Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 28 April to 4 May

FRIDAY, 28 April
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate slowed to 9.4% in April, from 10.5% in March, as consumer prices rose by 1.5% month-on-month, the Statistic Office said. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose the most year-on-year and costlier package holidays drove monthly inflation.
        VATICAN CITY, The Vatican - The newspaper Delo reported that Pope Francis received a group of victims of sexual abuse by priests from Slovenia and offered his sincere apologies in a meeting organised by the Catholic advocacy group for the victims Dovolj.je (It's Enough) on 27 April.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova told the STA that Slovenia was "a good example to illustrate some not very positive things happening" in the media. She added that the Media Freedom Act, which the Commission presented in September, will bring measures to stabilise public media.
        LJUBLJANA - The telecommunications services provider Telekom Slovenije reported its sales revenue rising by 1% last year to EUR 652.1 million and net profit falling by 1% to EUR 37.5 million. The group will not be paying out dividends this year.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's survey unemployment rate remained at 3.2% in March, flat with the month before, and 0.8 percentage points lower year-on-year, according to the Statistics Office.

SATURDAY, 29 April
        LJUBLJANA - Media reported that the Constitutional Court stayed changes to the Financial Administration Act that allow the authorities, without a court decision, to use tracking devices to target illegal producers of products subject to excise duty. The court confirmed making the move on 3 May.
        LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Delo ran an interview with President of the European People's Party Manfred Weber, who criticised the Slovenian government of being incapable of taking major steps in terms of reforms. He accused Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon for favouring policy of understanding of Russia regarding the war in Ukraine.
        QUEZON CITY, Philippines - A draw determined that the Slovenian men's basketball team will face Venezuela, Georgia and Cape Verde in Group F of the preliminary round of the Basketball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan as part of the tournament that is also hosted by the Philippines and Indonesia from 25 August to 10 September.

SUNDAY, 30 April
        LJUBLJANA - Anže Krevh, a young Slovenian who has been playing the diatonic button accordion since age five, set an unofficial accordion marathon world record. He played non-stop for 53 hours, 53 minutes and 53 seconds, beating the previous record by more than two hours.

MONDAY, 1 May
        LJUBLJANA - Senior Slovenian officials pledged to continue fighting for labour rights in their May Day addresses, highlighting the need for a just distribution of wealth. "The process of reining in the labour market is never completed, the same goes for finding a just key to equally distribute surpluses," Prime Minister Robert Golob said. President Nataša Pirc Musar said work and workers were "values we must cherish" and a respectful attitude to workers "an irreplaceable value that we must fight for".
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's population increased last year owing to foreigners, according to the Statistics Office. Slovenia had 2,116,972 residents on 1 January 2023, 9,792 more than a year earlier. While the number of Slovenian citizens decreased by nearly 7,600, the number of foreign citizens increased by 17,400. Foreigners now account for 9% of the population, up from 4% a decade ago.
        GORIZIA, Italy - The Trieste-based Partisan Choir Pinko Tomažič, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, was honoured for its contribution to community-strengthening efforts regarding the Slovenian minority in Italy at a May Day celebration in San Floriano del Collio.

TUESDAY, 2 May
        LOS ANGELES, US - Anže Kopitar, captain of the NHL team Los Angeles Kings and two-time Stanley Cup winner, announced he would not play for Slovenia at the upcoming 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship. Taking into account his age and a few minor injuries, Kopitar decided to rest now to achieve a full recovery and start preparing for the new NHL season soon.

WEDNESDAY, 3 May
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia gained four spots in the latest World Press Freedom Index, released by Reporters Without Borders on World Press Freedom Day, to rank 50th among 180 countries. The step-up means the country is no longer among those deemed problematic as Slovenia again joins countries with a satisfactory situation in journalism.
        LJUBLJANA - Journalist representatives, in particular from the ranks of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), marked World Press Freedom Day with a gathering in front of RTV Slovenija at which they highlighted the role of journalists in promoting democracy and human rights. They noted the importance of professional standards and of conditions needed to maintain them.
        LJUBLJANA - The newly appointed ambassadors of North Macedonia, Cyprus, Monaco, Ecuador and Algeria presented their credentials to President Nataša Pirc Musar at Presidential Palace. Macedonian Ambassador Goran Milevski is the only one based in Ljubljana. Ecuador's Miguel Falconi Puig and Monaco's Anne Marie Eastwood are based in Rome, Cyprus's Maria Michail in Vienna and Algeria's Abdelhafid Alahoum in Budapest.
        LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar, Prime Minister Robert Golob and the Foreign Ministry expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims of the Belgrade school shooting in which a 13-year-old pupil killed eight fellow students and a security guard, injuring several more. They all expressed their shock and sadness and wished those injured a good recovery.
        LJUBLJANA - Civil society groups spearheaded by Pavel Rupar, a former MP for the opposition party Democrats (SDS), organised the fourth monthly mass rally of pensioners. Several thousand protesters made stops outside the presidential and government palaces, calling for higher pensions, the government's resignation and voicing their opposition to the assisted dying bill. They urged President Nataša Pirc Musar to remove as her adviser Biserka Marolt Meden, who was involved in the bill's drafting. The president condemned the call as unacceptable.
        LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court annulled one paragraph of one article of the Real Property Mass Valuation Act due to vagueness in a provision laying down the quality of data used in valuation models. The article was one of several challenged by a group of MPs led by New Slovenia (NSi) four years ago.
        NOVA GORICA - Slovenian police arrested a 35-year-old Italian citizen in the area of Nova Gorica near Italy as part of 150 coordinated raids in eight European countries targetting the Italian 'Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate.

THURSDAY, 4 May
        BERLIN, Germany - The German Foreign Ministry announced on Twitter that nine EU countries, including Slovenia, initiated a procedure to change the EU decision-making system, proposing that decisions on the EU foreign and security policies are reached with a qualified majority and no longer a consensus.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a bill to halt infraction proceedings and refund fines issued for breaking Covid-19 restrictions under the previous government which were later declared unconstitutional. Between 7 March 2020 and 30 May 2022 the fines issued totalled EUR 5.7 million.
        LJUBLJANA - As the collecting of signatures from voters continues to go on to allow an NGO to table a bill legalising assisted suicide, the Medical Ethics Commission at the Health Ministry issued an opinion opposing the bill, which it says entails a high level of ethical risk.
        LJUBLJANA - As Drago Šketa was sworn in for a second six-year term as state prosecutor general before National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič, he said he intended to strive for an independent and professional prosecution service and supports the prosecutors' efforts to address pay disparities.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted changes to the Investment Promotion Act that extend a screening mechanism for potentially risky foreign direct investments. The provision applies above all to investments from third countries, Economy Minister Matjaž Han said.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the investment programme for sports infrastructure for the next five years, worth EUR 150 million. Economy, Tourism and Sport Minister Matjaž Han announced that funds for this year will total just under EUR 11 million.
        LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Mark Pohar acting director of the Agency for Communication Networks and Services (AKOS). He will serve from 8 May until the new director is appointed for a five-year term, but not more than six months.
        LJUBLJANA - The government appointed Špela Stres acting director of the Agency for Research and Innovation in Science (ARIS) after it formally founded the organisation last week as a legal successor to the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS).
        LJUBLJANA - Petra Bezjak Cirman was granted a full five-year term as the head of the Government Communication Office (UKOM) after serving at the post in acting capacity since August last year. Formerly a journalist, Bezjak Cirman took over as the government's acting chief communications officer after Dragan Barbutovski left the post after just over two months on the job.