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:

LMŠ secretary general reported to authorities for exerting staffing pressure

LJUBLJANA - The chief supervisor of the Official Gazette, Irena Prijović, has reported the secretary general of the senior coalition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) Brane Kralj to the Corruption Prevention Commission and to state asset custodian SSH, claiming he had instructed her to appoint former Court of Audit head and MEP Igor Šoltes as the gazette's new director and to report directly to him and not the SSH, which owns the gazette. PM Šarec said he expects Kralj to provide an explanation by Thursday. The appointment procedure is still ongoing.

Pahor to meet Austria, Croatia presidents next week

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor will meet his Austrian and Croatian counterparts, Alexander Van der Bellen and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, for a trilateral meeting in Croatia's Šibenik next Wednesday. The sixth meeting of the heads of state of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia will focus on the future of the EU as well as the situation in South-East Europe, with respect to the Western Balkans' prospects for joining the EU and illegal migration, the president's office said.

Defence minister visiting Colorado

COLORADO, US - Defence Minister Karl Erjavec is paying a working visit to the US state of Colorado until Sunday. He will visit the Colorado National Guard and meet its commander, Major General Michael A. Loh, as well as the state's governor Jared Polis. Moreover, Erjavec will attend on Saturday the annual conference of the US National Guard Association, which will also include an arms fair. The Colorado National Guard has been a long-standing partner of the Slovenian Armed Forces.

Health minister announces long-term care legislation shortly

LJUBLJANA - Health Minister Aleš Šabeder announced that long-awaited legislation on long-term care would be unveiled soon. As for the second major legislative effort, the act governing health insurance, the government plans to proceed cautiously, the minister told the STA in an interview. A new contribution will probably be necessary to finance long-term care, but Šabeder would not disclose any details. Šabeder also suggested it was yet to be decided how to replace top-up insurance.

Left wants immediate action on health insurance

LJUBLJANA - Fed up with waiting for a government bill, the Left presented its own legislative proposal to abolish top-up health insurance whose passage it says will determine whether it will continue to support the Marjan Šarec minority government or not. The bill, which is to be tabled at the end of September, proposes offsetting the loss of revenue from top-up insurance with higher employer contributions and a new capital gains tax. The coalition criticised what it described as the Left's unilateral move, insurance companies warned of hasty changes to health insurance law, employers are strongly against higher contributions, while trade unions welcomed the proposal.

Migrant trafficking ring busted

CELJE - Police in Celje announced having apprehended several persons suspected of trafficking some 280 migrants across the Slovenian border in a sting that involved over 70 criminal investigators conducting house searches in and around the city. Eight suspects face trafficking charges and two will be additionally charged with offences related to illicit drugs. Four of the suspects remain in detention and one is abroad. All of them are Slovenian citizens.

Preparations start to exhume another post-WWII mass grave

KOČEVJE - Work started this month on another mass-grave site in the woods of Kočevski Rog in south-eastern Slovenia to prepare it for exhumation of the remains of victims executed in reprisal killings after the Second World War. The victims are presumably mostly Slovenians. Currently the main project of the government commission for mass graves, the Macesnova Gorica site is being cleared out so that exhumation could begin next year. The victims are to be buried at the Ljubljana Žale cemetery.

Paloma reports EUR 3.6 million loss for 2018

SLADKI VRH - The tissue maker Paloma posted a net loss of EUR 3.6 million in 2018 as revenue fell by 3% to EUR 82 million. In the annual report CEO Jaroslav Fic describes 2018 as one of the toughest years for the company. Cellulose prices increased by more than 25%, which was mitigated by improved sales terms and cost cutting. The company is owned by SHP Group, the Slovak group which is in turn owned by the Czech financial fund Eco Investment. Last year, Paloma spent almost EUR 1.6 million on investment.

Murska Sobota hosts contemporary dance festival

MURSKA SOBOTA - Foreign Tongues, a production by the Austrian dance company Liquid Loft, will open a contemporary dance festival in Murska Sobota in north-eastern Slovenia tonight. Running until Saturday, the 14th Fron+@ of Contemporary Dance will feature 25 events and artists from nine countries, aiming to contribute to the openness of art, city, and people. Almost all events will take place outdoors, on the streets and in other public spaces, as well as in empty buildings.

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

Perhaps to accompany the wooden statue of Melania that was recently unveiled in the First Lady’s hometown of Sevnica, a similar likeness of her husband, President Trump, has appeared in Sela pri Kamniku, about 30 km north east of Ljubljana,

Wooden statue of Trump pops up in Slovenia, his wife’s home country Via @sullivank @marycjordan https://t.co/Lz08VE4Rwd pic.twitter.com/w25xOhreui

— Dan Eggen (@DanEggenWPost) August 28, 2019

As the Washington Post reports:

The man who designed it, who was interviewed on local television station Kanal A but not identified by name, said it was meant to show Trump in the style of Superman, or the Statue of Liberty.

The image may not be entirely flattering. The artist, who was helped in the construction by a group of local young people, said in the TV interview that the statue was “a provocation, because the world is full of populism.”

August 28, 2019

Not only frogs and crayfish, but turtles were also once presented as among Slovenia’s fine dining ingredients, supplied by the wetlands surrounding Ljubljana. A detailed turtle soup recipe can be found in the 1912 edition of Magdalena Pleiweis’ Slovenian Cook edited by Sister Felicita Kalinšek, Slovenia’s no. 1 home economics educator with the following instructions to Slovenian housewives:

“For a turtle to show its head, place hot iron on its back. When you cut its head off, catch its blood into a few drops of vinegar if you want to prepare black sauce or into crumbled bread, if you’ll be making dumplings for the soup. Then, raw, beat and peel it. To make it easier to beat, place it and strike with an ax at the side: this way, you’ll extract the meat easier.”

In the following paragraphs, I will briefly explain what turtles are we talking about, and why and when they disappeared from Slovenia’s cuisine.

The European pond turtle, or Emys orbicularis (Slo: Močvirska sklednica), is the only autochthonous turtle living in the Slovenian continental waters. The Loggerhead sea turtle or Caretta caretta  (Slo: glavata kareta), can also be seen in the waters alongside the Slovenian coast, but doesn’t come to the shore to lay eggs.

In particular the pond turtle can be found in the marshes of Ljubljana basin, along the Mura river, in the swampy areas by the salt-panes of Sečovlje and some other areas like Krka river and Nova Gorica. It used to be quite common in Ljubljana marshes, which is also how it entered bourgeois culinary practice. 

With intentional draining of swamps in the 18^th century for the peat industry’s purposes and eventual onset of intensive farming and urbanisation, the living space of pond turtles shrunk to the point that as early as 1920 they became recognized as endangered, and were thus protected two years later, which effectively removed them from cookbooks, menus and tables.

Draining of swamps, regulation of streams and construction of power plants are unfortunately not the only human activities that push the timid pond turtles out of their habitat. Turtles that people choose as their pets, that is red-eared and yellow-belly sliders, have escaped into the wilderness and now present a serious problem, as they breed faster than the indigenous turtle and therefore invade its living space, pushing it further towards extinction.

Is it time to develop a taste for turtles again? The invasive ones only, of course.

STA, 28 August 2019 - Police in Celje have apprehended several persons suspected of trafficking some 280 migrants across the Slovenian border in a sting that involved over 70 criminal investigators conducting house searches in and around the city.

Eight suspects face trafficking charges and two will be additionally charged with offences related to illicit drugs. Four of the suspects remain in detention and one is abroad. All of them are Slovenian citizens, the Celje police said on Wednesday.

The suspects, some of whom have previous trafficking convictions, are believed to have run a part of a larger international criminal racket specialised in trafficking migrants.

The group is believed to have trafficked migrants from Croatia through Slovenia and into Italy in collaboration with multiple other foreign gangs, charging EUR 2,000-3,000 per person, according to Damijan Turk, the head of the Celje criminal police.

The racket enlisted drug addicts and other persons from the margins of society to carry out the actual transport with vans and cars, often even in rented recreational vehicles. The drivers would get EUR 250-500 per migrant.

Uroš Lavrič, the head of the organised crime division at the General Police Directorate, said human trafficking activities of criminal rings had picked up recently as they take advantage of illegal migrations along the Balkan route.

"They use various methods to keep the trafficking covert. They are ruthless," he said about the traffickers' habit of stuffing between 30 and 50 migrants into the cargo holds of vans.

Police have arrested 273 suspected traffickers so far this year, compared to 218 in the whole of 2018.

They intercepted over 9,000 migrants who tried to cross the border illegally, up 62% over the year before, show data by the General Police Directorate.

A total of 6,223 persons were returned to Croatia and 3,255 requested asylum.

Related: Smuggling People Now More Profitable than Drugs for Organised Crime in Slovenia

STA, 28 August 2019 - Health Minister Aleš Šabeder has announced that long-awaited legislation on long-term care would be unveiled soon. As for the second major legislative effort, the act governing health insurance, the government plans to proceed cautiously, the minister told the STA.

Aleš Šabeder. Source: YouTube

Faced with a rapidly ageing population, Slovenia has for years been debating the need to adopt legislation on long-term care. The bill should be ready by the end of this year or early next year, but there are still some open issues, according to Šabeder.

A new contribution will probably be necessary to finance long-term care, but Šabeder would not venture to say how high it might be or whether it will be mandatory or voluntary. "I hope the contribution is small, but it will probably be necessary," he said.

The healthcare and health insurance act, which governs much of financing in the healthcare sector, is expected in mid-2020. As Šabeder suggested, it has not yet been decided what will replace the current system of voluntary top-up insurance, which is the main demand of the Left.

"We have to find a solution for a long-term and stable source of financing if supplementary health insurance is abolished. We're talking about half a billion euro, they will have to be secured one way or the other."

In conjunction with the Finance Ministry, the Health Ministry is conducting multiple simulations, ranging from higher contribution rates to a new levy, according to Šabeder.

The Left, for which abolishing top-up insurance is one of the key priorities and one on which its support for the majority government hinges, plans to shortly unveil its own bill, but Šabeder sees no need to hurry.

"I have presented the priorities for this year and next to all deputy groups, including the Left and other opposition parties, and there were no complaints about the timeline," he said.

Šabeder has been kept busy in the first months of his term by general practitioners, who started quitting en masse due to excessive workload and low pay.

As a stop-gap solution, additional funds were earmarked for GPs and their nurses, with new measures now planned, focused on cutting red tape.

GPs have so far been coy about whether these measures will be enough to stop the drain of staff. "Considering the measures that we have already drawn up and the measures coming up, I hope they realize we are truly extending a hand this time," he said.

The situation has been getting worse for years and cannot be resolved overnight. "We do not have a magic wand at the ministry to provide all the missing doctors," according to Šabeder.

Waiting times have also been near the top of Šabeder's agenda. Several stop-gap solutions have been adopted and additional measures are in the pipeline.

An action plan to reduce waiting times for orthopaedic surgery is expected within a month and that will serve as the starting point for action in other segments. "If necessary, private providers will be included as well," said Šabeder.

Previous plans to give additional money to private health institutions in order to reduce waiting times have been met with stiff opposition and accusations that this would be used as an underhand way to chip away at public healthcare in favour of privatisation, but Šabeder denies this.

"This has never been my intention. My sole intention is to work for the benefit of patients," he said.

The management of hospitals is another issue Šabeder plans to tackle. The process was started by Šabeder's predecessor Samo Fakin and the blueprint is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

The minister said key governance principles would be imported from the business sector, for example management liability and remuneration of employees, but "public institutions must never be like companies with regard to the fundamental objective ... They are designed to provide health services."

Radio Slovenia has a report that looks at the economics of human smuggling in Slovenia, finding that the profits can be even greater than those of moving illegal drugs across borders.

The story – which comes after a spike in police interceptions of human traffickers, with, for example, seven people recently arrested in Celje for moving at least 270 individuals through Slovenia –  interviews a former intelligence officer, Boštjan Perne , with over 15 years of intelligence experience in the Balkans. He claims that human smugglers now charge more than €5,000 for transport in trucks along a route that leads directly from Turkey to Western Europe. However, this price is too high for many would-be migrants, who thus tend to pay less, from €200 to €500, to be moved across individual borders.

Related: Foreigners Account for 1/4 of Slovenia’s Prisoners, Most Jailed for Human Smuggling

While Perne states that Slovenians are obviously involved in this aspect of organised crime, he also notes the international nature of the business: "If we look at the different nationalities currently imprisoned for trafficking in human beings, you will see that here [Slovenia] is the real mecca of different nations - Serbs, Croats, Pakistanis, Slovenians, Germans, Italians."

All our stories on human trafficking are here

With its distinctive bottles and interesting names (Out of China is a way to teach non-Slovenes to say Ajdovščina, The Third Pill is a reference to Slavoj Žižek, Walter Wheat is from Breaking Bad, and so on), Pelicon is one of the leading names on the flourishing Slovenian craft beer scene. This Saturday, August 31, it will be celebrating its 6^th birthday with a craft beer festival in its hometown, Ajdovščina, that promises “(almost) endless beer” to ticketholders - which (I checked) means you get to try everything.

All our stories on craft beer in Slovenia are here

More than 40 different beers, foreign and domestic, are on offer, including some novelties and collaborations, with the aim being to highlight the full range of beers now bring produced – porters, sours, lambics and so on – rather than simply dozens of IPAs. There’s thus much for beer hunters to enjoy, while those looking for something different should seek out for Pelicon’s latest venture into the world of tonic water and gin collaborations.

The event, which is also being supported by the Municipality of Ajdovščina, offers food and live music to go along with the beer, starting at 13:00 and ending at 22:00. Sunday morning, from 08:00 till noon, everyone can enjoy a “brewery breakfast” at the Pelicon Brewery showroom itself, with ticketholders getting the added bonus of some beer. More details (in Slovene) are on the brewery’s website.

Pre-sale tickets are already available on the Olaii web portal and at all OMV service stations and 3dva Trafika across Slovenia.  The event will be held at MC Hiša mladih, mladinski center, Cesta IV. prekomorske 61, 5270 Ajdovščina.

STA, 27 August 2019 - Matjaž Merkan, the former boss of the US-owned company Weiler Abrasives, has been appointed new chief executive of Telekom Slovenije, to replace Rudolf Skobe, who quit the post in April.

Announcing the supervisory board's decision on Tuesday, chief supervisor Lidija Glavina said that the vetting commission had put forward Merkan based on interviews with three shortlisted candidates.

"Telekom Slovenije is a good company, operating in a fast-changing sector ... We believe the style of leadership and the vision presented by Mr Merkan will contribute to implementation of the goals and further development of Telekom Slovenije," Glavina said.

Merkan, who will assume his four-year term as CEO of Slovenia's leading telecommunications company on 16 September, said he was glad to be taking on the new challenge.

"I'm guided by good results and target achievement together with employees," he said, noting his 20-year leadership experience.

Merkan headed Weiler Abrasives, the maker of abrasives formerly known as SwatyComet, for just over six years until the end of March this year. He has been advisor to the company's management since.

Merkan, who holds a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in economics, had earlier served for almost three years as a unit head at Swatycomet, and before that worked for lighting maker Siteco Sistemi and its precursor Elektrokovina Svetilke.

Noting his time with the company that was acquired by the US-based Weiler Corporation in 2015, he said that together with the team they implemented many innovations and aspired for business excellency.

He described Telekom Slovenije as an excellent company, a market leader introducing new products, services and trends in Slovenia and the broader region.

"I'm confident that it will retain its leading position in the future - including by expanding into new fields," he said, noting fast changes in the industry.

"Telekom Slovenije will need to become even more digitalised, advanced and agile. It's worth betting on the people who comprise the group and who have something to show for themselves even today," he added.

The appointment comes as the shareholders' meeting on Friday is due to appoint two new members of the supervisory board to replace Glavina and Ljubomir Rajšić.

The pair tendered their resignations in June. Rajšić's term ended on 18 June, while Glavina, the former CEO of Slovenian Sovereign Holding, will continue to serve until the shareholders' meeting.

According to unofficial information obtained by the business newspaper Finance, the candidates for the new supervisors are Barbara Cerovšek Zupančič and Igor Rozman.

The shareholders' meeting will also vote on the allocation of distributable profit for 2018. The proposal is to pay out a dividend of EUR 4.50 gross per share.

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:

Šarec and Serbian PM confirm good relations, seek closer economic ties

BELGRADE, Serbia - Making an official visit to Serbia, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and his Serbian counterpart Ana Brnabić noted the good relations between the two countries while also exploring ways to deepen both political and economic cooperation. There are no major open issues between the two countries, they are important economic partners and trade is expected to increase soon, said Šarec. He reiterated Slovenia's strong support for EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. Šarec was also received by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Parliamentary Speaker Maja Gojković.

Vojislav Šuc to take over as new ambassador to Croatia

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry confirmed for the STA that career diplomat Vojislav Šuc will take over as Slovenia's new ambassador to Croatia, expectedly in September, having been endorsed by the host country. Šuc will succeed Smiljana Knez, who has become an international relations advisor to President Borut Pahor. The change in Zagreb is but one of a total of 26 replacements at Slovenia's diplomatic and consular offices abroad at this time of year.

Matjaž Merkan appointed new CEO of Telekom Slovenije

LJUBLJANA - Matjaž Merkan, the former boss of the US-owned company Weiler Abrasives, was appointed new chief executive of telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije, to replace Rudolf Skobe, who quit the post in April. In his first comment Merkan expressed the confidence that Telekom would retain its leading position in the future, including by venturing into new fields. "Telekom Slovenije will need to become even more digitalised, advanced and agile," he said. The appointment was made by the supervisory board that is due to be overhauled at Friday's shareholders' meeting.

Drug maker Lek gets new chairman

LJUBLJANA - The pharma company Lek announced that its supervisory board had appointed Robert Ljoljo as the company's new chairman. Currently serving as the global head of the procurement strategy for the technical operations of Lek owner Novartis, Ljoljo will assume the top post on 1 September. The Ljubljana-based company has been led by a five-member management board since the April retirement of former chairman Zvone Bogdanovski.

DARS increases half-year toll revenue

LJUBLJANA - The national motorway company DARS earned EUR 81.92 million from the sales of toll stickers in the first half of the year, 4% more than in the same period in 2018. Revenue from cargo vehicle tolls was up by 5% to EUR 128.65 million, while revenue from the toll paid for the Karavanke tunnel increased by 7%. The operator of the national motorway and expressway network made EUR 78.19 million in net profit in the first six months, or 20% more year-on-year, shows an unaudited half-year report.

Experts say Slovenia in no rush to pick technology for nuclear reactor

LJUBLJANA - Commenting on political steps made towards a new nuclear reactor in Krško, experts at Slovenia's top research institute suggested that Asian or Russian technology trumped options involving the US or France in terms of time and cost. In interviews with the STA, they also stressed that Slovenia was in no rush to pick anyone, as the preparation stage would take years, as they commented on Prime Minister Marjan Šarec expressing support for a second reactor last week.

Police catch two smugglers transporting large group of migrants in vans

LJUBLJANA - The police said it had apprehended on Monday a smuggler transporting a total of 31 migrants in a van in the Kočevje area in south Slovenia. The stop was made following a local's tip-off and the driver was apprehended after the human cargo was discovered. None of the migrants has requested international protection. The Novo Mesto police department meanwhile reported the capture of a smuggler transporting a group of 34 Pakistani and Afghan migrants in a single van on Monday nearby Črnomelj.

Alenka Jovanovski wins Veronika Prize

CELJE - Poet Alenka Jovanovski won this year's Veronika Prize for a socially-engaged poetry collection called One Thousand Eighty Degrees (Tisoč Osemdeset Stopinj) in which she takes a critical view of today's heartless individualism and consumerism. The prize, which comes with a EUR 4,000 cheque, has been conferred by the city of Celje since 1997. The Golden Coin of Poetry for entire oeuvre went to Ervin Fritz, a 79-year-old poet, playwright and translator best known for his satire.

Art-based research networks start joint exploration

MARIBOR - Research Art and Culture (RUK) has successfully applied for government funding furthering hybrid networks that can connect culture, education, science and business. RUK is one of two networks, along with the KONS project that features several initiatives from around Slovenia, to be picked as part of EUR 9 million call by the Culture Ministry, which has secured EUR 7.2 million in EU funds for the initiative. It comprises the progressive cultural centres Delavski Dom Trbovlje, PiNA Koper and Maribor's Kibla.

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, 27 August - The police apprehended on Monday two migrant smugglers transporting a total of 38 migrants in two vehicles in the Kočevje and Cerknica areas in south Slovenia.

Nearby the town of Kočevje the police apprehended on Monday morning a Romanian driver transporting 31 migrants in a van.

According to the Ljubljana Police Department, police officers stopped the van following a local's tip-off and apprehended the driver upon discovering his human cargo. None of the 31 migrants has requested for international protection.

Other recent cases

Meanwhile, a Lithuanian was caught in the vicinity of Cerknica on Monday evening trying to smuggle seven Afghanistan citizens who have illegally crossed the border and are still being processed.

The Novo Mesto police department meanwhile reported on Tuesday the capture of two smugglers transporting larger groups of migrants.

Nearby Črnomelj in the south, the police caught an Italian who was transporting 34 Pakistani and Afghan migrants in a single van on Monday afternoon.

Moreover, a Slovenian citizen was apprehended at Mokrice in south-eastern Slovenia on Sunday evening transporting five Kurdish illegal migrants with Turkish citizenship. He has been placed in detention.