STA, 2 March 2019 - President Borut Pahor, who recently concluded an official a visit to the UK this week, has said in an interview with Sky News that the EU member states could agree with a short postponement of Brexit. "I think Slovenia and a lot of other countries would say yes" because "no one wants to see a hard Bbrexit in a chaotic way."

Speaking to the British TV station, Pahor added that Britain needs to show "clarity and consensus" and come back to the EU with a plan MPs can approve.

The Slovenian president's comments come as the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he was ready to give the UK more guarantees that the Irish backstop was only intended to be temporary.

Pahor said he wanted a compromise on the Irish backstop to be found, but added that Slovenia would not approve a deal that Ireland disagreed with, according to the website of Sky News.

"It is not clear at the moment if United Kingdom has a clear position on some sort of compromise solution and if it fits the requirements of the majority in the House (of Commons)," he said in the exclusive interview.

Pahor believes that a delay to Brexit would not make a compromise any easier to find and expressed concern the European Parliament elections at the end of May could cause problems.

"If Brexit would become an issue of political campaign among the 27, I think this could even make more difficult the whole framework of negotiations between London and Brussels," he added.

Other stories on President Pahor’s UK Visit:

Pahor in UK this Week to Discuss Brexit (Background)

Pahor & Hunt Say Slovenia-UK Relations Good, Will Remain So After Brexit

Pahor Meets the Queen, UK Visit Continues Friday

President Borut Pahor: The Geopolitical Positioning of Europe (Video)

All our stories on Brexit and Slovenia are here

Ljubljana had its official Pust (Carnival) parade on Saturday March 2, but the real day is this Tuesday, so don't be alarmed if you see people dressed up in strange ways downtown or at night, and if you've ever felt the urge to wear a cheap wig, fake nose or Venetian mask in public that would be the time to indulge. Another special day this week is Friday, March 8, Women's Day, although in keeping with the theme "a woman's work is never done" this isn't a public holiday.

Two kurenti at Pust. Photo: JL Flanner

Young kurenti. Photo: JL Flanner

 Photo: JL Flanner

If you're not in town for the week of this guide (March 4 - 10, 2019)  then you can see all the editions here, and you can enhance your stay in the city and impress or annoy friends and companions by learning some obscure facts about the city here, and the Castle here.

As ever, clicking on the venue names in the list below should get you more details with regard to the time, price and location, as well as other events on at this place in whatever week you're here. Finally, if there's something you want to promote in a future edition of What's on in Ljubljana please get in touch with me at flanner(at)total-slovenia-news.com

Contents

• Cinemas and films
• Clubbing
• Live music
• Opera, theatre and dance
• Harm reduction and drug testing
• Things to do with children
• LGBT+ Ljubljana
• Ljubljana Castle
• Museums and galleries
• Other things to do in Ljubljana
• Daytrips
• Getting around

Cinemas and films

You can read about all the cinemas in town here, while a selection of what’s playing this week is below, and note that kid’s movies tend to be shown in dubbed versions, so do check before driving out to a multiplex and dropping off the young ones if they can't understand Slovene. Parents should also pay attention to Kinobalon, which is Kinodvor's regular weekend series of film screenings and events for children, from babies on up, with special parent/child events, "first time in a cinema" screenings, and babysitting. Learn more about it here, and see the current schedule here.

Cankerjev dom – You don’t want to watch Free Solo on your phone, and while this Oscar-winning documentary is almost certain to turn up elsewhere in the months ahead, you can catch it here on Tuesday , March 5, at 19:00.

Kinodvor – The arts cinema not far from the train station is showing, among other features, Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk, Beautiful Boy, Faces Places, The Undamaged, Transit, and Colette.

Kinoteka – This revival cinema isn’t far from Kinodvor, at the train station end of Miklošičeva, is showing has a week of ethnographic films from Norway, Italy, the US, China, Canada, Switzerland, Slovenia and elsewhere. See the programme here (and check the dates, as the link will take you to whatever's showing the week you read this).

Kino Bežigrad - This slightly out of town theatre is showing, among other features, Replicas and Alita: Battle Angel, while starting Wednesday is Captain Marvel.

Kolosej - The multiplex out at BTC City Mall is playing all the big movies, which this week include a dubbed version of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Green Book, Vice, Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (dubbed), A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Escape Room, Lego Film 2, Cold Pursuit, Alita: Battle Angel (2D and 3D), Qu'est-ce qu'on a encore fait au bon Dieu?, Happy Death Day 2U, Dumplin', Instant Family, Mia et le lion blanc, a dubbed version of Liliane Susewind, and The Favourite. New this week are Replicas, Izbrisana, a dubbed version of The Queen’s Corgi, and starting Wednesday is Captain Marvel.

Komuna – The cinema in a basement behind Nama department store is showing Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, and Green Book.

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Clubbing

Compared to some European capitals it can seem that nightlife in Ljubljana ends rather early, especially along the river, but there are still bars that stay open late and clubs were you can dance until dawn, and perhaps the best place to stumble across something interesting is the legendary Metelkova. Be aware it's a grungy kind of place and not for all tastes, but also that there's considerable variety to found within the various clubs there, from death metal to electropop, gay cabaret to art noise. You can read "the rules" of the place here. And if you're curious about how the place started then read our story, and look at some pictures, about last year's 25th anniversary.

Božidar - Saturday, 22:00 to 03:00, Bgirls Do It Better. “Sports and cultural association GOR has prepared you a special evening of rap, soul and funk. Behind the turntables we welcome DJ Bijan, Dj Lazy One, DJ Moska. We also present you a very special show by an emerging local female rapper Sahareya.” The event is free to enter.

Channel Zero – There were Pust events last week, but the real day is Tuesday, and there’s an all-nighter here for you to get dressed up for, with the music being played by Dirty Skunks, Rope, Jerry, Sunneh, Fogy, and Stojc. One the great things about doing this guide, and perhaps about reading it, is learning how to decode the names of events, and Friday, March 8, presents the challenge and delight that is SUBØ: Tigerbalm w. KG. As regular visitors to what’s on… or klubland might know, this will be an house and electronic event, with the music lined up by DJs (Goon Club Allstars, UK), CL_TR, ESTERA, Terranigma, and b2b DVS, and the visuals provided by VJ 5237.

Gala Hala – Tuesday night there’s Maškarada 2.0, another Pust event, so dress for fun and enjoy the sounds of house and techno provided by Blažen DJ & Jaša Bužinel. Friday you can then come back to Metelkova to dance till 5am with Zeleno sonce 121: Dan želja, which is funk / soul all-nighter with DJs Bayo and Udo Brenner. The next night, and again until 5am, it’s Rostfraj Onehundrid, which is a centenary event for the Rostfraj crew, who’ll be playing “odfukane klubske muzike”, with DJs Žongler Mastif, Sanja, and  Sofija Leron aka KaktusKaktus.

Klub Cirkus – Tuesday there’s a Pust party for students (and others), and so you can wear a costume if you want, with the music being “hip house” and house music. Friday DJ Lea is in the house, along with the New Age Gang, playing “dance”. Saturday, the day after Women’s Day, it’s HouseKeeping pres. Mike Vale, Buchan & Suano. It’s a house music event.

Klub K4 – The klub 4 kool kids that’s now more than 30 yrs old has a Pust party of its own on Tuesday, with DJs Cookie, Gabi1808 b2b Re3600 and Mili Kumara. Friday there’s an event called Phi w/ Aleksi Perälä (Rephlex, Trip / FIN). Saturday it’s then Solvd, with DJs Christian Kroupa / Alleged Witches, Alex Ranerro, and Mobo (Magnetik Music).

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Live music

Božidar – Thursday, 20:00 to 01:00 there’s Jazz klub Mezzoforte, offering Freestyle Karaoke & Jam Session, with Cene Resnik on saxophone, Gašper Peršl on drums, and Thierno Diallo on bass.

Cankerjev dom – Juan De Marcos González Afro-Cuban All Stars (Cuba) will be playing here on Saturday.

Cvetličarna – Friday you can enjoy the Mad Caddies playing live ska at this venue, while on Saturday it’s the turn of the silver fox of Slovene pop, Jan Plestenjak.

Channel Zero – Thursday there’s a live show from Phoenician Drive, which the publicity claims “invented Afrikrautrock”, which sounds fantastic (krautrock being the best rock). Check them out below, followed by - I'll take any excuse to share this - a classic krautrock freakout by Damo and the boys from Can.

Kino Šiška – Wednesday Leon Matek will be performing to promote his new album, with support from “guests”.

Klub Gromka – Hardcore punk, live on stage, Thursday, with Svetlanas, Hak Attak, and Material Girls.

Ljubljana Castle – Friday, Women’s Day, March 8, you can go up the hill and see Like The Rolling Stones, a tribute act, at 21:00.

Orto Bar – Thursday night it’s black/death metal with Dalkhu and Agan. Friday there’s Dan Rock Žena 2019, which is a rock night for Women’s Day with Hellcats, Tri kapljice, and Checkmate.

Slovenska filharmonija – Wednesday the pianist Peter Milić is in town, playing Beethoven, Chopin (the piece shown below), Brahms, and Dutilleux. Thursday and Friday the Orchestra will be playing some Mahler under the very capable baton of James Tuggle.

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Opera, theatre and dance

Cankerjev dom - Sergej Polunin will be dancing here Monday and Tuesday, 19:30, in a show called Paradoks – Sacré, with the music ot Stravinsky and the choreography of Yuka Oishi. You can see him below in a different show.

Gledališče IGLU - IGLU TheatreSaturday night this group is usually putting on an Englishimprov show somewhere in town, but it’s generally promoted after this is written, so check the Facebook before putting on your shoes.

Mini Teater Ljubljana – The English schedule of varied performances for the month is here.

SNG Opera and Ballet – Friday and Saturday Bizet’s Carmen will be here, while Sunday, March 10 Verdi’s Rigoletto is on stage.

Pocket Teater Studio – Thursday it’s Afro Brazilian Jazz - Where Rio de Janeiro meets Bahia. It’s a small place (very), so reserve your seats and do it now at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can see some of what you’ll be missing if you delay below.

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Harm reduction and drug testing

Drogart is an organization that aims to minimise harm on the party scene, and offers drug-testing services and reports on their webpage. It’s in Slovene, but you can Google translate it or work things out yourself, and our story on the group is here. You can find the latest warnings on fake drugs and high strength pills and powders (in Slovene) here. However, be aware that all the usual drugs are illegal in Slovenia.

CBD is legal, though, and our retailer of choice can be found on Trubarjeva cesta - read more about Sena Flora here.

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Things to do with children

You can find our Top 12 list of things to do with kids in Ljubljana here. If want to read more about the philosophy behind the wonderful House of Experiments look here, while our trip to the Museum of Illusions is documented here, and there’s always riverside walks, pizza and ice cream. With regard to the latter, take a look at our guide to six places that serve good ice cream in winter. 

Balassi Institute – Thursday 17:00 – 17:40, there’s a Music Workshop for Young Children (0 to 4 years) with Julcsi Laposa, all free of charge.

Mini Teater Ljubljana – The season sees a lot of puppet performances for children, in Slovene, at this theatre not far from Križanke. The English schedule for the month is here.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre - The puppet theatre near the Central Market and next to the Castle funicular has a full programme or shows, for children and adults, with the schedule here.

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LGBT+ Ljubljana

If you want to learn more about Ljubljana Pride, then take a look at our interview with its president here. If you're looking for more general links on "gay Slovenia", including a history of the scene and various projects, then you can find that here, while our stories about the community can be found here.

Klub Monokel - This lesbian bar in Metelkova is open every Friday evening, but no other events are planned this week.

Klub Tiffany – And the gay bar next door is also open on Fridays, while every Monday until June 2019 there's tango at 18:00. This week, on Tuesday, 16:00 to 19:00 there’s a DJ class, with details here. Then Thursday, starting 19:00, it’s a café evening with live music from Croon.

Pritličje – This seems to be the only "always open" LGBT-friendly cafe / bar / events space in town, and perhaps the country, so it's a good thing it's such a good one, open from morning to night, and with fliers and posters letting you know what's happening outside the narrow confines of, say, a general interest online what's on... guide. This week, Wednesday 19:00, there’ll be a discussion on Sexism and the LGBT+ community (in Slovene, and thus Seksizmi v LGBT+ skupnosti).

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Screenshot from Google Maps, showing the location of the Castle vineyard

Ljubljana Castle

The city’s main attraction is said to be the top tourist draw in the country overall, and to my mind it earns a spot near the top just for the history and views. But beyond that the current owners, the City of Ljubljana, have laid out a varied, interesting and enjoyable programme of events, one that rewards regular revisits.

I try and get up there every Saturday morning to clear my head and move my feet on the trails, and never tire of that end of the hill. At the other end, where the Castle sits, there’s a lot more than fresh air on offer. There are guided tours, restaurants, a café, Castle museum, puppet museum, a Watchtower you can climb to the highest point in the city, art shows, dances, live music, movies under the stars, festival days and more – enough to reward multiple trips up the hill through the year. All of these activities and events can be found on the Castle website, while on TSN you can see “25 things to know about Ljubljana Castle” here, and “Ten Ways to Enjoy Ljubljana Castle” here.

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Museums & Galleries

Most public galleries and museums are closed on Mondays, although not the National Museum, and - as noted at the start

Plečnik's desk. Photo: JL Flanner

Plečnik’s House is worth a visit if you want to learn more about the architect who gave Ljubljana much of its character, and it's also in a really nice part of town, Trnovo, just a short walk or cycle upriver. Read about our guided tour here.

Balassi Institute – The Hungarian culture centre has an exhibition entitled “Encounters in Visual Art” introduces works of selected visual artists, painters and sculptors, who define today's art scene in Hungary and Slovenia, as promoted with the image below. Free to enter, this venue is next to a Spar and Hofer, and not far from Dragon Bridge, and always has something interesting going on. Learn more here.

Cankerjev dom – On until February 28 is the exhibition Ivan Cankar and Europe, Between Shakespeare and Kafka, while until March 10 there’s a photographic show on the Ljubljanica, with images of the city’s river captured by Bojan Velikonja. Showing until the end of March is a selection of specimens from The Newspaper Museum.

City Museum – The Museum in French Revolution Square an interesting permanent exhibition on the history of Ljubljana, from prehistoric times to the present day, with many artefacts, models and so on that bring the story alive.You can read about my visit here.

The Faces of Ljubljana in the City Museum. Photo: JL Flanner

City Gallery - Not far from the Robba Fountain and running until March 24 is a show presenting drawings by Iztok Sitar, the original pages that were used to make his graphic novels over the last three decades. Rather adult in nature – think Robert Crumb in terms of sex, drugs and religion, in places – it’s free to enter and has much to enjoy. One of the pictures I took on my visit is below.

Photo: JL Flanner

MAO – The Museum of Architecture and Design has much of what you'd expect, and until March 25, 2019, has a show on Ljubljana and it's relation with water.

Moderna galerija – The main branch of this gallery, to be found near the entrance to Tivoli Park, has a good collection of modern art, as well a nice café in the basement. Running until March 31 is a major show on young Slovenian painters, Time Without Innocence – Recent Painting in Slovenia, where you’ll see works like the following. You can read about my visit here (I loved it).

Iva Tratnik, Mating Season Totalitarianism, 2014, oil on canvas, 210 x 194 cm

Arjan Pregl, from the Carnival series, oil on canvas (6 paintings 120 x 100 cm; 3 paintings 80 x 60 cm), 2018. Mr Pregl was recently voted "worse than Hitler" on Twitter.

National Gallery – The country’s main gallery has “the best” of what’s on offer from the Middle Ages to non-contemporary modern visual arts, and is in a great location for exploring other areas, just by Tivoli Park and opposite the main branch of the Moderna galerija. You can read about our visit to the room containing sacred art from the Middle Ages here.

JL Flanner

The real Robba Fountain can be found in the entrance to the National Gallery - the one you see in the Old Town is a genuine fake, as seen below and reported here.

Photo: JL Flanner

National Museum of Slovenia – There’s plenty to see in the permanent collection here, from Roman times, Egypt and more. Meanwhile, the museum's Metelkova branch, located between one branch of the Moderna galerija and the Ethnographic Museum has some rooms on Church art, furniture and weapons, with the latter including more guns than you'll see anywhere else in town, and quite a thrill if coming from a nation where such objects are not household items.

Natural History Museum – On until the end of June 2019 is Our Little Big Sea, which takes a look at the oceans.

Slovene Ethnographic Museum – The museum currently has a temporary show on Bees and Beekeeping, on until June 16 2019, as well two permanent exhibitions. One of these is called Between Nature and Culture, and has a great collection of objects from Slovenia and around the world, well worth the trip up to the third floor to see it (as recounted here). This place is located near the newer branch of the Moderna galerija and Metelkova.

Union is "the Ljubljana beer", but now both it and Laško are owned by Heineken. There are many local brews on offer around town, though, if you want to explore IPAs, stouts, wheatbeers, sours and so on Photo: JL Flanner

Union Experience – The Ljubljana-based brewer has a museum showing the history of the company, with the ticket also including access to part of the factory and a few samples of the product. You can read about our visit here.

It's not a formal museum, but if you're interested in "Yugo-stalgia" then you'll enjoy a trip to Verba, a small, privately run space that's crammed with objects and pop culture items from the era, and is conveniently located at the start of one of the short walks to the castle. It's also a great place to take pictures, if you leave a donation, and you can read more about it here.

Verba. Photo: JL Flanner

Alternative Ljubljana isn't a museum or gallery, as such, but instead turns the city streets into a museum and gallery. Learn more about their tours of street art, history and LGBT Ljubljana here.

Photo: JL Flanner

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Other things to do in Ljubljana

If you'd like to spend an evening painting with others, then take a look at Design with Wine, which organises painting parties on Trubarjeva cesta,

If you want to see some antiques, then check out the wonderful Antika Carniola, as discussed here. The man behind it, Jaka Prijatelj, has a fine eye for life on this street, as you can see on his Facebook account.

Photo: JL Flanner

If you’re in town and want to go jogging or walking in nature, why not take another look at the Castle, with a brief guide to the trails here. If you want something bigger, head to Tivoli Park.

And if you're bored with the Old Town, why not take a walk, cycle or boat ride to nearby Špica and enjoy the riverside life. Learn more about that here.

visitljubjana.si

maxpixel.net, public domain

Want to stretch and breath? Then check out our list of drop-in yoga classes for tourists, visitors and the uncommitted. If you're heading to the coast, check out our interview with a yoga teacher who offers breakfast sessions there, while if you're staying in town (or nearby) and want to try some "family yoga" then you can learn more about that here and maybe get your kids to calm down a moment or two.

There are some golf courses near Ljubljana, but even ones further away are not far, as seen in our list of all the golf courses in Slovenia. Note that these close when the snow starts, if it ever does this year, in which case you might be interested in what's new at Slovenia's ski resorts for 2019, as reported here.

Photo: maxpixel.net, public domain

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Daytrips

Most of Slovenia is only a few hours from Ljubljana, and you can easily visit Lake Bled, Lipica Stud Farm, Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, the coast and other locations, while if you'd like to take a photo of from that bench in Bled, then you can learn how to get there here. If you’re looking for something more ambitious, then check out our recent guide to the 17 members of the Association of Historical Towns of Slovenia

Photo: Google Image Search

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Getting around

If you want to get a Ljubljana Tourist Card, which gives you travel on the city buses and entry to a lot of attractions, then you can read more about that here, and if you want to use the bike share system, as useful for visitors as it is for residents, then you can learn more by clicking this. Visitors with reduced mobility will be pleased to find that downtown Ljubljana is generally rated as good with regard to accessibility, and that there’s a free, city-sponsored app called Ljubljana by Wheelchair highlighting cafés, attractions and so on with ramps, disabled bathrooms and Eurokey facilities, which you can read about and download here. Manual wheelchair users can also borrow, for free, an attachment that will motorise their equipment, as reported here.

Screenshot from a Twitter video

If you’re driving into town and don’t know where to part, our guide to how to park in Ljubljana is here.

There aren't many places to eat after midnight, and most of them are by the train station, as reported here.

Want / need cigarettes but the stores have closed? Here's an incomplete list of bars downtown that will satisfy your craving for the demon weed. While if you’re having trouble with the ATMs then here’s a guide to the Slovene you’ll see on screen. If you get a hangover then find out where to get paracetamol (and prescription drugs) in Ljubljana here, while details on emergency birth control can be found here.

Ljubljana is a small and relatively safe city, but if need to contact the police then there’s a special number for foreigners, and that’s 113.

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STA, 1 March 2019 - President Borut Pahor concluded on Friday his three-day official visit to the United Kingdom by visiting the City of London to meet representatives of the London Stock Exchange and Lord Mayor of the City of London Peter Estlin.

London Stock Exchange chairman Donald Brydon presented the institution to Pahor, and they also exchanges views on the situation on the financial markets and the global economy, the president's office said in a press release.

V okviru uradnega obiska v Združenem kraljestvu je predsednik republike Borut Pahor danes obiskal Londonsko borzo in se srečal z vodstvom borze. pic.twitter.com/cbQWT26hzn

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) March 1, 2019

The Slovenian president then visited the London office of the US multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs to discuss how the global financial industry views the expected changes in Europe, including Brexit.

In the meeting with Estlin, Pahor focused on how Brexit will reflect on the role of the City of London as one of the most important and busiest financial centres in the world.

Pahor concluded today's visit at the seat of the insurance and reinsurance market Lloyd's of London, the president's office added.

It noted that the UK was important global partner to Slovenia, with trade with the country increasing by 2% in 2017 to EUR 921.5m, with the positive trend also continuing last year.

The UK is also an important partner in investments and tourism, with the number of British tourists in Slovenia growing.

Great atmosphere at reception hosted by Ambassador @tadejrupel for Slovenian diaspora in the UK on the occasion of visit by Slovenian President @BorutPahor pic.twitter.com/TC3o53obbP

— Slovenia in UK (@SLOinUK) February 28, 2019

"By leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom is not leaving Europe and it remains our important business partner and a security ally in NATO," the office said.

On the first day of the visit, Pahor met Prince Edward and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who visited Slovenia last week. Pahor and Hunt discussed bilateral relations and Brexit.

On Thursday, the Slovenian president was received by Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace, after laying a wreath to the memorial to innocent victims of war and oppression in front of Westminster Abbey.

Other stories on President Pahor’s UK Visit:

Pahor in UK this Week to Discuss Brexit (Background)

Pahor & Hunt Say Slovenia-UK Relations Good, Will Remain So After Brexit

Pahor Meets the Queen, UK Visit Continues Friday

President Borut Pahor: The Geopolitical Positioning of Europe (Video)

While there seem to be few explicit appeals to the LGBT community in the official promotional efforts of the Slovenian Tourist Board, the country ranks fairly high on this year’s Spartacus Gay Travel Index, at #28. In terms of ex-Yugoslavia this compares to Bosnia-Herzegovina at 47, Croatia at 48, Serbia and Montenegro both at 68, and Macedonia at 83.

In contrast, when it comes to Slovenia’s other neighbours Austria ranks much higher, in 4^th place, while Italy is at 41 and Hungary 57.

The ranking, which the German-based organisation carries out each year, is based on 14 criteria in three categories, from civil rights to discrimination and threats, based on information from Human Rights Watch, the UN Free & Equal campaign, and reports of human rights abuses against members of the LGBT community collected over the previous 12 months.

As the related webpage states:

The first category consists of civil rights. Among other things, it assesses whether gays and lesbians are allowed to marry, whether anti-discrimination laws exist or whether the age of consent is the same for heterosexual and homosexual couples. Discrimination is included in the second category. These include, for example, travel restrictions for HIV-positive persons and the prohibition of Pride parades and other demonstrations. The third category includes threats to the person through persecution, imprisonment or death penalty.

Slovenia’s 28^th position is shared with Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Guadeloupe, Martinique and South Africa. The top countries on this list, sharing first place, are Canada, Portugal and Sweden, while the bottom four are Iran and Saudi Arabia (194), Somalia (196) and Chechnya (197). The United Kingdom is 4^th, Germany 23^rd, and the United States 47^th 

Gay rights in Slovenia in more detail…

Nations gain points if they have anti-discrimination legislation, same-sex marriage or civil partnerships, adoption and transgender rights and an equal age of consent. In contrast, they lose points if religion influence legislation, if there are HIV travel restrictions or anti-gay laws, if homosexuality is illegal, if Gay Pride is banned, if the locals are hostile to the gay population, or if there are prosecutions, murders, or death sentences for members of the LGBT community.

On this basis Slovenia got a total of 6 points, with the breakdown as follows

Anti-discrimination legislation: 3 

Marriage/civil partnership: 2

Adoption allowed: 1

Transgender rights: 0

Equal age of consent: 1

Religious influence: -1 

HIV travel restrictions: 0

Anti-gay Laws: 0

Homosexuality illegal: 0

Pride banned: 0

Locals hostile: 0

Prosecution: 0

Murders: 0 

Death sentences: 0

You can read more about the report here, while you can read all our stories about the LGBT community and Slovenia here

STA, 1 March 2019 - Peter Vilfan resigned as state secretary in charge of sports at the prime minister's office on Friday, following over a month of speculation that he evaded taxes. In his resignation, Vilfan once again denied being audited by the Financial Administration (FURS) or being issued a fine.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec responded by saying that he accepted Vilfan's resignation.

In mid-January news portal Požareport said that Vilfan, a former basketball player, had been receiving sizeable payments from two TV stations for serving as basketball commentator.

Požareport said that the public TV Slovenija and commercial media company ProPlus paid the fees to Vilfan's own sports association and that he cooked the books to avoid tens of thousands of euro in taxes.

Vilfan on the other hand said that he had been paid about EUR 1,500 a month, while the figures circulated in the public were much higher.

Moreover, in late February the weekly Reporter said that Vilfan had been fined by FURS, which he denied immediately.

"Let me assure the public that neither I nor my association have been in any offence proceedings, and we have not been issued any decision or fine by FURS," Vilfan said in his letter of resignation forwarded to the media by the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), of which he is a member.

In his response last week, Vilfan said that "the association filed a report on its own with FURS" and that they "are jointly examining a period of several years for possible accounting errors or irregularities".

DeSUS confirmed today that the review was concluded on Monday and the certain accounting irregularities had been discovered.

The party's president Karl Erjavec said he regretted the developments but respected Vilfan's decision.

Vilfan announced he was leaving politics for good. He was first elected to parliament as a member of Positive Slovenija of Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković in 2011, defecting to the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) after a split in 2014.

After being reelected MP in 2014, he joined the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) in 2015, serving out his term until 2018 but he did not get re-elected in the June 2018 election. Instead, he was appointed state secretary at the PM's office.

He also commented matches when he served as an MP between 2011 and 2018, having being granted the permit by parliament.

A member of the Yugoslav national team that won the 1978 FIBA World Championship, Vilfan commented the 2017 EuroBasket matches for ProPlus channels POP TV and Kanal A under a similar arrangement as with RTV Slovenija.

Vilfan's resignation comes two days after Šarec accepted the resignation of Environment Minister Jure Leben, the third member of his cabinet leaving the government which was sworn in in September 2018.

STA, 1 March 2019 - The resignation of Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) deputy Darij Krajčič over a stolen sandwich is not final yet. The National Assembly is to take note of his resignation on Monday, but now the MP whose story was picked up by international media, has second thoughts about resigning. PM Šarec said Krajčič would be expelled from the LMŠ if he did no resign.

Krajčič told the STA and the newspaper Dnevnik today that he was considering withdrawing his resignation and would make his final decision known by Monday, when the National Assembly is to discuss his case.

Related: MP Resigns After Stealing Sandwich, Claims Act Was “Social Experiment”

The MP of the ruling coalition party said today that his decision to step down may had been too hasty.

He said that in the meantime legal experts had warned him that his action, which he called a "social experiment", did not constitute a theft.

"With theft some other conditions must be met, including an intent to benefit from it, keeping it a secret and not paying for the item."

In contrast, Krajčič took a sandwich out of a store without paying it impulsively, only to tell about it soon after and paying for the sandwich later.

The MP said at the time he had been waiting with the sandwich for several minutes while three shop assistants were talking without paying any attention to him, so he decided to "check their system of control."

Krajčič, who told the story to the members of the parliamentary Agriculture Committee soon after, regretted the incident and tendered in his resignation later on.

The story was picked up by global media such as the BBC, Die Presse, Kurier, and Europe Times.

Krajčič said the LMŠ had expected him to resign after the story came out but that he had felt no pressure about his decision now.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec indicated today Krajčič would be dismissed as LMŠ member if he did not resign.

But he added that nobody could force him to step down because MPs are autonomous in this respect. "I said what I had to say. I think that an MP loses their join if they resign but preserves or gets their dignity," Šarec said.

Krajčič too said he could not be kicked out of the deputy group and noted that another option was for him to become an independent MP.

The LMŠ deputy group has not commented yet.

Mladina: Proposed tax reform would mainly benefit the rich

STA, 1 March 2019 - The latest editorial of the left-leaning weekly Mladina tears apart the Finance Ministry's tax reform proposal as yet another taxation tweak to primarily benefits the rich.

Only two years have passed since the last changes that brought the biggest tax burden reduction and greatest gains for those who already have high wages.

While Prime Minister Marjan Šarec now stands to gain almost EUR 1,000 a year, his predecessor Miro Carar saw his wage rise by EUR 2,000 net at the annual level or to EUR 3,457 net a month, effective on 1 January 2017.

The argument keeps repeating - "we are doing this because of those who are the most productive", editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says, labelling this as despicable deceit by those working for the benefit of their own class.

It is true that high wages are taxed more in Slovenia, but on the other hand property is not subject to any serious taxation and the bulk of the income of the wealthiest stems from property.

Meanwhile, the taxation of the average wages of those in whose name the wealthiest would get even more after this reform is comparable to that in similar countries in Europe and is for instance lower than in Austria, Repovž says in the editorial entitled New Tax Cuts for the Rich.

At the same, the government is shying away from a real estate tax or from heavier taxation of those letting out several apartments, while it has also avoided reforming the compulsory health insurance system that continues to channel large sums of public money to private insurers.

This is an arrogant and offensive tax reform proposal that benefits the wealthy and should be withdrawn, Repovž says, adding PM Šarec dismissed the wrong minister this week.

Demokracija: Why does media ignore warnings on government spending?

STA, 28 February 2019 - In its latest commentary, the right-leaning weekly Demokracija is flabbergasted by the fact that a majority of the Slovenian media dedicated almost no attention to the warnings from the Fiscal Council that the general government expenditure planned for 2019 should be EUR 270m lower.

The warning about the need for the country to preserve a structural balance in compliance with the fiscal rule was buried quickly, ending up somewhere "on the dark side of the internet", editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says.

Is the expansive fiscal policy, which could cause a headache in the autumn, really a marginal topic, he wonders. It obviously is, as the media are busy "inflating the popularity of the prime minister," he adds in the commentary entitled It's Good to Be Marjan Šarec.

Šarec is really happy because, as the global economic situation is getting increasingly unpredictable, and forecasts more pessimistic than optimistic, the media do not bother him with questions about what to do if the economic growth happens to be lower than expected.

The fear of the 2008 crisis repeating has made the smart countries (Germany, Norway) start accumulating surpluses and creating reserves, while others are reducing general government debt (Estonia, the Czech Republic).

The only solution for the Slovenian government, if it wants to keep the public sector in the current size and meet the obligations given to the sector "either blindfolded or drunk on power", will be to increase the already high taxes.

The problem is not in taxes themselves, but what you get in return. According to an analysis by the Quality of Government Institute, Slovenia belongs to the countries which spend much, while giving back little to the citizens.

All our posts in this series can be found here

STA, 28 February 2019 - Slovenia's survey unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in the last quarter of 2018, which is the lowest rate since the last quarter of 2008, when it stood at 4.3%, the Statistics Office reported on Thursday.

Among the people aged between 15 and 29, the survey unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2018 was at 7.6%, or two percentage points lower year-on-year. The rate was the lowest in the 55-64 age group, at 3.8%.

The long-term unemployment rate dropped to 1.8% year-on-year, as the number of long-term unemployed persons was down by 35.6%, from 29,000 to 19,000.

In the last quarter of 2018, 45,000 persons were unemployed by ILO standards, which is 14,000 (24.3%) fewer year-on-year. The active population in Slovenia was up by 12,000 (1.2%) to 984,000.

The number of inactive persons was up by 4,000 or 0.6% to 729,000. More than half of them (394,000) were older than 65, while 7% or 47,000 of them were aged between 25 and 49.

More detailed data on this story can be found here, while our stories on employment in Slovenia are here

STA, 28 February 2019 - Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) was up by 4.5% in real terms last year, preliminary data by the Statistics Office show. The economy expanded by 4.1% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2018.

Compared to the previous quarter, the economy grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in the final quarter. In year-on-year comparison, it expanded by 3.6%.

In the whole of 2018, the seasonally adjusted GDP growth was at 4.6%.

In year-on-year comparison, the seasonally adjusted GDP growth was the highest in the first and third quarters, reaching 5.2% and 5.1%, respectively. In real terms, the economy expanded by 4.8% and 5.0%, respectively.

In the second and fourth quarters, growth reached 4.6% and 3.6%, respectively, according to the seasonally adjusted data, while in real terms it was at 4.1% for both quarters.

Last year's GDP growth figure is in line with the expectations of domestic and international institutions or slightly higher. It is, however, somewhat lower than in 2017, when the economy expanded at a 4.9% rate.

In its autumn forecast, the government forecaster IMAD put last year's GDP growth at 4.4%. The European Commission put it at 4.3% last November, while Banka Slovenije, the central bank, said in mid-December 2018 it should reach 4.2%.

The preliminary estimate puts GDP at current prices for 2018 at EUR 45.948bn, which is up 6.9% from 2017.

The final GDP figures for 2018 are due at the end of August.

Romana Korenič of the Statistics Office stressed at today's press conference that exports still played an important role in the GDP growth but that the role of domestic spending was becoming increasingly important.

In 2018, domestic spending was up by 4.6%, which the highest growth since 2007.

External demand continued to reflect positively on the economic growth although exports grew at a more moderate pace than in 2017. It rose by 7.2% last year, while it up by 10.7% in 2017. Imports, meanwhile, grew by 7.7%, which is 2.6 percentage points less than in 2017.

The external balance of goods and services contributed 0.3 percentage points to the GDP growth last year, which is much less than in 2017, when it added 1.3 percentage points.

Gross investment was up by 12.6%, which is 0.6 percentage points less than in 2017. Gross investment in fixed assets rose by 10.6%, which is level with 2017 (+10.7%).

The pace of growth of investment in fixed assets in construction became more moderate, Korenič, said. It was extremely high in the third quarter, rising by more than 20% year-on-year, but in the final quarter, the growth was only about 12%, which, however, is still pretty high, she noted.

The growth of company investment in machines and transport equipment also slowed down somewhat, while investment in buildings grew by 6%, which is the highest growth since the second half of 2016.

Final consumption increased by 2.3% (by 1.5% in 2017). Household consumption grew by 2.2% and government spending by 2.6%. In comparison, in 2017 government spending was up by a mere 0.5%.

The number of people in employment increased by 3% year-on-year to 1,017,000, which is the highest figure on record, meaning since 1995.

Asked about the outlook for GDP growth this year, Korenič said such forecasts were difficult to make. It is difficult to assess when the cooling down on the global level will reach Slovenia, she said.

Slovenian and international institutions expect GDP to grow at a rate of 3.3-3.7% this year.

More detailed data can be found here, while our stories on Slovenia’s economy are here

STA, 28 February STA - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek announced on Thursday the dismissal of Damir Topolko as the head of the Infrastructure Agency following the escalation of the scandal surrounding the dodgy tender for the Koper port rail track model.

The announcement comes after PM Marjan Šarec accepted on Wednesday the resignation of Environment Minister and former Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Jure Leben while also calling for the resignation of Topolko.

The official video introducing the Koper-Divača "second rail" project

While Šarec had suggested that everyone else involved in the possibly rigged 2017 tender for the EUR 130,000 scale model should follow Leben's example, Bratušek said Šarec and her agreed today that conditions were not met yet to dismiss certain public servants.

Bratušek said the scandal also bore on other ministry employees, they however "cannot accept political responsibility for this fiasco"

As regards Topolko, Šarec and Bratušek both felt it was time to find a new name for the head of the Infrastructure Agency, which was responsible for the tender, carried out as a PR move for the EUR 1bn-plus investment in the Divača-Koper rail expansion.

"My predecessor Peter Gašperšič could have already done that," said Bratušek, adding a candidate had not yet been found to replace Topolko, who has ran the agency since mid-2015.

"But they didn't do it. I sense it was because that would mean revealing what is being revealed now: that the former leadership of this ministry was actively involved in the public procurement of this scale model, even though it is unusual for a minister or state secretary to interfere with public tenders," she added.

Bratušek said the scale model story had been inherited by her and that it was casting a bad light on the rail project that is now being managed differently and was on track on getting fully covered financially by the end of May.