Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 28 Jun - 4 Jul

FRIDAY, 28 June

KYIV/BUCHA, Ukraine - During her three-day visit to Ukraine, President Nataša Pirc Musar held talks with her counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky about a bilateral security agreement and preparations for the second peace conference for Ukraine. The countries also signed a memorandum on cooperation in the support for Ukrainian citizens temporarily displaced in Slovenia.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - PM Robert Golob said he believed the new EU leadership would lead the bloc with a great deal of common sense, wisdom and optimism through the turbulent times. He also welcomed the positions the EU summit adopted on the war in the Middle East, noting they recognised the need for a two-state solution.

LJUBLJANA - Representatives of employers, trade unions and the government signed a declaration to respect and encourage social dialogue as they resumed work on the Economic and Social Council, the country's main industrial relations forum, almost a year after it broke down as the employers walked out in protest.

ROME, Italy - Five alleged victims of Marko Rupnik, a disgraced Slovenian priest and artist who was expelled by the Jesuits last year following sexual abuse allegations by a number of nuns, and the American cardinal Sean O'Malley called on bishops from across the globe to remove Rupnik's mosaics from their churches.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's general government deficit stood at EUR 309 million in the first quarter of 2024, or 2% of Slovenia's GDP, down 1.1 points year-on-year, the Statistics Office said. General government debt stood at EUR 45.4 billion, or 70.7% of GDP, down 1.5 points.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate declined by a full percentage point in June to 1.5%, the lowest it has been since June 2021, the latest Statistics Office data showed. A year ago it stood at 6.9%. Services prices remained the driving force of consumer price growth, while energy prices exerted strong downward pressure on inflation.

LJUBLJANA - The stock of inward foreign direct investments (FDI) in Slovenia increased by 9.1% in a year to stand at EUR 22.1 billion at the end of 2023, showed preliminary figures by the Bank of Slovenia. The largest investor in Slovenia was Austria (21.6% of the total). Slovenia's outward FDI increased at a slightly higher rate, 9.7%, to EUR 9.4 billion.

LJUBLJANA - The Croatian regulator approved the indirect acquisition of the outright stake in the Croatian leasing firm Mobil Leasing by the Slovenian NLB bank. NLB is acquiring the leasing firm that controls slightly more than a 3% market share in Croatia through the acquisition of Summit Leasing Slovenija.

LJUBLJANA - The N1 portal reported that famous rapper Challe Salle, the stage name of Saša Petrović, is suspected of sexually harassing minors, with at least one woman later stepping forward with accusations after the charge was first levelled by rival rapper Zlatko, the stage name of Zlatan Čordić, in a diss track. An important part of Challe Salle's fan base are tweens and young teens.

SATURDAY, 29 June

CELJE - The main event of the Welcome Home 2024 annual gathering of Slovenians living abroad took place in Celje where relevant minister Matej Arčon said that the aim was to celebrate the connections between them and the homeland. Earlier he vowed continued support for young Slovenians living abroad and announced new measures promoting startups and sports cooperation.

SUNDAY, 30 June

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar condemned an attack on the LGBTIQ+ community in Maribor and what she believes was an insufficient response from the local authorities. In a statement marking the end of Pride Month, she said the attack was a cruel reminder that the community continued to face discrimination and violence.

KLAGENFURT, Austria - Slovenian writer Tamara Štajner received one of the prizes given out as part of the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, a top accolade for German literary works. Štajner won the Kelag Prize for Luft nach Unten (Room for Less), a text about a complex relationship between a mother and a daughter.

INNSBRUCK, Austria - Slovenia's Olympic champion Janja Garnbret won the women's lead event at an IFSC climbing World Cup competition in Innsbruck after she won the bouldering event there on 27 June. At the latter event she was joined on the podium by another Slovenian, 17-year-old Jennifer Eucharia Buckley, who finished second in what was her first World Cup appearance.

MONDAY, 1 July

FRANKFURT, Germany - Slovenia had to concede to Portugal in the last 16 at Euro 2024 after a penalty shoot-out that followed a thriller overtime period. A huge crowd of fans welcomed their team in Ljubljana on 2 July to celebrate what was Slovenia's first progression to knockout stages at a major tournament.

LJUBLJANA - The STA acquired the Court of Audit's draft report on the controversial acquisition of a dilapidated building in Ljubljana meant to house a number of courts. It suggests the Justice Ministry bought the building virtually without preparation. The ministry does not object the draft report.

FRANKFURT, Germany - PM Robert Golob met with his Portuguese counterpart Luis Montenegro ahead of the Slovenia-Portugal match in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, with Golob presenting to Montenegro the initiative for Slovenia to host the next meeting of the MED9 group of countries.

PRISHTINA, Kosovo - National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič started her two-day visit to Prishtina where she met with her Kosovo counterpart Glauk Konjufca. Slovenia is supporting Kosovo's European perspective and it becoming a member of the Council of Europe, Klakočar Zupančič said.

LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry approved some EUR 33.5 million in compensation to the three insurance companies - Zavarovalnica Triglav, Vzajemna and Generali - that provided top-up health insurance before it was folded into the mandatory health insurance system at the end of 2023.

BRUSSELS, Belgium/NOVO MESTO - Pharma company Krka will have to defend itself again at the General Court of the EU for alleged breaches of antitrust law in the 2014 perindopril case. The week before, the Court of Justice of the EU upheld the European Commission's appeal and returned the case to the General Court of the EU for reconsideration, Krka said.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian diplomat Jože Šušmelj, who also served as Yugoslav and later Slovenian consul general in Trieste, died at the age of 85, Primorski Dnevnik reported. PM Robert Golob expressed his condolences on X and stressed Šušmelj's role in cross-border cooperation and efforts for the Slovenian minority in Italy.

TRIESTE, Italy - The Slovenian minority in Italy launched a brand called Slovenians in Italy as an attempt to recognise the community as a societal, cultural and linguistic element of the border area. The project, devised by two Slovenian umbrella organization in Italy, will promote the history, culture and economy, and consequently the reality of Slovenians in Italy.

TUESDAY, 2 July

LJUBLJANA - The Democrats (SDS) announced a motion of no confidence in Digital Transformation Minister Emilija Stojmenova Duh after a leaked audit report found a series of irregularities in the purchase of 13,000 budget laptops for underprivileged students. Stojmenova Duh survived a motion of no confidence over the same issue in March.

PODGORICA, Montenegro - Slovenia delivered six Belin-V drones to the Montenegrin Armed Forces in what is the first government-to-government deal in which a foreign country purchased military equipment from Slovenia. The deal is worth more than EUR 1 million, the Slovenian Defence Ministry announced.

NEW YORK, US - As many as 96% of the population of the Gaza Strip faces severe food shortages, Slovenia's representative on the UN Security Council Samuel Žbogar told a meeting of the Council dedicated to the situation in the Middle East. He praised the work of Sigrid Kaag, the senior coordinator for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Gaza.

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) said it detected corruption risks in its investigation of alleged irregularities in the selection of Raiven with her song Veronika as Slovenia's entrant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. They issued several recommendations to the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

GRENOBLE, France - Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won stage 4 of the Tour de France to reclaim the yellow jersey. He left his GC rivals behind to earn the bonus seconds at the top of the Galibier and after a daring descent soloed to the finish line. He first donned the yellow on 30 June, but likely preferring some recovery time to podium duty he conceded it for a day to Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

WEDNESDAY, 3 July

BRDO PRI KRANJU - In its latest economic review for Slovenia, the OECD recommends the government to carry out further structural reforms, in particular in the pension and healthcare systems, and in the public sector, while it also identifies challenges on the housing market, in decarbonisation of the economy, and gender equality.

LJUBLJANA - The opposition parties, the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), asked the Constitutional Court to review Slovenia's recognition of Palestine, a move that parliament formalised in a unanimous vote on 4 June. Most of the opposition MPs, who boycotted the vote, now challenge the recognition on the grounds of allegations of abuse of parliamentary procedure.

LJUBLJANA - PM Robert Golob hosted a consultation with all parties in parliament about preferential voting in general elections after voters endorsed introducing a preferential vote in the 9 June consultative referendum. He believes changes to the electoral system are feasible, but since a two-thirds majority is needed, opposition NSi votes are to be decisive.

LJUBLJANA - The Defence Ministry presented 19 defence projects, including weapon systems, protective equipment and simulation systems, that are being developed by nine hi-tech Slovenian companies. The ministry has been increasing R&D funding since 2022. This year it amounts to EUR 23 million, said Minister Marjan Šarec.

LJUBLJANA - A total of 43,369 people were registered as unemployed at the Employment Service at the end of June, down 1.6% on May and 6.1% on May 2023, and the lowest number on record in independent Slovenia.

LJUBLJANA - The national budget deficit stood at EUR 346 million in the first half of 2024, down 15% from the same period in 2023. Excluding the direct impact of emergency measures, the figure would be at EUR 60 million, shows preliminary data from the Fiscal Council.

LJUBLJANA - TV Slovenija reported that police had filed criminal complaints against two minors in relation to the recent attack on another student in a primary school in the Brežice municipality. Based on a recording of the attack on TikTok, the police found the attacker was not acting alone.

THURSDAY, 4 July

LJUBLJANA - Frančišek Verk, the head of the trade union representing staff at state bodies, said 40 of the country's 58 administrative units agreed to sign a strike-ending agreement with the government on 5 July as a result of which the months-long strike will be suspended on 8 July.

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted legislation aimed at lightening the workload of the busiest administrative units. The emergency bill will suspend territorial jurisdiction in issuing residence and work permits to foreign citizens, while workers from abroad will be able to start working as soon as they file their work permit form. The measures will be in effect until the end of September.

BRASILIA, Brazil - FM Tanja Fajon started a three-day official visit to Brazil to meet her counterpart Mauro Vieira and representatives of the Slovenian-Brazilian and Slovenian-Argentinian chambers of commerce. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations.

LJUBLJANA - The government commission for concealed graves welcomed the initiative by President Nataša Pirc Musar for a decent burial of victims of the war and post-war violence who have not been buried. The commission will begin public discussion on the matter in the autumn and expects to cooperate with the government and the president's office.

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted amendments to the legislation governing the construction of a new railway line from the port of Koper to the Divača hub to allow for another, parallel track to be added to what is currently a single-track project. Currently under construction, the new single-track railway is due to open to traffic in 2026 when building of the additional track is slated to start, the cost of which is estimated at just over EUR 354 million.

LJUBLJANA - The Court of Audit found irregularities in how six political parties, including all five parliamentary parties, used over EUR 253,000 in 2022, tasking the parties to donate EUR 20,000 for charity.

LJUBLJANA - Rolling Stone Italia ranked Slovenia's Grounded among 15 best summertime music festivals. The Ljubljana-based festival, which is dedicated to electronic music, critical thinking and activism, joined the likes of Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Sziget and Flow Festival.