STA, 17 June 2021 - The government has introduced a new restriction for public rallies and events featuring more than 100 participants. In line with the decision adopted on Thursday, participants of such events will need to be vaccinated, tested or reconvalescent [ed. having recovered from COVID] as of next Monday.

The new rule will be in force until 27 June, the Government Communication Office said after today's government session.

Proof of vaccination, negative test result or reconvalescence issued in EU countries, the Schengen zone, Australia, Israel, Canada, New Zealand, Russia, the UK and the US will be accepted.

Persons under 18 years old who attend the event with close family members, caretakers, school or any other institution will be exempt from the rule.

The general restrictions for outdoor events remain one person (or more from the same household) per 10 square metres, and at least 1.5-metre distance between participants if they are not from the same household. For indoor events, face masks are obligatory.

Private gatherings of more than 50 people are still not allowed, except for close family members and if safety measures are adhered to.

Meanwhile, the government increased the number of persons allowed to gather for religious purposes to up to 100 with adherence to all safety measures.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 4 June 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Govt abused epidemic for political, economic goals

STA, 4 June 2021 – Mladina, the left-wing weekly, says in its latest editorial that the excessive number of Covid-19 deaths in Slovenia is the responsibility of the government as it has acted as if it knows everything, while taking advantage of the epidemic as a state of emergency in order to achieve its political and economic goals.

"It was quickly clear to residents of this country that, despite the high-flying words and a lot of talk, it was not about as few people as possible getting infected and dying," the weekly says under the headline 4,265 Slovenian Flags.

The title refers to the small flags set up by the youth wing of the opposition Social Democrats (SD) in Tivoli Park in Ljubljana to commemorate as many victims of Covid-19 in Slovenia.

All this is the reason why the current government is so unpopular, and its latest great defeat is vaccination, and young people are now getting vaccinated because the "government's conduct and authoritarian governance has deterred many people from getting vaccinated."

Vaccination is a matter of trust and by expanding the age groups for vaccination, the government is trying to conceal the poor results when it comes to vaccination rates by all age groups, Mladina says.

"The government has not implemented any serious vaccination campaign, and the current campaign is carried out by friends of the leaderships of the coalition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi)."

They do not understand that this is not a campaign for Twitter, but hard work in which people who are away from the information flow need to be addressed, the weekly adds.

There is also some more bad news, as Slovenia should be gearing up for the autumn, when a new outbreak of the epidemic is expected. Hospital capacities should start to be expanded right away and new stimulus packages should be in the making.

"Last summer the virus disappeared, so to say. The government did practically nothing over the summer, it behaved arrogantly and rejected good-willed warnings - even at the end of August, when it was completely clear what was coming."

This "nothing" could be seen this week in the form of Slovenian flags in Tivoli Park, concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Centre-left turning into narcissistic exhibitionists

STA, 3 June 2021 - It is bizarre that trade unions have joined leftist activists and organisations in the streets while the centre-right government is adopting a tax reform that will bring higher pay for all workers, the right-wing weekly Demokracija says in Thursday's editorial in reference to Friday's anti-government rally in Ljubljana.

"It has once again become obvious that Slovenian trade union associations are a political appendix of leftist political parties and that socialist ideas thrive only where workers are kept at the brink of survival."

But if various leftist activists and their rioting in the streets can somehow be understood, the leftist parties' exaggerated insistence on toppling the government defies common sense, says the weekly.

While noting that every political group aims to come to power to implement its political agenda, "the problem" is that the four centre-left political parties think that only they can be in power and that only their view of the world is legitimate and "normal".

Demokracija advises them that in order to push for their political agenda, they should first win an election, adding they had a chance to be in power but Prime Minister Marjan Šarec "chickened out" and the centre-left coalition collapsed more than a year ago.

The weekly says they should take a deep breath and wait for the election to get a new opportunity, adding that all their attempts to undermine the government and the prime minister with interpellation and impeachment motions have failed.

"If you can count, the Janez Janša government has quite enough votes in parliament. And your 'sniper' search for opponents is childish, your invention of bad things and manipulation is a sign of hopelessness and sick malice," Demokracija adds, saying they are turning into "narcissistic exhibitionists".

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 28 May 2021 - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Ljubljana on Friday protesting against the government's actions and calling for an early election. The rally included various groups and movements and was supported by trade unions and part of the opposition. PM Janez Janša said spreading Covid-19 with unregistered mass rallies was a crime.

A mass of protesters first filled Prešeren Square and then marched in the streets of the capital. The initial plan was to arrive in Republic Square in front of the parliament, but the police rerouted the unregistered rally, so the protesters gathered at an intersection of Celovška, Tivolska, Bleiweisova and Gosposvetska streets, where speeches were delivered and musical performances staged.

In pictures: Tens of thousands Slovenians protest in capital Ljubljana to demand resignation of conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa in the biggest protest the country has seen in years pic.twitter.com/9a67cLHwZq

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) May 28, 2021

Representatives of the country's main trade union associations, the Friday bicycle protest movement, NGOs and people from the academic and cultural circles addressed the rally to criticise what they see as problematic measures and laws by the government, highlight a lack of social dialogue and stress the need for an early election.

Lidija Jerkič, the head of the ZSSS confederation, and Branimir Štrukelj, the head of the KSJS association of public sector trade unions, said they had to participate in the protests because social dialogue had been extinguished by the government. Štrukelj also said the KSJS rejected repression against the media, expressing solidarity with the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

Oto Luthar, the head of the ZRC SAZU research centre, warned that freedom, democracy, the legal system as well as solidarity were at risk. Tea Jarc, the head of the Mladi Plus youth trade union, noted that the resistance was not emerging only in Ljubljana but across Slovenia. She thinks Janša is afraid of the Slovenian people because he is aware of low public support for his government and the fact that he no longer has the majority in parliament.

The protest has been dubbed Pan-Slovenian Uprising for Early Election by the bicycle protesters, who said ahead of the rally that Slovenia's reputation was tarnished every day. The movement believes that a great majority of Slovenians is unhappy with the government's work and the state of democracy in the country.

Some of the opposition parties have announced their support for the protest with the Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ) and the Left announcing they would join in. The Left has also protested over a police panel that has been erected around Republic Square.

The SocDems said it was best to be silent today and listen to the people. The party also supported the protests, urging for peaceful demonstrations. The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) said it supported peaceful protests, noting that today's rally should remain the protest of civil society.

Coalition New Slovenia (NSi) MP Iva Dimic was meanwhile critical of the parties' involvement in the protest, saying that the political parties' arena for expressing opinions was parliament and not the streets. She added that peaceful protests were part of the democracy.

The police presence was boosted during the rally and movement in the vicinity of government and parliament buildings restricted. The area was placed under video surveillance. The Health Inspectorate joined the police in enforcing coronavirus restrictions and measures.

Ahead of the rally, the protest movement called for peaceful demonstrations and urged the police to allow the protesters to exercise their rights to peaceful assembly and protest without using excessive force.

Amnesty International Slovenia and the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy monitored the protests to detect any potential violations of these rights. Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina visited the Ljubljana police operational-communications centre to review the police work at the protests. His office added that if need be, he would also visit the detention centre.

Accusing police of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators at the protest a week ago, the protest movement had filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution and called on Svetina to look into alleged violations, which the police had denied.

The Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS) visited the SOVA intelligence agency and General Police Administration today to make sure that the police and SOVA are acting in line with their competences when it comes to protests, said the commission's chair Matjaž Nemec of the opposition SocDems.

Janša meanwhile said on Twitter that spreading Covid-19 with mass unregistered gatherings was a crime as there were more than 300 infections confirmed a day and the protest was held in a region with the third worst Covid status in the country.

He added that freedom of expression and the right to assembly were constitutional rights, however they could be restricted by law under the constitution. He also took a jab at the centre-left opposition, saying they could have waited for a month longer to protest at the end of the epidemic, but instead they were jeopardising a return to normal.

STA, 28 May 2021 - Large anti-government protests are planned in Ljubljana on Friday after a series of groups and movements, including trade unions and opposition parties, have announced they will join in.

The rally was first announced by the movement behind Friday's bicycle protests a week ago when they issued an ultimatum to the government to resign or face a mass "uprising" to push for a snap election.

The country's five main trade union associations were among those who have announced they will take part, which they say is in protest at the government violating social dialogue.

Attendance has also been announced by students, pensioners, people from the academic and cultural circles, musicians, artists, environmental NGOs and marginalised groups.

The centre-left opposition parties LMŠ, Social Democrats and the Left are also planning to join in after their motion to impeach PM Janez Janša was voted down in parliament earlier this week.

Announcing the rally a week ago, the bicycle protesters said it would be bigger than the one staged on 27 April, which by police estimates was attended some 10,000 people.

The rally has not been registered, so security will be provided by police, who urged the public to follow their orders.

Police Inspector Boštjan Skrbinšek Javornik has said movement in the vicinity of government and parliament building will be restricted and the area will be under video surveillance.

Health inspectors will join the police in enforcing coronavirus restrictions and measures.

The protest movement accused police of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators at the protest a week ago when anti-government demonstrations merged with a pro-Palestinian rally.

The movement filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution and called on the human rights ombudsman to look into alleged violations, including police targeting particular protesters, which the police has denied.

STA, 26 May 2021 - Several NGOs have warned that police identified and fined mostly foreigners ahead of and during last week's protests in Ljubljana, which they see as inadmissible ethical profiling. The Human Rights Ombudsman is investigating the matter.

The Slovenian Philanthropy, Amnesty International Slovenia and the Peace Institute stressed the right to protest, in particular for the Palestinian community in Slovenia, which they said was violated last Friday.

"The European Court of Human Rights says the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental right in a democratic society and just like the freedom of expression it is one of the foundations of such a society.

"But rather than honouring this right the Slovenian police tried to physically remove peaceful protesters ... and issued a number of fines," the NGOs wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

They said that fines had been issued to people with "different traumatic and tragic stories", who have come a long way to reach safety, who have seen their relatives, friends, acquaintances injured or killed, and whose homes have been destroyed.

The NGOs called on police to stop persecuting and physically harassing protesters.

The latest weekly cycling protest, held last Friday in Ljubljana city centre, coincided with an event staged by a movement for the Slovenian Palestinian community with many of the protesters carrying Palestinian flags.

At the event, Palestinians shared their stories, calling for freedom for Palestine and condemning actions by Israel as "genocide". They also protested against the Israeli flag being raised on the Slovenian government building.

Access to the government building was blocked by the police. There were also pushing and altercation between the protesters and the police and two protesters were apprehended to be identified and later released.

STA, 21 May 2021 - Friday's anti-government protesters gave the government a week to resign or face a massive "uprising" to push for an early election next Friday. The ultimatum was issued as the latest weekly cycling protest coincided with an event staged by a movement for the Slovenian Palestinian community with many of the protesters waving Palestinian flags.

According to a report by the news portal www.rtvslo.si, the protest, converging on the square in front of the parliament building, drew a crowd of a few hundred by unofficial estimates.

The protesters announced that unless the government resigned, the protest on 28 May would be even more massive than the one staged on 27 April, which by police estimates was attended some 10,000 people.

"It's time for an early election! It's time to stop that train speeding into an abyss even before we start presiding the EU," reads the call issued by the group calling to today's protest.

They announced the protest next Friday would feature cycling protesters, trade unions, students, pensioners, young people, people from the academic and cultural spheres, environmental NGOs, marginalised groups, musicians and artists.

The protest merged with an event at which Palestinians shared their stories, calling for freedom for Palestine and condemning actions by Israel as "genocide". The protesters also protested against the Israeli flag being raised on the Slovenian government building.

Access to the government building was blocked by the police. There were also pushing and altercation between the protesters and the police and some protesters, mainly Palestinians, were apprehended.

STA, 30 April 2021 - After a massive anti-government protest in Slovenia's capital on Resistance Day, several hundred protesters hit the streets on their bicycles on Friday, stopping by at the headquarters of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) on their way to express support before lighting a bonfire in the square in front of the parliament building.

The protest, which is being held in defiance of the ban on gatherings of more than ten people, has been unfolding peacefully with most protesters wearing face masks.

Stopping by the STA headquarters, the protesters were addressed by Jaša Jenull, one of the protest movement leaders, who said the government was trying to silence press freedom, describing the STA as "one of the symbols of press freedom" in Slovenia.

The protesters lit a "symbolic flame of uprising" outside the STA before proceeding to the large square in front of the parliament building where they lit a "protest bonfire" in keeping with the Slovenian tradition to light bonfires on the eve of Labour Day.

In calling on people to take part in today's protest, the Protest People's Assembly said the incumbent government did not represent the idea "of our forbearers who fought for freedom, and the majority of population does not want to continue in the direction leading into demise of democracy and rule of law".

After what was a crowd of 10,000 protesters by police estimates gathered in Ljubljana on Tuesday to "declare their vote of no confidence in the government" it was now time for "MPs, who are clinging to their seats and positions, to do the same", the movement said.

They believe that democracy, the rule of law and media freedom have never been under such a threat in Slovenia before, that social distress of young people has never been so grave, and the country's international reputation never so tarnished as today, two months ahead of the start of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU.

STA, 27 April 2021 - Several thousand people defied the ban on gatherings on Tuesday to mount an anti-government protest that wound its way through the centre of Ljubljana, with protesters stopping in front of the Government Palace, Presidential Palace and Parliament House.

The rally, which started in Prešeren Square, was organised by the same leftist activist groups that have staged weekly anti-government demonstrations since last spring and was timed to coincide with Resistance Day, which commemorates the start of resistance against occupying forces in WWII.

One of the organisers, a Facebook group called Popular Protest Assembly, said the rally was a call for "freedom, democracy, rule of law and the immediate resignation of Janez Janša and new elections".

It said this year's Resistance Day was "dedicated to the new united front" which is fighting repression and "reign of terror". It accused the government of having mounted attacks on groups including cultural workers, media, NGOs and intellectuals.

Several speakers appeared, including Živa Vidmar, the daughter of Liberation Front founder Josip Vidmar, journalism professor Sandra Bašič Hrvatin, criminal law expert Dragan Petrovec, environmentalist Uroš Macerl and poet Boris A. Novak. Choirs sang Partisan songs of resistance.

Protesters wore banners with slogans including Janšism = Fascism, Youths Care, People Have the Power, slogans in favour of the protection of drinking water, and flags with bicycles, which have become the symbol of anti-government protests.

The group then made their way to the square in front of Parliament House past the Government Palace and the Presidential Palace. Speeches were delivered at all the locations.

Such protests have been held for a year and were a weekly occurrence through autumn, when a lockdown was imposed. They started again last week after restrictions were eased.

Police said in advance of the protest today they would monitor the gathering and compliance with restrictions. There were no immediate reports of any altercations with the police.

The current rule is that up to ten people may gather, with ten square metres per person a minimum requirement. Social media livestreams indicate distancing was not observed and although most were wearing masks, many were unmasked.

STA, 3 April 2021 - Some 150 protesters gathered in the Maribor city centre on Saturday to protest against anti-coronavirus measures. The rally was organised through social networks. The protesters did not wear face masks and did not keep a safety distance.

"Enjoy while you can", "Today we have classes in a furniture store", and "We are wearing a smile at schools not masks" were some of the banners the protesters carried. One of the banners urged teachers to wear masks and get tested so that schools could be open.

Police officers merely monitored the event and occasionally issued a warning on a megaphone.

Taxi drivers joined the rally by driving their cars in a roundabout and honking their horns.

The group that gathered in Main Square was later joined by a large number of people and together they proceeded to the Freedom Square shouting "Masks off, and the government to jail", the newspaper Večer reported online.

The initiators of the rally also noted that a call by parents, pedagogues and other citizens against testing children for coronavirus had already been supported by 15,000 signatures.

They believe this clearly shows that they do not allow for any interfering with the basic constitutional and human rights of children and other citizens.

The initiatives, including We Will Not Give Our Children and Masks Off, claim that the authorities are destroying the foundations of the rule of law in the name of the epidemic, using repression and destroying the essence of human beings.

Meanwhile, the epidemiological situation in the country is deteriorating. On Friday, 1,296 infections were confirmed in 4,998 tests, pushing the rolling seven-day average of new cases to 1,047.

Currently, more than 530 Covid-19 patients are in hospitals, 16 more than the day before, including 123 in intensive care, up five from the day before. Five people died.

STA, 31 March 2021 - Between 200 and 300 people gathered in front of the Presidential Palace on the eve of Slovenia's third lockdown protesting restrictions aiming to limit the spread of coronavirus. They believe that some of the restrictions which are to be in place between 1 and 11 April are illogical, irrational and even bizarre.

The protest brought together members of several civil initiatives, including those representing education workers, parents and hospitality workers, among others.

Ahead of the protest, the initiatives said that they wanted to let politicians know that they had had enough of human rights violations, lies, manipulations, and destruction of people and the economy.

"Since when does care for health involve repression?" one of the speakers at the rally wondered.

They demand that President Borut Pahor start taking action and the Constitutional Court decide on review requests pertaining to the restrictions.

The protest received support also from the trade union of taxi drivers. They planned a protest against legislation allowing Uber to enter Slovenia, which the parliamentary Infrastructure Committee was scheduled to discuss tomorrow, but the session was postponed due to lockdown.