News roundup - Wednesday, 3 April

Slovenia condemns all attacks on diplomatic missions, Žbogar says

NEW YORK, US - Slovenia's Ambassador to the UN Samuel Žbogar said at Tuesday's emergency session of the UN Security Council held after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that Slovenia condemned all attacks on diplomatic missions. He called for respect of the Council's resolution that demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza to reduce tensions in the region, and for all parties to show restraint and respect the UN Charter, in particular Article 2 on the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Judges stage one-hour work stoppage over pay again

CELJE/LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Judicial Association staged another one-hour work stoppage to note that 90 days have passed since the deadline for the Constitutional Court's ruling on judges' salaries to be implemented. A protest gathering was held in Celje by the judges working at the city's District and Labour Court, and the area's local courts to raise public awareness about the work of judges.

Cyber attacks continued over Easter weekend

LJUBLJANA - Access to some of the websites managed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation was occasionally disturbed over the extended Easter weekend, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) told the STA. However, no data was stolen during the cyberattacks. UKOM said the issues were addressed as they appeared in collaboration with webmasters and external staff, including SIGOV-CERT, the national response centre for cybersecurity.

SocDems not planning cabinet replacements after election of new leadership

LJUBLJANA - The junior coalition Social Democrats (SD) indicated they have no plans of replacing their current government ministers even though Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon will not be standing for another term as the party's head at the 13 April congress. Although Prime Minister Robert Golob is reportedly insisting that coalition party heads are also members of the ministerial cabinet, the three candidates vying to succeed Fajon at the helm of the SD have all rejected this option.

More family medicine treatments in Jan-Feb year-on-year despite strike

LJUBLJANA - Despite the ongoing strike in healthcare, practitioners in family medicine clinics performed 133,667 individual treatments in January and February, which is 6.4% more year-on-year. More treatments were also performed in dental and specialist outpatient services, while slightly fewer treatments were performed in acute hospital services.

Survey shows inflation top concern among people

LJUBLJANA - A recent survey by Valicon suggests that inflation is people's top concern by far, as more than three quarters of respondents expressed concern about this issue. Compared to eight months ago, more people are worried about the political situation in the country. Some 76% said that they were worried about inflation, which has been one of the top-ranked concerns ever since March 2022, when Valicon started ranking them in his online survey New Normal.

Man gets 30 years in prison for sexual abuse of two stepdaughters

KRANJ - A 53-year-old man has recently been sentenced to 30 years in prison, the second-longest sentence in Slovenia after life imprisonment, for having physically and sexually abused his two stepdaughters over a period of eight years, while also recording the abuse and keeping the recordings, the newspaper Gorenjski Glas reported. The 30-year sentence has been handed down 17 times in Slovenia before, but always for murder, news portal N1 said.

More nuns step forward to accuse Rupnik of abuse

VATICAN CITY, the Vatican - Three more nuns have stepped before the Vatican office dealing with sexual abuse in the Church to report Marko Rupnik, an influential Slovenian priest who was expelled from the Jesuit order in 2023 after allegations of widespread abuse on his part in the past were raised in 2021. According to the Italian press agency Ansa, sources in the Vatican confirmed that a total of five complaints by alleged victims of the priest and artist are now filed with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

President narrows down ECHR judge selection to three candidates

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar narrowed down the selection for the next Slovenian judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg to three candidates - Boštjan Zalar, Vasilka Sancin and Aleš Galič - and has sent the relevant proposal to the National Assembly. The latter two have also been favoured by the Judicial Council.

Housing Fund to meet national programme targets by 2025

LJUBLJANA - The Housing Fund built 4,870 apartments as part of the national housing programme for 2015-2025, and another 1,780 apartments are being built or planned. With the stock of 3,400 apartments in 2015, the goal of 10,000 apartments could even be slightly exceeded by 2025, the fund said.

Renault to start making new model in Slovenia in 2026, Reuters reports

PARIS, France/NOVO MESTO - French car manufacturer Renault plans to start producing a more affordable version of its electric Twingo model at its assembly plant Revoz in Novo Mesto in 2026, Reuters reported on Tuesday quoting several well informed sources. Ampere, Renault's electric vehicle and software spin-off, will start engineering work on the new Twingo this month, sources told Reuters, and the plan is to launch mass production in two years.

GREMO bringing results, Golob pledges further support

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian automotive suppliers are increasingly proving to be important innovators for green and digital transformation, heard an innovation conference hosted as part of a the Green Mobility (GREMO) development project. Launched in 2021, the project is showing results, and PM Robert Golob announced further support from the government.

Ten restaurants get top rating by Gault&Millau this year

LJUBLJANA - Ten restaurants in Slovenia were awarded the highest rating of four toques by Gault&Millau in 2024 in what is a repeat of last year's line-up. The chef of the year award went to David Žefran of Restaurant Milka, one of the top-rated establishments, the renowned French gastronomic guide has announced. Hiša Franko in Kobarid, famous for its star chef Ana Roš, was again the best of the best.