08 Nov 2019, 15:13 PM

Tax Woes Mount for Ljubljana Mayor & Sons

STA, 8 November 2019 - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković is potentially on the line for a significant tax bill stemming from transactions with companies owned by his sons, web portal Siol reported on Friday.

The Tax Administration put a specific type of lien on his family house to the tune of EUR 335,000, a move it typically resorts to if it intends to issue a tax bill.

Such a lien prevents the person subject to a tax audit from selling or encumbering the property or before the end of the audit.

While Janković has refused to comment on the details of the audit, Siol says the tax liability stems from payments the mayor had received from Electa Group, owned by his sons Jure and Damijan Janković.

These transactions have been subject to media scrutiny several times before; Janković claims the money was payback for loans he had given his sons in the past.

This is just one of the Janković family business dealings that authorities are looking at.

Less than two months ago his sons attempted to send the core Electa company into bankruptcy using a simplified insolvency procedure reserved for micro firms, but the procedure was stopped on suspicion creditors may be defrauded.

His son Jure, meanwhile, faces a EUR 600,000 tax bill after tax inspectors found a huge mismatch between his assets and his reported income. Both sons are reportedly in personal bankruptcy.

08 Nov 2019, 14:30 PM

Post-Adria: Govt to See Feasibility Study for New National Carrier Next Week

STA, 8 November - The state-owned bad bank has rejected reports that it had presented to former Adria Airways pilots a plan for a potential new flag carrier, while confirming for the STA that it would present to the finance and economy ministries next week calculations on the feasibility of establishment of such a company.

Responding on Friday to yesterday's unofficial report by Radio Slovenija, Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) chief executive director Matej Pirc rejected it, while saying he had indeed met with a representative of former Adria pilots.

Pirc said that he had recently met with pilot Primož Jovanović, who has been calling for a state intervention, but added that the meetings had been requested by the latter as he wanted to present his calculations related to feasibility of the idea to establish a new flag carrier.

He said that, given that the bad bank was preparing calculations of its own, which included several scenarios with different assumptions, he was interested in what pilots had to say.

Radio Slovenija said that the new carrier would have five Canadair aircraft and 200 employees, and that a EUR 20 million loss was expected in the first year after incorporation, which Pirc labelled as excessive numbers.

He said that BAMC was advocating a "slimmer organisation", and not a company with 200 employees, but admitted that it would be hard for the company to function without making a loss.

The national radio also said yesterday that the government was expected to decide by the end of the month whether it will establish a new flag carrier, which, according to some accounts, would be called Air Slovenia.

Radio Slovenija added it would be easiest to establish the new company by purchasing Adria Airways, which went into receivership in early October, as a whole. A call for bids issued by Adria receiver will close on 11 November.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the weekly Mladina last week that a regional air carrier could become a partner of the company, while refusing to reveal any details.

08 Nov 2019, 13:00 PM

Syrian Dies of Hypothermia, Exhaustion by Ilirska Bistrica Police Station

STA, 8 November 2019 - A 20-year-old Syrian died on Thursday in front of the police station in Ilirska Bistrica due to hypothermia and exhaustion despite medical assistance and resuscitation attempts.

He was brought to the police station by a Greek woman and two brothers who live as refugees in Germany.

The location of the police station

According to the Koper Police Department, the 20-year-old called his brothers on the phone telling them he was stranded somewhere in the woods near Ilirska Bistrica and was unable to continue his journey.

He asked them to come find him, sending them his coordinates. Along with the Greek, who was the driver, the brothers found the 20-year-old, taking him to the nearby police station and calling for help.

A firefighter was the first to respond, calling a doctor who tried resuscitating the 20-year-old. The autopsy has shown that he has died of hypothermia and exhaustion.

08 Nov 2019, 12:30 PM

Cerar Starts Visit to Jordan, First by Slovene FM in Over Decade

STA, 7 November 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar started an official visit to Jordan on Thursday by meeting the country's senior officials, including his counterpart Ayman Safadi. The first such visit in almost two decades is designed to boost bilateral political and business links.

According to a press release from the Foreign Ministry, Cerar and Safadi talked about the combat against terrorism, development aid, the countries' cooperation in the Union for the Mediterranean and the situation in Syria.

Cerar hailed Jordan "as a pillar of stability, peace and religious tolerance in the Middle East". He also expressed interest in enhancing cooperation with Jordan and other countries in the region.

Cerar expressed Slovenia's unflagging support for political efforts to resolve the Syria crisis under the sponsorship of the United Nations and under a Security Council resolution.

The Slovenian-run international demining fund ITF - Enhancing Human Security is supporting a two-year project in support of Syrian refugees in the Irbid province in north Jordan.

Safadi noted that the two countries shared views on foreign policy issues such as their advocacy of effective multilateralism and looking to preserve water resources.

???? Thank you colleague Ayman Safadi for your excellent hospitality and very productive talks. #Slovenia and #Jordan enjoy very good and friendly relations with a regular political dialogue at the bilateral as well as multilateral level. @MZZRS @ForeignMinistry pic.twitter.com/IKI8vcS3YQ
— dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) November 7, 2019

The Jordanian foreign minister called for improving air links between the two countries, with him and Cerar agreeing on the need to revive partnership between the Slovenian port of Koper and Jordan's Aqaba in a bid to increase bilateral trade.

Calls for cooperation between the two ports also ranked prominently as Cerar met Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tariq Hammouri.

The pair urged the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two port operators in 2015.

The talks showed potential for cooperation in agriculture, energy, information technologies, telecommunications, logistics, medicine and tourism, said the Foreign Ministry.

The Slovenian foreign minister also met Upper House Speaker Faisal Al-Fayez as well as Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh. They all agreed that the relations between Jordan and the EU were good and could serve as a stepping stone for creating numerous new jobs in Jordan through reinforced trade and investment cooperation.

They also called for the inter-parliamentary cooperation and focussed on the Palestine and Syrian situations.

Moreover, Cerar met Tourism Minister Majd Mohammad Shweike, with the pair discussing options for setting up a direct charter route between Jordan and Slovenia in summer as well as for the collaboration between the investment and entrepreneurship promotion agency Spirit and Jordanian tourism organisation.

The visit is designed to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries, in particular reinforcing political and economic relations.

Jordan is also seen as a port of entry for some other markets in the Arab world with the Foreign Ministry noting the importance of the Jordanian market, also because of the country's good relations with all countries in the region.

Jordan and Slovenia also cooperate well in the Union for the Mediterranean, where Slovenia has been focusing on supporting empowering young people through education and intercultural dialogue as part of the initiative Positive Agenda for Youth in the Mediterranean.

The country will host in 2021 a ministerial conference of the Union for the Mediterranean on higher education. Cerar has invited representatives of Jordanian companies to take part in the conference.

Cerar was tonight scheduled to take part in a working dinner hosted by Slovenian Consul General Ali Haider Murad which will also be attended by representatives of the Jordanian Senate and Jordanian tourism organisation.

08 Nov 2019, 11:30 AM

President Pahor Ends State Visit to Norway

STA, 7 November - President Borut Pahor completed his state visit to Norway on Thursday after he was received by King Harald V and met top Norwegian officials on Wednesday, including Prime Minister Erna Solberg, with whom he highlighted the excellent bilateral relations and shared views on a number of global challenges.

Ob državniškem obisku predsednika Republike Slovenije v Kraljevini Norveški sta kralj Harald V. in kraljica Sonja gostila svečano večerjo. pic.twitter.com/bVM9pe7UFH
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) November 7, 2019

The pair confirmed that Slovenia and Norway advocated efficient multilateralism, the rule of law and human rights, the Slovenian president's office said in a release.

They also agreed there was still a lot of potential to deepen economic cooperation, foremost in circular economy, environmental technology, AI, robotics, ICT and tourism.

Security and the EU's future also featured strongly, with the pair noting the EU should be strengthened to provide for security and thus protect European values and national identities.

The two officials also discussed the situation in the Western Balkans, calling for countries from the region to join the EU and, if they wish so, also NATO.

After meeting Solberg, Pahor pointed to the importance of his state visit, noting the Norwegian royal couple hosted only two such high-level visits a year.

Slovenia has earned it with its efforts for peace and prosperity at home, in the region and the EU, and with its efforts for reconciliation and peaceful resolution of all issues, Pahor said.

Norway has a good reputation in Slovenia because of its foreign policy of "peaceful resolution of all disputes", said Pahor, adding Slovenia and Norway shared "many values and views on global issues".

He believes his meetings with the Norwegian officials - he also met Speaker Tone Wilhelmsen Troen - will deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Kralj Harald V. in predsednik Pahor o skupnih vrednotah in trdnem prijateljstvu med obema narodoma in državama. https://t.co/hdIRJ8QWMY pic.twitter.com/aW2oQ4MOMo
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) November 7, 2019

In his toast at the gala dinner last evening, King Harald V hailed the role of the alliance among like-minded countries.

He stressed that Norway and Slovenia should "use our joint strength to tackle global challenges - security, climate change, human rights and the rule of law".

Pahor in turn highlighted the role of bees. "The Carniolan honeybee was - more than hundred years ago - one of the first export articles from our lands to Norway. Nowadays, we are both aware of the importance of bees and pollinators for our ecosystem and food chain."

The main event on Pahor's agenda today was a business conference at research organisation SINTEF, where Slovenia's Jožef Stefan Institute and SINTEF signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

The three-year memorandum covers the fields of AI, circular economy, sustainable mobility and innovative materials, Slovenia's top research institution said in a press release.

Pahor and the royal couple also attended the opening of an exhibition on Slovenian Alpine architecture, and a seminar on beekeeping and pollination, where Pahor presented the king with a beehive decorated in traditional Slovenian style.

In the evening, Pahor is hosting a Slovenian Evening, a promotional event, which will also be attended by the royal couple.

Pahor was accompanied in Norway by Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, Education, Science and Sport Minister Jernej Pikalo, Agriculture, Forestry and Food Minister Aleksandra Pivec and business and science executives.

08 Nov 2019, 08:55 AM

EBRD Lowers Forecast for Slovenia’s GDP

STA, 6 November 2019 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has downgraded its May forecast for Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year by 0.3 of a percentage point to 3%, while keeping the projection for 2020 at 2.8%.

Announcing the downgrade on Wednesday, the bank said that the main risk was the weaker demand by main trade partners, with the Slovenian economy strongly relying on exports, especially to the eurozone countries.

According to the EBRD, economic recovery in Slovenia has continued in 2019, although with a slower tempo than in the past two years, when GDP growth was at 4.5% on average, one of the highest rates in the EU.

Slovenia's economy grew by 2.9% in the first half of the year year-on-year, fuelled by domestic consumption encouraged by higher investments and private consumption.

The latter was boosted by the strong labour market, with the unemployment rate standing as low as at 4% in June, and by the growth of income brought by a higher minimum wage, the bank noted.

The favourable financing conditions resulted in an increased lending activity, which supported investments, while business sentiment has been above the long-term average. The growth of exports has been higher than the growth of imports.

The EBRD expects that the trend of decreasing general government debt is to continue, with the fiscal situation of the country having improved significantly in recent years. General government debt, in relative terms, is expected to decrease from 83% of GDP in 2015 to 66% at the end of this year.

The bank's correction follows the downgrade by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in mid-October from 3.4% to 2.9%, and the downgrade by the government macroeconomic think-tank IMAD by 0.6 percentage points to 2.8% in mid-September.

08 Nov 2019, 04:52 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 8 November 2019

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:

EU Commission downgrades Slovenia's 2019 growth forecast

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission forecast that Slovenia's economy will grow by 2.6% GDP in 2019 and 2.7% in 2020 and 2021, a downgrade of 0.6 and 0.1 percentage points respectively compared to its spring forecast. "Growth is cooling down but remaining robust," the Commission said. Domestic demand is expected to remain strong. The government budget balance is forecast to remain in surplus, with a slightly improving structural balance position in the coming years after a deterioration this year.

President Pahor concludes state visit to Norway

OSLO, Norway - President Borut Pahor completed his state visit to Norway which also featured a business conference at research organisation SINTEF, where Slovenia's Jožef Stefan Institute and SINTEF signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. Pahor was received by King Harald V on Thursday and met top Norwegian officials, including Prime Minister Erna Solberg, with whom he highlighted the excellent bilateral relations and shared views on a number of global challenges. They noted potential to deepen cooperation in circular economy, environmental technology, AI, robotics, ICT and tourism.

Cerar makes official visit to Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar started an official visit to Jordan by meeting the country's senior officials, including his counterpart Ayman Safadi. The first such visit in almost two decades is designed to boost bilateral political and business links. According the Foreign Ministry, Cerar and Safadi talked about the combat against terrorism, development aid, the countries' cooperation in the Union for the Mediterranean and the situation in Syria. Cerar also met Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tariq Hammouri, Tourism Minister Majd Mohammad Shweike and speakers of both houses of parliament.

Analysts say not much will change after Left-government rift

LJUBLJANA - Political analysts Andraž Zorko and Alem Maksuti share the view that the formal parting of ways between the minority government and the Left does not change the situation in any significant way. The Left will continue playing a similar role, while the government will still seek support in the opposition, albeit possibly in an informal manner. Šarec is expected to accept offers of cooperation mainly from the opposition SNS or NSi.

Slovenian business delegation visiting Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam - A Slovenian government and business delegation led by Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek started a two-day visit to Vietnam after visiting China. In Hanoi, the delegation will participate in the second meeting of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation and in a Slovenia-Vietnam business forum. Bilateral meetings are planned with Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Slovenia regrets US exit from Paris climate accord

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the US formally pulling out of the Paris Agreement, highlighting that the climate accord represented a historical agreement which globally opened up a new platform for promoting sustainable development. "Climate change is global and does not spare any country or region, same as no country can tackle it alone or for its neighbours. Hence countries are requesting more comprehensive and global solutions which are only viable through a joint effort," the ministry said.

Defence minister says Slovenia not buying Valuk APCs

LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Karl Erjavec denied Slovenia intended to buy more than a dozen Valuk 6x6 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) at a session of the parliamentary Defence Committee. The session was called by the opposition Left after defence officials said funds had been earmarked for the purchase in the 2020 and 2021 budgets. Erjavec said the ministry was not in the process of buying Valuk APCs, as these had been discontinued and had not been available for purchase for years.

MPs told police handling migration well

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Home Policy Committee debated illegal migration, with police representatives assuring the MPs that the situation was under control and that there was no need for time being to provide members of the Slovenian Armed Forces with additional powers to help the police control the border. A total of 13,832 illegal crossings were recorded by the end of October, up 69% year-on-year. Most illegal migrants (9,442) were returned to neighbouring countries, mostly to Croatia.

Govt urged to prevent political meddling in companies

LJUBLJANA - The opposition-dominated parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission issued several recommendations to the government to prevent political interference in state-owned companies as it debated the controversial resignation of the management of energy company Petrol. The commission urged the government to prevent any interference of political interests in staffing or decision-making in state enterprises, resume privatisation and apply OECD principles of corporate governance.

Bad bank reportedly pitching new flag carrier to Adria pilots

LJUBLJANA - The national radio station reported that Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) had presented to former Adria Airways pilots a business plan for a potential new flag carrier. Citing unofficial sources, the report said that the carrier would have five Canadair aircraft and 200 employees. A EUR 200 million loss was expected in the first year after incorporation. BAMC denied presenting any such financial estimates or business plan.

Telekom Slovenije operating profit up 29% in first nine months

LJUBLJANA - The Telekom Slovenije group posted a net profit of EUR 29.4 million in the first nine months, a 25% increase year-on-year despite a 6% drop in net sales revenue, which stood at EUR 507.4 million. The company said sales revenue was down due to the sale of Blicnet, which was completed in the second half of 2018. Excluding the operations of Blicnet, net sales revenue was down 4% on the same period in 2018. EBITDA rose 9% to EUR 166.2 million and EBIT was up 29% to EUR 35.9 million.

Intra Lighting wins Delo Business Star award

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Intra Lighting, a family-run business providing architectural luminaires and smart lighting solutions, won the third iteration of the Delo Business Star award, presented by the newspaper publisher in Brdo pri Kranju. The company from Miren near Nova Gorica on the border with Italy is owned by family Furlan. It generates 88% of its sales abroad. Between 2015 and 2018, its net profit increased from EUR 140,000 to EUR 3.1 million.

Star choreographer Clug nominated for German award

LJUBLJANA - Edward Clug, a choreographer and the artistic director of the acclaimed SNG Maribor Ballet company, has been nominated for the prestigious German theatre prize Der Faust in the best 2019 choreography category for his production Patterns in 3/4. Clug is one of the three nominees competing for the prize in this section. The winners of all eight categories will be announced at a ceremony in Kassel on Saturday.

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

07 Nov 2019, 17:32 PM

How Časoris is Trying to Save the Media in Slovenia

Regular readers of TSN will probably know we run a weekly dual text, in English and Slovene, to encourage you to read more of the language. This text comes from Časoris, a Slovenian news website for children. Since the website won an award last week, as detailed below, we thought it’d be a good time to share more about the project, and so sent some questions to one of the people behind it, Sonja Merljak Zdovc, and she was kind enough to reply.

Sonja on a swing.jpg

Source and subject, Sonja Merljak Zdovc

How did you come to start Časoris?

It was created in April of 2015 – in the aftermath of January’s terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. At the time, many parents were wondering how to explain what happened to their children. An article about how a French newspaper for children did just that landed in my Facebook feed, and it reminded me that we have no such medium for children and their parents in Slovenia. That’s how it occurred to me that I could create it.

I strongly believe that children can and want to understand the news if it is put in context for them, and presented in kid-friendly language. With Časoris I am trying to help them to understand the news, to think critically about what they’re reading, and to apply their knowledge to the real world.

More personally, I love being a journalist. I believe this is the most beautiful profession in the world. At the time when I became one, we would say that we became journalists because we wanted to bring peace to the world. Just like the women in Miss World!.

However, in the last decade journalism became a failing profession. And the media, so crucial to democracy, began to lose readers, listeners, and viewers. Children growing up today live in the world of Snapchat, Instagram and You Tube, and do not see their parents read newspapers or watch the news as we did.

With a generation of readers already lost, I began to think if I could do anything to help save the profession I love so much. I came up with an idea: an online newspaper for children.

Online, because children are on the web, and a newspaper because I wanted them to read serious news, not just the fun staff.

Časoris is aimed at young children, those who won’t read the news on their own. But they are trusting souls and if the adults they respect, their teachers and parents, tell them it is good to read the newspaper, they will listen.

This way we hope that when they become teenagers they will develop a habit of reading reliable sources of information. And when a popular You Tuber suggest that a EU directive will ban memes, they will know where to double check their facts.

Who produces it, and who is it aimed at?

It is produced mostly by me together with a team of dedicated writers who contribute as much and as often they can. It is aimed at children aged 6 to 12 but we hear and are happy because of that that also older children read it and find it interesting.

Our readers like Časoris because it has short, interesting stories using relatively simple Slovene. Do you know if it’s used to teach Slovene as a foreign language?

I don’t know about that, but I have heard that some English language teachers use Časoris in their English classes. And I also know that some teachers from the States find it useful as it brings them the news from other part of the world. They value its different perspective on current affairs.

And of course, it’s read in some Slovene schools during classes.

Časoris recently won an award in Austria – what was that all about?

The project Stories of Children from around the World won the Intercultural Achievement Award in the media category. The aim of the project is to give a voice to the voiceless, in our case to children from other countries living in Slovenia and going to Slovenian schools.

The award means a lot, because our work has been recognized internationally. For a small media operation, which Časoris still is, this is really huge.

The award is financial, too, so it will be easier to start next year. Časoris does not have any systematic funding and we can never be sure if we’ll have enough support.

We respond to tenders and if we are successful we get funding for a project. Stories of Children from around the World, for example, was co-financed by Government Communication Office as part of the efforts to respect and welcome members of different ethnic groups, refugees and migrants.

You used to work at Delo. What have been the biggest changes in the Slovenian print media over your career?

Hm, that’s a difficult question. In Slovenia we could add political pressures to the digital revolution. In the past we had seen examples of politicians wanting to control the media. One of the biggest drops in subscriptions was directly related to that. The readers that left did not subscribe to other newspapers, they were lost for good.

The idea that the media must bring in a double digit revenue was also not helping. A media owner should have other interests at heart, not profit. A wise media owner’s interest is the public good through credible journalism. An example of such an owner is the The Guardian’s Scott Trust.

Finally, the internet caused a disruption that we are all still struggling with. Nobody has come up with a good business model for the digital online world, at least not a model that could be used widely. There may be some exceptions, but in general the majority of the media all around the world are under pressure.

I’m still waiting for a Netflix or Deezer for news, a solution that will allow me to pay a certain amount of euros per month and then access the stories I want to read across different media and platforms – behind a paywall or not. If there’s no paywall I still want to make a donation, but I do not want the hassle of making a donation or paying every time I want to read something. I believe that there are other people out there who feel the same, so I hope someday will have a technology that will enable this.

Are there any reasons to be optimistic about the future of the media in Slovenia?

I am not sure that the future of the media in Slovenia is very different to the future of the media in other countries, but for the peculiarity of our language, of course.

I definitely believe that as citizens we need quality media and good journalism, and I only hope that more of us will recognize the important role the media plays in democracy. If we want to keep the media, we need to be willing to spend the price of a cup of coffee a day on the media of our choice – online or offline, as a subscription or a donation.

It seems easy to say, oh, I do not need the media, I get my information on Google and Facebook. But how do you know which information you are getting and why if you don’t have something to compare it to?

When something happens and the media doesn’t report it, people say, oh where were the journalists, why did they not report it? What they don’t seem to understand is that journalists are professionals who need to pay the bills, just like doctors, teachers or lawyers. They cannot do their job for free. Somebody has to pay for their service. It is either us, the readers, or advertisers, foundations or the state through various subsidies.

We can say that everybody whose paying an electricity bill is already paying for the news on public broadcasters. But if only the public broadcasters remain, it means we have only one perspective. And sometimes that’s not enough. Then there is no media pluralism.

In the States, half of the journalism jobs were cut in the last 10 to 20 years. It’s no wonder so much stuff is left unreported.

You can learn more about Časoris on the site itself, and see our collection of dual texts here. Meanwhile, if there's a project in Slovenia that you think deserves some attention in the English-language media, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or find me on Facebook

07 Nov 2019, 14:00 PM

Youth Say No to Cigarettes & Alcohol, Yes to Marijuana & Social Media

STA, 6 November 2019 - Tobacco and alcohol seem to be losing appeal among Slovenian youth, according to a survey presented at a round table debate in Otočec on Wednesday. However, the use of cannabis is on the rise along with social media and video games addictions.

The results of the 2018 international survey Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children show that smoking as a habit has become less common among teenagers, especially 13- and 15-year-olds, heard the debate hosted by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

The share of youth who were drunk at least twice in their lives also dropped in all age groups, NIJZ head Nina Pirnat said in presenting the results of the survey.

Meanwhile, the use of cannabis seems to be on the rise, as one in five 15-year-olds and almost half of 17-year-olds have tried it.

Another problem is internet additions, with one in ten young people addicted to social media and online videogames.

Martina Vuk, a state secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, said a breakthrough should be made in these fields such as the one that led to a ban on smoking in closed public spaces.

She said this had been achieved only after a broad social debate on smoking, so she believes a general social consensus should be reached on what is acceptable and what is not.

"For as long as we are highlighting wine as food, we do not have a clear picture on what we want," Vuk stressed.

The head of the Public Health Directorate at the ministry, Mojca Gobec, agreed, adding that debates on this must not be confined to experts. "We must raise the debate to the national level," she said.

Vuk thinks progress in this field is being obstructed by strong lobbies on the one hand and weak politicians on the the other.

The participants agreed though that a lot can be done in terms of prevention in schools and with various programmes promoting a healthy lifestyle.

The debate was held as part of a national conference to mark the National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, which the NIJZ hosts in cooperation with the education, health and labour ministries.

All our stories on marijuana in Slovenia are here

07 Nov 2019, 12:30 PM

Ljubljana, Maribor, Ptuj, Jesenice & Kočevje Bid to Host New Waste Incineration Plant

STA, 6 November 2019 - Environment Minister Simon Zajc met on Wednesday mayors or representatives of the five municipalities which had so far expressed interest in hosting a waste incineration facility, agreeing that the municipalities will be assisted by the ministry in drafting conceptual design of such facilities.

Zajc met the mayors or representatives of Ljubljana, Maribor, Ptuj, Jesenice and Kočevje, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning said.

It was agreed that the ministry would help these municipalities make conceptual designs for facilities, which would feature exact locations, security solutions, technological concepts, timelines and plans for the inclusion of local communities.

Within three months, the ministry would review the documents and make a decision which will serve as the basis for further steps related to the location and construction of a waste incineration facility.

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