News roundup - Monday, 18 March, until 3pm

Slovenia to contribute EUR 1m for ammunition for Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has joined a Czech-led initiative to buy artillery ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe, and the government will allocate EUR 1 million for this purpose, the Defence Ministry told the STA. According to the ministry's post on X, the government discussed the Czech initiative at its session last Thursday. The ministry did not provide any details to the STA, saying that the documents are confidential. Foreign media have reported that Ukraine would receive the first delivery by June.

FM Fajon says Putin is not Russia

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said that protests by Russian opposition against Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected president this weekend, were proof that "Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin". "Thumbs up for brave and lively civil society bringing hope that idea of different, free and democratic Russia is still alive," Fajon said on X. The Foreign Ministry said that Slovenia does not recognise the results of the election in the regions Russia annexed from Ukraine.

SDS wants public votes on new asylum centres and government

LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS) tabled motions for two consultative referendums, on government plans for additional asylum centres in the country, and the performance of the Robert Golob government in general. MP Andrej Kosi said the party was giving voters the option of telling the government to end its term instead of "languishing slowly for a another two years". Neither proposal is likely to secure sufficient backing in parliament.

Top court says legislation on Nazi symbols ban adequate

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court has rejected a petition in which a citizen asked it to declare Article 297 of the criminal code unconstitutional because it does not explicitly criminalise the Nazi salute and the public and private display of Nazi symbols. The court held that the existing legislation adequately addresses sanctioning of the use of Nazi salute and other Nazi symbols.

Jelinčič gets new term at helm of National Party

ŽALEC - Zmago Jelinčič, the 76-year-old who has led the far-right National Party (SDS) since its founding in 1991, was appointed president for a new four-year term as the party held a congress on Sunday, at which it also confirmed a platform for the coming EU elections. The party has long been known for its radical views on migrations and the election platform it confirmed centres on this topic.

OTP to get EUR 147 million in dividend from two Slovenian banks

MARIBOR/LJUBLJANA - The Hungarian banking group OTP decided at the shareholder meetings of its two Slovenian banks, NKBM and SKB Banka, on Monday to pay out a total of EUR 147.2 million in dividend. The shareholders also formally endorsed the merger of the smaller SKB Banka with NKBM, which is to be finalised in autumn, according to minutes of both meetings.

Number of employed down due to retirement

LJUBLJANA - The number of people in active employment in Slovenia dropped by 0.2% in January over December. In January, 939,000 people were in active employment. Out of the total of some 2,300 who stopped working between December and January, some 1,800 were over the age of 60, with the Statistics Office attributing this to retirement. Year-on-year, the number of those in employment increased by 1.3%.