Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 7-13 April

FRIDAY, 7 April
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry revealed it was targeted by a cyberattack. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon told 24ur.com that the attack had been launched from a third country and had been going on for quite some time. A subsequent 24ur.com report said it was carried out by Chinese hackers.
        LJUBLJANA - Concerned about recent violent incidents in Jerusalem, Slovenia called for de-escalation of the situation there. I said the status quo must be respected in sacred places.
        LJUBLJANA - The Voice of the People civil initiative held what it labelled a march for public healthcare to call for the situation in the sector to be improved. It urged the government to change three key healthcare laws.
        LJUBLJANA - A proposal for additional security requirements and restrictions for network equipment was unveiled in the form of an implementing act to the new law on electronic communications. It will affect 5G mobile networks.
        LJUBLJANA - The Freedom Movement temporarily renounced two seats on the parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Public Finances and gave them to the New Slovenia (NSi). The opposition now has the majority there as required by the rules of procedure.
        LJUBLJANA - The survey unemployment rate in Slovenia dropped by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year to 4% in 2022, the lowest level in at least 30 years. The number of people who worked was the highest in the last decade.
        KRANJ - A theatre production which brings a new take on Slovenian folk songs won the Šelih Award for best production at the 53rd Week of Slovenian Drama. Žene v Testu (Wives in Dough) is directed by Živa Bizovičar for the SNG Drama Ljubljana.

SATURDAY, 8 April
        LJUBLJANA - Cuban-born Slovenian mime artist Andrés Valdés y Fuentes died aged 86, the Slovenian Association of Theatre Artists said. Valdés is credited with bringing modern mine to Slovenia when he moved here in 1964.

SUNDAY, 9 April
        BOVEC - Five mountaineers were swept by an avalanche below the peak of Mala Mojstrovka (2,332 m) in north-western Slovenia with three of them sustaining serious injuries. Despite the difficult weather conditions, they were brought to hospital by a helicopter.

MONDAY, 10 April
        ADDIS ABABA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon met her Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen Hasse and the ministers of trade and health as she started her three-day visit to Addis Ababa. Slovenia will soon be opening an embassy in the country.
        LJUBLJANA - Finnish air carrier Finnair started flying between Helsinki and Ljubljana, reestablishing a regular route between the two capitals after a three-year hiatus.

TUESDAY, 11 April
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry labelled as unacceptable Austria's decision to extend by yet another six months border checks along the countries' shared border. "This act is unacceptable, which is something Slovenia has been pointing out to Austria and the relevant institutions for a long time," it said.
        WASHINGTON, US - The International Monetary Fund downgraded its projections for global economic growth in its latest World Economic Outlook, including Slovenia's. The country's GDP is projected to increase by 1.6% this year, a downgrade of 0.2 percentage points from the autumn forecast, and by 2.1% in 2024.
        PUCONCI - Plastic products maker Roto Slovenija announced it acquired the Canadian kayak maker Delsyk Kayak in a deal that includes the trademark and production. It said the deal made Roto the company with the biggest range of kayaks and canoes in the world.
        MEŽICA - TAB, the Mežica-based maker of starter batteries, announced it acquired a 51% stake in the Dutch battery wholesaler R&W Batterijen to establish its new subsidiary TAB Benelux. The move is aimed at consolidating TAB's position in the Benelux region and Europe as whole.
        LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar said after a consultation on the Roma that this community is still neglected and cannot access basic human rights such as potable water, education, social care and healthcare. Among the most pressing issues is limited access to drinking water.
        LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana District Court sentenced two citizens of Kosovo to six years in prison for raping a woman in a park in Ljubljana last March, the newspaper Večer reported. They will also be banished from the country for five years after serving their prison sentences.
        LJUBLJANA - Acclaimed modernist sculptor Drago Tršar, best know for his public sculptures, died shortly before his 96th birthday. Tršar received a number of awards, including the Prešeren Prize for lifetime achievements.

WEDNESDAY, 12 April
        LJUBLJANA - The ruling coalition tabled legislation it says will prevent the announced increase in monthly premiums of supplementary health insurance by turning it into an obligatory health contribution in a fixed monthly amount of 35 euros. Private insurers would be taken out of the equation. The opposition described the proposal as "cheap PR" and private insurers said it would not help make the health system sustainable in the long-term.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Samuel Žbogar said Slovenia is not negotiating on the exchange of the two alleged Russian spies arrested in Slovenia, nor has it asked any ally to negotiate on its behalf, after the Guardian newspaper reported that such talks are under way.
        LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon urged her Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg to "consider the next steps" related to extending the border checks on the Slovenia-Austria border. Slovenia does not want stricter border controls, especially in the light of the coming tourist season.
        ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon ended her three-day visit to Ethiopia where she met African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. "Europe's biggest mistake is talking about Africa without really understanding its problems," Fajon noted.
        BRASILIA, Brazil - Defence Minister Marjan Šarec and his Brazilian counterpart José Múcio Monteiro signed an agreement on defence cooperation and another on the protection and transfer of confidential data as Šarec paid an official visit to Brazil.
        LJUBLJANA - Borut Jamnik, who has served as executive at state-run companies for many years, was appointed new chairman of SID Bank, the state-owned export and development bank. He will start the five-year term on 17 April.
        LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar understands farmers' frustration as increasingly harsh farming restrictions are planned, but says that climate change calls for adjustment, including by farmers. She told the STA in an interview that those who manage to adjust fast enough will be the winners.
        LJUBLJANA - Two pensioner organisations urged the government to implement their proposal for an emergency 3.5% rise in pensions and for an additional 1% rise for all those who retired before 2012. The idea is to help pensioners cope with rising prices.
        ROME, Italy - The head of the Slovenian Jesuits Miran Žvanut confirmed that Jesuit priest and artist Marko Rupnik, who is accused of extensive mental and sexual abuse of nuns, will have to leave Rome. According to the weekly Reporter, he will have to move to a home for elderly priests in Milan.
        LJUBLJANA - The Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana launched a Serbian course. It will be taught by the Department of Slavistics alongside Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Russian and Slovak languages.

THURSDAY, 13 April
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a decree that paves the way for freezing the top-up health insurance premium charged by private insurers. The EUR 35.67 ceiling comes as a scrapping of the current top-up system altogether was recently set in motion in the wake of an announced hike in the premiums.
        LJUBLJANA - The Credentials and Privileges Commissions endorsed Drago Šketa for reappointment as Slovenia's state prosecutor general at the plenary session of parliament. Šketa, who has been serving at the post since May 2017, was the only candidate to apply for the job.
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court disqualified one of the judges, Neža Kogovšek Šalamon, from the high-profile case concerning public broadcaster RTV Slovenija while rejecting two more disqualification motions.
        DODOMA, Tanzania - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon met her Tanzanian counterpart Stergomena Lawrence Tax as she started a two-day working visit to Tanzania. They agreed that Slovenia and Tanzania can effectively cooperate in ensuring food safety, fighting climate change and in water management.
        ROME, Italy - Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said after meeting Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi that Italy having declared a national state of emergency due to a surge in migrants would not affect the situation on the Slovenian border. Piantedosi assured him Italy had no plans of introducing controls there.
        KRANJ - The Kranj-based tyre maker Goodyear Slovenija announced it had increased production capacity by 25% and created 160 jobs as part of a EUR 94 million investment project that started in January 2019 and was completed last month when the last operating permit was issued.
        MILAN, Italy - Russian citizen Artem Uss, who was detained in Italy on an international arrest warrant, escaped from house arrest in Milan and returned to Russia via Slovenia, Italian media reported. The 40-year-old son of an influential Russian politician is wanted by the US over a breach of sanctions.