24 Aug 2019, 02:19 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Saturday, 24 August 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:

Šarec's support for new N-reactor causes upset in Austria

GRAZ/KLAGENFURT, Austria - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's support for the construction of a second nuclear reactor in Slovenia caused upset in Austria. Michael Schickhofer, deputy governor of the federal state of Styria, urged the federal government to intervene to prevent plans for a new reactor replacing the exiting one at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant beyond 2043 to go ahead. Meanwhile, Gernot Darmann, the leader of the Carinthia Freedom Party (FPÖ), announced "massive opposition" to the project. The Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry said that no decision on a potential new reactor has been taken yet.

Totalitarian regimes start with intolerance, president warns

LENDAVA - All totalitarian regimes started with small displays of intolerance and to defend a minority is to defend peaceful coexistence, President Borut Pahor said on the eve of European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes at a ceremony in Lendava. Nobody should forget bitter history lessons, said the president, warning that everyone belongs to a minority so intolerance to one could affect anyone.

Higher court upholds compensation for wiped-out investors

CELJE - Media reported that the Celje Higher Court had upheld a ruling under which Abanka has to fully refund two clients whose subordinated bonds were wiped out in the December 2013 bailout, interest included. The decision makes the Celje District Court's ruling from June 2018 final, so it must be implemented even if Abanka appeals at the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs are two well-known Celje lawyers who claimed the bank failed to properly inform them about the risks involving the bonds.

Slovenia and Turkey agree further cooperation in agriculture

HOČE/PTUJ - Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec and her visiting Turkish counterpart Bekir Pakdemirli attended on Thursday the signing of a document laying down the guidelines for future cooperation as part of the Slovenia-Turkey Management Committee for Agriculture and Forestry. Pivec and Pakdemirli also agreed to have an action plan drawn up that will define concrete cooperation. The pair also attended a ministerial conference in Ptuj today featuring farm ministers from EU and candidate countries discussing the transfer of knowledge in agriculture into practice.

New environmental issue on horizon

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Chamber of Public Utilities said that the Hungarian government had decided to ban imports of sewage sludge, a move that could spell serious trouble for Slovenia, which exports around 70,000 tonnes of sludge from its municipal wastewater treatment plants to Hungary a year. From September onwards, Slovenia could be left with 120 to 140 tonnes of sludge a day, while an alternative solution would have to be found by the end of the year, as all existing permits will expire by then.

Koper port among best connected in the world

KOPER - The Koper port placed 80th on this year's list of 900 best connected container ports in the world, published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development. The port ranks the highest among all Adriatic Sea container ports since the first such ranking in 2006. The first place went to the Shanghai port, while Antwerp was the highest placed port in Europe, having placed 6th in the world. Koper has a 40% share of all container transport in the north Adriatic and the biggest terminal in the region.

Trojanow criticises EU for protecting only own interests

PTUJ - Award-winning author Ilija Trojanow, a special guest of this year's Days of Poetry and Wine, read out his Open Letter to Europe at the opening of the festival on Wednesday, likening the EU to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Europe is involved in atrocities, such as against migrants, but avoids guilt because it is also trying to be democratic, he says. He told the STA that European democracy was in great crisis. Not because of right-wing populists, like many believe, but because most people are too impassive.

Begunje resounding with Avsenik music

BEGUNJE NA GORENJSKEM - Begunje na Gorenjskem, the home town of the legendary Avsenik brothers, is hosting the fifth annual festival of polka music centred around their heritage until Sunday. More than 4,000 visitors, mostly from German-speaking European countries, are expected at the festival, which will hear more than 150 pop folk songs created by the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble, set up by Slavko Avsenik (1929-2015) and Vilko Ovsenik (1928-2017).

Maribor closer to Europa League after draw with Ludogorets

RAZGRAD, Bulgaria - After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, Slovenian football champions Maribor are well on track of making it to the second-tier Europa League. They squeezed out a 0:0 draw with Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria in the first leg of the last qualifying round on Thursday evening. They believe their fans will be able to celebrate their entry into the Europa League next week at home.

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

23 Aug 2019, 16:21 PM

Last Week in Slovenia: 16 - 22 August, 2019

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

If you’d like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.

FRIDAY, 16 August
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry rejected Croatia's recent statements about the border arbitration between Slovenia and Croatia, saying new Croatian Foreign Minister Goran Grlić Radman had uttered "several non-truths". He, for instance, alleged Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, while still prime minister, had almost accepted in December 2017 Croatia's offer that the border issue be resolved bilaterally.
        LJUBLJANA - Police data showed that almost 1,750 illegal crossings of the border were recorded in Slovenia in July, the highest since the 2015/2016 migration wave.
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor appointed on 12 August Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Tanja Strniša Slovenia's new ambassador to the Czech Republic, to replace Leon Marc, according to the latest issue of the National Gazette.
        LJUBLJANA - New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin responded to the criticism of the centre-right opposition party's announced repositioning to the centre by saying it would be hard for the NSi to be anything else, "since those left of us are socialists and those to the right nationalists and global warming deniers".
        LJUBLJANA - Animal rights group AniMa handed to Environment Minister Simon Zajc a petition signed by almost 13,500 people urging against the planned culling of bears and wolves. However, Zajc said the emergency law on culling was needed to get the populations back to a level that is also favourable for locals in the areas affected by an increasing number of wolf attacks on farm animals.

SATURDAY, 17 August
LJUBLJANA/BELTINCI - Slovenia observed Prekmurje Reunification Day, a national holiday celebrating the day 100 years ago when the country's northeastern-most region of Prekmurje was united with the rest of the nation after WWI following more than a millennium under foreign rule. At a state ceremony in Beltinci, PM Marjan Šarec called against self-serving politics of hate and urged a focus on development.
LJUBLJANA/ŠKOFJA LOKA - Ivan Oman, a key figure of Slovenia's independence, died, aged 89. Oman was the first president of the Slovenian Farmers' Union, a party established in May 1988 and later renamed the Slovenian People's Party (SLS), and a member of the Slovenian collective presidency (1990-1992). Oman was laid to rest with state honours on 21 August.

SUNDAY, 18 August
        SALZBURG, Austria - Parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan began a two-day visit to Salzburg, where he discussed with his Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Sobotka the Western Balkans, the EU's future, and climate change. Sobotka also proposed that Austrian and Slovenian historians formed a special panel to study the two nations' shared history in a bid for the Slovenians and Austrians to better understand each other.
        IMOLA, Italy - Three races before the end of the season, Slovenian motocross star Tim Gajser, 22, won his second championship title at the MXGP after winning the first one in 2016, his first year in the top motocross class.
        PORTOROŽ - Slovenia's best tennis player, Aljaž Bedene, won the ATP Challenger Slovenia Open, beating Norwegian Viktor Durasovic, 7:5 and 6:3, in what is the 16th Challenger series title for the 30-year-old, who climbed ten spots to 80th in ATP world rankings.

MONDAY, 19 August
        LJUBLJANA - An unofficial media report suggested the European Commission will soon notify NLB, Slovenia's largest bank, that it has to sell its life insurance business NLB Vita, which is co-owned with KBC Insurance. NLB Vita will have to be sold as part of commitments for Slovenia's failure to privatise its entire agreed stake in NLB - 75% minus one share - by the end of 2018. The privatisation process was completed only this June.
        BRNIK - Humanitarian activist and Republican Party supporter Lynda Blanchard, the new US ambassador in Ljubljana, arrived in Slovenia after her predecessor Brent Hartley left in July 2018. Speaking to reporters upon arrival, Blanchard said she hoped to make the US and Slovenia stronger partners.
        LJUBLJANA - Environment Minister Simon Zajc met hazardous waste treatment companies to find a solution after a major company in the business, Kemis, had to stop accepting waste after being ordered by inspectors to remove the facilities rebuilt after a devastating fire in 2017. Zajc said Kemis's counterparts could step in to accept 14,000-15,000 tonnes of toxic waste. He also ordered Kemis's appeal be handled as a matter of priority.

TUESDAY, 20 August
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's bank NLB and Belgium's KBC Insurance said they were examining options to sell their insurer NLB Vita after unofficial media reports suggested NLB will have to sell it because the state missed the end-2018 deadline to privatise NLB. NLB apparently had the option of keeping NLB Vita, but at the cost of the European Commission extending its ban on takeovers by 18 months. Meanwhile, in an interview given before the news of NLB Vita, NLB chairman Blaž Brodnjak told the STA the bank was looking to strengthen its role as a key regional player, including through takeovers. It is said to be enying Serbia's second-largest bank, Komercijalna Banka.
        LJUBLJANA - Major General Alenka Ermenc, chief of the general staff, said not all the shortcomings which had piled up for the past 28 years could be eliminated in a year's time, as she met the press to present the situation in the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF). She listed the army's professionalisation, which had never been fully completed, and delays in its modernisation, as the main issues, noting it would be possible to reverse the current negative trends with more funds.
        CELJE - The Celje Higher Court cleared Mirko Krašovec, the former treasurer of the Maribor Archdiocese, of all charges related to a misuse of EUR 1.8 million in EU funds for the renovation of the Church-owned Betnava mansion ten years ago, as it upheld the first-instance court's ruling in the second retrial in the case.
        LJUBLJANA - The group around insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav reported a EUR 34.7 million net profit for the first half of 2019, a 16% year-on-year rise. Consolidated gross premiums were up 10% to EUR 630 million and net premium income by 6% to EUR 491.8 million.
        HACHIOJI, Japan - Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, 20, secured the world champion title in the combined, an Olympic discipline, at the IFSC Climbing World Championships, after she won gold in the women's lead discipline and defended the title of bouldering world champion. She thus became the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championship.

WEDNESDAY, 21 August
        LJUBLJANA - Gabrijel Škof, director general of insurer Adriatic Slovenica, was appointed new chairman of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), which manages state assets in excess of EUR 10 billion. The appointment of the fourth SSH chairman since the holding's establishment in June 2014 rounds off a series of replacements at SSH and the Bank Assets Management Company.
        LJUBLJANA - Ten telecommunications operators announced they would provide around 47,500 more households in Slovenia's rural areas with access to broadband in the coming three years. This leaves around 50,000 more households in so-called white areas, where funding of infrastructure will have to be provided by the state.
        LJUBLJANA - Happy with Tuesday's meeting with PM Marjan Šarec, the Trade Union of Farmers decided to suspend its protests against ineffective government measures against wolf attacks on farm animals, and to withdraw its demand for the resignation of the environment minister.
        ČRNOMELJ - Private broadcaster POP TV reported Slovenia had started erecting another 40 kilometres of fence along the border with Croatia in a bid to curb illegal migrations. Once the EUR 4.8 million project is completed, more than 200 kilometres of Slovenia's 670-kilometre border with Croatia will be fenced in.
        LJUBLJANA - In a letter to the culture minister, Slovenian Writers' Association president Dušan Merc decried the state of book publishing due to a marked drop in funding. He believes Slovenia is not ready for the fairs in Bologna and Frankfurt, where it will be the guest of honour in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
        NOVA GORICA - A wildfire broke out near the Cerje war memorial just south of Nova Gorica, destroying some 100 hectares of forest as it spread, also across the border to Italy. Firefighters managed to contain it during the night and put it out the next day.

THURSDAY, 22 August
        KRŠKO - PM Marjan Šarec called for building a second reactor at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) as he visited Slovenia's sole nuclear power station, which is slated for closure in 2043. This is the strongest signal from a Slovenian government about its future policy on nuclear energy in a while, and a sign the country does not intend to renounce nuclear energy.
        LUBLJANA - The European Commission confirmed the EU Cohesion Fund is to contribute EUR 101 million for the renovation of the 16-kilometre rail section between Maribor and Šentilj on the border without Austria, the project worth a total of EUR 254 million.
        LJUBLJANA - Sava Insurance Group, Slovenia's second largest, generated EUR 22.6 million in net profit in the first half of the year, a 59.3% year-on-year rise coming as gross premiums written were up 9.1% to EUR 336.8 million.
        LJUBLJANA/LENDAVA - On the eve of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, several events were held to mark the memorial day, with President Borut Pahor honouring victims in Lendava, where he laid a wreath at a memorial to WWII and post-WWII victims.

23 Aug 2019, 16:18 PM

Social Security, British Nationals & No Deal Brexit in Slovenia

The European Commission and the EU27 have been working to increase the level of protection of social security entitlements provided by the EU contingency regulation in a no deal Brexit. This includes a unilateral coordinated contingency approach to be applied to all insured persons whose entitlements relate to the United Kingdom before the withdrawal date. Beyond this, the EU27 Member States can choose to unilaterally apply the principle of aggregation to periods of work, insurance and residence in the United Kingdom after the withdrawal or to take further unilateral measures. Based on input from Member States, the Commission has put together an overview of national measures in the area of social security coordination (PDF).

With regard to Slovenia, in brief, the country will continue to guarantee rights currently regulated within the social security coordination until the end of 2020. The rights will be granted to the UK nationals under the condition of reciprocity. Answers to specific questions are shown below, and remember that these are in the event of a no deal Brexit:

Will old-age pensions based on pre-withdrawal periods continue to be exported to the UK? Yes.

Will existing EU rules continue to be applied to reimbursement requests* pending on withdrawal date? (*By Slovenia towards the UK, concerning healthcare costs or costs related to unemployment benefits for frontier workers.) Yes.

Will existing EU rules continue to be applied to post-withdrawal reimbursement requests* for costs for pre-withdrawal medical treatments? (*New claims involving the UK and dealt with Slovenia.) Yes.

Will existing EU rules continue to be applied to costs for planned/necessary medical treatment ongoing on withdrawal date and that could not be interrupted? Yes.

Will existing EU rules continue to be applied to post-withdrawal reimbursement requests for unemployment benefits provided by the UK pre-withdrawal to UK-residing frontier workers working in an EU27 Member State? Yes.

Will it be possible to export cash benefits to the UK (other than old-age pensions) that are based on pre- withdrawal situations? (a) sickness, (b) maternity/paternity, (c) invalidity, (d) survivors’, (e) accidents at work and occupational diseases, (f) unemployment, (g) pre-retirement, (h) family benefits. Yes, for all pensions. Other benefits during the grace period (until the end of 2020) and under the reciprocity principle.

Will a UK insured person residing in Slovenia still be provided with healthcare on the same conditions as EU citizens? If not, under what conditions? Yes, if they join the national healthcare scheme, and you can read the British Embassy’s guidance on healthcare cover if the UK leaves the EU without a deal here.

Under what conditions will UK nationals lawfully resident in Slovenia enjoy social security benefits under national law? The same as nationals during the grace period (until the end of 2020).

For pension purposes, will you continue to take into account (aggregate) post-withdrawal periods of insurance, work or residence in the UK? Yes, during the grace period (until the end of 2020).

If you’d like to compare these answers to those for other countries then you can find the full report here. If you’re interested in what happens to EU nationals in the UK, you can learn more here.

For more information on Brexit, the best sources are the official sources. The Slovenian government has it’ own site (in English) on Brexit here, while the British Embassy’s current advice can be found here, you can sign up for email alerts here, and follow the Ambassador and her team on Facebook. All our posts on Brexit are here.

23 Aug 2019, 16:11 PM

Canoe Sprint: Slovenian Women Take Silver in 200m (Video)

STA, 23 August 2019 - The Slovenian pair of Špela Ponomarenko Janić and Anja Osterman won the silver medal in the women's 200m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Hungary's Szeged on Friday, finishing half a second behind the winning Belarusian boat.

Until today, the Slovenian pair had been undefeated in this discipline this year. They were somewhat slow to start the race but managed to make their way to the second place and their second medal together at world championships.

The race starts at about 1 hour 10 minutes in

For Ponomarenko Janić, the fourth placed canoeist in the women's individual 200m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, this is the fifth medal at world championships.

As the 200m for pairs is not an Olympic discipline, Saturday's finals in the 500m discipline for pairs will be even more important for Ponomarenko Janić and Osterman, as they will try to earn a berth for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The pair, which had the best time in the semi-finals, will need to finish in the top six to do so.

23 Aug 2019, 15:30 PM

Koper Best Connected Container Port in Adriatic, 80th in World

STA, 23 August 2019 - The Koper port placed 80th on this year's list of 900 best connected container ports in the world, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). The port has been listed the highest among all Adriatic Sea container ports since the first such ranking in 2006.

The first place went to the Shanghai port, while the port of Antwerp was the best in Europe, having been placed 6th in the world.

The Unctad ranks ports according to their liner shipping connectivity index, which takes into account the number and frequency rate of their connections with other ports as well as average and maximum vessel sizes.

The higher the index, the easier it is to access a high-capacity global maritime freight transport system and thus effectively participate in international trade.

"The greater the number of destinations and the higher the frequency of connections, the more options clients have in selecting the most optimal logistics solution," said Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port.

The Adriatic transport route has been making a name for itself in the past decade, with four north-Adriatic ports transshipping a total of 1.12 million container units in 2009. Last year, the figure rose to 2.47 million, said the operator.

The maritime transport world has acknowledged the advantages of southern European ports, including in servicing middle-European markets.

According to the Unctad's list, the port of Koper is on par with northern-Adriatic ports in terms of their connections, but the Slovenian port surpasses its neighbouring ports when it comes to the number of container units each vessel transships on average.

The Koper port has a 40% share of all container transport in north Adriatic Sea and is the biggest terminal in the region. Luka Koper expects to reach a record number of a million container units transshipped this year.

More details on Unctad’s list can be found here

23 Aug 2019, 14:30 PM

Hungary Loses Appetite For Slovenian Sewage

STA, 23 August 2019 - The Hungarian government has reportedly decided that the country will stop importing sewage sludge, a move that could spell serious trouble for Slovenia which exports around 70,000 tonnes of sludge from its municipal wastewater treatment plants to Hungary.

According to the Slovenian Chamber of Public Utilities, the Hungarian government - facing media criticism the country was serving as the public toilet of Europe - decided this month to stop extending permits for sewage sludge imports.

The chamber's director Sebastijan Zupanc told the STA that the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry was trying to obtain more information on the issue through the Slovenian Embassy in Budapest.

He added Slovenia would find itself in serious trouble if Hungary closed its border to sewage sludge. From September onwards, Slovenia could be left with 120 to 140 tonnes of it a day, while an alternative solution would definitely need to be found by the end of the year, as all existing permits will expire by then.

Slovenia presently incinerates around 10,000 tonnes of municipal sewage sludge at home, at the plants in Celje and Anhovo.

Some wastewater treatment plants make use of it themselves, however Slovenia does not have sufficient capacities to use what remains for energy, with all that is exported going to Hungary. Croatia is in the same situation.

Other European incineration plants are full, which means Slovenia is very vulnerable in this field, Zupanc stressed.

Sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants is not hazardous waste, but it is very specific, since it involves excrements coming from toilets.

"We cannot store it, since this is a semi-fluid affair that reeks strongly and is produced in great quantities," Zupanc pointed out, noting it needed to be removed on a daily basis.

The Chamber of Public Utilities is part of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), which said it was working hard on the issue and cooperating with the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry.

All our stories about Hungary are here

23 Aug 2019, 12:34 PM

2013 Bank Bailout: Two Wiped-Out Investors Get Full Refund

STA, 23 August 2019 - A higher court has upheld a ruling under which Abanka has to fully refund two clients whose subordinated debt was wiped out as part of the December 2013 national bank bailout, interest included.

The Celje District Court's ruling from June 2018 has thus become final, so it must be implemented even if Abanka appeals at the Supreme Court, several media outlets reported on Friday.

The clients who took Slovenia's No. 3 bank to court in 2017 are two well-known lawyers from Celje. In 2007, Igor and Marija Karlovšek bought junior securities to the tune of EUR 1.1 million, the Siol news portal reported.

The spouses claimed in the suit that Banka Celje, which merged with Abanka in 2015, had failed to properly inform them about the risks involved.

The courts argued Banka Celje should have told them they could lose the money even if the bank does not go bankrupt.

Ever since 2001, the option of erasing subordinated bondholders if the central bank orders measures to reorganise the bank has been part of Slovenian legislation, Siol said, citing the latest ruling.

The portal also quoted the ruling in saying that when buying the subordinated debt, the plaintiffs "justifiably assumed they had bought ordinary, not subordinated bonds".

Siol reported that the Karlovšeks, who declined to comment on the ruling for the portal, had already received the money back, unofficially around EUR 2 million.

Abanka was ordered to pay them the principal plus interest, yet not since the day of the erasure, but since the day of the purchase.

The Karlovšeks were one of the the biggest individual owners of erased subordinated debt and are among the eight plaintiffs who have turned to the European Court of Human Rights for justice, according to Siol.

Abanka declined to comment on the latest ruling for the newspaper Delo. But the Higher Court confirmed a proposal for review had been filed in the case, with a decision still pending.

Delo speculated the proposal may well have come from Abanka, which said it would protect its interests and which had appealed against the first-instance court ruling.

Last year, Delo reported the ruling handed down by the Celje District Court was the first in cases brought against Slovenian banks after the junior debt erasure.

In 2013 and 2014, Slovenia bailed out its major banks with billions of euro in taxpayer money, but also with a bail-in involving subordinated debt of private investors.

Following years of efforts by the erased holders of subordinated debt, the government drafted a bill designed to provide them with legal recourse after it was ordered to do so by the Constitutional Court.

After almost 80 amendments were filed to improve it, the bill got stuck at second reading in parliament last June.

23 Aug 2019, 10:20 AM

Begunje Comes Alive With the Sound of Avsenik, 23-25 August 2019

STA, 23 August 2019 - Over 150 pop folk songs by the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble will be played from Friday to Sunday at a festival centred around the heritage of the legendary Avsenik brothers.

The Avsenik Festival (details) will be held for the fifth time in Begunje na Gorenjskem, the hometown of musicians Slavko Avsenik (1929-2015) and Vilko Ovsenik (1928-2017).

It is expected to attract more than 4,000 visitors, mostly from German-speaking European countries, but also from the US and Canada.

The festival was first organised in 2013 in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble, an Oberkrainer polka band of world renown.

This year it will remember 90 years since the births of Vilko Ovsenik and Slavko Avsenik.

A special slot will also be dedicated to the Sašo Avsenik Ensemble, which was formed by Slavko Avsenik's grandson Sašo in 2008.

The Avseniks' music will be played by musicians from Slovenia and abroad. The festival will open with musicians from abroad, also featuring Takeo Ischi, an acclaimed Japanese yodeler from Germany.

The Avsenik Brothers Ensemble boasts more than 1,000 songs of their own, so if all were to be played, the festival would have to last much longer than three days.

"Only a seventh of all songs will be played. Playing all of them would prolong the festival to three weeks, and to over a month with all the cover versions included," its artistic director Gregor Avsenik, Slavko Avsenik's son, told the press a few days before the festival.

More than 20,000 visitors have visited it since it was first organised six years ago as an annual event, which later turned into a biannual festival.

"There are many visitors who return every year, and also many who stay all three days," said chief organiser Nataša Farkaš.

As one of the biggest pop folk music events in Slovenia, the festival is also important for tourism around the town of Radovljica in the mountainous north-west.

The local tourist board has thus come up with an accompanying programme offering a number of sight-seeing tours.

Festival-goers will thus have an opportunity to visit some of the places which had a major impact on the Avsenik brothers' music, including Golica, a peak which gave the name to one of their most famous instrumental songs.

23 Aug 2019, 09:08 AM

Slovenia Remembers Victims of Totalitarian Regimes

STA, 22 August 2019 - Slovenia will join the observance of European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes with several events on Thursday with President Borut Pahor honouring victims in Lendava in the north-east.

The European Parliament designated 23 August as a day to remember victims of totalitarian regimes ten years ago to coincide with the date of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.

The non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany contained a protocol dividing Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into designated German and Soviet spheres of influence.

The remembrance day has been officially observed in Slovenia since 2012, in accordance with the decision by the then centre-right government, although it has caused some friction along the ideological divide.

The ZZB World War II Veterans' Association complained that equating all totalitarian regimes amounted to historical revisionism with the goal of concealing collaboration with Nazism and Fascism.

PRS je na predvečer evropskega dneva spomina na žrtve vseh totalitarnih in avtoritarnih režimov položil venec k spomeniku žrtvam druge svetovne vojne in žrtvam rasnega, nacionalnega in ideološkega nasilja v času po drugi svetovni vojni v Lendavi in njeni okolici. pic.twitter.com/PglSBgkhrx
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) August 22, 2019

Meanwhile, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) has been unsuccessful in its attempts to have the National Assembly adopt the European Parliament's 2009 resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism.

Data on the number of victims of Fascism, Nazism and Communism in Slovenia vary. The latest from the Slovenian history portal Sistory put the number of victims of war and post-war atrocities between April 1941 and January 1946 at 99,865.

The victims will be remembered with several events on the eve of the pan-European day, including with a commemoration in Lendava which will be joined by President Borut Pahor.

Pahor will lay a wreath at a memorial to victims of WWII and victims of post-war racial, nationalist and ideological fanaticism in Lendava and its surroundings.

To Boris Hajdinjak, the head of the Centre of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor, Pahor will present a charter of his honorary sponsorship over the Stolpersteine project in Slovenia.

Learn more about the Stolpersteine project in Slovenia here

Concrete cubes with brass plates bearing the names of Holocaust victims will be placed in front of the houses of their former Jewish owners in Lendava on 17 September.

In a global project initiated by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, these "stumbling blocks" had already been installed in Maribor in 2012 and in Ljubljana last year.

Also today, mass for the victims will be celebrated at Ljubljana's cathedral by Auxiliary Bishop Franc Šuštar, followed by an event addressed by Andreja Valič Zver, the head of the Study Centre for National Reconciliation.

Before the mass flowers will be laid at a memorial plaque in front of the US Embassy in Ljubljana and the monument commemorating victims of all wars in Congress Square.

On Sunday, the anti-Communist association New Slovenian Testament is holding a commemoration and mass in Rovte near Logatec in memory of the victims of post-war reprisals by Communists.

23 Aug 2019, 02:28 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 23 August 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:

PM Šarec urges all-out effort to build second nuclear reactor

KRŠKO - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec visited Slovenia's sole nuclear power plant, calling for "investing all our efforts to build a second reactor" to replace the current one beyond 2043. "We need to invest all our efforts in this and set out to build a second reactor because in the future we will need ever more electric power, in particular if we want to be a development-oriented country," he said as he visited to the Krško Nuclear Power Plant. The existing reactor is slated for closure in 2043, by roughly which time the Šoštanj coal-fired power station TEŠ will have ceased to operate, so Šarec believes Slovenia needs to decide what energy policy it will pursue.

Insurance group Sava sees 60% rise in H1 net profit to EUR 22.6m

LJUBLJANA - The Sava Insurance Group, Slovenia's second largest, generated EUR 22.6 million in net profit in the first half of the year, a 59.3% year-on-year increase coming as gross premiums written were up 9.1% to EUR 336.8 million. In a regulatory filing with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the core company Sava Re said the profit growth was driven by high growth in premiums, higher cost effectiveness, higher returns of financial investment and benign claims developments in Slovenia. The increase in gross premiums is attributed to growth in non-life insurance in Slovenia (9.5%), non-life insurance abroad (18.2%), reinsurance (6.6%) and life insurance in Slovenia (1.5%).

EU to chip in EUR 101m for Maribor-Šentilj rail link upgrade

LUBLJANA - The European Commission confirmed that the EU Cohesion Fund is to contribute EUR 101 million for the renovation of the 16-kilometre rail section between Maribor and Šentilj on the border without Austria, the project worth a total of EUR 254 million. The Commission wrote it had taken into account the projected increase in traffic on the Baltic-Adriatic corridor that the section is a part of. The upgrade, which will also have positive economic effects, will increase the daily capacity of the section from 67 to 84 trains. EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc expressed the "hope this will convince people to leave their car home an opt for a greener transport option".

PM defends decision to buy four expensive armoured cars

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Marjan Šared defended the government's decision to purchase highly expensive armoured cars, which has raised some controversy in the media. He explained that the vehicles are intended for foreign delegations, and also pointed to the upcoming Slovenian presidency of the EU, which requires adequate protective measures. Šarec's comments came after the business paper Finance reported that the government had purchased last year four brand-new armoured cars, with two Mercedes S600, costing more than a million euro combined, standing out.

Slovenia still needs to realise Communism was bad, conference hears

LJUBLJANA - The Study Centre for National Reconciliation marked the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes with a conference at the Ljubljana cathedral. In her address, the centre's head, Andreja Valič Zver, said that Slovenia still needed to realise that all totalitarian regimes were bad. Slovenians did a much better job dealing with the consequences of Fascism and Nazism than with consequences of Communism, she said, adding that no member of the former establishment has been held accountable for their crimes.

Consumer confidence dampened by job outlook

LUBLJANA - Slovenia's consumer confidence deteriorated in August, mainly due to lower employment expectations. The index is two percentage points down on the month before and three points lower year-on-year, but still 12 points above long-term average. After a significant drop in the second half of last year, consumer confidence increased slightly at the beginning of 2019, remaining broadly flat since February, the Statistics Office said. The monthly decline in August was driven by a six percentage-point deterioration in consumers' expectations about jobs. "After two upbeat years, this year a majority of consumers expect an increase in unemployment in the next 12 months."

Good and bad news for aircraft maker Pipistrel

AJDOVŠČINA - Pipistrel, the Ajdovščina-based aircraft maker, posted a new success as the first woman ever crossed the Atlantic and Pacific solo on its ultralight aircraft. Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old from Mumbai, made history on Wednesday as she landed safely in Russia's Far East region of Chukotka, having flown from Alaska's Unalakleet city across the Pacific Ocean's Bering Sea. This happened however after one of Pipistel's two-seater all-electric planes was forced to crash land into a lake in Norway last week. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

Kras wildfire put out

MIREN - The fire that broke out yesterday south of Nova Gorica and destroyed some 100 hectares of woodland has been put out, reported the Primorska Civil Protection, adding that some 30 firefighters remained at the site to make sure that the fire does not reignite. While 130 firefighters were battling the flames yesterday afternoon, 190 were in the site today, Primorska Civil Protection chief Samo Kosmač said. The firefighters, who worked on demanding terrain, had support from two helicopters. The damage caused by the fire is to be estimated in the coming days.

Tartini Festival kicks off at the seaside

PIRAN - The annual Tartini Festival, dedicated to the Piran-born Italian Baroque composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini, got under way with a performance by international ensemble Il Terzo Suono at the Piran St. George's Parish Church in the evening. The opening performance will include musical compositions by maestros such as Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Tartini and Baldassare Galuppi. This year, the international music festival will be held in Piran and Koper until 8 September, with its final performance being hosted in Padua on 12 September.

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