News roundup - Saturday, 16 March

Some 1,000 protest against asylum centre at Obrežje

OBREŽJE - Some 1,000 locals from the Brežice municipality, east, gathered for a peaceful protest at Slovenska Vas, a small border crossing, in the morning to protest against the government plans to erect a unit of the Ljubljana Asylum Centre at nearby Obrežje, the international border crossing which is the main road link between Ljubljana and Croatia's Zagreb. "The protest is a serious announcement and a warning that people here are simply not ready to accept everything the government is imposing on us," Brežice Mayor Ivan Molan, who attended it, told the STA. He said another protest is planned for next Saturday.

President says intl law often pawn on chessboard of great powers

ŠENTJERNEJ - A WWII battle was commemorated in which the German occupying forces and their Slovenian collaborators destroyed a Partisan unit 80 years ago to the day in the east of the country. President Nataša Pirc Musar stressed that the site must serve as a reminder of the unacceptability of the horrors of war and of Nazi violence. She drew attention to the devastation caused by war and urged against international law and human rights becoming pawns on the chessboard of the interests of great powers, which she said still happens all too often.

26,000 gigabytes of data deleted on Digital Cleanup Day

LJUBLJANA - Nearly 1,290 people took part in today's campaign to clean Slovenia of digital waste, carried out as part of global Digital Cleanup Day. They deleted 26,000 gigabytes of data from their devices, saving five tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, said the campaign organisers, NGO Ecologists without Borders and communication group o28. The figure translates into saving the energy that would be needed to drive nearly 29,280 kilometres or produce over 7,470 litres of milk. The campaign was endorsed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The next such campaign will take place on 15 March 2025.

BeyondSnow aims to make ski resorts resilient to climate change

BOHINJ - 13 partners from six Alpine countries, including Slovenia, have joined forces to produce an interactive map to assess the vulnerability of Alpine communities to warmer winters and their ability to adjust to new conditions. BeyondSnow is an EU co-funded project that was launched at the end of 2022 to find solutions to turn small and medium-sized ski resorts attractive to tourists all year long. Slovenia's partners are the Development Agency of Zgornja Gorenjska and the company Arctur.

Beekeepers flocking to Celje for fair

CELJE - ApiSlovenija, a two-day trade fair of beekeeping held for the 47th year, opened at Celje fairgrounds. What the organisers described as the largest expert event for beekeepers in Europe has brought together over 50 exhibitors from nine countries, featuring state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and lectures and workshops, while encouraging exchange of know-how between experts and beekeeping enthusiasts. Statistics show that Slovenia has the highest density of beekeepers in the EU. There are nearly five beekeepers per 1,000 residents for a total of 11,000 beekeepers tending some 215,000 bee families.