News roundup - Sunday, 19 March

Slovenia welcomes Vučić-Kurti agreement as "important milestone"

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed Serbia President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo PM Albin Kurti's agreement on how to implement an EU-sponsored agreement to normalise Serbia-Kosovo relations. She hailed it in a tweet as an "important milestone" in normalisation of their relations and a sign of their "willingness to cooperate". Vučić and Kurti agreed on how to implement the normalisation agreement while not signing any document as they met in North Macedonia on Saturday. They agreed to implement all the obligations from the EU-sponsored deal, including starting talks to establish a community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo.

Ski jumper Ema Klinec wins Vikersund ski flying event with 226-metre world record

VIKERSUND, Norway - Slovenian ski jumper Ema Klinec won the first official ski flying competition for women while setting the world record of 226 metres on the ski flying hill in the first series. She landed at 223 metres in the second series for a total of 414.7 points, winning 41 points ahead of Norwegian Sije Opseth (211 and 207 metres). She is only the third Slovenian to set a world record in ski flying after Jože Šlibar (141 metres in 1961) and Peter Prevc (250 metres in 2015). The Norway tournament was not part of the World Cup series and only featured the top 15, but showed that ski flying could soon become part of top tournaments for women.

Slovenian ski jumper Anže Lanišek third in Vikersund

VIKERSUND, Norway - Slovenian Anže Lanišek placed third in today's ski flying World Cup event with 468.8 points in Vikersund for his 14th podium this season, at the same time finishing third overall in Norway's Raw Air tournament after winning the opening event in Oslo last weekend and clinching two second places later on. He was fourth after the first series, when he landed at 231 metres and at 220.5 metres in the final for his 27th career podium. Austrian Stefan Kraft won the event ahead of Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud, who nevertheless won the Raw Air tournament and secured the overall World Cup victory before the end of the season.

Prices of commercial property in Slovenia up in 2020-2022

LJUBLJANA - The prices of commercial property - offices, retail, industrial property and premises for services - increased in the three-year period between 2020 and 2022 in Slovenia, with the prices of retail and services premises increasing the most, by almost 25%. Most of the commercial property transactions involved offices - 45% of all sales and 60% of all renting deals, and the median sales price for offices rose by 14% to EUR 1,044 in 2022, shows the 2020-2022 report by the Surveying and Mapping Authority.

Slovenian Music Days paying tribute to composer Lojze Lebič

LJUBLJANA - The 37th Slovenian Music Days will bring six concerts to Ljubljana and Brežice between 21 and 26 March, opening with music by award-winning Slovenian contemporary composer Lojze Lebič. Under the watchful eye of Slovenian conductor Davorin Mori, the RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra will play four of his works in what will be the first time Lebič's diptych Music for Orchestra - Cantico I and II will be performed in its entirety. The festival will also pay tribute to its co-founder, musicologist and professor emeritus Primož Kuret (1935-2022).

Half of Slovenians commute to other municipalities for work

LJUBLJANA - Statistics Office data shows that nearly half of all Slovenians worked outside the municipality where they lived at the end of 2022. Out of some 935,000 employed Slovenians, nearly 505,000 commuted to work outside their municipality. Ljubljana had the most labour commuters in both directions, as nearly 141,300 workers commuted to Ljubljana for work, while 24,200 of its residents worked outside of the Ljubljana municipality.