Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 31 May-6 June

FRIDAY, 31 May

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly was in session to debate the government's track record halfway into its term. Opposition leader Janez Janša said the government had missed the deadlines it set itself, while Prime Minister Robert Golob argued his cabinet had been successful making sure Slovenia is an economic growth champion despite crises.

LJUBLJANA - The leaders of the two largest parties, the Freedom Movement's Robert Golob and Janez Janša of the Democrats (SDS), faced off for N1 ahead of EU election to mostly showcase diametrically opposed views. Janša spoke of the importance of the election, including "because the [EU's] present direction needs to be corrected", while Golob warned against right-wing populism, which he thinks undermines Europe by denying its right to exist through constant blockades.

LJUBLJANA - A poll commissioned by Delo shows that the Democrats (SDS) would win four MEP seats in the EU election, the Freedom Movement two, and Vesna, the Social Democrats (SD) and New Slovenia (NSi) one each. But Resnica (Truth), a small anti-establishment party, has a good chance of mixing things up and could win one seat by taking one away from the SDS, if if manages to slightly expand its reach.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate fell by another 0.5 percentage points to 2.5% in May, a record low since September 2021, when inflation had been below 3% last. At the monthly level, prices went up by 0.5% on average, the Statistics Office reported.

SATURDAY, 1 June

LJUBLJANA - The latest EU election public opinion poll by Ninamedia saw the list of the opposition Democrats (SDS) in lead with 29% among decided respondents, followed by the ruling Freedom Movement with 21.3%. The SDS improved by 1.6 percentage points, while the Freedom Movement gained 3.6 points compared to two weeks ago.

SUNDAY, 2 June

LJUBLJANA - Twenty years to the day since the Yugoslavia succession treaty entered into force, Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon urged successor states - Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia - to muster the political will and wisdom to resolve the remaining open issues to the benefit of their citizens.

RIBNICA - New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin urged the opposition party's membership at their annual get-together to do all in their power for centre-right parties to win the EU election. He believes the NSi is "on the brink of two seats" in the EU parliament, while it has one now.

MONDAY, 3 June

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Slovenians living in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be able to cast their votes in the upcoming EU elections at the Slovenian Embassy in Sarajevo after the Bosnian government turned down Slovenia's relevant request for a second time due to the country's support for the UN Srebrenica genocide resolution. The ministers from the Republika Srpska entity voted against, just as they did the first time around last week.

LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS) called for an emergency National Assembly session to speed up the processing of their proposal to help Slovenian fishermen after their applications against a total of EUR 3.4 million in fines so far imposed on them by Croatia in the disputed Bay of Piran had been deemed inadmissible by the ECHR.

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy presented an amended draft of the updated National Energy and Climate Plan, which sets more ambitious goals for Slovenia in line with EU targets. The draft addresses two electricity supply scenarios post-2030: renewables only and a combination with nuclear energy. The government could endorse it at the end of summer.

LJUBLJANA - The council of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija formally dismissed Zvezdan Martić as chairman of the management board of RTV Slovenija, and appointed Natalija Gorščak, a former TV Slovenija director, as acting chairwoman. She will serve until a new chair is appointed or for up to six months. Martić resigned last week.
        
TUESDAY, 4 June

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly recognised an independent Palestine in a unanimous vote, capping a turbulent day of strategising in parliament that saw partisan recriminations about abuse of parliamentary procedure concerning an opposition referendum motion and a subsequent reinterpretation of the rules of procedure that allowed the coalition to bypass a 30-day delay in voting due to the referendum motion. The centre-right opposition boycotted the vote. Senior Slovenian officials welcomed the move.

LJUBLJANA - As part of his visit to Slovenia, President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan met with Slovenian counterpart Urška Klakočar Zupančič to discuss cooperation and the tense security situation in South Caucasus. Simonyan paid a visit visit as Armenia and Slovenia celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

LJUBLJANA - Head of the opposition Democrats (SDS) Janez Janša called on voters not to vote early in EU election, except in cases when it is absolutely not possible for them to vote on Sunday, as he questioned the security of ballots. The National Electoral Commission said it would ensure maximum security.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's merchandise exports rose by 48.8% in April year-on-year, while imports increased by 33.8%. Trade with non-EU countries increased sharply, mainly due to a high growth in reexports in trade with Switzerland, Statistics Office data showed. Slovenian companies exported EUR 5.85 billion of goods in April, including EUR 2.68 billion to EU member states and EUR 3.17 billion to other countries. Export to EU member states grew by 9.1% year-on-year, while export to non-EU countries increased by 114.7%.

LJUBLJANA - Miljenko Jergović, a Bosnian-born Croatian author, was declared the winner of the 2024 Vilenica Prize for Central European literature, given out by the Slovenian Writers' Association for outstanding achievements in literature and essay writing. He will receive it at the end of the Vilenica International Literary Festival, taking place between 2 and 7 September in Ljubljana and the region of Kras.

WEDNESDAY, 5 June

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court ordered an increase in judges' salaries in an amount corresponding to the total rise in consumer prices recorded in the past decade, which is about 26%. The ruling, prompted by the Judicial Council, came as the government failed to honour the top court's previous order to secure adequate pay by 3 January 2024. The Slovenian Judges' Association welcomed the decision, while trade unionists from the remaining segments of the public sector indicated that the talks on pay reform, which are continuing, will be affected.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia and Palestine established diplomatic relations a day after Slovenia became the 147th UN member to recognise Palestine. A recognition note was handed to Palestinian Ambassador Salah Abdel-Shafi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked PM Robert Golob in a phone call. The pair agreed to meet in Jordan next week.

NEW YORK, US - Slovenia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Ondina Blokar Drobič, called on the Iraqi government to adopt legislation against sexual violence, without the death penalty, at a UN Security Council meeting on the 12th report of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Islamic State in Iraq.

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court green-lighted a decree calling a consultative referendum on assisted dying. It ruled that the petitioner cannot justify the unconstitutionality of the referendum question by alleging the unconstitutionality of legislation that has not yet been adopted.

SLADKI VRH - Paper tissue maker Paloma launched new facilities worth EUR 138 million to conclude a seven-year investment cycle under the ownership of the Slovak group SHP. The owners also announced that the company will launch a production line for tissue boxes next year, worth EUR 11 million. The government provided an EUR 8 million incentive for the investment with government officials lauding SHP as an excellent, strategic owner.

LJUBLJANA - Logistics and real estate company BTC, best known for its Ljubljana shopping district BTC City, has taken over the management of a new logistics centre in the Zalog borough in Ljubljana. The centre, worth EUR 36 million, spans 40,000 m2 and will employ 150-180 workers.

THURSDAY, 6 June

KRŠKO - The government endorsed a draft bill on the systemic financing of the construction of public rental apartments. Up to EUR 100 million will be available from the budget annually in the next ten years as part of what would be the biggest reform of the public housing market in decades. A systemic source of funding would be found within the budget as of 2025.

KRŠKO - PM Robert Golob and Sandi Viršek, director of the Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, laid a foundation stone for a long-planned repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste in Vrbina, just next to the Krško Nuclear Power Plant. Construction work on the EUR 93 million project is to start this autumn.

LJUBLJANA - Justice Minister Andreja Katič announced prompt action to honour the Constitutional Court order for pay increase for judges in an amount corresponding to the total rise in consumer prices in the past decade. She noted this was a matter for the government as a whole.

LJUBLJANA - The latest public opinion poll conducted by Parsifal ahead of the EU election and published by Nova24TV shows that the Democrats (SDS) polling at 33.9% among decided voters. The Freedom Movement follows with 19.7% and Vesna with 10.6% of the vote. 7.8% would vote for New Slovenia (NSi) and the Social Democrats (SD) are in fifth place with 7% support.

LJUBLJANA - Turnout in the early voting ahead of the EU election and one of the three referendums coming up on Sunday reached 2.5% by the end of day two of the three-day early voting, the National Electoral Commission (DVK) said. The figure was at 1.3% for Wednesday alone.