News roundup - Monday, 15 January

Doctors and dentists go on strike, demand changes immediately

LJUBLJANA - Doctors at public health organisations went on strike at 7am, as the Fides trade union of doctors and dentists demands higher pay and the creation of a separate pay pillar for healthcare until 1 July 2024. Work was moreover suspended for half an hour in the morning for individual strike committees to present the demands. Ana Lina Vodušek, a member of the Fides strike committee, said the government should start taking doctors "seriously, as equal partners" and urged immediate change. Talks brought no progress today and are to continue tomorrow, as Fides has said the strike will last until an agreement on the demands is reached.

Stolen calls from 112 emergency medical assistance line appear on dark web

LJUBLJANA - Highly sensitive personal data that people provided when calling the 112 emergency line for medical assistance were reported to be published and sold on the dark web but then said to be no longer accessible there. While media initially reported that a fire brigade's IT system was hacked, a reaction by UKC Ljubljana showed the data could have been stolen from the country's largest hospital. UKC Ljubljana said it would notify relevant authorities and the police. The Government Information Security Office is already investigating the case, although it had not been officially informed of a cyber incident. The media reports spoke of more than 15 million entries from the IT system.

Pirc Musar talks Gaza in Germany, urges end to crimes and killing of civilians

BERLIN, Germany - President Nataša Pirc Musar and her German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier focused on economic cooperation between the two countries as they met in Berlin, while they also discussed the situation in the Middle East. Pirc Musar said that the "situation in Gaza demands an immediate end to the crimes and killing of civilians". She also highlighted the excellent relations between Slovenia and Germany, stressing the importance of economic cooperation. The president was also the main speaker at a business conference on the future of Slovenian-German economic cooperation in green transition, saying the green transition will provide many opportunities for cooperation.

Opposition wants debate on Golob's company

LJUBLJANA - The opposition New Slovenia (NSi) requested a session of the parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Public Finances to discuss a company owned by Prime Minister Robert Golob. The party wants to clarify whether there has been any conflict of interest considering that the company receives renewables subsidies from the state. Golob became the sole owner of Star Solar, which runs four solar power plants, as part of his divorce procedure last year.

Trade unions expect 7.5% higher minimum wage

LJUBLJANA - ZSSS, Slovenia's largest association of trade unions, expects the statutory minimum wage to increase by 7.5% this year its representatives said as they presented their plans for the year. One of the employer organisations, a regional chamber of small business, immediately expressed its opposition to such a big increase, saying it shouldn't exceed the annual inflation rate, which ran at 4.2% in December. The minimum wage is set by the labour minister in January based on talks with the social partners and taking into account inflation, the minimum cost of living, and pay and GDP trends. Last year it rose by as much as 12%.

Record number of crypto investment scams seen in 2023

LJUBLJANA - The SI-CERT national cyber security response centre dealt with around 150 investment scams last year where scammers lured victims into fake cryptocurrency investments in various ways, in what is the highest number of such scams handled so far. The largest damage in crypto investment scams amounted to EUR 140,000, while the average was EUR 40,000. The number of cyber incidents in general rose by 4% to 4,280 after the figure already surged to 4,123 in 2022 from 2,775 in 2021.

President launches own podcast series, UKOM to follow later this week

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar launched her own podcast series wile the Government Communication Office (UKOM) will do so on Friday. Pirc Musar plans to interview eminent Slovenians and guests from abroad to "broaden the horizons of everyone in Slovenia with the help of knowledgeable people", she said in the introduction to her first podcast, which aired this morning. Her first guest was philosopher Renata Salecl. UKOM announced its podcast series GOVSI Podcast will launch on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the EU and NATO with Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and Defence Minister Marjan Šarec as guests.

Vox Populi: Govt approval ratings stagnating

LJUBLJANA - The latest Vox Populi poll shows the share of respondents supporting the cabinet is up by over a percentage point to 32.9% this month, while the share of those who are unhappy with it grew by just as much to 55.4%. The Robert Golob government approval ratings have been stagnating for the last three months, and are now close to those of the Janez Janša government in January 2022, the newspaper Dnevnik reported. But the share of those displeased with Janša's cabinet was much larger then (66.7%) and the share of the undecided lower. Janša's SDS currently tops the party rankings at 22.4% and Golob's Freedom Movement second at 15.3%.

Dnevnik survey shows strong support for new nuclear unit

LJUBLJANA - A public opinion poll run by the newspaper Dnevnik shows a strong support for the project to build a new unit at the Krško Nuclear Plant (NEK), while a majority also agrees with the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity. 68.6% of the respondents support the idea to construct a new reactor, while 21.1% oppose it and 10.3% are undecided. Energy Minister Bojan Kumer is not surprised by the results, saying that "after facing an energy crisis and the resulting higher electricity prices, people look at possible energy solutions in a different way".

SDS requests emergency session to discuss Roma-related concerns

LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS), the largest opposition party, want an emergency session of the parliamentary Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities to discuss Roma-related security concerns in SE Slovenia, where a number of municipalities have been raising concern about the rising crime rates. One of them has also expressed concern about school violence incidents with Roma community members being the perpetrator. The party therefore expects the government to step up their efforts to tackle these issues and prepare legislative changes.

Slovenian minority party in Italy elects new leadership

TRIESTE, Italy - The Slovenian Union (SSK), a party representing the Slovenian minority in Italy, elected its new leadership at a congress on Saturday. The new party leader, Damijan Terpin, aims to promote political networking at national and international levels. Terpin, who replaced Peter Močnik, told the Italian public broadcaster RAI that the SSK should re-establish a number of contacts that had been somewhat neglected in recent years.

Fuel off motorway network cheaper as of Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - Regulated prices of fuel off Slovenia's motorway network will go down on Tuesday, as excise duties remain unchanged. Regular petrol will be sold at EUR 1.381 a litre for the next two weeks, down by 1.2 cents, diesel will be by 1.5 cents cheaper at EUR 1.415 a litre, and heating oil 1.7 cents cheaper at EUR 1.065 a litre.

Car sales up nearly 6% last year, sales of e-cars almost 40%

LJUBLJANA - A total of 48,923 passenger cars were newly registered in Slovenia last year, which is 5.6% more than in 2022, while the number of vans registered for the first time increased by 7.7% to 7,686. The number of new electric cars sold in Slovenia reached 12,584, an annual rise of 38.6%. Manufacturer-wise, Volkswagen sold the largest number of new cars in Slovenia last year, followed by Škoda and Renault.

Mountain rescue incidents hit new record last year

KRANJ - Mountain rescuers reported a total of 687 incidents in 2023 in what is a new record number that does not include their efforts during devastating floods in August. The number of fatal accidents stood at 28, ten fewer than in 2022, the mountain rescue service said. The previous record was from 2022, when 667 incidents were reported. Out of last year's incidents, nearly 300 involved foreign tourists.

Woman dies after being hit by fireworks

LUKOVICA - A 56-year-old woman died after being hit by a stray firework on Sunday evening, Ljubljana Police said. The fireworks were apparently launched by a 37-year-old relative of hers. Preliminary findings show she was standing in a backyard when her relative launched fireworks nearby. One of the fireworks changed direction and hit her directly. She sustained heavy injuries and died on the spot despite the rapid arrival of rescue paramedics.

Quadruplets born at Ljubljana hospital

LJUBLJANA - Quadruplets were born at the Ljubljana maternity hospital last weekend in what is a rare event that previously happened in 2015, the hospital announced on Facebook. The four boys, who each weighed from 1,030 to 1,450 grams, were born by caesarean section in week 31 of pregnancy. Their mother currently lives in Slovenia, but comes from Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the event has been described as a true miracle.

Modern art museum to zoom in on photography, Middle East art, gentrification

LJUBLJANA - The Museum of Modern Art will focus on a range of topics this year, putting up exhibitions on Slovenian contemporary art, photography, Middle East art and on accelerating gentrification. Another highlight will be Slovenia's appearance at the 60th Venice Biennale. The museum will also host the 10th Triennial of Contemporary Art U3 between June and November in what will be its latest reflection on the current situation in Slovenian contemporary art. The 10th edition has been curated by Tevž Logar.

Ljubljana to get international brass ensemble competition

LJUBLJANA - After organising its first international competition for young pianists in 2023, the company organising the acclaimed Ljubljana Festival has decided to launch a competition for brass ensembles. The first will take place in February 2025 at the Slovenian Philharmonic, and the winner will receive EUR 20,000, Ljubljana Festival said. The competition will be open to professional quartets and quintets whose average age does not exceed 30 years. Applications will open in mid-March and close in mid-September. A maximum of 20 ensembles will be selected for the competition.