News roundup - Saturday, 18 February

Report: Mirošič to become ambassador to US, Benedejčič to NATO

LJUBLJANA - The government has nominated several new ambassadors, among them experienced career Iztok Mirošič to the US and security expert Andrej Benedejčič to NATO, the news portal N1 reported. Moreover, Franci But is to become the ambassador to the Vatican, and Robert Kokalj is going to Romania. Bernarda Gradišnik is to replace Gregor Presker in Montenegro, while the latter is moving to North Macedonia. Gorazd Renčelj is to go to Turkey, while Igor Jukič is reportedly moving to Tehran.

Fmr interior minister to become advisor to president

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar confirmed reports on Friday that she would appoint former Police Commissioner and Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar her advisor, while Nataša Dolenc remains her national security advisor. Bobnar will focus on erasure, the deletion of some 26,000 Yugoslav nationals from the permanent residence registry in the early 1990s, as well as safety and domestic violence, the latter having been one of her priorities while minister between June and December 2022.

Pirc Musar meets Kosovo, Moldovan presidents

MUNICH, Germany - President Nataša Pirc Musar promised Slovenia would continue supporting Kosovo's efforts to join the EU, and discussed cyber attacks, as she met with her counterparts from Kosovo and Moldova, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu and Maia Sandu, respectively. She was also scheduled to meet Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

FM joins statement condemning women's rights violations in Afghanistan, Iran

MUNICH, Germany - Foreign Affairs Minister Tanja Fajon attended a meeting of an informal group of women foreign ministers at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, signing a joint statement condemning the violations of women's rights in Afghanistan and Iran. Hosted by the foreign ministers of Germany and Canada, Annalena Baerbock and Melanie Joly, the meeting expressed strong condemnation of the Taliban's "push to exclude women from all public life".

Ministry working on two models for pension reform

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities is working on two models for the pension reform, Minister Luka Mesec told the Saturday edition of the newspaper Delo in an interview. One option is to overhaul the existing system and the other a completely new system based on universal basic income for pensioners. "I cannot reveal any more than this because solutions still need to be discussed by the party and the coalition. But you can expect two models which are bound to launch a broad debate about what is a fair pension system."

Health committee discusses investments

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Health Committee discussed investments in healthcare Friday afternoon, with the government dismissing the opposition New Slovenia's (NSi) claims that investments were being jeopardised due to delays. Aleš Šabeder, the head of the Health Ministry's office for oversight, quality and investment in healthcare, told the committee that 50 project were ongoing at the moment and explaining some of the projects in more detail. Among other things, the ministry and UKC Ljubljana are thinking about giving up the planned energy renovation of old buildings and build new facilities instead.

Arcont continues production modernisation

LJUBLJANA - Arcont, Europe's largest maker of mobile residential containers, is planning EUR 2 million in investments this year, of which nearly half a million will be EU funds. Dedicated to modernising its production facilities, the Gornja Radgona-based company also made EUR 2.3 million worth of investments last year.