Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 24-30 March

FRIDAY, 24 March
        LJUBLJANA - The Guardian cited an unnamed source in reporting that backdoor negotiations were taking place between Moscow and western countries to exchange the two suspected Russian spies detained in Slovenia for a person or people currently in jail in Russia. Sources in Ljubljana told the British newspaper that Moscow had accepted the couple were intelligence officers.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European banking system is resilient to the disruptions that have taken place in the US and Switzerland, and the Slovenian banking system is resilient as well, having high liquidity and capital adequacy, PM Robert Golob summed up the view of EU leaders at the end of their two-day summit. He said this was the result of strict EU banking rules.
        NEW YORK, US - President Nataša Pirc Musar said on the sidelines of the UN Water Conference that Slovenia must cooperate with the international community when it comes to water issues. "We can sell our know-how to many," she told Slovenian reporters.
        LJUBLJANA/ŠENTJUR/MURSKA SOBOTA - Thousands of farmers took to the streets with their tractors in more than two dozen towns in protest at environmental and other restrictions they say are making it near impossible to continue farming. Among others, they want to reduce the size of Natura 2000 sites.
        LJUBLJANA - The Finance Committee took note of the challenges in the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plan, and urged the government to report to it on the progress every quarter. Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said Slovenia is late in making use of EU recovery funds but was doing everything to speed things up.
        LJUBLJANA - The government announced that the state would transfer EUR 382 million to almost 2,000 companies in the form of subsidies for high energy prices. The way the aid will be paid is by grouping 1,956 companies into 189 development programmes that have been planed on the national list of development programmes.
        LAHTI, Finland - Ema Klinec crowned a dream season by finishing third in the overall World Cup standings, narrowly clinching bronze after finishing tenth in the last event of the season. The 24-year-old Slovenian bagged 14 World Cup podiums, including two wins, to make this her most successful season to date.
        LJUBLJANA - Representatives of ethnic communities that hail from former Yugoslav countries protested against the Slovenian public broadcaster's decision to terminate cooperation with freelance journalists in its only TV show dedicated to them and aired in their languages once every two weeks. They believe such cuts are unacceptably affecting diversity.

SATURDAY, 25 March
        NEW YORK, US - President Nataša Pirc Musar wrapped her visit to New York for the UN Water Conference by addressing a reception for women ambassadors to the UN where she emphasised women's leading role in social change. She held several bilateral meetings with her counterparts and other senior officials, which were dominated by calls for regular intergovernmental dialogue on water.
        LJUBLJANA - Candidates running in the 2022 presidential election spent from EUR 8,000 to EUR 190,000 on financing their election campaigns. The four candidates who won at least 10% of the vote will get refunded for part of their expenses. The winner, Nataša Pirc Musar, spent EUR 124,600 on her campaign and will get back EUR 58,000, official figures show.
        PARIS, France - An extra virgin olive oil produced by Jasa Olje, a niche Slovenian producer, has been named Best of Show at a major competition in Paris that featured olive oils from across the northern hemisphere. The oil, branded as Jasa Cuvee, received the award at the Olio Nuovo Days 2023.

SUNDAY, 26 March
        BARCELONA, Spain - Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič won the Volta a Catalunya after fending off attacks by Remco Evenepoel of Belgium in the circular final stage around Barcelona. Roglič entered the final stage with a ten-second lead on Evenepoel and kept pace with the younger competitor, who attacked several times but did not manage to shake off the race leader.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian national football team defeated San Marino in the second round of qualifying for the Euro 2004, bagging the second consecutive win after downing Kazakhstan earlier in the week.
        VILNIUS, Lithuania - A co-production of Lithuania's Klaipeda Puppet Theatre and Slovenia's Ljubljana Puppet Theatre won Lithuania's prestigious theatre award celebrating shows for children and young adults. It took home the prize in the category of productions for children and young adults.

MONDAY, 27 March
        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. Women's participation in the military topped the agenda.
        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.
        LJUBLJANA - The Higher Education Union said it would 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. Papič said he was surprised at the call for resignation and the strike announcement.
        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.
        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.
        LJUBLJANA - Pointing out that the current system of returnable glass bottles was flawed and consumer unfriendly, several environmental and consumer rights NGOs called for glass bottles to be part of the emerging deposit refund scheme. They also urged the introduction of mandatory returnable packaging quotas.

TUESDAY, 28 March
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - Slovenian and Croatian prime ministers, Robert Golob and Andrej Plenković, agreed that the countries would sign a solidarity agreement on gas supply, as Plenković visited Slovenia. Slovenia is also interested in helping increase the capabilities of the Krk LNG terminal, whereas Croatia expressed support for a new unit at the Krško nuclear power plant, which is co-owned by the two countries.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed amendments to the foreigners act and changes to the law on employment of foreigners to simplify procedures to ease the hiring of non-EU workers. One major change to the foreigners act brings a transitional period of 18 months for adult family members of non-EU workers in Slovenia to pass a basic Slovenian language proficiency test to be able to remain in Slovenia after being here for a year already.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed unanimously amendments to the macro-prudential supervision of the financial system act to reduce the impact of the annual increase in the minimum wage on households' creditworthiness after the latest increase rendered much of the population ineligible for a mortgage.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia secured at an EU energy ministerial an exemption from a voluntary EU target under which member states have pledged to continue reducing natural gas consumption until March 2024, a move the authorities said was vital for the country because of a new LNG unit at Ljubljana's main co-generation plant.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Parliamentary Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič paid a working visit to Brussels to discuss topical issues in the EU, including the rule of law, humanitarian aid and the upcoming European elections, with senior representatives of the European Commission and European Parliament.
        GLOBASNITZ/KLAGENFURT, Austria - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon and Minister of Cohesion and Regional Policy Aleksander Jevšek met with Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser as part of their two-day visit to Carinthia, touching on bilingual education, the reform of the bilingual judiciary and cross-border cooperation.
        LJUBLJANA - Several dozen asylum seekers, joined by activist organisations and trade unions, held a rally to protest against discriminatory measures linked to the foreigners act and the difficulties they are facing in Slovenia. They demanded an end to deportations of asylum seekers to Croatia.
        LJUBLJANA - The Interior Ministry singed a contract with Minis, awarding the company that was in charge of erecting the fence on the border with Croatia a deal to remove it. The EUR 7 million deal went ahead after an additional review was carried out at the initiative of an opposition party.
        LJUBLJANA - A coalition featuring the Slovenian Journalists' Association (DNS) and three NGOs submitted an amicus curiae intervention to the Constitutional Court, urging it to secure the immediate implementation of overhauled appointment procedures at RTV Slovenija in order to protect media freedom and the public's right to access information.
        LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar hosted a discussion on topical issues in elderly care, which focused on the need for a pension reform and possible intermediate measures to help pensioners. Pirc Musar called against "pensioners being abused in order to score political points."
        LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry announced it had halted a EUR 38 million tender for 16 MRI machines after suspicion was raised that the tender was tailored to a specific provider. The ministry first pointed the finger at an expert group tasked with drafting the call, but the latter said it had objected to the technical specifications for the tender.
        LJUBLJANA - Long-serving MP of the Social Democrats (SD) and law expert Miran Potrč died recently at the age of 84. After Slovenia's independence Potrč served five consecutive terms as MP and was appointed deputy speaker of the National Assembly in his last term.

WEDNESDAY, 29 March
        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. Golob also indicated it was possible the tax reform would be abandoned if the people did not accept it.
        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.
        WASHINGTON, US - 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.
        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.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Public Finances discussed plans for unit 2 at the Krško Nuclear Power Station, with the opposition 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.
        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.
        ROME, Italy - Members of the Slovenian ethnic minority in Italy warned that they 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. Tatjana Rojc, Italian senator of Slovenian descent, said this should not be a luxury but a right.

THURSDAY, 30 March
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Constitutional Commission approved with 11 votes in favour and five against the launch of procedures for constitutional changes under which the appointment of judges would be transferred from the National Assembly to the president. The nomination of candidates would remain in the hands of the Judicial Council.
        LJUBLJANA/SAN FRANCISCO, US - The Ljubljana-based geographic information system company Sinergise will be acquired by Planet, the San Francisco-based operator of the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, the companies announced.
        LJUBLJANA - A Slovenian-led project on the role of death in the lives of individuals in modern society has won the European Research Council (ERC) advanced grant for established researchers. Led by folklore researcher Mirjam Mencej, the nearly EUR 2 million project will launch in September and last 5 years.
        LJUBLJANA - The government amended two emergency acts passed last year to deal with the energy crisis, introducing the latest decisions at the EU level regarding joint purchase of gas, among other things, and making changes in the taxation of windfall profits made by power producers to finance measures to deal with high costs of energy.
        LJUBLJANA - The government confirmed measures to secure sufficient drinking water supply to the Slovenian Istria, earmarking EUR 92 million for investments that could be implemented in three to four years.
        LJUBLJANA - Coalition parties submitted to parliament a legislative proposal that will allow victims of crimes to claim compensation from a state scheme irrespective of their nationality, meaning they need not be Slovenian or EU citizens.
        MARIBOR - An agreement was reached between the workers and the management of thread maker A&E Europe after two days of negotiations following a strike aimed at preventing the closure of the US-owned company. The deal involves the amount of severance and preservation of certain parts of the production line will until the end of October.
        LJUBLJANA - Survey unemployment continued to inch lower in February, reaching 3.2%, 0.1 percentage points lower than the month before, and 0.9 percentage points lower than a year prior, the Statistics Office said.
        LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport said it planned to conclude a partnership agreement with the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, whose biggest star is Slovenia's Luka Dončić, to promote the national tourism brand I Feel sLOVEenia and utilise business opportunities in the US.