News roundup - Sunday, 16 June

President soon to visit Ukraine

LUCERNE, Switzerland - Taking part in a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland, President Nataša Pirc Musar said that participants in the summit had made a "small step in the right direction". She is to visit Ukraine this month at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, her office announced.

SDS starts preparing for a snap election

LJUBLJANA - After the Democratic Party (SDS) won the EU election with over 30% of the vote, it has launched preparations for a snap election. The party's governing council said after a session on Saturday that the defeat of the coalition parties at the EU election will "very likely affect the length of the second half of the government's and parliament's term" and that "a snap election is very likely".

Pride Parade celebrates 40 years of LGBTIQ+ movement in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - An estimated 3,000 people gathered for the annual Pride Parade in the centre of Ljubljana on Friday. The slogan of the parade was Looking Back, Stepping Onward. The Pride Parade Association said this reflects the great progress made in the past 40 years and is a celebration of early activists, but also the realisation that the fight is not over. There were several incidents but none as violent as last year.

Turkish horror The Funeral wins main prize at Grossmann Festival

LJUTOMER - The Funeral, a Turkish road trip horror film directed by Orcum Behram, has won the main prize, the Vicious Cat, at the 20th Grossman Festival of Fantastic Film and Wine. The audience award went to The Soul Eater by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. The award of the European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals for the best European short went to the Spanish film The Fence by Sam Orti.

Slovenian Muslims start Eid al-Adha celebrations

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Muslims started celebrations of Eid al-Adha with early morning prayers in more than a dozen cities around the country. The main event was held at the Ljubljana Mosque where the Slovenian community's leader, Mufti Nevzet Porić, laid out core values that members of the community should observe.

Slovenia draw with Denmark 1:1 in their first Euro 2024 match

STUTTGART, Germany - Slovenia earned a 1:1 draw with Denmark at their opening match of Euro 2024 in Stuttgart, Germany. After Denmark dominated the first half, Slovenia stepped up in the second to score an equaliser. According to some estimates, there were more than 10,000 Slovenian fans cheering for their team at the Stuttgart Arena.

Giovanni Aleotti wins Tour of Slovenia

NOVO MESTO - Italy's Giovanni Aleotti (Bora-Hansgrohe) managed to hold onto his general classification lead to win the 30th Tour of Slovenia. Irish rider Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was the winner of the final stage of the race. "That's definitely my biggest achievement so far in my career," he told the organisers. Irish rider Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was the winner of the final stage of the race.