News roundup - Sunday, 12 February

Slovenia calls for respecting Austrian State Treaty

LJUBLJANA/VIENNA, Austria - Following an anti-Slovenian message posted on social media by the youth wing of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) earlier this week, Slovenia urged Austria in a diplomatic note to respect the Austrian State Treaty, which calls for banning the activity of organisations that aim to deprive the Slovenian minority of its rights. The ministry expects the Austrian authorities to "appropriately address the activities of organisations that aim to deprive the Slovenian population of their minority character or rights".

Šarec says his aide does not have influence over interior minister candidate

LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Marjan Šarec rejected in an interview for web portal Siol claims that his state secretary Damir Črnčec influenced the work of nominee for interior minister Boštjan Poklukar. "He knows what his tasks are, just as I know and just as Mister Poklukar will surely know," Šarec said. The minister also noted the war in Ukraine was so close that peace could no longer be taken for granted, so Slovenia must meet its obligations to NATO.

NGO starts campaign to support pensioners

LJUBLJANA - The 8 March Institute NGO started a new campaign on Sunday, focussing on pensioners. As part of the campaign dubbed Tu Sem (I'm Here), the NGO will collect stories of pensioners to present their situation and call for systemic changes. The 8 March Institute announced three major campaigns in the coming months. One will focus on hate speech, another analyse the government's measures in healthcare and a third deal with the right to decide freely on the birth of children.

Slovenian agency participating in ECOffee consumers project

ŠMARJE PRI JELŠAH - The Slovenian development agency Sotla is participating in the European project ECOffee consumers, which is aimed at raising the consumers' awareness about sustainable ways of consuming coffee that have long-term effects on the coffee industry from crop to cup. In addition to the Slovenian agency, the EUR 250,000 project includes partners from Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and Hungary.