News roundup - Tuesday, 9 July, until 3pm

Golob to stand in as defence minister

LJUBLJANA - Marjan Šarec will soon no longer be defence minister as the new European Parliament meets for its first session next Tuesday and he assumes his new job as MEP. Until a new minster is appointed, expectedly in the autumn, the Defence Ministry will be led by Prime Minister Robert Golob. Šarec was elected MEP in the 9 June election with preferential votes for the ruling Freedom Movement alongside the party's lead candidate Irena Joveva.

MPs agree waste incinerator construction procedures should be facilitated

LJUBLJANA - The MPs from both sides of the aisle shared the view that procedures for the construction of waste-to-energy plants should be sped up in Slovenia as the parliamentary Infrastructure Committee discussed the matter on Monday. However, the coalition did not endorse the recommendations for the government proposed by the opposition, which said that the procedures accompanying waste-to-energy plants are going in the right direction but they are too slow.

Slovenian-owned shipyard in Croatia to expand production capacity

ŠIBENIK, Croatia - Five years after being acquired by Slovenian firm Iskra, the shipyard in Šibenik in Croatia is planning to expand production capacity in a EUR 30 million project. A Croatian paper reports that Iskra Brodogradilište 1 has got the go-ahead from the Croatian Environment Ministry for expansion, and Iskra owner Dušan Šešok told Poslovni Dnevnik that the shipyard will considerably increase its production capacity.

AI: Slovenian govt discriminated against protesters in 2020-2022

LJUBLJANA - The latest Amnesty International (AI) report on the right to protest states that the Slovenian authorities discriminated against protesters in 2020-2022. Protests were limited, even prohibited, and peaceful protesters were penalised and victims of police brutality. The report covers the situation in 21 countries, including Slovenia, where AI focused on the events in 2020-2022, when it says the right to protest in the country was most endangered. Generally, the report says that, "across Europe, the right of peaceful assembly is coming under severe attack".

Centenary of gymnast Štukelj's first Olympic gold celebrated

NOVO MESTO - As Slovenians athletes hope to win medals at this year's Paris Olympics, the city of Novo Mesto is remembering the Paris Olympics held one hundred years ago when its native, Leon Štukelj, one of the greatest Slovenian athletes, won his first two gold medals in artistic gymnastics. This was the first Olympic gold won by a Slovenian, and the city will remember Štukelj's feat in the evening with an exhibition, a documentary film and a talk.