STA, 27 November 2019 - Peter Jenko is taking over as the new boss of the Financial Administration (FURS) on Wednesday. One of his goals will be to change the tax procedure act so that the names of major tax evaders could be made public, he told the newspaper Delo.

Jenko, who is starting his five-year term at the helm of FURS, succeeding Jana Ahčin, confirmed for the paper that quite a few known taxpayers had formally moved to Dubai recently. Some, including the taxpayer paying the second largest income tax in the country, actually moved there.

"Of course we have detected this and we know about these cases ... We are auditing such cases," he said in an interview for Delo.

FURS will try to establish whether those individuals have indeed become United Arab Emirates residents or has the transfer of their residence been merely fictitious, he announced.

In some cases, they continue to live in Slovenia, have families here, pay housing costs and use their pay cards here, he said.

Jenko believes the tax procedure act should be changed to allow for disclosure of the names of dishonest taxpayers. Under the current legislation, this is considered confidential tax information.

Names can currently be revealed only exceptionally. In one such case, the public got to know the dealings of Rok Snežič, who became known as the doctor of tax evasion, after he pressed charges against two tax inspectors over negligence.

"If a taxpayer is presenting only his side of the story in the media, the law allows FURS to reveal tax data that are otherwise confidential.

"But I must say time has come to review the institute of tax confidentiality ... I think that would be a step towards greater public trust in the work of FURS."

Jenko, who had previously served as FURS deputy director general, said he had already discussed the matter with the Finance Ministry and that FURS would propose the necessary changes soon.

FURS is currently in good shape. Public finance revenue grew by 6.9% last year to EUR 16.6 billion, while tax due dropped by 4.9%.

However, Jenko was surprised to learn that the National Assembly had stripped FURS of EUR 6 million with an amendment to the budget bill. The money was intended for development, foremost digitalisation, he said.

If this does not change, there will only be enough money for maintenance, while some major development projects will be delayed, he said.

FURS was founded with a merger of the tax and customs administrations in August 2014.

At the end of 2018, it employed 3,629 people, of whom 2,808 were authorised officials - 430 inspectors, 537 financial counsellors, 159 investigators, 257 customs officers, 1,018 controlling officers and 407 debt collectors, shows FURS's annual report for 2018.

STA, 27 November 2019 - Reflecting on the notion of freedom, the business newspaper Finance takes issue in Wednesday's commentary with restrictions being introduced for Airbnb in Slovenia, hailing the Airbnb "platform and business model as a typical symbol of freedom".

"It brought thousands of real estate units on the market that had not been used before and had generated no earnings. They only had value as walls but not as a business.

"Airbnb instilled life in the walls and made people wealthier. It generated work. Because of Airbnb a large number of cities are more accessible to those not as wealthy, it increased equality, made living cheaper and encouraged tourism and entrepreneurship among people who would have never taken it on otherwise," Finance says.

The paper goes on to acknowledge that Airbnb also drove up housing prices, brought little in terms of tax revenue and can bother neighbours. It however wonders whether the neighbours are really bothered by tourists, suggesting they are simply envious.

"To resolve envy with legislation is not only unfree but also stupid," Finance says in the commentary entitled My Freedom Your Prison.

The time of lights, fairs, feasts and celebrations is approaching with Christmas and New Year’s celebrations across Slovenia. This is an overview of the programme that will take place in Maribor, the city with perhaps the most spectacular arrival of Grandpa Frost in the country.

Turning on the Christmas lights: November 29, 2019;

Just like many other cities, Maribor will also turn its Christmas lights on this Friday, November 29. At 17:00 the Mayor Aleksander Saša Arsenovič and pupils of Prežihov Voranc elementary school will turn on the lights at Trg generala Maistra and then move to Trg Svobode and at 17:20 turn the lights on there as well.

Festive Fair: November 29 – December 30, 2019

Craftsmen, potters, beekeepers, herbalists, farmers' wives associations and caterers will put their products on their stalls at Grajski Trg and Trg Svobode starting this Friday as well.

City of Fairies Festival: November 29 – December 28

Also this Friday begins a programme with puppet shows, workshops, street performers, and concerts known as the Fairies Festival. For details please visit Narodni dom Maribor’s website for details.

Concerts and DJ sets at Leon Štukelj Square: November 29 – December 31, 2019

For details on daily programme and lineups, klick here.

Winter Fairy tale at Grajski trg: November 29 – December 31, 2019

Aromatic offerings of mulled wine, sweets and other foods will be available in the company of live music at Grajski trg every day starting this Friday. 

City Ice Rink: November 29, 2019 – February 29, 2020

An ice rink will be opened at Trg Svobode this Friday as well, one that will eventually offer the possibility to spend New Year ’s Eve on skates till two in the morning. Click here for more.

Arrival of Grandpa Frost: December 7 at 17:00

Do not miss Grandpa Frost’s spectacular arrival from Maribor’s Pohorje on December 7^th.

Grandpa Frost’s Farewell: December 28, 2019

At 17:00 Grandpa Frost will greet children for the last time in 2019 at Vetrinjski dvor, where a magic show will also take place, then he will walk to the stage at Leon Štrukelj Square, where he will address the children one more time at 17:45, before returning to his home in Pohorje.

Winter Air 360 Luft Bar: November 22., 2019 – March 21, 2020

At the eleventh floor of the Slavia business centre (Ulica Vita Kraigherja 3), an open terrace promises to offer a magical experience out in the open almost throughout the entire winter: with lights, a fireplace, snowy trees, Christmas tree, and wooden signposts, all while being served hot chocolate or mulled wine.

New Year’s Celebration: December 31 Leon Štukelj Square

Maribor is a city with the longest tradition of celebrating the New Year’s Eve out in the open. This year visitors will do their countdown at Leon Štukelj Square in a company of two bands, Groovocado and Big Foot mama.

STA, 26 November 2019 - The government adopted legislative amendments on Tuesday designed to crack-down on the activity of self-styled village guards and militias patrolling the border with the intention to stop illegal migrants.

The government proposes for parliament to pass amendments to the protection of public order act and to the state border control act as a matter of urgency.

The government says securing the border is in the sole jurisdiction of the police, while the so-called guards are trying to interfere in police powers and duties, obstruct police work and are upsetting the public.

The proposed amendments would ban any conduct by an individual or group conducted with the intention of controlling the border in the same or similar way as conducted by police in controlling the border.

Also banned are activities that impede the police in conducting border surveillance.

Violations of the ban carry a fine of at least EUR 1,000 for an individual or at least EUR 1,500 when the act is committed by an individual as part of a group.

The government also proposes banning the carrying, display or use of decorative weapons, imitation weapons, signalling weapons or other objects that look like weapons, in a way as to make it look as if police or army members perform their duties.

The ban would not apply when the objects are used as props by performers at events organised in accordance with the public assembly act.

A breach of this latter ban carries a fine of between 500 and 1,000 euro when committed by an individual or between 1,000 and 2,000 when the individual commits the act as a member of a group.

The government also proposes introducing a new offence for the use of camouflage clothing, uniforms or clothing that looks like police or army uniform, when the person wearing such a piece of clothing appears as if they are performing the duties of police or army personnel.

The use of such clothing as props by performers is again exempt from the ban, which carries fines of between 500 and 1,000 euro when committed by an individual or between 1,000 and 2,000 euro when committed as a member of a group.

The amendments come in the aftermath of increased activity by militias including the Štajerska Guard, whose leader Andrej Šiško was sentenced to eight months in prison earlier this year on the charge that he attempted to subvert the constitutional order.

Presenting the amendments to reporters, Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar declared "zero tolerance of any initiative by individuals or groups to assume the duties in the jurisdiction of the state".

He expects that the amendments will meet with approval, saying that shortcomings in the valid law caused concern among the public and hindered police work.

Police have been reporting on their findings on militia activity to prosecutors but these have not established any crime in any of the cases. The government is now giving the police the tool to punish the perpetrators, he said.

Poklukar announced that the Interior Ministry would also draw up amendments to legislation dealing with associations, and the Justice Ministry proposed amendments to the penal code provisions on impersonating a police or army force member and on taking the law in your hands.

The United Slovenia movement, which is headed by the leader of the Štajerska Guard Šiško, responded to the changes by saying Slovenia was seeing "fascism and unconstitutional actions by an important segment of the very top echelons of the state and the state apparatus"

It argued MPs should do all in their power to "prevent such unacceptable conduct and to restore the rule of law and constitutional order of the Republic of Slovenia".

Did you feel Wednesday morning’s earthquakes in Albania (03:54) and Bosnia & Hercegovina (10:19)? The Slovenian Environment Agency (Agencija RS za okolje) received 50 and 58 reports (at the time of writing), respectively, with the tremors being felt in, among other places, Ljubljana and Primorska.

The density of reports for the quake in Albania…

…and for that in Bosnia & Hercegovina.

You might be surprised at the amount of seismic activity Slovenia experiences on a near daily basis, and often several times a day. There were 36 earthquakes recorded between 28 October and 16 November alone, none stronger than 1.9, and most of these went unreported. The strongest had a magnitude of 1.9 and happened 09:00 18 November (2019) 5km from Črna na Koroškem (see more here).

Find our where and when the earth moved.

If you feel something, then visit the website and click on the earthquake, look for Čutil sem ta potres (I felt this earthquake) and answer the questionnaire. It’s only in Slovene, but works well with Google Translate.

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:

SOVA confirms charges over leaked arbitration info, Pahor demands Ntl Security Council session

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian intelligence agency SOVA confirmed pressing charges over information leaked from materials examined by the parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence Services concerning the Slovenian-Croatian border arbitration procedure after public broadcaster reported SOVA had reported Matej Tonin, chair of the parliamentary commission, to law enforcement. Tonin and PM Marjan Šarec exhanged accussations about the political abuse of SOVA and the oversight commission respectively, while President Borut Pahor called on Šarec to convene a session of the National Security Council due to the tensions. Šarec said the proposal was worth considering.

Govt moves to crack down on paramilitary groups

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted legislative amendments designed to crack-down on the activity of self-styled village guards and militias patrolling the border with the intention of stopping illegal migrants. The government proposes for parliament to pass amendments to the protection of public order act and to the state border control act as a matter of urgency.

Visiting asylum centre, Šarec lauds integration effort

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec visited the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants and the appertaining asylum centre in the Ljubljana Vič borough, praising their efforts. Accompanied by Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar, Šarec visited the Reception and Support Division and was acquainted with accommodation procedures. It said that the main challenge in the field was preparing action plans of integration for the implementation of the government's migration strategy.

FDI Awards go to Iskaemeco, Systemair and Swarco Lea

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The SPIRIT investment promotion agency honoured top foreign investors in the country, presenting awards to electricity meter maker Iskraemeco, ventilation company Systemair and maker of LED traffic displays Swarco Lea. FDI Award Slovenia was given out in three categories. Iskraemeco was named the best among big companies, Sytemair won the award in the long-term presence category, and Swarco Lea got the smart products and services development award.

Fajon elected head of EU Parliament's Schengen task force

STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) elected Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) the chair of a special task force for the Schengen Area, with Fajon announcing she would strive to restore importance and reputation to the idea, and restore full life to the area without borders.

Pahor forms consultative committee for climate policy

LJUBLJANA - A permanent consultative committee for climate policy attached to the office of President Borut Pahor held its maiden session today, the president's office announced. The seven-member committee features climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, Mojca Dolinar of the climatology department of the Environment Agency, Andrej Gnezda of the environmental NGO Umanotera and climate change negotiator Zoran Kus of the Environment Ministry.

New legislation to address environmental liability

LJUBLJANA - Environment Minister Simon Zajc said a new legislation that was in the making would prioritise the environment over creditors in case a company goes into receivership. The damage it has caused needs to be cleaned up, which is usually a long and expensive effort, he said. When the bankruptcy estate is being divided among creditors, "the damage done to the environmental will be paid first, before all the other creditors", he said at a conference on environmental responsibility.

Medved puzzled by Pahor postponing electoral law meeting for SDS

LJUBLJANA - As the search continues for a two-thirds majority in parliament to change Slovenia's electoral legislation in line with a Constitutional Court ruling, Public Administration Rudi Medved clashed with President Borut Pahor over the latter's decision to postpone a meeting on the topic because of the Democrats (SDS). Pahor planned to host on Wednesday the eighth round of talks addressing the problem of the current electoral districts no longer guaranteeing the one person-one vote principle but decided to postpone it in the face of Medved and the largest opposition party holding differing views.

Nomago not for sale, looking for strategic partner

LJUBLJANA - Adventura Holding has denied it is selling coach company Nomago, though it acknowledged it was in talks with several possible strategic partners which would help it fulfil its ambitions plans for the company. The privately held Adventura Holding issued the statement after a TV report suggested yesterday that national rail company Slovenske Železnice (SŽ) was interested in buying Nomago.

Parliament backs culture euro bill

LJUBLJANA - Parliament passed a bill providing more funds for arts and culture to facilitate its development. The field will thus get an additional EUR 122.6 million for investments in 2021-2027, or an average EUR 17.5 million a year, in addition from what its gets in annual state budgets. This sort of funding was first introduced in 1998, but in 2013 the relevant legislation, which was time-limited, was not amended so as to remain valid.

Slovenian Book Fair kicks off with focus on Europe

LJUBLJANA - The annual Slovenian Book Fair got under way. Europe in Focus will bring to Ljubljana a number of Europe-based authors, among them Irish Jacke Harte, German Sibylle Berg, Lukas Bärfuss, this year's winner of the Georg Büchner Prize and Jan Carson from Northern Ireland, the winner of EU prize for literature 2019. The fair will also honour poet, writer and linguist Valentin Vodnik (1758-1818) and the region of Prekmurje, whose people were reunited with the rest of Slovenian nation 100 years ago.

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

STA, 26 November 2019 - In the wake of the first heavy rainfall of this autumn, locals living along the river Drava warned the river had started flooding at a relatively low flow because the riverbed had not been maintained properly. They believe that the funds paid to the state by the hydro plants operator should be used to clear the overgrown riverbed.

In the past, the river spilled over when its flow reached 1,500 cubic metres per second, while in the recent years it floods at the 800 cubic metres mark, said the Ptuj Agriculture and Forestry Institute Andrej Rebernišek.

He is a member of a task force appointed after disastrous floods in 2012. The body met on Tuesday to inspect the consequences of the last week's high water, when Drava flooded nearly a thousand hectares of prime agricultural land.

"Damage to agricultural land is massive, this is an existential threat for those who live from the land," Hajdina Mayor Mitja Horvat, the task force president, told the press after the body inspected the damage.

Horvat said that the state needed to become aware that neglecting the maintenance of the riverbed was a significant problem. This was further reinforced by the fact that neither the Environment Ministry nor the Water Agency attended the task force meeting today.

Rebernišek said that the damage caused by last week's floods reached millions. He also said that total flood damage between 2012 and 2018 reached EUR 96.5 million.

Because its river bed is not being maintained, Drava has started flowing outside its usual course, resulting in sediment build-up and erosion, said Rebernišek, adding that some parts that had been flooded most recently have become completely unusable for agriculture.

Rebernišek said that the problems had started after hydro plants were built on the river, which meant that downstream from Maribor a part of the river was diverted in the 1960s into a man-made channel feeding the hydro stations Zlatoličje and Formin.

After the channel was built, the old river course became neglected, its riverbed overgrown. "The situation was critical in 2012, when there was a big flood. Since then we've had big floods nearly every other year," said Rebernišek.

He said that some 2,800 hectares of agricultural land were in jeopardy, adding that farmers just north of the border with Croatia were hit the hardest.

The task force wants a comprehensive approach to address the problems and thinks the funds paid to the state by the hydro plants operator, Dravske Elektrarne, should be used for the riverbed maintenance.

STA, 26 November 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec visited the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants and the appertaining asylum centre in the Ljubljana Vič borough on Tuesday, praising their efforts.

Accompanied by Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar, Šarec visited the Reception and Support Division and was acquainted with accommodation procedures.

A release from the Government Communication Office said that the issue of integration of persons with recognised international protection status ranked prominently during the visit.

It said that the main challenge in the field was preparing action plans of integration for the implementation of the government's migration strategy.

The release said that, in dealing with the challenges of migration, Slovenia remained committed to preserving a right balance between solidarity and security.

Šarec also visited the division for families where he met the youngest residents of the asylum centre. Commenting on his visit, he said that asylum seekers were being accommodated and attended to in accordance with Slovenian and EU legislation.

He found that the accommodation capacities were not overcrowded and that apart from regular psychosocial care the asylum seekers benefited from many other activities provided by NGOs. The prime minister praised the efforts put in the integration of migrants.

Upon his visit, the asylum centre accommodated 201 residents, most of them coming from Morocco, Algeria and Iraq.

STA, 26 November 2019 - The annual Slovenian Book Fair (Slovenski knjižni sejem), opening on Tuesday, will this year focus on Europe, bringing to Ljubljana authors from all over the continent. It will also honour poet, writer and linguist Valentin Vodnik (1758-1818) and the region of Prekmurje, whose people were reunited with the rest of Slovenian nation 100 years ago.

Vodnik, a top representative of the Enlightenment Age in what were then Slovenian lands, works well with this year's focus, Europe, Enlightenment being "the foundation of modern European culture", the organisers have said.

Europe in Focus will bring to Ljubljana a number of Europe-based authors, among them the Irish writer Jacke Harte, German Sibylle Berg, Lukas Bärfuss, this year's winner of the Georg Büchner Prize and Jan Carson from Northern Ireland, the winner of EU prize for literature 2019.

Italian author and publisher Elisabetta Sgarbio will also be in Ljubljana, presenting her documentary set in Slovenia The Nearest Elsewhere (2017).

The fair will moreover focus on the country's eastern-most region of Prekmurje. The opening today will feature one of the best known Prekmurje natives, singer and songwriter Vlado Kreslin.

Moreover, at noon every day the Writers' Stage will feature an author from Prekmurje: Feri Lainšček, Štefan Kardoš, Vlado Žabot, Dušan Šarotar and Suzana Tratnik.

A study about reading habits among Slovenians will be presented at the fair, and a special programme dubbed Cicifest will feature works and events for children.

STA, 25 November 2019 - The first UNESCO-sponsored international centre for artificial intelligence (AI) will be seated in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, the UNESCO conference general decided in Paris on Monday. The International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) is to be established early next year.

The Slovenian ministry in charge of education and science believes this puts Slovenia on the global map of the most high-profile and advanced countries AI-wise.

"The centre is a recognition to Slovenian scientists' achievements and a result of the good cooperation between the Slovenian government and UNESCO, especially in open educational resources, an area where Slovenia has gained recognition as a global leader.

"The centre will put Slovenia at the top of global technological developments," the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport said in a release.

The UNESCO conference general unanimously endorsed Slovenia's bid for the AI centre today after UNESCO's executive board endorsed it in April.

Slovenia plans to found the IRCAI at the start of 2020, when an agreement on its establishment is signed by the ministry and UNESCO.

The IRCAI will be the first UNESCO-sponsored global AI research centre, also serving as a role model for similar centres to be set up around the globe.

The ministry said a number of countries and international organisations had already expressed interest in working with the new centre.

The new facility will aim to provide an open and transparent environment for AI research and debates on AI, providing expert support to stakeholders around the globe in drafting guidelines and action plans for AI.

It will bring together various stakeholders with a variety of know-how from around the world to address global challenges, support UNESCO in carrying out its studies and take part in major international AI projects.

The centre will advise governments, organisations, legal persons and the public on systemic and strategic solutions in introducing AI in various fields.

Helping to expand AI capacities around the world, including by establishing auxiliary research centres and drafting training programmes, will also be among its tasks.

The UNESCO general conference also decided today that ethics recommendations for AI should be drafted by the next conference general, scheduled for 2021, a project in which the Ljubljana-based centre will also take part.