the trip to Serbia took part in what was the fifth joint government session. A number of bilateral meetings on the ministerial level also took place.

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Miro Cerar met his counterpart Ivica Dačić and Jadranka Joksimović, the minister of EU affairs, to discuss the situation in the region and EU accession.

Joksimović also met Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek. The pair agreed to strengthen expert cooperation in cohesion policy.

Interior ministers Boštjan Poklukar and Nebojša Stefanović agreed that cooperation between their ministries and the countries' police forces was very good.

So far, Slovenia has deployed 26 groups of police officers to the Serbian-Bulgarian border. The ministers also discussed organised crime and terrorism.

Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Damjan Stanonik and Serbia's Agriculture Minister Branimir Nedimović talked about digitalisation in agriculture and signed a memorandum on technical cooperation and rural development.

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:

Candidate for cohesion minister Mlinar fails to secure committee support

LJUBLJANA - Angelika Mlinar, the candidate for cohesion policy minister, failed to secure support in parliamentary committee in a debate dominated by questions about her loyalty as a dual Austrian-Slovenian citizen. One of the coalition partners, DeSUS, said it would leave the decision up to individual MPs, while the Left and the SNS, which have often helped the government, withheld their support. The rejection does not necessarily derail her candidacy since the committee opinion is not binding. The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), which nominated her, was convinced Mlinar could muster the support at the plenary vote.

Slovenia pledges to continue helping Serbia in EU efforts

NOVI SAD, Serbia - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec promised Slovenia's further assistance to Serbia in efforts to join the EU, as he visited the country with a delegation of ministers. Talking to the press alongside his counterpart Ana Brnabić, he said that there was no alternative to Serbia joining the EU. Brnabić thanked Šarec for Slovenia's political and technical support, adding that the countries' bilateral cooperation, both economic and political, were at a high level and with no open issues. A number of bilateral ministerial meetings also took place.

Central bank downgrades growth forecast

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's central bank has downgraded its projection for the country's economic growth for the year by 0.6 percentage points to 2.6%, decreasing the forecast for 2020 by 0.4 points to 2.5%. In 2021 and 2022, GDP growth is expected to remain at roughly 2.5%. Banka Slovenije notes that economic activity, driven by domestic demand and solid exports, will continue to expand at rates above euro area average, which will allow the economy to continue to catch up with the most advanced member countries.

Slovenian fishermen fined EUR 500,000 by Croatia

PULA, Croatia - The Croatian media reported that Croatia's fisheries inspectors had imposed over 270 fines worth over EUR 490,000 on Slovenia fishermen for fishing in what Croatia claims is its part of the Piran Bay. The fines had been issued since 15 March 2018, according to Glas Istre, a Croatian newspaper based in the Istrian city of Pula. Since Slovenia implemented the arbitration award in December 2017, it issued fines totalling more than EUR 1 million against 20 Croatian citizens fishing in Slovenian waters.

Troops serving abroad mostly happy with equipment

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian troops serving in international missions and operations are largely satisfied with their equipment. Only those serving in Latvia complained about their light armoured vehicles as they discussed the security situation in a video conference with the Slovenian president, defence minister and the chief of the general staff. The troops in Latvia were promised new armoured vehicles.

Ljubljana Stock Exchange marks 30th anniversary

LJUBLJANA - The 30th anniversary of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange was marked, with its boss Aleš Ipavec saying this was a relatively short period for capital market development, and he would like the stock exchange to become more interesting for investors. The exchange was launched on 26 December 1989 under the name of the Yugoslav Stock Exchange. Its first director Draško Veselinovič recalled its beginnings, noting the stock market had been something new and exciting.

NLB submits binding bid for Serbian bank

BELGRADE, Serbia - The Serbian newspaper Blic reported that Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, had submitted a binding bid to take over the Serbian state-owned bank Komercijalna Banka. Unofficial information available to the paper indicates that the other two bidders are Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International and Serbia's AIK Banka, which has recently bought Slovenia's Gorenjska Banka.

Roglič, Garnbret and volleyball team win top sport awards

LJUBLJANA - Cyclist Primož Roglič, sport climber Janja Garnbret and the men's national volleyball team were named the winners of the main awards conferred by the Association of Sports Journalists at the 2019 Athlete of the Year ceremony. Roglič, who entered the world elite this year by finishing 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia and winning the Vuelta a Espana to become the fist Slovenian ever to win a Grand Tour race, scored 272 points from 105 Slovenian sport journalists. Garnbret defended last year's title of the Athlete of the Year among women, winning 269 points ahead of Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec (208), the world downhill champion, and world slalom canoe champion Eva Terčelj (78).

Foreigners in one out of nine jobs in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The number of people in employment in Slovenia rose to almost 901,300 at the end of October. As many as 101,200 were foreigners, almost half of them from Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to a report from the Statistics Office. The number of foreigners in employment in Slovenia increased by 15% since October 2018, expanding by as much as 81% over the past five years. Apart from Bosnia, the largest number of foreigners come from Serbia and Kosovo.

Number of measles cases this year rises to 40

LJUBLJANA - The National Public Health Institute confirmed several new cases of measles infection in Slovenia so that the number of confirmed cases in Slovenian population rose to 38 plus two in foreigners. Two new, apparently unrelated, outbreaks of the infection were handled in November and December. A major outbreak, unofficially at the Škofja Loka company Knauf Insulation, was after a person got infected in Belgium before infecting six more people, one of whom infected a further eight.

Foreign tourists spend almost EUR 100 per day

LJUBLJANA - A foreign tourist spent on average EUR 97 per day in Slovenia during this year's summer season. Those staying in hotels spent more - EUR 138 daily, while those on camping holidays spent considerably less - EUR 58 per day, according to a report by the Statistics Office. Visitors from non-European countries spent the most on accommodation, food, drinks, transport, leisure activities and shopping in July and August - as much as EUR 153 per day.

Exoplanet, star in Hercules constellation given Slovenian names

LJUBLJANA - An exoplanet and its star located in the Hercules constellation 446 light years from Earth will be given Slovenian names Iztok and Irena. The names were picked as part of a campaign promoting astronomy held on the 100th anniversary of the International Astronomical Union. The winning proposal came from Samo Košmrlj, a physics student, who proposed naming the two celestial bodies after two characters from the novel Pod Svobodnim Soncem (Under the Free Sun) by Fran Saleški Finžgar.

Slovenian MEPs urging independent investigation of Maltese journalist murder

STRASBOURG, France - In the wake of the recent developments in the Maltese journalist murder investigation, Slovenian MEPs called for steps ensuring independent investigation as well as urged EU institutions to step up their efforts in determining the desirable outcome of reaffirming the rule of law in Malta and the EU. Slovenia's MEPs gave their responses to the developments on the sidelines of today's EU Parliament debate on the matter.

Roglič, Garnbret and volleyball team win top sport awards

LJUBLJANA - Cyclist Primož Roglič, sport climber Janja Garnbret and the men's national volleyball team were declared athletes of the year by the Association of Sports Journalists. Roglič who entered the world elite this year by finishing 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia and winning the Vuelta a Espana to become the fist Slovenian ever to win a Grand Tour race. Garnbret won gold medals in bouldering, lead and the combined at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan to become the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championship.

Swedish expert named Slovenia's new handball coach

LJUBLJANA - Swedish handball coach and former player Ljubomir Vranjes was selected as the new coach of the Slovenia men's national handball team. The 46-year-old of Serbian roots will thus replace Veselin Vujović, who was dismissed in late November. Vujović, a Montenegrin coach, was dismissed due to a reportedly negative atmosphere among the players and the team's poor performance in the months leading up to his dismissal.

Croat gets five years for two robberies, sexual offence

MARIBOR - The District Court in Maribor sentenced Aleksandar Miljuš to five years and three months in prison after the 26-year-old Croat pleaded guilty to two robberies and one sexual offence. Miljuš, who has temporary residence in Slovenia, will be expelled from country for five years after serving out his sentence.

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

The Slovenian painter Sašo Vrabič has been named as one of the seven winners of the Year of Rembrandt contest for his painting Girl at the Exit – shown at the top of this story and inspired by Anton Ažbe’s Zamorka (1895), on display at Slovenia’s National Gallery.

Top of The Crisis 2, oil on canvas, 4.6 x 6.5 feet

Detail

The artist at work

Vrabič is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, with a long list of exhibitions and other commendations, but since his works are among that blessed set that require no artist statement to appreciate we’ll just share some of them here.

Rest (2019), oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm

There Are Too Many Words (2017), acrylic and oil on canvas, 80 x 120 cm

Ljubljana's Trees, A Boy With An Apple, Put in a Cloud, ASAP! (2016) (phase 1), acrylic on canvas, 100 cm x 150 cm

If you’d like to see more of his work then you can visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam next year, follow him on Facebook or visit his website, and if you’d like to buy some then check out his page on SLOART (with our story on this exciting and ambitious project to bring some trust and transparency to the Slovene art market here).

STA, 17 December 2019 - A foreign tourist spent on average EUR 97 per day in Slovenia during this year's summer season. Those staying in hotels spent more - EUR 138 daily, while those on camping holidays spent considerably less - EUR 58 per day, shows the Statistics Office data released on Tuesday.

Visitors from non-European countries were the most generous among all tourists, spending the most on accommodation, food, drinks, transport, leisure activities and shopping in July and August - as much as EUR 153 per day.

German tourists, who generated the most overnight stays in Slovenia, spent on average EUR 64 per day. Almost 60% of all overnight stays were spent in campsites.

Foreign tourists staying in hotels spent more than half of their daily budgets on accommodation, while those staying in campsites spent the majority of their budgets on food and drinks.

Almost 90% of foreign tourists travelled to Slovenia in the peak summer season for private reasons, 5% were on a business trip, mostly visiting Ljubljana, while 6% were only passing through.

Mostly they picked Slovenia as a holiday destination (73%), while some also came to visit cultural and natural attractions (8%) or to get involved in sports activities (7%).

A total of 35% booked their holidays through accommodation establishments, some 30% made reservations on booking sites, while over 10% used travel agencies.

Some 15% arrived in Slovenia spontaneously, without booking accommodation in advance - they were mostly from Europe. Non-European tourists were more cautious, with over 40% using travel agencies.

Most of them visited Slovenia with a partner (44%), followed by those travelling with families (31%), co-workers or business partners (22%), friends (11%), alone (9%) or with other family members (2%).

More on this data can be found at SURS

STA, 16 December 2019 - The founding of a new airline in full or partial state ownership after flag carrier Adria Airways went into receivership is not very likely, because this would entail big risks, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told reporters on Monday.

This was considered one of the ways to keep Ljubljana connected to the world after Adria went into receivership at the end of September.

"There are no major changes, because risks are very high. I think it's not very likely that we get our airline at this point," Šarec told reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary session.

The prime minister had warned of potential risks such a project would entail on several occasions in the past. At the end of November, he said that a newly founded airline would be destined to operate at a loss.

"All national carriers operate at a loss. When the final figures are released, we'll have to see whether we're ready to go there or not," he said at the time, adding that aviation was quite a risky business.

After Adria entered receivership, the government tasked the bad bank to analyse the possibility of founding a new national carrier.

The bad bank told the STA last week that it had analysed different scenarios, including the setting up of a new carrier. "There are also other possible solutions that would be appropriate for Slovenia," the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) said.

BAMC also noted it was regularly reporting on its findings to the relevant ministry.

But both the infrastructure and finance ministries denied for the STA their involvement in any activities related to a potential new airline.

According to unofficial information, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek seems to be more or less the only one supporting the idea.

Some aviation experts say a national carrier would have a hard time competing with strong established airlines flying to Brnik. Adria's flights have been replaced quite well, they say.

Others believe the government should establish a new airline, with a Croatian civil aviation analyst saying this would be in Slovenia's strategic interest.

STA, 16 December 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has announced legislative changes to prevent an increasing number of parents citing health reasons to avoid their children getting the compulsory vaccinations.

Amendments to the contagious diseases act will be ready by April that will bring changes to long-term administrative procedures related to refuse inoculation out of medical reasons, Šarec told MPs in Monday's question time.

He said that the law was often abused: in more than 95% of applications to avoid vaccination, there is no medical reason for objection to inoculation, but rather personal reasons of those who oppose vaccination.

The prime minister said that vaccination had saved many more lives than any other healthcare measure. He cited WHO data showing it prevented al least two million deaths a year, and if the inoculation rate was higher an additional million and a half.

Šarec noted the growing number of measles cases in Slovenia, noting that Slovenia's vaccination rate was falling, so that at 93% it had already fallen below the recommendable level of 95%.

Meanwhile, the number of measles cases in the country rose from zero between 1999 and 2009 to a couple of cases later on, with the exception of 52 registered in 2014, while 30 have been recorded so far this year.

The latest global study on attitudes towards immunisation showed that 13% of Slovenians believe that vaccines are not safe, almost double the world average.