News roundup - Wednesday, 29 March

Finance Ministry state secretary resigns after PM's tax reform criticism

LJUBLJANA - Finance Ministry State Secretary Tilen Božič tendered his resignation in the wake of Prime Minister Robert Golob's criticism of the job the ministry's team has been doing in selling the planned tax reform to the public. The resignation comes as Golob's statements on Tuesday about the possibility of the government abandoning plans for tax reform and about healthcare being the only field in urgent need of reform caused some consternation among the ruling coalition partners. Golob's statements unofficially caused considerable dissatisfaction among the ranks of the coalition SocDems, while the opposition jumped on the news as evidence that reforms will not happen in 2023 as promised.

Doctors' trade union insisting on strike announcement

LJUBLJANA - The government presented its proposal for setting up the announced separate pay tier for the healthcare within the public sector after Fides, the trade union of doctors and dentists, announced that industrial action, averted after two deals reached with the government last October and in January, would proceed on 2 April. Fides said the proposal was modest but a step in the right direction. It insists on the strike unless the separate pay tier is formed by 1 April as the government promised.

President stresses help for refugees in address to Summit for Democracy

WASHINGTON, US/LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar addressed the Plenary Day at the Summit for Democracy, a virtual event hosted by US President Joe Biden, stressing the need to help war and climate refugees, and the need to think about the progress in science and technology. She expressed pleasure that she was able to address the summit and thanked Biden for "this timely initiative". She expressed concern at seeing "how in international politics the power of argument loses the battle against the argument of power".

Slovenia committed to supporting Montenegro's EU aspirations

LJUBLJANA - National Assembly Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič received Montenegrin Deputy Speaker of Parliament Branka Bošnjak, thanking her for Montenegro's support for Slovenia's bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN security Council in 2024-2025 and saying Slovenia was committed to supporting Montenegro on its path to EU membership. Bošnjak presented the current political situation in Montenegro, including the dissolution of parliament and the calling of a snap election.

Slovenia, Croatia focussing on investment in railways

OPATIJA, Croatia - Slovenia and Croatia are increasingly focussing their infrastructure investments on railways, their infrastructure ministers Alenka Bratušek and Oleg Butković said after meeting in Croatia's Opatija. The ministers signed an agreement on the construction of a road bridge over the Kamenica stream between the villages of Božakovo and Obrež Vivodinski. This took place on the sidelines of the Slovenian-Croatian business forum on public investment in construction, hosted by the Slovenian and Croatian media companies Delo and Hanza Media.

NSi calls for nuclear expansion to be sped up

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Public Finances discussed plans for unit 2 at the Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK), with the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) calling for the process to be sped up and the ruling coalition parties stressing the need for making a well-informed decision. The commission rejected the proposal to urge the government to speed up the plans for nuclear expansion and report to the commission on the progress in construction on a quarterly level. Energy Minister Bojan Kumer rejected allegations that the ministry was "stalling". Procedures are under way, a lot of work has been conducted, he said.

Agriculture Committee urges more self-sufficiency and less red tape

KRŠKO - The parliamentary Agriculture Committee called for greater food self-sufficiency, a stepping of up irrigation, and less red tape as it held a field meeting and visited a farm in Krško. The committee members, who discussed the need for greater self-sufficiency in vegetables and fruit, were joined by Agriculture, Forestry and Food Minister Irena Šinko, who explained that Slovenia covered about 60% of its needs for fresh vegetables in season, while it is "far less self-sufficient" out of season.

Arčon meets Klagenfurt mayor, bishop as he ends Carinthia visit

KLAGENFURT, Austria - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon concluded a two-day visit to the Austrian state of Carinthia on Wednesday by meeting Mayor of Klagenfurt Christian Scheider and Bishop of Gurk-Klagenfurt Jože Marketz after meeting Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser on the first day of the visit, the Office for Slovenians Abroad said. Arčon also met representatives of the Urban Jarnik Slovenian Institute of Ethnography, an institute is dedicated to ethnologic research of cultural heritage in Carinthia.

Ex-director Dežman sacked from new Museum of Contemporary History

LJUBLJANA - Historian Jože Dežman has received a notice of termination at the new Museum of Contemporary History. The move comes after the former Museum of Contemporary History, whose director he was, was merged with another museum - the contentious Museum of Slovenian Independence set up under the previous government - into a new museum earlier this year. When the new museum was formally set up, Dežman was ordered by the employer not to come to work, but kept receiving a full director's salary. He now said he had been handed a notice of termination on Tuesday.

Language issue in driving licences for ethnic Slovenians in Italy

ROME, Italy - Members of the Slovenian ethnic minority in Italy have to wait longer and pay extra money to have their name written with č, š, ž - the three Slovenian letters the Italian alphabet does not have - when extending their driving licence in Trieste, said the office of Tatjana Rojc, Italian senator of Slovenian descent. "The name and surname written correctly in the driving licence is a right, not a luxury for which a high price should be paid and for which one should wait longer than for an 'ordinary' one," Rojc said.

MENT bringing fresh batch of Europe's music talent, industry networking

LJUBLJANA - The 9th edition of the MENT music festival, which focuses on new progressive discoveries in the wider region and beyond and is accompanied by an extensive networking and music industry conference, will get under way in Ljubljana this evening. Both segments of the three day-event will foreground the Baltic region. The internationally acclaimed festival, produced by Kino Šiška and promoting independent and fresh artists, will feature 77 performers and bands this year, selected from over 1,600 applications from all around Europe.