STA, 25 November 2019 - The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) has reported Matej Tonin, chair of the parliamentary commission overseeing intelligence services, to law enforcement for having disclosed intelligence, the public broadcaster TV Slovenjia reported on Monday, citing an unofficial source.

Tonin, leader of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi), is accused of releasing intelligence as part of a public section of a classified report his commission had compiled about SOVA's activity in Slovenia's preparations for border arbitration with Croatia, TV Slovenija said.

Tonin had said the report contained no intelligence, but SOVA maintained it contained the intelligence it had sent to the Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services as part of the latter's inquiry into the circumstances leading to Croatia withdrawing from the border arbitration process.

The commission had examined the circumstances of the 2015 wiretaps of communication between Slovenia's agent in the border arbitration procedure and the Slovenian member of the panel of arbiters. The scandal led to Croatia declaring the procedure compromised and withdrawing from it.

After a months-long inquiry, the commission adopted the 150-page report on 8 November and made 16 redacted pages public a few days later.

According to TV Slovenija, SOVA has also notified the president of Slovenia, the prime minister and the parliamentary speaker of the Tonin case.

Tonin took to Twitter to say it was "bizarre" that SOVA had reported the commission to the law enforcement after the report cleared it of having done anything wrong.

"The report shows the Slovenian government and SOVA did not cheat in arbitration. It proves there is no Slovenian conspiracy against the Croats. The report strengthens Slovenia's position."

He attributed SOVA's move to Damir Črnčec, state secretary at the prime minister's office and SOVA's former boss, implying it was another of his smear campaigns.

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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:

Ljubljana seat of UNESCO-sponsored global AI research centre

PARIS, France - The UNESCO conference general unanimously decided that the first UNESCO-sponsored international centre for artificial intelligence will be seated in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana. Slovenia plans to found the International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) early next year after an agreement on its establishment is signed by UNESCO and the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. The ministry believes the centre will put Slovenia at the top of global technological developments.

Development Days hear calls for action against climate change

LJUBLJANA - Discussions about the global warming marked the start of Slovenian Development Days as Foreign Minister Miro Cerar noted the country's initiatives in the fight against climate change, including the revival of the Green Group of six small countries, the promotion of sustainable water management and protection of bees. Meanwhile, climate experts, NGOs and young activists urged a much more determined approach to the climate crisis, including by imposing a carbon tax.

SDS regains poll lead as LMŠ loses ground

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) returned to the top of party rankings for the first time since January in a poll aired by POP TV on Sunday evening, as the ruling Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) lost ground to rivals on the left. The SDS polled at 15.4%, down from 15.7% in October, whereas the LMŠ lost two points to 13.8%. The coalition Social Democrats (SD) returned to third place with a four-point gain to 9.5%, and the opposition Left added over a point and a half to 8.8%.

Ex-governor argues banks should have been bailed out sooner

LJUBLJANA - Boštjan Jazbec, the former central bank governor, told the parliamentary inquiry examining potential wrongdoing at the Bank Assets Management Company that banks should have been bailed out before 2012 rather than in 2013. In this way, the erasure of junior bondholders may not have have happened. Jazbec believes the bailout and the erasure were in line with the constitution, but he argued that the government should have paid compensation to the vulnerable bondholders who had been wiped out.

SOVA reports Tonin for disclosure of intelligence

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) has reported Matej Tonin, chair of the parliamentary commission overseeing intelligence services, to law enforcement for having disclosed intelligence, the public broadcaster TV Slovenjia reported, citing an unofficial source. The leader of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) is accused of releasing intelligence as part of a public section of a classified report his commission had compiled about SOVA's activity in Slovenia's preparations for border arbitration with Croatia.

Decoded, olm's genome to be applied in medical research

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian scientists have decoded the genome of the olm, an endemic cave-dwelling aquatic salamander, based on which new possibilities could oepn up in healthcare. A press conference in Ljubljana heard that the discovery, made in cooperation with Danish and Chinese researchers, could bring about new medical advances, for example to heal wounds, understand the causes of obesity and treat diabetes. The olm's genome is 15 times larger than that of humans.

National rail operator buying coach company Nomago

LJUBLJANA - Slovenske Železnice, the national railways operator, is buying Slovenian coach company Nomago, chiefly its 700 coaches which transport more than ten million passengers a year on more than 650 routes in seven countries, said TV Slovenija reported, adding the rail company would buy half of Nomago. The deal is worth EUR 20-30 million and could be completed next month, pending approval of the rail company's supervisors and Slovenian Sovereign Holding, custodian of state assets.

Hidria to hire more workers, expand production

JESENICE - Hidria, the Idrija-based concern that mostly manufactures hi-tech products for the car industry, announced it would hire 150 more staff and expand production after signing several multi-million contracts for the 2021-2030 period. Contracts worth more than EUR 300 million in total were signed after Hidria developed a new cost- and energy-efficient technology for the production of stators and rotors in highly efficient electro-motors for the new hybrid and electric vehicles.

Firms worried about EU directive on cross-border services

MARIBOR - Businesses from north-east Slovenia are worried that companies providing cross-border services in the EU could be severely affected if Slovenia introduces into its law the new directive governing cross-border services and posted workers "too rigorously". A study, commissioned by the Štajerska Chamber of Commerce, showed this would considerably lower or even stop the export of construction, engineering and transport services by Slovenian companies, particulaly in the part of Štajerska along the Drava river, which has an above-average number of such companies. Economist Jože P. Damijan predicts a loss of over 10,000 jobs around the country, and even up to 13,000 in the worst-case scenario, of which some 5,000 in the Drava area.

Business sentiment slumps

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's business sentiment worsened strongly in November with the business sentiment index slumping by 7.6 percentage points year on year and losing 1.7 points from October. Statistics Office data showed the index, at 2.4 points, hit the lowest since late 2014 and is now only 2.7 points above the decade-long average. Confidence in manufacturing deteriorated the most, declining by almost 4 points year on year and by 0.7 points since October.

Hotel in Šumi complex to be operated by Spain's Barcelo Group

LJUBLJANA - The hotel that is being built as part of the emerging residential and commercial complex at the site of the former candy factory Šumi in the centre of Ljubljana will be operated by the Spanish hotel chain Barcelo Hotel Group and under the Occidental Hotels & Resorts brand. The news was announced by the project's developer. The four-star hotel will feature 151 rooms, a bar and a car park under the building. The Šumi complex will feature 96 flats, shops, restaurants and bars.

Campaign targets digital violence against women

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia joined a 16-day international campaign addressing violence against women by placing various forms of online violence in the focus. Statistics show that one in two Slovenian women experience at least one kind of violence before turning 15. On the occasion, the Foreign Ministry underscored gender equality and women's empowerment as two of Slovenia's foreign policy priorities, urging empowering women and girls through education, including about human rights.

110th anniversary of Rusjan's pioneer flight marked

NOVA GORICA - Slovenia remembered the first powered flight by its aviation pioneer and aircraft constructor Edvard Rusjan (1886-1911), which took place near Gorizia, now in Italy, exactly 110 years ago. On the occasion, a documentary called The Flying Rusjan Brothers, directed by Boris Palčič, was screened in the Eda Center, a commercial centre in Nova Gorica dedicated to Rusjan's memory. Edvard Rusjan constructed the biplane he flew on 25 November 1909 together with his elder brother Josip.

Life of pilot Jurij Kraigher captured on film

PIVKA - The Park of Military History presented a documentary about Jurij Kraigher (1891-1984, a Slovenian innovator and pilot with an exciting career in the US, which will become part of the museum's permanent collection. "Slovenec, Ki Je Preletel Stoletja" (The Slovenian who has flown over centuries) presents the story of Kraigher, who was born in a village near Postojna and emigrated to the US after WWI in 1921, finding himself often in the centre of historic events.

Kinodvor wins Europa Cinemas programming award

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana art cinema Kinodvor won the Europa Cinemas 2019 award for best programming, one of the three awards presented at the network's 21st conference in Lisbon at the weekend. This is the second accolade from the European cinema network for Kinodvor after it was honoured for best young audience activities in 2010. Europa Cinemas brings together almost 1,200 cinemas in 43 countries.

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, 25 November 2019 - Slovenian scientists have decoded the genome of the olm, an endemic cave-dwelling aquatic salamander, based on which new possibilities could be developed in healthcare, for example to heal wounds, understand the causes of obesity and treat diabetes, a press conference heard in Ljubljana on Monday.

The discovery of the genome of the animal found in the karst caves of the Western Balkans, including southern Slovenia, has been made in cooperation with the Danish researchers and the Chinese institute BGI Research.

The olm or proteus, nicknamed the "human fish", is interesting to scientists from the genetic perspective as it can live up to 100 years, and is able to survive long periods without food or overeating without damage to its organs.

12 Things to Know about the Olm, Proteus, Human Fish & Baby Dragon

It also has exceptional capabilities of regeneration, as it is able to regrow an amputated limb, which could be recently witnessed by visitors to the Postojna Cave in Slovenia.

The project to determine its genome was launched last March at the University of Ljubljana together with researchers of Aarhus University in Denmark and BGI Research. Tissue from two olms were sampled, frozen and sent to China.

Duncan Yu, the director of MGI, a subsidiary of BGI Research, told the press that determining the genome had been a complex task requiring a combination of state-of-the-art technologies, as it was 15 times larger than the human genome.

More than a trillion nucleotides, the basic building blocks of DNA and RNA, have been determined, and each of them have been read 160 times on average, with the information obtained now being merged into the final genome sequence.

Yu handed over today a recording of the genome sequence, which bears 42 Megabytes of information, to Igor Papič, chancellor of the University of Ljubljana.

The decoding of the genome is expected to make it easier for scientists to understand how the olm manages to survive years without food or to overeat without any negative effects on the organism.

According to Rok Kostanjšek of the Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty, who heads the project in Slovenia, it will be easier to understand metabolic processes and apply the findings in human medicine.

In humans, fasting triggers insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes, while this does not happen in the olm, he said, adding that the findings could perhaps be used to improve diabetes medications.

The understanding of the olm's ability to regrow an amputated limb will probably not lead to this being possible in humans, but it could lead to new findings in the treatment of wounds and shorten hospital care after surgeries.

Kostanjšek added that the insight into the genome would also provide scientists with a new basis for discovering or understanding mechanisms related to longevity and genetic diversity.

Analyses of the genome could also be used to determine the sex of an individual olm, which is important for the preservation of this endangered species, as their mating could be facilitated under controlled conditions.

The information could furthermore be used to find out how many populations of the olm exist in a certain area, which would speak about the stability of these populations.

The Pocket’s Vaudeville “Matilda, Let’s Do It!” –an original production of the Pocket Teater (sic) Studio that will have it’s premiere run on the 6th, 7th and 8th of December – is a multilingual show (mainly English, but sprinkled, with Slovene, Serbo-Croat and Spanish) that follows the tradition of the old Vaudeville, Varieté and the acts that would appear American and Latin-American travelling fairs. It will present spectacles ranging from the shaky circus numbers, “freak shows” to slapstick comedy, along with music, dance, low budget beauty, on-stage magic and brimming enthusiasm with one single idea – to entertain the audience.

If most cabaret and burlesque shows in Ljubljana are put on as if they aimed to be created and premiered in today’s Berlin – always trying to provoke or scare the long-disappeared bourgeoisie – Pocket’s Vaudeville’s natural environment would be a train car with a run-down troupe of international artists travelling through forgotten towns of last century’s or present-day Bolivia, simply trying to make the bumpy road of life a little smoother for a brief moment.

Note that the Pocket Teater - tucked away in a courtyard by Le Petit Cafe - lives up to it’s name and reservations are required. Tickets for all three nights – 6, 7 and 8 December, 2019, 20:00 – can be made at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..For more info call 070 325 522, or take a look on Facebook.

STA, 25 November 2019 - Various forms of violence experienced online will be in the focus as Slovenia joins a 16-day international campaign addressing violence against women. The Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities says a number of studies have shown online violence and harassment of women is increasing.

To address the issue, an international conference will be held at Brdo pri Kranju on Wednesday to present a project aimed to combat various forms of digital violence.

The campaign will be launched today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, running until Human Rights Day, observed on 10 December.

Statistics show that one in two Slovenian women have experienced at least one form of violence before turning 15.

The ministry says Slovenia has committed to make major progress in addressing the issue of violence against women.

It notes the country has taken a major step forward by ratifying the Council of Europe's convention against violence against women and domestic violence.

This year Slovenia compiled its first report on the implementation of the convention and submitted it to GREVIO, a monitoring mechanism set up to ensure parties to the convention implement it effectively.

The UN declared 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 1999 to remember the assassination of the Mirabel sisters from the Dominican Republic.

Domestic Violence Remains Common in Slovenia (Feature)

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has noted violence against women is one of the most wide-spread and persistent violations of human rights, urging action.

Globally, more than a third of women have already experienced physical and/or sexual violence, with 750 million marrying before the age of 18.

In 2017, at least 87,000 women and girls were killed around the world only because they were women. As many as 58% were victims of their partners or other family members, UN statistics show.

The flamingo is not a bird one expects to see in Slovenia. Although a large flock of these birds regularly spends the winters in neighbouring Italy, and some can therefore occasionally be seen on the Slovenian coast, observations of these exotic birds continue to be extremely rare further inland.

In fact, this was just second time in history flamingos have been seen in Dolenjska, the first being 49 years ago.

This time two birds, an adult in all its colours along with a still greyish youngster, stayed in the swampy field by Temenica long enough for the arrival of the ornithologist-photographer Gregor Bernard.

The photos he managed to capture of these birds and a flock of cranes that flew over Dolenjska some days earlier can be seen on his blog.

STA, 21 November 2019 - Slovenians' level of satisfaction with the general state in the country deteriorated this year for the first time following a steady climb of seven years, suggests the Slovenian Mirror survey, released on Thursday by pollster Valicon. Trust in institutions and professions meanwhile continues to rise.

Measuring the perception of the general state in Slovenia, expectations and personal happiness, the survey showed the share of discontent respondents increasing for the first time after the 91% peak, recorded in 2012, a year of country-wide street protests.

While the share reached its lowest point in the 2018 survey with 44%, the trend saw a reversal in the survey for this year, conducted in November. The share of discontent respondents was 51%, while the share of those content decreased to 22%.

Also up is the share of those who really do not feel happy, from 5% to 12%, while the share of those describing themselves as very happy fell from 9% to 6%.

Valicon noted that the decline in personal and general satisfaction was in keeping with the findings of other relevant recent surveys, which for instance recorded a drop in the support for the government in the autumn, a decline in consumer confidence and expectations regarding future finances.

Slovenian Mirror also measures trust in institutions and professions and found trust in institutions remaining on par with 2018, at -19% and still among the highest in the history of the survey.

The biggest drop was suffered by public broadcaster RTV Slovenije, which currently ranks 13th, while a relative strong decline was also recorded for banks and markets.

The recent years also brought a constant rise in trust in the companies and organises where the respondents are active. Support for the army and police is also stable, although both lost a few points this year.

The biggest rise in trust was recorded this year for opposition parties, which moved up two spots from last place to 21st, and for healthcare, where trust is positive again after years of decline. Trust in the country's president is also no longer negative, having risen by 5 percentage points, just like for education.

Firefighters continue to be the most trusted professionals, followed by nurses and scientists.

Trust in lawyers improved substantially, but is still in negative territory. The biggest drop was recorded for university professors, while minor declines were also suffered by journalists and police officers.

The survey was conducted via the Jazvem.si platform between 29 October and 5 November on a sample involving 875 respondents.

STA, 24 November 2019 - Slovenian police appear to have stepped up activities against a self-styled militia that says it wants to protect the border from migrants. In an encounter Saturday near Krško, a group of officers confiscated seven pieces of weapons from 41 members of a militia known as the Štajerska Guard.

The weapons will be sent for analysis and the individual will be prosecuted if they are found to have broken the law. The encounter was also reported to the prosecution but the prosecutor did not detect elements of criminal activity, said the head of the border department at the Novo Mesto police, Anton Štubljar.

The encounter comes days after the government said it was in the process of changing legislation to be able to tackle the activities of groups such as the Štajerska Guard, a paramilitary formation led by Andrej Šiško, who has already served prison time for trying to subvert the constitutional order.

Andrej Šiško – Football Fan, Attempted Murderer, Presidential Candidate and Paramilitary Commander

In recent weeks the group has spent weekends at camps along the border, patrolling the border area in fatigues and carrying weapons that its members says are replicas.

While their activities have raised concern about the possibility of violent altercations with migrants, they cannot be prosecuted under existing law since nothing they do is technically illegal.

The legislative changes under consideration, strongly opposed by politicians on the right who see the militia as a harmless attempt by citizens to protect themselves, would make it illegal for such groups to present themselves as a type of a military structure trying to imitate the actions of the police or the army.

Štubljar said police support changes that would make it possible to "effectively detect and prevent such deviations, which constitute a security threat".

All our stories on militias in Slovenia are here

STA, 24 November 2019 - Although no case of African swine fever has been recorded in Slovenia, pork prices in the country have risen by 10-12% this year as a serious outbreak of the disease in Asia has made global pork prices skyrocket. Slovenian meat producers believe the 10-12% rise will not suffice to cover the constantly rising producer price of pork.

The Slovenian Meat Processing Industry Association has told the STA that although indirect, the impact of swine fever on the Slovenian market is considerable.

Since demand for pork is rising, foremost in China, European exporters have reacted to the trend, so purchase pork prices have risen.

In the European market, they have been increasing since the start of this spring, with purchase prices of certain cuts of meat up by as much as 70% or more.

This has an impact on purchase prices in Slovenia, where pork self-sufficiency is relatively at only 30%.

The association says this situation could last for several years as there is no prospect China could contain the disease any time soon.

"The current situation shows how vulnerable we are due to the low self-sufficiency rate."

The Slovenian meat-processing industry could survive the crisis if meat prices do not lag considerably behind rising costs.

However, the situation could deteriorate if African swine fever, a highly contagious disease, breaks out in Slovenia, the association says.

The association also expects retail prices to rise sooner or later, bu the good news is that retail pork prices in Slovenia are now some 20% below the EU average.

However, leading retailers in Slovenia could not say exactly whether or when consumers can expect another rise in pork prices.

Lidl Slovenija says it increased pork prices for the first time at the start of this summer, by an average 10%.

It said its pork suppliers have notified it of rising producer prices but Lidl could not say how much or when its retail prices would go up.

Mercator, the largest retailer in the country, has told the STA it was just a question of time when retail pork prices will have to be increased.

Hofer, on the other hand, has not yet increased its retail pork price this year, and will make efforts for it to rise as little as possible.

Almost 1,790 cases of African swine fever were recorded in pigs and another 5,320 in wild pigs in the EU between January and mid-November, the most in eastern Europe.

STA, 24 November 2019 - Slovenia's Anže Lanišek placed second after Norway's Daniel Andre Tande at the first individual event of the new, 41st Ski Jumping World Cup season in Poland's Wisla on Sunday. The first World Cup podium result for the 23-year-old comes only a day after the Slovenian team placed fourth in the team event.

 Lanišek, whom head coach Gorazd Bertoncelj had mentioned as one of the Slovenian favourites this season, said he had not expected to finish among the top three at the season opener.

"I'm very happy. I've been waiting for four years to finally get to the podium. I didn't think this would happen as early as Wisla.

"I'm quite satisfied although my jumps are not yet at the right level," said Lanišek, whom his friends have nicknamed "frog".

Placing third was Poland's Kamil Stoch, while the defending World Cup winner Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan placed fourth.

Lanišek's success was rounded off by Timi Zajc, who placed sixth; his 134-metre jump was the longest in the second series.

Peter Prevc placed 15th, Domen Prevc 23rd, Rok Justin 27th and Tilen Bartol 29th.

On Saturday, the Slovenian team - Anže Lanišek, Anže Semenič, Timi Zajc and Peter Prevc - placed fourth after securing third place in series one.

Bertoncelj is very happy with both season openers, saying the boys did a really good job.

"I'm happy we don't have only one good individual, but several good ones, a good team as a whole," he said after today's event.