STA, 21 February 2019 - The government confirmed on Thursday the financing plan for public healthcare in 2019, which includes additional funding and incentives for reducing waiting lines and an extra EUR 104m to cover the recent pay rise for healthcare staff.

The government confirmed what is termed "the general agreement for healthcare" and the financial plan of the healthcare purse ZZZS which envisages revenue and expenditure to level out at EUR 3.054bn. The figure is EUR 172m higher than in 2018.

A total of EUR 55m has been earmarked - coming on top of EUR 35m left from last year - to address waiting lines, which have been the main and persistent issue of the public healthcare system.

The funding framework adopted today was presented as giving the green light to some of the measures meant to cut the waiting times, one novelty being bonuses for hospitals and health centres for every medical examination beyond the number set down by standards.

"These examinations will be paid separately. They can start with them immediately, they just need to increase the number of doctor's offices ... I know that the system is rigid and that things will take time. But progress can be reached within a year," Health Minister Samo Fakin told the press.

He added that the results will be most obvious if the waiting lines are tackled at the country's largest hospitals, in Ljubljana, Maribor and Celje. If the response is slow, private providers will show interest, Fakin warned.

The ZZZS budget for 2019 envisages EUR 2.14bn going for healthcare services, 5.6% more than this year.

The financial plan entails an expansion of the primary healthcare network, providing funds for more GPs and paediatric surgeries since access varies greatly across the country.

The plan earmarks EUR 366.6m for sick pay (+7.5% over 2018), while EUR 54.2m is to be spent for healthcare provided abroad (+2.4% y/y).

Moreover, the insurer wants to preserve the same level of accessibility to innovative drugs. In total, EUR 444.5m will be available for drugs, medical aids and vaccines next year, 7% more than in 2018.

The government was also briefed on a report on the year-long project aimed at cutting waiting times that was adopted by the previous government as part of a strike deal with doctors and concluded on 31 March 2018.

The report found that out of EUR 18m earmarked for the purpose only EUR 8.15m was actually spent. The money went for performance bonuses for doctors and other healthcare staff putting in extra work to reduce waiting times and provide better care to patients.

All our stories on healthcare in Slovenia can be found here

STA, 21 February 2019 - The government has decided against sealing a EUR 306m deal to acquire 48 eight-wheeled Boxer armoured personnel carriers from the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR), Slovenia's biggest defence purchase in a decade.

The army does not have a comprehensive tactical study showing exactly what capabilities Slovenia needs and the procurement documentation is based on a tactical study made in 2005 that does not represent an appropriate basis for the purchase, Defence Minister Karl Erjavec said after the government session on Thursday.

The minister ordered the army to carry out a new tactical study that will determine whether it needs new eight-wheeled personnel carriers, which vehicles would be best, how they will be maintained, and how staff will be trained.

Erjavec said this did not mean that the purchase has been terminated. "We will have to buy eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers sooner rather than later, but first we need to define exactly what we need."

The decision was expected given weeks of rumours about there being something wrong with the proposed deal, most recently expressed by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec in an interview with Večer last weekend. He said his government "did not want to embark on an adventure, we had certain indications things are not acceptable."

But it casts doubt on the country's ability to meet the pledge given to NATO that it will have one battlegroup ready by 2022 and a second one by 2025.

Erjavec was sanguine about that, noting that it was already clear the first battlegroup will not be ready by 2022. "Even if we signed the purchase agreement today, we would not be able to do everything," he said. The effort would be hampered not just by long delivery times but also by staff shortages and lack of investments.

The planned purchase is being closely watched in Slovenia given the parallels to the previous mega defence deal, the 2006 contract with Patria on the purchase of 135 infantry vehicles at that time worth EUR 278m.

The Patria deal, signed the first time Erjavec was defence minister, devolved into years of court drama involving senior politicians.

Erjavec repeated today that the mid-term defence programme and the white paper on defence would be revised. Pointing to Slovenia's commitments to NATO about increasing defence spending, he said the 2020/21 budget would be "the moment of truth."

"I expect that in 2019, 1.1% of GDP will be allocated to defence, 1.2% in 2020, 1.3% in 2021, 1.4% in 2023 and 1.5% in 2024. These are the commitments that were made orally for now when NATO secretary general visited the country last year," Erjavec said.

Today's government decision on cancelling the EUR 306m deal was welcomed by the opposition Left. "After two years of opposition (to the purchase) we have finally managed to persuade the government that the purchase of the eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers did not make sense," said MP Miha Kordiš.

All our stories on defence and Slovenia can be found here

Below is a review of the headlines in Slovenian dailies for Friday, 22 February 2019, as summarised by the STA:

DELO

Real estate
"Largest part of Slovenian coast that is on sale": A total of 180,000 m2 of land near the sea coast in Izola is being sold by Austria's Heta Asset Resolution, the Slovenian state-owned Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) and the Gorenjska Banka bank. (front page, 4)

Culture
"Abstract goals of the project get nine million euro": As much as EUR 9m has been made available in a call for applications for the Network of Centres of Research Art and Culture, which is surrounded by suspicion about non-transparency. (front page, 5, 7)

Forged diploma
"Standard excuse: someone did not do the right checks": A trainee doctor in the Izola general hospital has made it into the registry of physicians with a forged diploma. The Medical Chamber has failed to ask her to provide original documents. (front page, 2)

Winter holidays
"Three out of four families can afford holidays": Winter holidays will start next Monday for around 140,000 primary and secondary students from central and western Slovenia. (front page)

DNEVNIK

Church
"Church admits sexual abuse": Roman Catholic Church leaders have met in the Vatican to discuss the mounting pressure from victims to admit the fact that some of its members are sexually abusing children and youths. (front page, 6, 18)

Defence deals
"New arms blunder: there will be no purchase of 8 x 8": The government opted to freeze the planned purchase of eight-wheeled Boxer armoured personnel carriers over the lack of appropriate legislation allowing the multi-year financing of the EUR 300m deal. (front page, 2)

Investments
"Government did not grant Magna's wish, it will nevertheless open waters act": The government rejected the proposed changes to the law adopted for the Magna Steyr paint shop which would exempt the project from relevant provisions of the waters act. The government said it did not want to solve this issue only for one specific investor. (front page, 4)

FINANCE

Real estate
"What Slovenian millionaires purchased recently": Slovenian millionaires have been increasingly investing in real estate in recent years, buying everything - from villas, land and hotels to industrial plants. (front page, 2-3)

Media
"What hides behind spectacular results of Pro Plus": Central European Media Enterprises (CME) is boasting with spectacular results of its Pro Plus, which operates the POP TV and Kanal A TV channels in Slovenia, but many unpopular moves are behind this, the paper notes. (front page, 4-5)

VEČER

Healthcare
"Precious home assistance": The EUR 1m home assistance project CrossCare, which is to conclude in August 2020, does in practice what the state should systemically regulate. (front page, 10-11)

Multiple sclerosis
"Easing pain also with hemp": There are an estimated 3,500 people in Slovenia diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, some of whom are easing their pain by smoking marijuana or using hemp oil. (front page, 4-5)

Public information
"Are ballots secret?": The National Assembly has launched an administrative dispute over the decision of the Information Commissioner that it needs to reveal to Večer the ballots with which MPs elected Marjan Šarec prime minister. (front page, 2-3)

Twice a year the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy in Ljubljana awards grants that typically range from $3,000 to $5,000 (with an upper limit of $10,000) to projects that aim to present and promote the values, culture or history of the US to Slovenian audiences using the language of art, music, dance, literature or other cultural forms. A total of $70,000 is given out each round, and about 20 projects are supported.

The next deadline for applications is March 15 (2019), for projects beginning from May to October this year, while the following one is August 6 for projects beginning from October 2019 to April 2020. You can see details of previous winners in this PDF, for grants given in 2015.

While full details of the programme and how to apply can be found here, before clicking be aware that, to quote the website:

The Embassy has historically been most interested in projects relating to:

• cultural exchanges;
• artistic and cultural performances;
• exhibitions;
• workshops;
• lectures;
• readings; or
• cultural projects whose aim is to promote and deepen the understanding and appreciation of American culture in Slovenia.

The U.S. Embassy will NOT fund the following types of projects:

• requests by organizations and individuals who are neither Slovenian nor American;
• those relating to partisan political activity;
• humanitarian or charitable activities;
• conferences and individual trips abroad;
• trade activities;
• fund-raising campaigns;
• commercial projects;
• scientific research;
• individuals not affiliated with an organization that can provide long-term sustainability to the project;
• book translations;
• projects aiming only at primary institutional development of the organization; or
• projects that duplicate existing projects.

 More details of how to apply can be found here, and don’t worry about the same people or organisations getting the money each time, as priority is given to new applicants

STA, 21 February 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt said after a meeting in Ljubljana on Thursday that their respective countries would do everything possible so that the rights of Slovenian and British citizens did not suffer in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Cerar said that Slovenia wanted a Brexit scenario with an agreement, adding that both sides had agreed that Slovenia and the UK must make sure that the status of their respective citizens did not deteriorate after Brexit.

Za recipročno ohranitev pravic in ureditev statusa okrog 700 britanskih državljanov v SLO bomo poskrbeli tudi na naši strani / #Slovenia will continue to grant the UK citizens a possibility to reside and have equal access to the rights they had so far. @MZZRS @UKinSlovenia

— dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) February 21, 2019

"They need to enjoy the same rights and they need to preserve their status," the Slovenian foreign minister said, adding that reciprocity would be secured with legislative changes which were already being prepared in Slovenia.

The British foreign secretary added he agreed with Cerar about proceeding on the basis of reciprocity and that Slovenian and British citizens would enjoy all rights, including in the event of a no-deal scenario.

Slovenia has "confirmed that the rights of British citizens will be preserved", Hunt said, adding that one of the most important things was that individual citizens' rights did not suffer and that they could continue with their daily lives.

???? Danes gostim zunanjega ministra Združenega kraljestva Velike Britanije in Severne Irske @Jeremy_Hunt. Govorila bova o #Brexit, evropski perspektivi držav Z Balkana ter krepitvi vladavine prava in multilateralizma. @MZZRS @SLOinUK @UKinSlovenia @vladaRS pic.twitter.com/HklrqV6Oc2

— dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) February 21, 2019

Cerar added that Slovenia did not want a no-deal Brexit because both sides would suffer damage in other fields as well. "There would be negative consequences in the economy," he said, estimating that Slovenia's GDP would drop by 0.25%.

Asked about the no-deal scenario, he said that ministries were preparing legislative changes in the fields of social rights and insurance, and potential changes to the citizenship act as British nationals would become third-country citizens.

Hunt expressed the hope that a Brexit deal to mutual satisfaction would be reached, also because of what are some 5,000 Slovenian citizens living in the UK, who are "contributing to the UK economy and social life".

Cerar stressed that Hunt's visit confirmed the excellent relations between Slovenia and the UK in politics and economy, as they were friendly countries which were also allies within NATO.

"The things are developing well in the field of economy," he said, adding that Slovenia remained open to and invited British investors to continue making "healthy investments with a good business model" in Slovenia.

Slovenia and the UK need to continue to cooperate also because of the security challenges and illegal migrations, Cerar said, adding that he had also discussed with Hunt other EU topics and the Western Balkans.

He said that they agreed that the EU must remain open to enlargement to the region provided that the Western Balkan countries meet the conditions, while the EU must provide economic and security assistance.

Hunt praised the transformation of Slovenia in the last 30 years into a modern democracy and a growing economy, noting that the UK had excellent bilateral relations with Slovenia.

"We will continue to provide strong support to Slovenia's efforts to preserve peace in the Balkan region," Hunt said, while also welcoming Slovenian President Borut Pahor, who is to pay a visit to London for bilateral talks next week.

All our stories on Brexit and Slovenia can be found here

STA, 21 February - President Borut Pahor wrapped up his two-day trip to Brussels with a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday. Pahor expressed great satisfaction with his stay, saying was not a classic visit dictated by protocol.

He was especially pleased that Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker accepted his invitation to a Three Seas Initiative conference in June and that High Representative Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini accepted an invitation to the next Brdo-Brijuni conference.

Good meeting with President @BorutPahor to discuss the situation in the Western Balkan region, the future of Europe and the Brdo-Brijuni conference. pic.twitter.com/u750yLKWrM

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) February 21, 2019

"Slovenia is wholeheartedly a part of the western world, sharing in its opportunities and worries. This is about being able to position oneself in complicated circumstances that see the western world changing in face of contradiction."

Tusk tweeted that he had a good meeting with Pahor and that they discussed the situation in the Western Balkans, the future of Europe and the Brdo-Brijuni conference.

As regards the Western Balkans, Pahor underlined it was key the EU does not let Northern Macedonia hanging dry, with Juncker ensuring him that they were doing everything to set a date to launch accession talks in June.

President ⁦@JunckerEU⁩ welcomes ⁦@BorutPahor⁩, President of the Republic of #Slovenia. Focus on cooperation and dialogue across the Western Balkans, the next Three Seas Initiative Summit in Ljubljana and the #FutureofEurope #Road2Sibiu. pic.twitter.com/AY1CXlrXe7

— Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) February 20, 2019

Juncker expressed support for the Three Seas Initiative, promising he would do everything to attend the next meeting, hosted by Slovenia in early June.

Responding to criticism that the initiative was too pro-American, Pahor said that Russia and China were also trying to carve out a part of the market for themselves and he sees no reason why US investments should be any less welcome, after all the US business model and culture are closer to Europe's.

The president believes that the conference will be a great opportunity for Slovenia because it would feature the heads of large banks. He also sees it as an opportunity for port operator Luka Koper, but would not go into detail.

The US is also amidst serious preparations for the conference, but it is not yet sure who would represent the country, said Pahor.

Juncker's confirmation adds leverage to hopes that "maybe we could get a high [US] representative, maybe even the highest," said the president but added that he did not wish to increase expectations.

The president said he told Juncker once again that the Commission missed an opportunity in the border arbitration process between Slovenia and Croatia to underline the importance of the rule of law and honouring one's obligations.

Juncker replied, according to Pahor, that the EU did not have a duty but the right to join Slovenia's lawsuit against Croatia, which it chose not to do.

He also underlined that the arbitration pact was co-signed nearly four years ago by the then Swedish Prime Minister and Council President Frederik Reinfeld and that the EU had political and legal obligations not to discard efforts to uphold the pact that laid out the course of border arbitration.

STA, 21 February 2019 - Proud of their language, Slovenians will observe International Mother Language Day with several events on Thursday, including one featuring artists from Prekmurje, a region where arguably one of the most particular Slovenian dialects is spoken.

International Mother Language Day is this year observed for the 20th year in a row, promoting awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, and multilingualism.

In her message, UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay says "every mother tongue deserves to be known, recognised and given greater prominence in all spheres of public life".

Mother tongues do not necessarily enjoy national-language status, official-language status or the status of a language of instruction, which can lead to the devaluation of a mother tongue and its disappearance.

She adds that "all mother tongues count and are essential to building peace and supporting sustainable development", noting languages of indigenous peoples should be paid a special attention.

The Slovenian language is spoken by roughly two million people in Slovenia, by members of the Slovenian minority in neighbouring countries and among the diaspora.

It has a status of an official language not only in Slovenia but also in the EU, so by global standards it is quite well protected and not at all at risk.

Slovenian language teacher, poet, and folk song singer Bogdana Herman says that just like all other languages, Slovenian must be open and change with new generations.

However, not all changes are good. "Some can be harmful, especially those which are not based on the historical development of language but result from sheer laziness, indolence or a rather poor attitude towards the mother tongue," she has told the STA on the occasion.

Asked whether too many English worlds are being "imported" in Slovenian, Herman says some caution is needed since "too few people speak and write in Slovenian to withstand the pressure of English".

"Not many know that English is composed of several languages which it drew from and developed over time. I wouldn't want Slovenian to undergo such development, it would die out too soon."

Tonight, the arts centre Cankarjev Dom will host an event featuring writers and musicians from Prekmurje to mark International Mother Language Day and the 100th anniversary of Prekmurje's reunification with Slovenia.

"Tell Me Something Nice" will be hosted by the Slovenian Writers' Association and the Dr Šiftar Foundation from Prekmurje.

All our posts on the Slovenian language, including many dual texts, can be found here

STA, 20 February 2019 - Slovenian President Borut Pahor underscored the need to invest in security as he visited NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated his call for an increase in defence spending.

"Slovenia is increasing defence spending not because it would face a direct military threat, but because the world is less safe a place today, and also because [Slovenia] is part of the western world. Like fifteen years ago, I continue to believe today it's important we understand this," said Pahor.

Slovenia joined NATO and the EU in 2004 and Pahor said his latest visit to NATO was also important symbolically considering the 15th anniversary of the country's membership of the two organisations.

Pahor argued that in compliance with the alliance's defence targets was not about meeting the country's obligations to NATO but rather about its own security; Slovenia must invest in security, he said.

The president said it was understandable for NATO to expect of Slovenia to meet the target of increasing defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2024.

He told Stoltenberg that Slovenia was planning to increase defence budget to 1.5% of GDP by 2024, which he said was a substantial increase considering the strong economic growth.

Stoltenberg lauded Slovenia as a valuable ally which he said contributed to common security and defence in many ways and played an important role in the Western Balkans, in particular in the KFOR mission in Kosovo and in the efforts to bring the countries in the region closer to the EU and NATO.

He also noted Slovenia's participation in the Afghanistan mission, in the battalion in Latvia and in the Trident Juncture exercise.

He again welcomed the fact that after years of decline Slovenia started increasing defence spending, which was substantial in absolute terms considering the economic growth, but he also repeated that he would want the country to make more effort.

Asked for comment about the Slovenian Armed Forces' poor readiness assessments, Stoltenberg repeated that NATO appreciated Slovenia's contribution in the allied missions and operations.

He said that he had met Slovenian soldiers and was able to see their commitment and professionalism, in particular in their key role in Kosovo.

He acknowledged that there had been some readiness issues in the past, but said the very reason of NATO testing the forces to be deployed in its missions and operations was to recognise the problems so they could be dealt with.

This is what Slovenia has done, the readiness problem was addressed, Slovenian troops took part in Trident Juncture, which is a very demanding exercise, and did excellently, said Stoltenberg.

The Western Balkans ranked high on the agenda with Pahor noting the significance of NATO's and the EU's enlargement to countries in the region. He said NATO was doing much better in that respect than the EU having admitted Montenegro with enlargement to North Macedonia due soon.

Pahor, the supreme commender of the Slovenian Armed Forces, noted that he was the first president to visit NATO headquarters last year, which he would want to become a tradition.

STA, 20 February 2019 - President Borut Pahor said the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and him agreed that addressing the Kosovo situation should also allow for "out of the box" solutions, albeit not based on the ethnic principle. The pair also discussed Venezuela, with Pahor stressing that threats with military force to secure change were unacceptable.

Pahor, who co-chairs the Brdo-Brijuni regional cooperation initiative, handed to Mogherini on Wednesday an invitation to the 8 and 9 May summit in Tirana, Albania.

He stressed that her in-depth analysis, coming after five years as foreign policy chief, would be extremely valuable in the search for solutions concerning the European future of the Western Balkans.

Pahor said Mogherini agreed that original solutions should also be sought to bilateral and multilateral issues in the region. These solutions must not be based on the ethnic principle, he added.

Pahor is happy that Mogherini shares this view, which he described as very daring but still prudent, since some "out of the box" thinking was needed after years of deadlock.

When the initiative first surfaced for a compromise solution that would also involve border changes, this was raising eyebrows in the West, said Pahor, who agreed that bad past experience indeed called for caution.

He is however open to original solutions, provided the process, start to end, is conducted in a wise political fashion, with mutual respect and very disciplined oversight by the international community to prevent collateral damage in the neighbourhood.

Pahor, who said this would be part of the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue, added "the friends of a peaceful solution to the dispute" just need to decide whether they are ready to think "out of the box".

Pahor would oppose a solution that would be based solely on the ethnic principle, while he repeated that an agreement that would not cause collateral damage should not be excluded in advance.

Pahor later also discussed Kosovo with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who stressed NATO supported the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue while it would not go into the specific elements of the dialogue.

He said NATO supported the idea about Prishtina and Belgrade being capable of solving open issues. NATO believes in a political solution and calls on both sides to refrain from actions and rhetoric that would increase tensions, said.

Meanwhile, Mogherini's spokesperson Maja Kocijančič tweeted that the discussion with Pahor had been "excellent", and that it focused on the Western Balkans while also going beyond this topic.

Venezuela also discussed

Pahor said Venezuela had also been discussed, with the pair agreeing that the recognition of Juan Guaido as interim president until an early election was one of the solutions allowing a peaceful path to a president that would represent the country and lead it democratically.

The president said this was the "better among bad possibilities". "We're not in a position where we would have a good vs bad solution regarding Venezuela. We have several bad ones and we both see the recognition of an interim president as a better among bad options," he said.

Pahor stressed it was very important that the enforcement of these changes is not accompanied by military force or even threats of it. Such threats are unacceptable and cannot bode well for a peaceful transition in the country, he said.

STA, 19 February 2019 - Contrary to previous announcements, the Finance Ministry has now said it will be impossible to introduce the new real estate tax in 2020 as planned because data on some types of property remain faulty.

"Even though much has been done in recent years, not all the registries have been put in order to such an extent as to remove obstacles to the introduction of the real estate tax," the ministry told the STA.

The new tax, which is to replace the current levy for the use of building land, property tax and forest road fee, has been years in the making and put off several times because of its unpopularity.

An earlier attempt at introducing such a tax failed in 2014 after the Constitutional Court quashed the property appraisal act, which was to underpin the new system.

"The biggest obstacle to the real estate tax at the moment is that data on actual use of land for public roads and public railway infrastructure will probably not be available in time," the ministry said.

It specified that the most problematic issue was data on municipal public roads.

One problem could be if such plots were to be exempt from tax, considering that a large section of such infrastructure is still located on privately held land.

The Finance Ministry has been encouraging municipalities to do their part of the job in terms of these data, because receipts from the real estate tax would be their source of revenue.

"All obstacles to introducing the real estate tax will have been removed once these data have been put in order as well," the ministry said, adding that this was the job of the ministries of environment and infrastructure.

Earlier this month, the newspaper Dnevnik reported that compiling a census of 1,200 kilometres of rail tracks and 39,000 kilometres of state and municipal roads did not begin until recently, mainly due to delays at the Infrastructure Ministry.

The legislation for the registering of the actual use of land for public roads and railway infrastructure was adopted in February 2018 and the appertaining rules only just before the end of 2018.

The census of plots of land with state roads is to be completed by June, but the problem is said to be the 32,000 kilometres of local roads which local officials do not think will be completed in less than two to three years.

All our stories on real estate in Slovenia can be found here