STA, 25 February 2022 - As the EU adopted on Friday a second package of sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, which target key sectors of its economy and include sanctions against President Vladimir Putin and FM Sergey Lavrov, Slovenian FM Anže Logar said this was the "strictest package of sanctions" that the bloc had ever adopted.

A new package of measures was adopted that will "significantly affect both the Russian economy and oligarchs and individuals who have participated in the aggression," Logar said after an emergency session of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The package includes both individual and sectoral measures, and is "the strictest package of sanctions the EU has ever adopted against any country," the foreign minister added in the video statement for Slovenian journalists.

At the in-person meeting, the EU foreign ministers formally approved the new package of sanctions against Russia that covers the financial sector, energy and transport, dual-use goods, control and financing of exports and visa policy.

Several Russian individuals have been added to the list of persons who are banned from travelling to the EU whose assets in the EU are frozen.

The list now includes President Putin and FM Lavrov in terms of the freezing of assets in the EU. This was endorsed by all member states, Logar said, adding that it was possible that family members were included in the next round of sanctions.

The second package of sanctions was agreed by the EU leaders at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday. It does not include the possibility of excluding Russia from the Swift payment system, which has been advocated by Ukraine.

Logar said that this had been discussed at length today, adding that the opposition to this measure was getting weaker.

"Several countries said they were aware of the consequences of this measure for their economy, but were nevertheless prepared to accept this damage given the importance of this historical event," he added.

The foreign minister said that "an even stricter package, with an even greater impact on the Russian economy", was being coordinated, and that talks to this end would continue in the coming days.

If a consensus is reached, the third package will include Swift - unless it is established that the international community can cause even more serious economic consequences for Russia in some other way, he added.

"Slovenia supports strict sanctions that have a deterring effect and that make it clear that such acts are unacceptable," said Logar in reference to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

PM Janez Janša meanwhile attended a virtual NATO summit at which it was decided that the alliance will deploy its rapid response forces on its eastern flank in what will be the first deployment of these forces for the purpose of joint defence.

Janša said on Facebook on the occasion that a decision would be made in the next few days about what Europe would be like in the future. "Only a victory of Ukraine and Putin's defeat can prevent a long period of new Cold War," he added.

According to Janša, three things should be done in order to truly help Ukraine and "win the war for Europe".

"NATO should close the airspace over Ukraine and deprive the Russian aggressor army of its strategic advantage, the EU should provide Ukraine with membership prospect and the democratic world should isolate Putin's regime with sanctions," he said.

STA, 3 February 2022 - Slovenia strongly supports France's idea on the creation of a Schengen Council to manage the passport-free zone of the EU, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said today. He said the initiative enjoyed quite a lot of support but that it would probably take some time before decisions on the functioning of the new body would be made.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been striving for a more political management of the Schengenzone following the example of the Eurozone. France proposes the setting up of the Schengen Council, which would inspect the situation in the Schengen zone a few times a year and in case of a crisis.

Slovenia supports this, Hojs said, noting that it had become evident in the cases of Afghanistan and Belarus how quick coordination of political decisions could enable efficient action at the operative level.

Hojs told reporters in Brussels via video call that countries mostly supported the setting up of such a council but that it would probably take some time before decisions are made on how the council would make decisions.

The French presidency is to set up the council on the sidelines of a meeting of EU interior ministers in March.

Controlling the external borders is one of the priorities of France, which believes this is necessary before the Schengen zone could be expanded to Croatia.

An important step in this process will also be the adoption of the migration pact.

Hojs said Slovenia did not want such conditions to be made, because it was not clear what the fate of the migration pact would be, while it would like Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen zone.

EU interior ministers discussed in Lille today fresh ideas for speeding up the overhaul of the Schengen zone and ensure a breakthrough with the adopting of the migration package in the face of developments related to Afghanistan and Belarus.

STA, 31 December 2021 - As the Slovenian EU presidency is about to end, Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Friday he considered the six-month stint a success. The project has been both a great challenge and tremendous opportunity, and a number of important steps have been achieved, he said.

The year that is drawing to a close has been special, as Slovenia celebrated 30 years of independence and was at the helm of the Council of the EU for the second time since joining the bloc, the prime minister said.

Above all, the presidency has been an opportunity for the country to show and prove to itself, as well as to others, that it has "the ideas, know-how and ambition to actively contribute to shaping Europe's present and future", he said in an address published by the Slovenian presidency on its website.

"We find that we have seized this opportunity. The presidency project has been a success," he said, adding that despite Covid-19 most of the planned events, including those at the highest level, had taken place in-person. "The organisation of the events was of a high standard and the guests left Slovenia with a positive impression," he added.

Janša pointed out that during the Slovenian presidency there had been numerous and significant steps achieved. "The priorities we set at the start of the presidency have proved to be well-thought-out, while we have also had to respond to many unforeseen crisis situations," he said.

The prime minister also noted that the presidency had been a team project. "We have proved that together we can do it," he told his colleagues, thanking them all for their efforts.

"May your pride and confidence in the successful completion of the project be a guiding light for the further development of our homeland and for Slovenia's sovereign position in the European Union and the world," he said.

Slovenia is wrapping up its second EU presidency today with France taking over tomorrow, on New Year's Day.

STA, 16 December 2021 - The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on fundamental rights and rule of law in Slovenia which expresses concern over deep polarisation in the country and calls on prominent public figures to engage in a respectful and civilised public debate. The resolution was carried by 356 votes, as 284 voted against and 40 abstained.

The resolution sets out 18 points, one of which expresses "deep concern about the level of public debate, climate of hostility, distrust and deep polarisation in Slovenia, which has eroded trust in public bodies and between them".

It underlines that prominent public figures and politicians, including members of the government, have to lead by example and need to ensure a respectful and civilised public debate, free from intimidation, attacks, slurs and harassment.

It expresses concern over amendments proposed by the Justice Ministry to the state prosecution act that would allow retroactive changes to the appointment criteria for prosecutors, and lead to the risk of the two newly appointed prosecutors from Slovenia delegated to the European Public Prosecutor's Office being dismissed.

The resolution also calls on the Slovenian government to guarantee the editorial independence of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) and cease all political interference and pressure on the editorial policy of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia.

The document had been tabled by four political groups in the European Parliament, the socialists (S&D), liberals (Renew), Greens and the Left. The largest group, the European People's Party (EPP), which is also the political family of Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, did not sign on.

Unofficial information indicates the EPP tried to have the resolution withdrawn from the agenda as two key issues that prompted it, the delays in the appointment of Slovenia's delegated prosecutors and the financing of the STA, have been resolved.

Sources have also provided unofficial information that the EPP had decided at a meeting on Wednesday to vote against. The majority of EPP deputies did in fact cast nay votes, but 33 abstained and one voted in favour.

Other nay votes came from the moderately eurosceptical European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the far-right Identity and Democrats (ID) and several independent MEPs.

Votes by Slovenian parliamentarians reflect their party affiliation as four S&D and Renew MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, three from the ranks of the EPP voted against and one EPP deputy abstained.

The Renew members, Irena Joveva and Klemen Grošelj, said in a joint statement that the resolution unfortunately placed Slovenia among countries such as Hungary and Poland "where the authorities have transformed democracy into authoritarianism."

"Nobody wants another member state whose authorities are undermining the EU's legal order," they said as they noted the parliament was well aware of the violations of rule of law and democratic norms in the country.

S&D MEP Tanja Fajon said the document was "not political but a statement of facts," whereas her fellow MEP Milan Brglez said it highlighted "open problems that we have in Slovenia." He expects the authorities to do everything to resolve all the issues pointed out in the resolution.

EPP members meanwhile argued the resolution was an attempt by the opposition to denigrate Slovenia on the European stage, an attempt that Romana Tomc said "utterly failed" since both principal claims against the government, concerning delegated prosecutors and the STA, had been resolved.

Milan Zver said the content of the resolution "does not interest anyone. Everyone understands that this is a domestic issue transposed onto the European floor."

According to Franc Bogovčič, the document is "substantively inconsistent and vacuous" since both main issues have been resolved, while the recommendations were "so general they might as well apply to multiple other member states."

The resolution is the latest in a series of European Parliament actions on Slovenia, following a debate on the state of democracy at a recent plenary and a debate on the Civil Liberties Committee.

In spring there was a debate on media freedom at a plenary, and in June the delays in the appointment of delegated prosecutors were on the agenda.

STA, 17 December 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša presented the results of Slovenia's six-month presidency of the EU Council after the summit in Brussels on Thursday. He noted it was the fourth presidency during the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing to the efforts to hold meetings in person, which contributed to successful closure of some difficult dossiers.

Janša, as is tradition, took part in a press conference together with the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, while also attending was French President Emanuel Macron, representing the next EU presiding country.

Council President Charles Michel thanked the Slovenian prime minister for the presidency and cooperation, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked Janša for the excellent cooperation and highlighted the "great successes of the presidency".

Macron, too, thanked Janša for cooperation and for important achievements in the field of health, digital dossiers and social affairs, and for his constant availability.

???? @JJansaSDS: Slovensko predsedstvo je bilo četrto predsedstvo Svetu EU v času Covid-19. Kljub temu smo se trudili, da je bila večina srečanj izvedenih fizično, kar je pripomoglo k temu, da smo uspešno zaključili dosjeje, ki so prej nekaj časa čakali na to priložnost. pic.twitter.com/2TNEE1lw3E

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) December 17, 2021

Janša noted the overall cooperation and thanked all participants in the outgoing EU Council presiding trio of Portugal, Germany and Slovenia.

The Slovenian prime minister said that a total of 21 trialogues with the European Parliament had been successfully completed, including on some difficult issues, expressing the hope that another one could be concluded by the end of the presidency.

There have been some unforeseen events, with Janša noting the migration crisis on the border with Belarus, withdrawal of the allied forces from Afghanistan, growing energy prices and tensions over the build-up of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border.

As strengthening resilience was an important priority of the presidency, Janša noted that the member states had adopted resolutions in November that had established strong foundations for further strengthening the resilience of the EU.

He also highlighted the December resolutions on food security, and major steps made in healthcare and digitalisation.

Janša noted the agreement on digital markets and services and the trialogue on the enhanced role of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the amendments to the regulation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Recovery was also an important priority, with 22 national recovery plans being approved during the Slovenian presidency, he said, expressing the expectation that the remaining five, including those of Poland and Hungary, would be approved as soon as possible.

Janša also noted the agreement on mobile roaming, the joint position for the Glasgow climate conference, the Conference on the Future of Europe, agreement on the key features of the European Sports Mode and decisions on Croatia's Schengen accession.

There has been no breakthroughs in negotiations on the new migration pact during the Slovenian presidency, though, but Janša said that this had not been expected.

The presidency has hoped that progress would be made regarding the EU fingerprint database (EURODAC), with Janša noting that there were many dilemmas related to this, so this would probably be a tough issue for the French presidency to resolve.

There will apparently be no progress in the EU accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania during the Slovenian presidency, either.

Nevertheless, Janša noted the "important signal of the EU-Western Balkans summit" in Brdo pri Kranju in October regarding the membership prospects of the countries in the region and the importance of the enlargement resolutions adopted on Tuesday.

Janša gives Macron Elan skis as Slovenia hands presidency over to France

STA, 17 December 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša gifted on Thursday folding touring skis produced by Slovenia's Elan to French President Emanuel Macron as Slovenia symbolically handed over the EU Council presidency to France.

The Ibex Tactix Carbon Ion 12 skis is a "top technological innovation from Elan, a global manufacturer and supplier of sports equipment that is committed to advanced design through advanced technologies", the government said.

Macron was also presented with folding ski poles along with the skis, the government said on Twitter, attaching a photo of Janša and Macron chatting.

The two leaders met as the regular December EU summit was held in Brussels yesterday, the last during Slovenia's six-month presidency of the EU Council, with France taking over for its half-year stint in January.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 10 December 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Doctors in Slovenia

STA, 10 December 2021 - Under the headline Doctors, Mladina's latest commentary looks at the lack of respect in Slovenia's society, especially of doctors, analysing their calls for changes to the payment system in healthcare and suggesting that they are being exploited by power-hungry elites who want more privatisation.

Mladina's commentary begins by noting the lack of respect and understanding in Slovenia's society, which is being felt by all people, not only doctors, who recently complained about that and about being overworked, while they advocated for better salaries.

"Doctors are finding it difficult to convince the public of the legitimacy of their claims. Their incomes are simply so high that it is hard for citizens to understand these demands. Why can they no longer convince us?" Mladina asks.

"The first problem is the excess income of individual doctors," says the weekly and points to the doctors who exploit the public healthcare system to supplement their incomes with private-sector practices.

"Of course, this impression is largely unfair to the majority of doctors: most have not usurped the public system in order to shamelessly exploit it, the vast majority are actually working hard."

But although it might seem like it, these doctors are not fighting for the public healthcare payment system, Mladina says, adding that their hardships will actually be exploited to justify further privatisation of healthcare and raising the highest salaries.

"All of this is obscene in the eyes of citizens - but that does not make the frustrations and hardships of doctors any less real, while this situation only suits those holding power in the medical ranks, as they slowly grab hold of the system piece by piece."

"The public has so far always shown that it wants to take the doctors' side, but they can no longer look the other way if they want public support. The battles against these anomalies are also their battles, which they have been avoiding thus far," concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Inclusive language guidelines

STA, 9 December 2021 - Demokracija says in its latest editorial that it is completely irrelevant whether the European Commission has pulled the internal guidelines on inclusive language temporarily or fully, as the fact is that something like that should have never been proposed in the first place.

"Europe has not seen such an attack on Christianity since 1991, when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the disgraceful recommendation - Contribution of the Islamic civilisation to European culture," the weekly says.

Pointing to the document presented by Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, Demokracija says that "these are no guidelines, but a pamphlet of a political agenda aimed at forcibly suppressing and destroying all the traditional and fundamental values of Europe".

Labelling Europe as the "most wonderful civilisation of all time", the weekly says that making interventions "in this reality and trying to erase history can only be the work of evil people".

Demokracija believes that the withdrawal of the guidelines is really only temporary and strategic, as "sooner or later they will push them through somewhere" in opposition not only to the Christian nature, but human nature in general.

"Dalli has repeatedly made it clear that she is the enemy of indigenous European nations, the heterosexual family and Christianity," the weekly adds under the headline Have a Nice Trip to the Pinkish Farout.

The reaction to the opposition to the guidelines was expected: reactionary, conservative and far-right forces are at work, the weekly says, while arguing that it was actually people with common sense who have raised their voice.

These people do not want to experiment with God's creations and traditional values, but the progressives have taken the familiar position that argues that the discourse of the former is violent and hostile.

"Normal Europeans, what is left of them, should now finally wake up and, despite their fatigue, stop allowing the madness in Brussels to continue to grow. It has all gone too far," concludes the commentary.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 10 December 2021 - Slovenia could have left a better impression during its EU presidency - while work has been good at technical level, political divisions and the government's action about the European delegated prosecutors (EDP) and the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has cast the country in a poor light, three of Slovenia's eight MEPs said on Friday.

Franc Bogovič (EPP), Tanja Fajon (S&D) and Ljudmila Novak (EPP) took part in the Coffee with MEPs talk in Brussels, which focused on Slovenia's EU presidency.

As most critical of the three, Fajon said the presidency has been largely a missed opportunity while admitting that work at technical level in Brussels has been good.

Fajon, a member of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), believes too much focus was on the rule of law in Slovenia, which has cast a shadow on the presidency.

Novak, a member of the coalition New Slovenia (NSi), regrets the image the government projected with its action regarding the EDP and STA has been more seen that the good and intensive work and the progress made.

She highlighted among the presidency's achievements the agreement reached on the minimum wage, saying it was a very tough issue and nobody had expected a breakthrough.

Bogovič stressed the excellent work of many Slovenian representatives while criticising Fajon and some other Slovenian MEPs, including Klemen Grošelj (Renew), for what he said was exporting internal political topics to the European Parliament.

"Our internal divisions will not be solved by European newspapers, but by us," said Bogovič, a member of the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS).

The MEPs also touched on some other topics, including the Western Balkans and EU enlargement, foremost North Macedonia and Albania.

Fajon regretted there has been no breakthrough for accession talks with the two countries to be launched, but admitted the Slovenian presidency could not be blamed for it.

All three MEPs also commented on a resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia that has been submitted to the European Parliament by the Social-Democrats, Liberals, Greens and the Left and on which the MEPs will vote in Thursday.

Fajon said the document is very critical, Novak said the EPP had tried very hard for it to be balanced, while Bogovič said it does not treat Slovenia negatively because it says that the fundamental mechanisms of the rule of law work and that there are no such flaws as there are in Poland and Hungary, or in Malta and Slovakia, where journalists are being killed.

STA, 10 December - Fifteen EU member states have pledged to provide for the resettlement and protection of nearly 40,000 Afghans, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced on Twitter. Slovenia is not among the countries included in this scheme, the Interior Ministry told the STA.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday evening, Johansson said that it was a remarkable act of solidarity by EU member states to welcome 40,000 Afghans as part of a resettlement and evacuation scheme.

The Netherlands, Spain and France are mentioned among the participating countries, while Slovenia is not among them. According to the Interior Ministry, "Slovenia has not made a commitment in this scheme".

In October, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on EU member states to take in half of the 85,000 Afghans, who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, under a resettlement scheme over the next five years.

At the time, EU Commissioner Johansson considered the target feasible, but added that it was up to the member states to decide for themselves how many people they would take in under the resettlement scheme.

In Afghanistan, where the Taliban took over in the summer after the withdrawal of US and other foreign military forces, half of the population is in need of humanitarian aid.

The risk of famine and a complete collapse of the economy is high, there is no money, food prices are rising and the health system is weak, Johansson outlined the situation.

STA, 7 December - One should wait for a more detailed analysis of the situation in Slovenia regarding the prosecution of crimes against the EU's financial interests, the bloc's chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi has told the STA. However, given the statistics so far, she has zero doubts that the country's European delegated prosecutors (EDP) will be "very busy".

Slovenia's two delegated prosecutors Tanja Frank Eler and Matej Oštir assumed their offices on 1 December, hence the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has been launched in the country after a months-long delay in the appointment procedure.

It is too early to give any assessment of the current situation, but the EU's chief prosecutor told the STA on Monday that she had no doubts the office will launch investigations in Slovenia.

As concrete investigations get under way, it will become clear how the police and other law enforcement authorities work and how ready they are to cooperate with the EPPO.

The EU's recovery fund will bring more money, "more flexibility, less rules", meaning higher risks to see more crimes against the EU's budget, she said, noting that the level of detection of such crimes should be stepped up. Slovenia is not alone when it comes to having a detection system that should be improved.

Slovenia's State Prosecutor General Drago Šketa told Monday's joint press conference with Kovesi that there are 20-30 investigations currently open in the country. The cases will now be transferred to the EPPO office in Ljubljana.

On top of these investigations, delegated prosecutors Frank Eler and Oštir will also help out their colleagues in other EPPO member states in cross-border investigations involving Slovenia. "They will be very busy," Kovesi said.

Commenting on the delay in appointing the Slovenian delegated prosecutors, the EPPO head said: "It was a huge problem because we couldn't investigate cases from Slovenia." This also affected the cross-border investigations, she added.

"This was a big problem in the entire architecture put in place by the EU to protect the European money because it was a gap in the EPPO zone."

Kovesi reiterated what she already said at the online press conference on the occasion of her visit to Slovenia - that the appointment of Frank Eler and Oštir is final.

"According to the EPPO regulation, no member state can dismiss European delegated prosecutors because they would like to appoint different ones. They are appointed for five years. This is the end of the story."

Commenting on the government-sponsored changes to the public prosecution legislation that would enable the government to recall delegated prosecutors and give it a greater say in their appointment procedure, Kovesi insisted that "no national legislation can contradict the EPPO regulation".

"The EPPO regulation and EU legislation have priority over any national law; this is the rule." If there is a provision that is in breach of the regulation, the EPPO informs the European Commission of this. They already did this in relation to some provisions in other member states, she said.

The terms of delegated prosecutors are renewable and the EPPO college can appoint them for another five years, she added.

The regulation does not set down how the EPPO members should nominate their EDP candidates, and the methods vary according to the participating countries, but all their justice ministers were urged to make sure the procedures are transparent and based on an open call, including Slovenia's former Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič.

So far, Kovesi has not had an official meeting with the country's current Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič.

Asked about reasons for not meeting him today, she said: "I did not ask for a meeting, I came here to talk with the prosecutors about the problems we have in the EPPO and challenges. I don't have anything to discuss with the minister of justice at this moment. Maybe in the future we will have something to discuss."

She also highlighted the points made at the news conference about the importance of judicial independence, noting that any attempts against judiciary are an attempt against the rule of law.

If there are attempts to undermine the independence of prosecutors, they should stand up, she said, adding that "they are not alone" as the EPPO is also an independent body. "If you are not independent, you cannot be efficient," she said.

STA, 6 December 2021 - Paying a visit to Ljubljana, European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi said on Monday that no one could dismiss European delegated prosecutors without the consent of the EU's chief prosecutor. She drew attention to pressure on Slovenian prosecutors, telling them: "Stay vigilant, speak up, you are not alone." 

Slovenia's two delegated prosecutors Tanja Frank Eler and Matej Oštir have been appointed for fully-fledged five-year terms, starting with 1 December, she highlighted at an online news conference.

She said that for the first six months since the European Public Prosecutor's Office's (EPPO) launch, "Slovenia was a member of the EPPO zone only on paper". "This delay did not only affect possible criminal investigations in Slovenia, but also all the cross-border investigations the EPPO initiated in other participating member states involving Slovenia."

The EPPO head warned about pressure on Slovenia's judiciary, stressing the importance of an independent judicial branch. "Only an independent judiciary can enforce the law equally for everybody," she said.

"I was very impressed by the courage and determination of Slovenian judges and prosecutors, including our new colleagues, to safeguard judicial independence." She also urged her colleagues in Slovenia to "stay vigilant, speak up", telling them they were not alone in these efforts.

"I was not born yesterday. I have experienced all sorts of attacks, intimidation and tricks to reduce the independence of judiciary," Kovesi said, noting that judicial independence can be chipped away through small steps such as funding cuts and legislative changes.

EPPO prosecutors are "independent from any national authorities, but they are in the same boat as national prosecutors". Whatever affects the latter also has an impact on the former, she added, referring to such changes or cuts.

The Slovenian government has recently proposed changes to public prosecution legislation that would enable it to recall delegated prosecutors and give it a greater say in their appointment procedure.

Kovesi said that any changes in the national legislation that affect the EPPO would be monitored by the office and the European Commission would be notified if the changes go against the EPPO regulations. A procedure may then be launched against the country in question.

She underlined, however, that EPPO prosecutors are appointed by the EPPO college, and without the consent of the EU's chief prosecutor no one can dismiss them.

The national authorities have started to transfer to the EPPO all the on-going investigations falling under its remit. So far, some 2,500 criminal reports have been processed and more than 500 criminal investigations have been launched for an estimated damage of some EUR 5 billion to the EU budget, she told the press.

According to Slovenia's State Prosecutor General Drago Šketa, there are 20-30 investigations currently open in the country.

Kovesi is happy that the EPPO office in Ljubljana has been finally launched, noting that the office is not a foreign institution. Delegated prosecutors have the same powers as their national counterparts and they bring their cases to trial in front of national courts, she added.

Šketa also welcomed the fact that the EPPO is now operational in Slovenia. "I'm convinced that the work of this new European institution will have extremely positive effects in the long term. State borders should not be a bigger obstacle for prosecution authorities than for offenders," he told the press conference.

Responding to the government's public prosecution bill, State Prosecutorial Council head Tamara Gregorčič again stressed the importance of prosecutors' independence.

The council strongly opposes the proposed changes which would interfere with the constitutionally guaranteed independence of public prosecutors and allow pressure to be exerted on their appointments or work, she reiterated.