Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 12-18 May

FRIDAY, 12 May
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The agriculture ministers of 13 EU member states, including Slovenia, wrote to the European Commission to express concern about the restriction on imports of four agricultural products from Ukraine to five eastern EU member states. They also demanded explanations regarding the proposal for EUR 100 million in related aid to these countries.
        CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, Guatemala - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and her Guatemalan counterpart Mario Adolfo Bucaro Flores signed a memorandum of understanding between Slovenia and Guatemala at the 9th summit of the Association of Caribbean States. Fajon said the two countries had committed to boosting cooperation in trade, environment, water management, renewable energy, science, research and technology.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly ended a session on farmers without voting on resolutions proposed by the Democrats (SDS), the largest opposition party. The proposals largely coincided with the demands the farmers presented at two recent rallies, including more relaxed conditions for farming in Natura 2000 areas.
        POLZELA - A ceremony commemorating the crew of a US bomber that crashed near Polzela during World War II marked the Slovenian-American Friendship Day, with President Nataša Pirc Musar saying the events 79 years ago help see the importance of Slovenia in international relations.
        LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of Food Delivery Couriers staged a two-hour work stoppage after delivery companies Wolt and Glovo refused to recognise the union or enter talks on a collective bargaining agreement. More than 100 couriers took part in the action. They plan further activities unless Wolt and Glovo heed their demands.
        LJUBLJANA - In light of the recent tragic events in Serbia, Slovenian schools organised a day of the culture of non-violence and tolerance. Police said they had been receiving an increased number of reports and information that could be connected to peer or other types of violence.

SATURDAY, 13 May
        LJUBLJANA - News portals N1 and Necenzurirano reported that an investigation had been launched into suspected abuse of office by former director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention Damjan Žugelj over a massive investigation targeting the owner of N1, Serbian businessman Dragan Šolak, which was reportedly connected to an alleged deal between the then PM Janez Janša and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. PM Robert Golob said that if the allegations were true, this was one of the biggest abuses of official institutions for partisan political purposes in the history of the country.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) Day was celebrated with a high-profile series of dynamic demonstrations by soldiers around Stožice Arena and a free concert that attracted thousands. President Nataša Pirc Musar expressed gratitude to the soldiers for their dedication and professionalism.
        LIVERPOOL, UK - Slovenian indie pop band Joker Out finished 21st at the Eurovision song contest, a result the band described as disappointing even though this is the first time after 2019 that a Slovenian act performed in the final. The band got 78 points for their danceable happy-go-lucky anthem to careless youth Carpe Diem.
        MARIBOR - Around 100 people gathered for what was the first March for Life in Maribor. Movement leader Urša Cankar Soares expressed hope that marches for life would spread to cities all across the country in the future.
        LOS ANGELES, US - Slovenian physicist Dušan Petrač, who was a leading NASA scientist, died aged 91. The news of the death of the long-serving member of the opposition Democrats (SDS) was announced by SDS head Janez Janša.
        
SUNDAY, 14 May
        LJUBLJANA - Supreme Court President Miodrag Đorđević and the Trade Union of Judicial Workers urged the government yet again to address low pay of court staff and the dire staffing situation at courts. "Some first-instance courts have already been forced to reduce the volume of work," Đorđević said in an open letter to PM Robert Golob.

MONDAY, 15 May
        LJUBLJANA - Coalition parties tabled a proposal to dismiss nine members of the 29-strong programme council at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija for their unlawful activities in voting to appoint Andrej Grah Whatmough as the broadcaster's director general. The RTV management decried the attempt as political purge.
        LJUBLJANA - Some 300 experts in international public law and international criminal law from around 70 countries gathered for a two-week conference to finalise a key international treaty in prosecution of atrocities. Foreign and justice ministers Tanja Fajon and Dominika Švarc Pipan expressed confidence that the convention will be adopted.
        LJUBLJANA - The Higher Education Union announced it would resume strike activities as the talks on addressing its demands, presented last year, have not progressed since mid-March. It said the strike would be held on 30 May, and continued in mid-June.
        LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar met with representatives of the Slovenian minority in Italy to discuss the current challenges they face, before she heads to Italy to meet with her counterpart Sergio Mattarella. The talks revolved around efforts to guarantee seats to minority representatives in the Italian parliament.
        BUDAPEST, Hungary - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon met with government officials, MPs, and Slovenians living in the Hungarian capital. He highlighted boosting cooperation of municipalities on both sides of the border populated by the Slovenian and Hungarian minorities as one of the goals to be pursued.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission upgraded its forecast for Slovenia's GDP growth from 1% to 1.2% for this year and from 2% to 2.2% for 2024. For next year, Slovenia's outlook is better than the forecasts for the euro area and the EU, which stand at 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively.
        LJUBLJANA - The two-member management board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) will not get 50% higher pay as proposed by the supervisory board after the move triggered harsh criticism by some politicians and commentators. The supervisors revoked their decision at the behest of the management board members.
        BLED - About 50 locals held a protest after a much publicised killing of what varying accounts say were up to seven sheep by a wolf. The protesters claimed that the sheep were killed despite proper fence protection and that the size of the wolf population and its behaviour have gotten completely out of hand.
        LJUBLJANA - Insurer Vzajemna filed an action with the Administrative Court seeking the abolition of a government decision to cap the monthly top-up health insurance premium. Vzajemna chairman Aleš Mikeln sees the cap as a much bigger problem than the potential abolition of supplementary health insurance.

TUESDAY, 16 May
        LJUBLJANA - Just hours before Slovenia was due to mark National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Communism, the government revoked a decree that created the memorial day with the argument that it was declared without a "public and expert debate". Former PM Janez Janša, under whose government the memorial day was declared, described the decision as "one of the most abhorrent and disgraceful acts in the history of independent Slovenia".
        REYKJAVIK, Iceland - The Council of Europe (CoE) may play an important role in establishing responsibility for international crime, and international cooperation will be key in this, President Nataša Pirc Musar said at the outset of the CoE summit. Alongside Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Pirc Musar hosted a round table debate dedicated to the need to establish responsibility for atrocities in Ukraine.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. After a year and a half, external demand exceeded domestic expenditure.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is still negotiating changes to its recovery and resilience facility plan and expects an agreement within weeks even though the European Commission is "relatively rigid" in its positions, Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said after a financial ministerial.
        NEW YORK, US - Slovenia's and Belarusian permanent representatives to the UN, Boštjan Malovrh and Valentin Rybakov, presented their countries' bids for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council in 2024-2025. Both representatives had to fight off accusations about their countries running at the behest of other powers.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian fourth-graders have exhibited a drop in their reading literacy result after years of an upward trend, showed the latest PIRLS 2021 international study. With 520 points, Slovenia still placed above the mean value, but the drop was among the worst among the participating countries.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition announced plans to launch a parliamentary commission to investigate suspected abuses related to the construction of a major sewerage project in the Ljubljana area known as the C0 canal. SDS MP Anja Bah Žibert said the project amounted to "environmental crime" perpetrated by Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković.
        OSILNICA/JELŠANE - A company contracted by the Interior Ministry to remove the wire mesh fence along Slovenia's border with Croatia started the works following delays due to tender complications, after removal of barbed wire fence had been entrusted to the army.
        LJUBLJANA - RTV Slovenija filed a lawsuit against the government claiming EUR 24 million in compensation for higher labour costs. The government had pledged to compensate the public broadcaster for the costs in the 2018 strike agreement but has failed to deliver on the promise, RTV Slovenija acting director general Andrej Grah Whatmough said.
        FELSŐSZÖLNÖK/SZENTGOTTHARD, Hungary - After having met Hungarian officials in Budapest, Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon visited the region in Hungary where the Slovenian minority lives. Bilingual education topped the agenda.

WEDNESDAY, 17 May
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's campaign for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council has put the country back on the map, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon told the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee. The international community remembers what Slovenia was like 20, 30 years ago, and now the country has raised its profile, she said.
        LJUBLJANA - The government withdrew from legislative procedure changes it drafted to the Institutes Act. These would have given the government the possibility to dismiss directors of public institutes without the approval of the institute's council and appoint an acting director, which was met with strong criticism from employers and employees.
        LJUBLJANA - Four civil initiatives made an appeal for the state to set up a public register of victims of communist violence. The associations presented their appeal to Eva Irgl, the chair of the parliamentary Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities, along with a list of 14,901 persons killed.
        LJUBLJANA - Ways to boost economic cooperation between Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina topped the agenda as Economy Minister Matjaž Han met Bosnian Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac. Han put in his word for less red tape and equal treatment of Slovenian companies in Bosnia.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary inquiry into alleged political meddling in the police and other independent state bodies held its first session behind closed doors. The inquiry will look into whether members of the former and current governments have politically interfered in any pre-trial and other proceedings.
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission cleared Hungarian oil company MOL to acquire OMV Slovenija, the country's second largest network of service stations. The approval is conditional on MOL selling 39 service stations in Slovenia to the British Shell Group.
        LJUBLJANA - Tibor Šimonka, a senior vice-president of the steel group SIJ, was re-elected president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) for a four-year term. He said that the Slovenian economy needed stable and predictable conditions to achieve good results.

THURSDAY, 18 May
        LJUBLJANA - The government put forward an amendment to the Constitution to give the Constitutional Court some discretion in choosing which cases to admit. The key goal is to ensure better management of the backlog of cases at the court without limiting access to the court, Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan told the press.
        LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Marjan Šarec hosted his Albanian counterpart Niko Peleshi with the pair agreeing that cooperation between Slovenia and Albania in defence should be strengthened. Albania can count on Slovenia's support in its efforts to join the EU, Šarec said after the talks. The pair also called for more aid to Ukraine.
        NOVO MESTO - Pharma company Krka reported a group net profit of EUR 89 million for the first quarter, down 2% year-on-year. Revenue rose by 6% to EUR 458 million despite a slight drop in the company's key Eastern European sales region.
        LJUBLJANA - The energy group Petrol generated EUR 1.8 billion in sales revenue in the first quarter of 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 6%. Net profit was down 23% to EUR 24.8 million, but Petrol said the results were on par with plans in the face of regulated energy prices in Slovenia and Croatia.
        KOPER - Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port, generated net sales revenue of EUR 80.1 million at group level in the first quarter of this year, which is 13% more than in the same period last year, despite a drop in throughput. Net profit stood at EUR 16.5 million, which is the same as in the same period last year.
        KOPER - The supervisory board of Luka Koper took note of what the port operator says is a mutual agreement on early termination of the term of Boštjan Napast as the chairman of the company. Napast will stay in office until the end of June, when board member Nevenka Kržan will temporarily take over.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the custodian of state assets, has given the national railway company the go-ahead to purchase 20 new passenger trains worth EUR 148.3 million. The trains will be purchased from Polish producer Stadler, and should be delivered by the end of 2024.
        LJUBLJANA - A Swiss-based company owned by privatisation tycoon Darko Horvat has bought the brands owned by Studio Moderna, a troubled omnichannel direct-to-consumers retailer. Studio Moderna owner Sandi Češko, who used to top the list of the most wealthy Slovenians, did not disclose the value of the deal.
        LENDAVA/SZENTGOTTHARD, Hungary - National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič and her Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Köver visited the border area populated by the Slovenian and Hungarian ethnic minorities, as the two countries marked 30 years since they signed a key agreement to safeguard their ethnic minorities in Slovenia and Hungary.