News roundup - Tuesday, 14 May

Fajon and Qatari PM call for resuming Gaza ceasefire talks

DOHA, Qatar - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during her ongoing Middle East tour. The two called for efforts to resume Gaza ceasefire talks, which have reached a stalemate. Fajon also noted the importance of international efforts to end the Israel-Hamas conflict. Fajon will wrap up her tour in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

President tells Army Day event security pillar of survival

MARIBOR - Addressing a Slovenian Army Day ceremony in Maribor, President Nataša Pirc Musar called security a cornerstone of "our existence". The supreme commander of the Slovenian Armed Forces believes that decision-makers and citizens should trust and support the military and the entire national security system. Slovenian Army Day was an opportunity to showcase the equipment and to present job opportunities to young people.

Slovenia expresses support for independent Palestine in UN

NEW YORK, US - With Slovenia's independence effort still fresh in the nation's memory, the country understands Palestinians' efforts to reach the same goal, Slovenia's Ambassador to the UN Boštjan Malovrh said as the General Assembly wound down on Monday the session that endorsed a resolution promoting Palestine's full UN membership last week.

Students end Palestine protest

LJUBLJANA - The student protest in support of Palestinians at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences ended Monday night after the University of Ljubljana expressed support for immediate ceasefire and said that no umbrella cooperation agreement existed between the university and Israeli institution. The university is to propose a fund for Palestinian students.

Cooperation to benefit all in focus of this year's BSF

BLED - The Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), Slovenia's main foreign affairs event, will focus on cooperation to the benefit of all. Running under the motto World of Parallel Realities, the 19th BSF will take place on 2 and 3 September and give even more room to youth than usual, BSF Secretary General Peter Grk announced.

Slovenia among 11 EU countries to urge strengthening of cohesion policy

PRAGUE, Czechia - Eleven EU ministers for cohesion, including Slovenia's Aleksander Jevšek, signed a joint statement on the future of cohesion policy after 2027 and the need to strengthen it, as a meeting of the Visegrad Group and seven other EU member states was held in Prague.

Contractor denies putting ads in SDS-affiliated media to receive favour

LJUBLJANA - Appearing before the parliamentary inquiry into alleged illegal party financing, Klemen Senič, director of the contractor Nivo Eko, dismissed allegations about taking out ads in media outlets with ties to the largest opposition party, the Democrats (SDS), in exchange for a favour to run watercourse management projects under the previous, SDS-led government.

Freedom Movement and SDS to top EU election ballot

LJUBLJANA - The National Electoral Commission (DVK) held a draw to determine the order of lists of candidates on the ballot for the EU election. The two largest parties, the Freedom Movement and Democrats (SDS), will top the lists of candidates on the ballot. A total of twelve parties will run in the 9 June election to the European Parliament, with two of them appearing on a joint ticket.

SocDems present agenda for social Europe

LJUBLJANA - Several candidates running in the EU election for the Social Democrats (SD) presented the coalition party's view on how to make the EU more social, highlighting a good housing policy, new taxes big multinationals should pay to finance green transition, and the new EU budget to finance projects important for Slovenia. These will be the key areas the party, which has currently two MEPs, intends to promote during the campaigning and, if elected, in the European Parliament.

The Left enters EU election campaign with slogan Security

LJUBLJANA - The Left started its EU election campaign under the slogan Security, which it says goes beyond the migration issue, raised by the right wing, and includes climate and social security as well as a neutral EU. "We want a Europe where everyone can be sure that tomorrow will not be worse than yesterday," the party said.

Mayors turn to top court to get higher pay

LJUBLJANA - Same as judges did in the past, mayors turned to the Constitutional Court to eliminate pay disparities between themselves and some of the other public office holders. They believe the move could give fresh impetus to the ongoing efforts to reform the public sector pay system. They say the salaries of a considerable part of public office holders are now better than theirs.

IMF lauds Slovenia for response to shocks, urges reform

LJUBLJANA - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund issued a report following consultation with Slovenia, commending the country's authorities for their timely and effective policy response to shocks, including the 2023 floods. It also underscored "the need to maintain prudent fiscal and macroprudential policies and advance structural reforms to boost growth, accelerate income convergence with the EU, and strengthen climate resilience".

Bank profits continue to rise

LJUBLJANA - Banks in Slovenia generated EUR 277.2 million in pre-tax profit in the first quarter of the year amid robust revenue growth, which is 82% more than in the same three months last year. Net profit increased by 88% to EUR 241 million, according to a report by the Slovenian central bank.

Telekom Slovenije Q1 net profit up 48% to EUR 12.1m

LJUBLJANA - The Telekom Slovenije group generated EUR 169.1 million in sales revenue in the first quarter, up 4% compared to the same period last year. The higher revenue was primarily due to the growth in the number of users and increased sales of IT goods and services. The group's net profit was EUR 12.1 million, up 48%.

Slovenia aims to become more attractive for start-ups

MARIBOR - The Economy Ministry unveiled a roadmap for a Slovenian start-up strategy at Podim, a start-up and technology conference that opened in Maribor. Slovenia aims to become one of the most attractive environments for start-ups by 2030, said Economy Ministry State Secretary Matevž Frangež. The goal is to increase investment in start-ups tenfold by 2030 and create at least 476 start-ups per million people, which is double the current figure.

Ljubljana city welcomes planned restrictions to short-term rentals

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana city welcomed the proposed legislation introducing restrictions for short-time rentals in a bid to address a lack of apartments and high prices. The bill allows municipalities to relax the cap of 30 days a year if short-term rentals are not a problem, but Mayor Zoran Janković sees no reason to do so for now.

Regulated fuel prices to change every four weeks

LJUBLJANA - Regulated prices of fuels, now set every two weeks based on a government model, will in the future be set every four weeks, under a proposal put forward by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy. The new regime is to come into force on 18 June. Only retail prices of regular petrol and diesel sold off the motorway network are regulated, and those of heating oil.

Cimos agrees to pay fine for 2011 fraud and money laundering

KOPER - Car industry supplier Cimos will pay a fine of EUR 180,000 for fraud and money laundering in 2011 when it received EUR 3.2 million in EU and state funds for new machines while it only refreshed the old ones with fresh paint. Cimos did return the unlawfully obtained money several years ago but the retrial ended today as the company's incumbent management admitted to liability at the Koper District Court.

Minster urges protecting diversity in face of AI

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Culture Minister Asta Vrečko took part in an EU ministerial meeting discussing artificial intelligence (AI), pointing to its opportunities, but also the need to preserve and ensure continuous development of cultural and linguistic diversity. "Creative work and creators need to be protected. Progress in AI innovation must not exclude effective copyright protection and financial compensation," she said.

Media literacy portal joins EU disinformation awareness campaign

LJUBLJANA - The media and information literacy portal Mipi of the Agency for Communication Networks and Services is participating in a campaign on the importance of critical thinking and recognising fake news ahead of the EU elections, the agency wrote in a press release.

Beović re-elected Medical Chamber head

LJUBLJANA - Bojana Beović was re-elected president of the Medical Chamber. The infectious diseases specialist well-known among Slovenians from the Covid-19 pandemic was the sole candidate for the post. "I promise me and my team will do everything in our power to continue to support doctors and dentists and be an important voice in the efforts to improve healthcare for all," Beović said after the vote.

Austrian ambassador donates books to Slovenian NGOs and schools

LJUBLJANA - Seven Slovenian NGOs and institutions received vouchers for EUR 50,000 worth of books as part of a book donation campaign by Austria's Ambassador to Slovenia Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer and the Klagenfurt-based Mohorjeva Družba publishing house. In its 23 years the project has seen more than 60,000 books donated to Slovenian NGOs and institutions.

Slovenian Philharmonic to open new season with new conductors

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Philharmonic presented its programme for the 2024/25 season with the slogan Music, Always New, in which both the orchestra and the choir will have new conductors. The choir picked English conductor Stephen Layton, while the orchestra chose a young Georgian conductor Kakhi Solomnishvili. Both have already worked with the Philharmonic.