STA, 21 July 2021 - The Administrative Court has granted the STA's request to stay the implementation of the regulation adopted by the government in June that introduces detailed rules governing the public service provided by the STA and its financing, which the STA is challenging on the grounds of its being unlawful.

While the court is yet to decide substantively on the suit brought by the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), it decided to suspend its implementation pending a final decision arguing the arguments and documents presented by the STA indicate the likelihood of the agency sustaining damage that would be hard to repair if the challenged regulation was enforced.

The court notes that in arguing its case the STA has proved it has not received any payment for the public service this year from the government as defendant, where the Government Communication Office (UKOM) argues the reason for non-payment is that it has not signed any agreement with the plaintiff and has thus assumed no liability for payment.

The court also accepted as valid the agency's argument that the government or UKOM on its behalf is trying to force the agency into singing an agreement based on the regulation it is challenging with the threat of continued non-financing.

Since appropriate financing of the public service is essential for the agency to continue as a going concern, the court upheld the STA's argument that with the enforcement of the regulation the agency would sustain hard to repair damage.

The court established that with revenue from commercial services alone, the STA cannot cover even labour expenses, let alone other expenses, which could lead to its insolvency and ultimately to bankruptcy.

The court notes that STA financing is regulated in Article 20 of the STA act, thus the government as the defendant cannot invoke the challenged regulation as a means by which it would authorize UKOM to provide financing to the STA or that potential suspension of the regulation would stay all procedures as UKOM's powers would cease.

In response to the government's argument that the STA's existence is no longer jeopardised after the STA sold its claims against the founder, the court says only one monthly claim from May 2021 has been sold, which given the agency's dire financial state does not yet mean it is not facing the threat of hard to repair damage.

STA director Bojan Veselinovič hailed the court's decision as "yet another confirmation by the judicial branch of power that the government should have financed us long ago, an obligation imposed on it by 7th Covid relief act".

The act stipulates that the government provide financing to the STA this year in accordance with the agency's business plan regardless of whether an agreement has been signed or not.

"Nevertheless, the STA has been negotiating on its content, but not in ill faith like UKOM, which has drawn up a wording of the agreement without taking into consideration any of our key remarks. It was sent to us on Tuesday afternoon with an ultimatum for us to sign it by today, which suggests that the plaintiff may have been notified of the court's decision by then," said Veselinovič.

Since the proposed agreement was based on a regulation that was now stayed, the STA management will in a formal response to UKOM today call for financing to be provided immediately in line with the law.

Veselinovič said that the STA will also demand of UKOM to pay the promised advance even before the resumption of new talks, without setting any conditions, saying the agency's future is at stake.

The STA has notified the European Commission and international public on the latest developments.

Responding to the court's decision, UKOM rejected Veselinovič's claim that the STA's remarks had not been taken into account, arguing that several remarks had been included in the agreement.

It also said the STA continued to flaunt its public service obligation by refusing to let any media use content published as part of the public service, which is "a clear violation of the law".

The STA has argued in the negotiations that its public service license does not amount to other media being able to simply republish content without payment, it merely meant certain content was not paywalled.

According to UKOM, the proposed agreement would have released funding, but this is not possible now, which is why it has had to reject the request for payment of the public service fee for June.

A new agreement can be signed once it is "adjusted to the new circumstances" and assuming the STA recognises UKOM as the representative of the founder, it said.

Before the government regulation was adopted, UKOM was not explicitly named as the government entity responsible for the STA, a point invoked by the STA in its refusal to hand over the documentation UKOM had requested. Once the regulation named UKOM as the entity responsible, it received the requested documentation.

STA, 20 July 2021 - Presenting the 2021 Rule of Law Report, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova and Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders called on the Slovenian authorities on Tuesday to ensure a stable financing of the STA. Reynders pointed to potential measures in the wake of Slovenia's non-appointment of European delegated prosecutors come autumn.

Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Jourova noted that she had openly criticised the precarious funding of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) on a number of occasions. The STA provides public service and in line with Slovenian law such service should receive a stable financing so that journalists could do their work, she said.

The Commission is closely monitoring the situation. "We expect the Slovenian authorities will resume a stable financing," she told the press conference.

Jourova also commented on the recent campaign raising donations for the STA, saying that she liked the project, but as commissioner she also needed to stress that such a solution was not systemic and was as such unwelcome.

She said that the Commission's swift response in April to approve EUR 2.5 million in state aid to the STA, based on Slovenia's notification of these funds, showed Brussels believed it was key to provide sufficient funding for the agency.

Commissioner for Justice Reynders also highlighted the importance of a stable STA financing. According to him, the Commission insisted that the agency receive appropriate funding when it visited Slovenia at the start of the country's EU presidency.

Reynders again urged Slovenia to appoint its two European delegated prosecutors as soon as possible. If this will not happen, he will decide on measures post summer, he said.

The second Rule of Law Report raises concerns over Slovenia's failure to appoint prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor's Office as well as over "unjustified delay" in appointing state prosecutors.

The Commission also voiced concern in the report about the deteriorating situation of media freedom and pluralism in Slovenia, warning about "online harassment of and threats against journalists" and lawsuits aimed at intimidating journalists.

Responding to the release of the report, European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, who comes from Slovenia, told the STA that the Commission's main message in the report was to highlight serious concerns about the rule of law in Slovenia, particularly when it comes to the independence of prosecutors and media.

He highlighted the urgency of ensuring the STA's independence. "This is about two things - financing and preserving independence," he said, noting that the Commission was also clear in letting the Slovenian authorities know that the financing of the STA hence could not be subject to reducing its autonomy.

Asked why the report uses relatively mild warnings in the case of the STA funding given that the Commission has been known to voice concerns about the situation in a more direct manner, Lenarčič said that the report was straightforward in stating there is no funding for the agency even though it is required by law.

The report is mostly seen as a set of early-stage warnings, but if the situation in individual member states does not improve, the Commission has several mechanisms at its disposal to take action, he said.

Responding on Twitter, Prime Minister Janez Janša described Lenarčič's comments as political, adding that he had joined some individuals within the Commission who were trying to set conditions for EU recovery funds for Slovenia. "Luckily he remained a minority. It's the first known example of a commissioner trying to harm his own country directly," Janša tweeted.

STA, 5 July 2021 - The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a coalition of press freedom organisations and journalism groups, stressed on Monday that media freedom was at risk in Slovenia. Attacks on Slovenian media take place at multiple levels, both legislative and administrative, and on social networks, the group said.

Presenting its report released at the end of last month after a virtual fact-finding mission to Slovenia in late May and early June, representatives of MFRR partner organisations highlighted government attacks on the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) and public broadcaster RTV Slovenija today.

With the report noting that Slovenia has seen press freedom deteriorate ever since Prime Minister Janez Janša returned to power in March 2020, MFRR representatives said today that aggressive efforts were under way to take control over public media.

A mix of legal and administrative pressure is being used as well as attacks, often personal, aimed at undermining the integrity and independence of these institutions. "What is worrying is that this is happening during the pandemic, when objective reporting is crucial," said Jamie Wiseman from the International Press Institute (IPI).

Tim Schoot Uiterkamp from foundation Free Press Unlimited (FPU) said that during the mission in Slovenia representatives of the Slovenian government had mostly justified their actions by arguing that the media landscape needed to be balanced and that a network of fierce government opponents controlled the media.

Government officials also pointed to the problems that existed before this government. Schoot Uiterkamp said that problems from that period had been detected but that the current government had used those weaknesses and deepened them rather than trying to eliminate them.

MFRR representatives warned that the Slovenian government was copying the illiberal model of democracy from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and that the ruling Democrats (SDS) had set up a network of party media before taking office, and now they were discrediting media and journalists and trying to present the media landscape as a battle between the left and right activism to undermine trust in the media.

"We are concerned by the spreading of this model," said Schoot Uiterkamp, adding though that not everything was lost in Slovenia's case.

What is positive in Slovenia is that media and the civil society have recognised the threat and shown some solidarity. The stronger and the more independent the public media outlets are, the easier they can resist to such pressure, said Renate Schroeder, the head of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).

Schoot Uiterkamp urged Slovenian journalists to remain alert, continue to show solidarity with their peers and continue to resist pressure, as this was what differentiates Slovenia from Hungary and Poland, where no such resistance could be felt.

He also called on European institutions to monitor the situation closely and respond to developments in Slovenia, and to adopt as soon as possible a directive against strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP).

He said Brussels should also launch a mechanism of withholding EU budget payments to countries where governments bend the rule of law.

Laurens Hueting from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) assessed that at present there was no need to launch the procedure foreseen under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union and expressed hope that this would never be necessary.

You can see the full report here (PDF)

STA, 28 June 2021 - The government has asked its communication office to transfer a EUR 845,000 advance to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) for the expected expenses related to the performance of public service once the STA provides UKOM with access into business documentation for the last ten years and if a contract on public service is signed.

The advance must be transferred within three days following the day the STA director allows authorised persons of the Government Communication Office (UKOM) to access the documentation and if the contract for 2021 is signed by then.

The proposals from the government as the sole founder and shareholder of the national press agency were confirmed at the annual general meeting today.

STA director Bojan Veselinovič is obligated to allow authorised representatives of UKOM immediate access to data and information about the internal organisational and accounting and financial structure of business processes and access to the entire documentation on financial operations since 28 June 2011.

On the other hand, with the purpose of "ensuring comprehensive and undisrupted performance of public service", the government asked UKOM director Uroš Urbanija to transfer to the STA a EUR 845,000 advance for the expected expenses related to the performance of public service.

Another condition is that the STA sign by then with UKOM director a contract for the performance of public service for 2021 and provides public availability of the content on the website that corresponds to the public service from the relevant legal act.

The final and overall amount of compensation for the performance of public service since 1 January will be established by UKOM in accordance with the relevant regulation that has been recently adopted.

The government also instructed Veselinovič to withdraw within 48 hours the lawsuit seeking payment for the public service from UKOM at the Ljubljana District Court, and to report about this to UKOM.

In a press release issued after the meeting, UKOM said it was the government's duty to see to efficient use of the taxpayers' money, while the agency's duty was to use the money as efficiently as possible and to keep the government comprehensively up to date on the spending.

UKOM finds that most of the STA's online content is only available to subscribers and free access is only available to short news ledes, so most of the public exert their right to being informed by reading the web portals of other providers, which provide full summaries of news reports for free as they pay for the commercial services provided by the STA.

The release sad the government pegged the financing of the public service to the scope of the public service performed under the STA business plan in order to expand the scope of the public service provided.

"If the government provided the fee for the public service in advance as so far, it would renounce the only mechanism allowing it to check to what extent the STA business plan has in fact been implemented, nor could it encourage the STA to its increased implementation," UKOM said.

UKOM says it hopes the STA management and supervisory board would realise the STA's mission is to strengthen the public service rather than increase commercial activities. The government detailed such mode of financing in the decree on the STA public service, which had to be aligned with EU law.

UKOM also "condemned in the strongest terms" as misleading the STA management's interpreting the government's demand to report on the use of the taxpayers' money as the government's interference in editorial policy.

Veselinovič welcomed the "government's announcement that it will supposedly end the suspension of financing of the STA", saying the STA would have sent all business information and documents to UKOM long ago had it demanded it in a legal way.

He said that it was only at today's shareholders meeting that the government had legally authorised UKOM to gain insight into the STA documentation, although the documentation had been in the government building since April.

"Once UKOM tells us what information about the operations of the STA in the past decade it wants and in what way, the STA will send it. We have no problems whatsoever with this, as the STA operates transparently and it is scrutinised by authorised auditors."

As for the new contract, Veselinovič said that the law "stipulates financing of the STA in accordance with the adopted business plan for this year regardless of whether a contract has been signed or not."

Regarding the call on the director to withdraw the lawsuit seeking payment for the public service from UKOM, he said that the STA management would consult legal experts about this.

After the STA receives the 845,000 advance, it will withdraw the proposal for the court to order UKOM to make due payments for public service before the final decision is made, because the liquidity of the agency will no longer be at risk, he added.

The Association of Slovenian Journalists (DNS) repeated that the government has a duty under two pieces of legislation to pay the STA for the public service, describing additional conditions that are being set for the financing and which would increase the UKOM director's control over the STA's operations as extortion.

"The government must be aware it is overstepping its legal powers, but counts on it that being in a financial pinch, the STA will be forced to consent to its terms," the DNS said, adding it would follow the developments further.

The STA has been without government payment for its public service for 179 days.

STA, 20 June 2021 - The Slovenian Press Agency (STA) will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a ceremony in front of its headquarters in Ljubljana on Sunday to mark the day 30 years ago when it published its first news article.

The STA was entered in the national register of companies on 3 June 1991, and started operating on 20 June 1991, a few days ahead of the official declaration of Slovenia's independence.

On this day 30 years ago, the national news agency published its first news article in Slovenian and English in a bid to form a channel of communication with the domestic and foreign public.

Since its humble and difficult beginnings during the Slovenian war of independence, the STA has developed into a modern media service that provides text articles, audio clips, photographs, livestreams and several other types of content.

Employing more than 80 journalists, photographers and other staff, the STA publishes more than 350 news items in Slovenian and English daily.

In the 30 years of its existence, the agency has published more than 2.5 million news items and other pieces of text content in Slovenia and more than 270,000 in English, around a million photographs and more than 130,000 audio recordings.

The anniversary comes at a difficult time as the agency has not been paid by the government for the public service it provides for more than 170 days and is on the verge of insolvency.

Jumping in to help was the Slovenian Journalist Association (DNS), which launched a donation campaign in May as part of which more than a quarter million euro has been raised for the agency.

The association has also proposed that President Borut Pahor decorate the STA on the anniversary, which the president responding affirmatively. The agency will thus receive the Order of Merit at Presidential Palace on Wednesday.