News roundup - Tuesday, 12 September, until 3pm

Golob, Bettel agree all EU candidates should be treated equally

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Prime Minister Robert Golob held talks with his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel in Luxembourg to agree that all countries that want to join the EU should be treated equally. They noted the role of the European Commission, which is expected to present an enlargement report in October, in this respect. Enlargement was a technical issue for 20 years, but this has changed somewhat due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the process is becoming an increasingly geopolitical issue, Golob said at a joint press conference with Bettel. They also visited the village of Schengen and discussed business cooperation, especially in space technologies, ahead of a bilateral business forum.

Slovenia wants Croatia to boost EU external border control

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar called his Croatian counterpart Davor Božinović over the phone due to a significant increase in the number of migrants crossing into Slovenia from Croatia illegally. The Interior Ministry said in a press release Poklukar had advised that Croatia step up the Schengen border control. The increase was detected above all in the area of Brežice and Slovenia has stepped up border control in the area, deploying additional police patrols, a helicopter and other "technical measures".

Support and greater resilience against natural disasters urged in EU Parliament

STRASBOURG, France - In a call echoed by Slovenian MEPs, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič stressed in the European Parliament that the EU must not only strengthen its response capacity but also ensure greater resilience against natural disasters. Romana Tomc (EPP/SDS) said that when faced with natural disasters, the EU relied on one of its fundamental values, solidarity. The European Commission has promised Slovenia up to EUR 400 million from the Solidarity Fund this year and next year. However, as Milan Brglez (S&D/SD) pointed out, Slovenia is not the only country in need of assistance after natural disasters.

Ljubljana Stock Exchange joins effort for EU's consolidated tape provider

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Stock Exchange has joined forces with 13 more stock exchanges active on 25 markets of EU member states to establish EuroCTP, which aims to tender as the consolidated tape provider for equities and exchange-traded funds in the EU. According to a press release by the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the company was set up on 23 August in the Netherlands. It will have its own board of directors and all participating exchanges will be represented on the supervisory board.

Chain collision that claimed three lives caused by Slovak truck driver

LJUBLJANA - A severe traffic accident that occurred on the Ljubljana ring road on Monday afternoon was caused by a 56-year-old Slovak truck driver. He caused a chain collision of five vehicles, because he started slowing down too late. Two vehicles caught fire and three people died, a Slovenian and two Italians, Ljubljana police said. The accident happened at around 3:30pm near the Rudnik exit on the southern section of the ring road leading towards Koper, leaving the motorway closed for hours, until 1am on Tuesday.

Morigenos contributes data for AI model to recognise whales and dolphins

LJUBLJANA - Morigenos, a Slovenian dolphin research association, has taken part in a global project that developed a new AI tool to identify individual whales and dolphins in the wild in a bid to improve research into these species. A group of 56 researchers from six continents has developed a new AI model based on facial recognition technology for which much photo data was needed. The association contributed a large number of photos of dolphins it has taken over the years.

Number of passengers in public transport down in the last decade

LJUBLJANA - Despite many initiatives and the introduction of different types of tickets improving the accessibility of public transport, the number of passengers in urban transport dropped by 21% last year compared to 2013, by 3% in long-distance transport and by 13% in national railway, shows the latest data from the Statistics Office. Meanwhile, the number of registered cars went up by 14%.