News roundup - Monday, 27 March

Committee approves aliens act changes, including basic language proficiency requirement

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Home Affairs Committee backed changes to the foreigners act, keeping what is for some NGOs and the coalition Left a contentious condition for foreign workers' family members, aged 18 or more, to pass an A1 Slovenian language test after a year if they want to remain in Slovenia. The rule was introduced by the Janez Janša government and should take effect at the end of next month. With the Robert Golob government's amendment, the language requirement will enter into force after an 18-month transition period. And since poor accessibility of language courses was highlighted on Friday, when the session started, the coalition Freedom Movement and Social Democrats proposed an amendment that expands the list of language test providers, which was backed. Another amendment tasks the government with laying down the criteria for language courses. The bill will be put to a vote at a plenary on Tuesday.

NATO's representative discusses women's participation in military

LJUBLJANA - Irene Fellin, NATO secretary general's special representative for women, peace and security, started a two-day visit to Slovenia by meeting Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and President Nataša Pirc Musar. Topping the agenda was women's participation in the military. On Tuesday, she will take part in a regional event to promote NATO's women, peace and security agenda, organised by the Foreign Ministry and its Norwegian counterpart. Ahead of the visit, the Defence Ministry said Fellin's visit will be aimed at discussing challenges faced by women in decision making and their participation in the Slovenian armed forces.

Opposition leader Janša visits Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine - Opposition Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Janša visited Kyiv, meeting the country's PM Denys Shmyhal. Janša tweeted this was a friendly visit a year after he first visited the city in his capacity as prime minister, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. "Today, Ukraine is much stronger, and the support from the free world is significantly greater than in the dark days of March 2022, immediately after the brutal Russian aggression," he said, but added that support is still insufficient and too slow, and "delays are paid with human lives". Janša visited Kyiv on 15 March 2022 together with his Polish and Czech counterparts as the first foreign leaders to visit Ukraine after the Russian attack.

Higher Education Union urges minister's resignation as talks fail

LJUBLJANA - The Higher Education Union said it will resume preparations for a strike and called for the resignation of Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič, who they said had engaged in weeks of negotiations without having a proper mandate from the government. After the text of a strike-averting agreement addressing wage disparities had been coordinated, the union found out Papič did not have the government's mandate for a number of topics they had agreed on. Responding, Papič said he was surprised at the call for resignation and the announcement of a potential strike. He said the government is yet to discuss the agreement, expectedly on Thursday.

Govt to present bill on public sector pay system reform in coming days

LJUBLJANA - The government will present to trade unions a bill on a new pay system for the public sector in the coming days, Public Administration Minister Sanja Ajanović Hovnik said after presenting to the unions changes to the negotiations guidelines, including a gradual roll-out of the new system. The government also intends to send to the unions a proposal on eliminating pay disparities within the existing system. After the proposals are presented, the talks will become more intensive, also addressing "all other elements that affect pay policy, including titles and various bonuses", she said.

Central bank increasing investments in sustainability bonds

LJUBLJANA - The central bank increased the share of investments in green, social and sustainability bonds from 2018 to 2022 to almost EUR 280 million, or from 1% to 7% of its total own investments, Banka Slovenije said in its first disclosure of climate-related information about its own financial investments. The largest share is represented by green bonds (70%), followed by social bonds (26%) and sustainability bonds (4%). The plan is to further increase the share as part of what the bank labelled as socially responsible and sustainable investments.

Govt rating keeps falling

LJUBLJANA - The voter approval rating for the government keeps falling with the latest poll released by the commercial broadcaster POP TV on Sunday showing the number of opponents outstripping the number of supporters for the first time since the start of term. The government enjoys the support of 41.5% of those questioned, against 42.4% who do not support it. Compared to the month before, the share of supporters fell by 4.5 percentage points. This is the second poll after that run by Delo two weeks ago to show opponents outstripping supporters. The ruling party Freedom Movement lost 3.3 points to 23.5%.

Diesel 5.5 cents cheaper tomorrow, petrol unchanged

LJUBLJANA - The price of diesel sold outside motorways will drop by 5.5 cents on Tuesday to EUR 1.449, while regular petrol will remain unchanged at EUR 1.374 as the government raised excise duties on fuels. Heating oil, the price of which is regulated regardless of the point of sale, will also be cheaper, at EUR 1.043 per litre. The new prices will be in place for two weeks.

Govt to provide EUR 10m for NGOs promoting active citizenship

LJUBLJANA - The Public Administration Ministry published a public call for the financial support of NGOs active in efforts to strengthen active citizenship, making available almost EUR 10.65 million. The ministry wrote that undemocratic practices witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic were the reason for the first call of its kind in Slovenia. The plan is to support projects and programmes of NGOs that will promote people's participation in democratic processes, strengthen competences in advocacy and strengthen democratic action, good governance, transparency and oversight of public authorities, and active citizenship.

Iztok Seljak new head of Manager Association

LJUBLJANA - Iztok Seljak, CEO of Hidria Holding, was elected the new chairman of the Manager Association for the 2023-2026 term. Seljak, so far a member of the association's supervisory board, succeeds Andrej Božič. "Our common fundamental goal of all Slovenian managers and leaders is to significantly raise the standard of living in Slovenia to a level comparable to that of the most developed countries," Seljak was quoted as saying by the Manager Association.

Strike at A&E Europe attempts to prevent closure

MARIBOR - Almost all of roughly a hundred workers at the Maribor-based sewing thread manufacturer A&E Europe stopped working for two hours demanding of the US owner to backtrack on its decision to close down the factory. If the demand is not met, a full-day strike will follow. The workers say A&E Europe's clients were taken away by its Germany subsidiary A&E Gütermann, which the Slovenian company granted an unsecured EUR 2.1 million loan in 2021. The management will resume talks with worker reps on Tuesday.

RTV Slovenija head offering new talks, sees no reason to resign

LJUBLJANA - Acting RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough responded to a 4 April strike announcement by the journalist trade unions at the public broadcaster by offering a new round of intensive negotiations. Grah Whatmough put forward the recently appointed head of news programmes at TV Slovenija's second channel Rajko Gerlič to represent the management in the talks. The strike committee said it was ready to negotiate but would not halt the strike plans. Their main strike demand remains the withdrawal of all pre-layoff notices issued for 38 staff, which they see as a form of intimidation. Journalists first went on strike last May.

EU survey: Slovenians happy with life, less with state

LJUBLJANA - Slovenians are largely satisfied with their lives, but less so with the developments in the country, while they see issues in healthcare and inflation among the key challenges, according to an Eurobarometer survey. The vast majority of Slovenians were satisfied with their lives this winter, with the 92% rate of satisfaction among the respondents putting Slovenia above the EU average of 83%. A majority of Slovenians (56%) assessed the current situation in the country as good, which is 15 percentage points above the EU average, shows the Standard Eurobarometer - Winter 2022-2023 survey for Slovenia.

Young MPs set up cross-party forum

LJUBLJANA - Five youngest MPs in the National Assembly have joined forces to form a cross-party Young MPs' Forum. At their inaugural meeting on Friday, they elected Lucija Tacer from the ruling Freedom Movement as chair. Tacer said during their six-month stint under her leadership the forum will raise the issues of the young. They also plan to hold a meeting with the representatives of the Slovenian Youth Council soon, and already joined the global organisation Inter-Parliamentary Union, which has the Forum of Young Parliamentarians for MPs who are up to 30 years old.

Abortion numbers in Slovenia very low, experts say

LJUBLJANA - Although not all women in Slovenia have their own gynaecologist because there are not enough of them, the number of abortions and teen pregnancies in the country is very low, experts said at a news conference dedicated to youth and sexuality. This is due to good education, which starts already in primary school, and availability of contraception. There are currently 154 gynaecology clinics available at primary level, but 200,000 women older than 15 do not have their gynaecologist, said gynaecologist Mojca Grebenc. For all women to have access to one, more than 50 more clinics would be needed.

Number of contested public contracts down 30% last year

LJUBLJANA - The National Review Commission received 70 requests for audit of public contracts in 2022, 30% fewer than in 2021. Of these, 56 requests were submitted before the decision awarding the public contract was made. The commission started 47 proceedings related to public contracts awarded by public institutions, followed by state bodies (42) and municipalities (19), shows the annual report, submitted to the National Assembly. The total value of public contracts in all these proceedings was EUR 4.5 billion.

NGOs call for glass bottles to be included in deposit refund scheme

LJUBLJANA - Pointing out that the current system of returnable glass bottles is flawed and consumer unfriendly, several environmental and consumer rights NGOs called for glass bottles to be part of the emerging deposit refund scheme. Eko Krog, the Slovenian Consumers' Association, and Ecologists Without Borders also urged the introduction of mandatory returnable packaging quotas.

Week of Slovenian Drama brings a host of innovative plays

KRANJ - The 53rd Week of Slovenian Drama opened at the Prešeren Theatre in Kranj to coincide with and mark World Theatre Day. The festival will feature 12 productions of Slovenian plays in as many days. What they all have in common is innovative approach to theatre. The festival will start with an awards ceremony, at which the Slovenian Association of Drama Artists will present the Marija Vera Award for lifetime achievement to actress Milada Kalezić and the Polde Bibič Award for lifetime achievement to director Dušan Mlakar.

Slovenian-Lithuanian co-production wins award in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Lithuania - A co-production of Lithuania's Klaipeda Puppet Theatre and Slovenia's Ljubljana Puppet Theatre has won Lithuania's prestigious theatre award celebrating shows for children and young adults. Yesterday, the Lithuanian Culture Ministry awarded the annual Golden Stage Cross prizes, the country's top awards for theatre, at the National Drama Theatre in Vilnius. In the category of productions for children and young adults, the co-production Tunnel took home the prize.