News roundup - Friday, 19 July

Mount Trstelj wildfire fully under control

KOMEN - A wildfire that engulfed around 150 hectares of forest on Mount Trstelj in the Kras region in western Slovenia has been localised and is fully under control. Around 480 firefighters are still on the ground performing preventive work, said Blaž Rogelja, the commander of the Komen volunteer fire brigade. He believes that firefighters will be kept busy at least until Saturday.

Slovenia welcomes ICJ opinion on Israel occupation

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia welcomed the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories violated international law and had to end as soon as possible. The Foreign Ministry said the position of the UN's highest court carries immense legal significance and moral authority, adding that active advocacy for the implementation of the decision is an obligation of the entire international community.

Global IT outage affects some Slovenian companies

LJUBLJANA - A major outage linked to Windows workstations hit businesses worldwide and is also affecting companies in Slovenia. The Ljubljana Airport is experiencing problems with information systems for flight check-ins, which is causing small delays in plane departures. The pharma company Krka is also affected, but said the situation was stabilising and was not expected to affect its business.

Slovenian MEPs best represented in EU internal affairs committee

STRASBOURG, France - As European Parliament committee members were made public, it transpired that Slovenian MEPs will have the strongest presence this term in the parliamentary internal affairs committee with three of them becoming members. Slovenian MEPs will also sit on the committees on employment, culture, regional development, industry, environment and transport. The committees will convene their maiden sessions in Brussels on Tuesday, electing chairs and vice chairs.

National Council vetoes changes to parliamentary inquiry act

LJUBLJANA - The National Council vetoed the changes to the Parliamentary Inquiry Act that were passed by the National Assembly on Monday. The upper chamber has concerns about the changes being fast-tracked and about their content, arguing they could stall parliamentary inquiries. The changes make it possible for MPs, persons under investigation or witnesses to ask the Constitutional Court to review a request for a parliamentary inquiry. The ruling coalition has enough votes to override the veto.

Opposition demands inquiry into state-owned energy companies

LJUBLJANA - MPs of the opposition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) filed a request for a parliamentary inquiry on what they see as a threat to Slovenia's energy sovereignty. They want to investigate the operations of state-owned energy companies in the last ten years. Independent MP Mojca Šetinc Pašek, formerly a member of the ruling coalition party, said she was in favour of the inquiry even though she did not contribute her signature.

Ex-justice minister to head EU Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre

LJUBLJANA - The management board of the EU Unified Patent Court appointed Slovenia's former Justice Minister Aleš Zalar the director of the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre, a new institution which will be seated in Ljubljana and Lisbon. He was nominated by the Slovenian government. The appointment comes just over a year after the unified patent system took effect, with Slovenia being one of its 17 members.

Housing Fund buying flats and building plots

LJUBLJANA - The national Housing Fund issued a call to buy flats or building plots, earmarking EUR 15 million for the project. The call will be open until the funds run out but no longer than the end of 2025. However, depending on the response of potential sellers, the funds can still be increased or cut, if need be. The call invites property owners to submit binding bids for plots and flats.

Pogačar takes stage 19 at Tour, extends lead to 5 min

NICE, France - Slovenian cycling ace Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) collected his fourth stage win at this year's Tour de France as he won stage 19 from Embrun to Isola 2000. Pogačar, who has been wearing the yellow jersey for most of the Tour, is now 5:03 minutes ahead of his closest rival, Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the general classification. Looking forward to the penultimate stage to the top of the Coillole pass, Pogačar says he can head for it without pressure.

Bravo advances in Conference League qualifying, joined by Maribor

LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR - The Ljubljana football club Bravo defeated the Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads in the first round of qualifying for the UEFA Conference League to advance to the second round. They will be joined there by Maribor, which was eliminated from the UEFA Europa League qualifiers by Botev Plovdiv from Bulgaria.

Floating Castle festival in more intimate rendition

STARI TRG PRI LOŽU - Floating Castle, an international festival of music and performing arts, will start on Saturday near Snežnik Castle in the south of the country. This year's rendition will be "simple, small and intimate" with performances by 35 music groups. The festival will open with a concert by Etno Histeria World Orchestra, featuring 60 musicians from 17 countries.