What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.
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FRIDAY, 15 April
LJUBLJANA - The Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants data shows that some 1,200 Ukrainian refugees have temporary protection status. A total of 18,415 have been officially recorded in Slovenia, but only 4,718 have been registered as most merely pass through the country. Some have already returned home.
KLAGENFURT, Austria - Marking the 80th anniversary of the first wave of persecution of Carinthian Slovenians, Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian state of Carinthia, apologised to the Carinthian Slovenians for the horrors they had to endure in a statement published on 14 April.
RADOVLJICA - An upgrade of the rail track between Kranj and Jesenice, a key section that connects Slovenia's rail system to Austria, was officially inaugurated as the first project partly financed from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility.
LJUBLJANA - The government confirmed plans to build a new general hospital in the north-western Gorenjska region, a project estimated at EUR 305 million, and a long-term care home worth almost EUR 27 million that is to be built in Ptuj in the north-east.
LJUBLJANA - Bojan Dremelj, a former CEO of Telekom Slovenije, pleaded not guilty at a pre-trial hearing in a case in which three defendants are charged with abuse of office over Telekom's 2007 takeover of the Kosovo internet service provider Ipko.
STARŠE - A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband, who died at the scene in a village near Maribor in north-eastern Slovenia. The suspect, who apparently stabbed the 48-year-old man during an argument, was later detained. Several media reported the victim was sports journalist Aleš Tihec.
SATURDAY, 16 April
ORMOŽ - Ground was broken for German motorhome maker Carthago's EUR 45 million new production facility in Ormož in the north-east of the country. Production at the new factory will start by next spring, initially with 160 new workers, said Sandra Županec, director of Carthago's Slovenian subsidiary.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - Ukraine's national football team will be getting ready for the last match of the European part of qualifications for this year's World Cup in Slovenia, the sport channel Sportklub reported. The team will be training at a new modern hub at Brdo pri Kranju from 29 April.
SUNDAY, 17 April
LJUBLJANA - In his Easter message, PM Janez Janša noted the importance of hope and unity of the nation, and expressed the wish that Christians show their responsibility by participating in the 24 April general election and choose "true leaders", according to a release from Janša's office.
LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR - Celebrating Easter, Ljubljana Archbishop Stanislav Zore noted that the Christian holiday was something that brought new hope and life, and Maribor Archbishop Alojzij Cvikl said the message of Easter was that a new beginning is always possible.
MONDAY, 18 April
VIPAVA - President Borut Pahor assured his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić of Slovenia's continued support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans as Vučić paid a working visit to Slovenia, Pahor noted that to ensure peace and stability, leaders in the region must be careful not to escalate the situation.
LJUBLJANA - Composer and pianist Janez Matičič, one of Slovenia's most notable contemporary composers, died at the age of 95. Centred around piano music, his oeuvre is famous for its modernist and experimental feel. In 2007, he received the Prešeren Prize for lifetime achievement.
LJUBLJANA - Robert Golob's self-test showed a positive result so the leader of the new party Freedom Movement, seen as PM Janez Janša's main election rival, went into self-isolation only days before the general election and has since participated in a couple of televised election debates via videolink.
TUESDAY, 19 April
WASHINGTON, US - The IMF downgraded its economic growth forecast for Slovenia in its latest World Economic Outlook, with the country's GDP projected to increase by 3.7% this year and by 3% in 2023, a downgrade of 0.9 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively, from last October.
MEDVODE - PM Janez Janša, the leader of the Democrats (SDS), noted his party's track record in government and its stimulus policies, and rebuked the opposition, as he addressed SDS members at the party's last major event before polling day. The convention featured a guest appearance by Manfred Weber, chair of the European People's Party, who endorsed the SDS and New Slovenia (NSi).
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor cast his vote in early voting for the general election, joining civil society organisations and politicians in urging citizens to exercise their right to vote. Voter turnout reached almost 5% in the first two days of the three-day early voting in what is a new record.
MARIBOR - The Maribor Higher Court quashed the December 2021 ruling sentencing to life in prison Silvo Drevenšek, who pleaded guilty to murdering his former spouse and her parents in front of his four-year-old son on Christmas Eve 2020. The first life sentence since such penalty was reintroduced in Slovenia in 2008 was annulled because of a procedural error, and a retrial was ordered.
MARIBOR - Maribor Mayor Saša Arsenovič was accused by the father of a 13-year-old of attacking his son and causing him light injuries. Arsenovič initially said he had responded to vandalism, but later conceded he should have acted differently and apologised, but will not resign. The father said he would nevertheless take him to court.
LJUBLJANA - One of the two trade unions of Slovenian police officers filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and Robert Kos, the director for organisation and staff at the police, for alleged obstruction of union activity in the force and abuse of office.
KOPER - A study commissioned by the Italian parliament and presented by a Slovenian environmental NGO advises against extending the lifespan of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK), the only such facility in Slovenia, due to quake safety concerns.
WEDNESDAY, 20 April
LJUBLJANA - Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek resigned after he became the target of media scrutiny over a lack of clarity regarding the payment of his weekend stay at an upscale hotel in Bohinj in January. He said he was "resigning exclusively due to the late payment of the bill" after claiming he was being blackmailed and reporting this to the police. The anti-graft watchdog has launched a preliminary inquiry into the matter.
LJUBLJANA - The tracking poll conducted by Ninamedia for the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer showed the Freedom Movement and the ruling Democrats (SDS) remaining in the lead ahead of Sunday's general election. The Connecting Slovenia alliance would also make it to parliament, whereas the centre-left opposition parties LMŠ and SAB risk being squeezed out. The Left ranked third at 8.8%.
WASHINGTON, US - Freedom House, a US NGO that evaluates the state of democracy around the world, said in its latest annual report that last year Slovenia saw the biggest democratic decline in the broader region. Slovenia is listed among the six countries that are still labelled as "consolidated democracies", but all suffered score declines due to the "corrosive effects of illiberalism and corruption".
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary inquiry into alleged political interference in the work of the police filed criminal complaints against Police Commissioner Anton Olaj and against Anton Travner, former police commissioner. They suspect them of workplace bullying and perjury, respectively.
LJUBLJANA/UZHHOROD, Ukraine - Slovenian Red Cross reported that it had delivered 55 tonnes of food and 25,000 litres of water to war-stricken Ukrainians. The aid package will provide 40,000 meals for babies and 112,000 meals for adults.
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Faculty of Arts inaugurated a language centre for Catalan as part of its Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. The new course, which has been available to students since last autumn, is a valuable addition for the faculty, noted Katarina Marinčič, head of the department.
LJUBLJANA - The French Institute in Slovenia decorated translator Suzana Koncut with the rank of Officer of the Order of the Arts and the Letters for her work in literary translation, notably in the past six years.
LJUBLJANA - The Catholic publisher Družina and the Government Communication Office launched a monograph chronicling events from 23 December 1990 when Slovenians opted for independence in a referendum and 15 January 1992 when Slovenia was recognised as an independent country by the European Community, the forerunner of the EU.
THURSDAY, 21 April
BERLIN, Germany - The German news agency dpa reported that Germany had concluded an agreement to send heavy weapons to Ukraine with several other European countries, including Slovenia, which would send its tanks to Ukraine in return for tanks and armoured personnel carriers from Germany's own stock. The Slovenian Defence Ministry initially declined to comment for the STA, but later said that Minister Matej Tonin and his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht met via video call on Wednesday, discussing "how allied countries can help Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression".
LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken underlined in a phone call the need to continue supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity with strong security support. They also condemned the atrocities of the Russian forces in the war against Ukraine and stressed that Moscow should be held accountable, Janša's office said.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian police recorded 2,023 attempts at illegal crossing of the border in the first three months of the year, up 77.5% over the same period last year. Afghanis accounted for over a third of all those intercepted, the latest police statistics show.
LJUBLJANA - The government extended the regulation of heating oil prices under which retailers' margin is capped at six cents per litre. The decree entered into force on 21 April and is valid for 30 days.
LJUBLJANA - Pollster Valicon expects a tough battle for election victory, with the Freedom Movement just slightly ahead of the Democrats (SDS), and the Social Democrats (SD), New Slovenia (NSi) and the Left also most probably getting into parliament. The fate of three parties - Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) and Connecting Slovenia - is to be decided by tactical voters. Valicon estimates the turnout will be at around 68%.
LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije posted a group net profit of EUR 37.9 million for 2021, up 52% over the year before, on sales revenue that was broadly flat at EUR 648.2 million. The group earmarked a total of EUR 208.2 million for investments in 2021.
LJUBLJANA - The shareholders of energy company Petrol decided to distribute practically the entire distributable profit from last year, or EUR 61.8 million, meaning they will receive EUR 30 gross per share, which is EUR 8 more than in 2021. They also confirmed the management's proposal to split one Petrol share into 20 shares in order to improve liquidity and attract new investors.
LJUBLJANA - The Bank Assets Management Company finished 2021 with EUR 178.4 million in revenue from asset management and a pre-tax profit of EUR 63.2 million, up by 57% year-on-year. The average annual return on equity, whose target value under law is set at 8%, reached 25%, the annual report shows.
VENICE, Italy - The Slovenian pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale opened with the exhibition of paintings by Marko Jakše, one of Slovenia's most acclaimed painters, known for his surrealist Daliesque canvases. Jakše represents Slovenia at the prestigious visual art exhibition with Without a Master, which brings 13 canvases the 62-year-old artist has made in this century.
