News roundup - Wednesday, 31 July

Russian spies get prison sentences

LJUBLJANA - The Russian couple who were arrested in Slovenia in December 2022 on spying charges pleaded guilty in a secret trial at the Ljubljana District Court and were sentenced to one year and seven months in prison each. Media reported, the Russians will most likely not serve their sentences in Slovenia, and could be part of a larger exchange of prisoners that could take place in the coming hours between Russia, the US, Germany and Belarus.

Ex Pensioners's Party head Erjavec mounting comeback

LJUBLJANA - Karl Erjavec, the former long-serving head of the Pensioners Party (DeSUS) who retired from politics in 2021, has announced an attempt at a comeback. The 64-year-old, who served as minister of foreign affairs, defence and environment as DeSUS acted as kingmaker in several governments, wants to build a new centrist party. He would not reveal any names but said we is being encouraged to return by a number of business representative as well as voters who feel alienated from the existing parties.

Pundit says Haniyeh assassination reflects poorly on Iran

LJUBLJANA - The assassination of the political leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in his residence in Tehran reflects badly on Iran, and the Iranian authorities will have to respond due to its political position in the region, researcher Faris Kočan of the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana assessed for the STA. The new leadership in Iran risks being seen as weak if it does not respond, he added. Kočan doubts, though, that there will be an immediate and drastic response either from Iran or Hamas.

Calls against extremism as Roma Holocaust Memorial Day is marked

MARIBOR - Roma Holocaust Memorial Day was marked in Maribor on Tuesday evening with a lecture on the opportunities regarding the Roma cultural heritage in Slovenia, a concert and an address by Jožek Horvat Muc, the head of the Slovenian Roma Association, who took the occasion to warn against various forms of extremism. Horvat Muc said that it is very important to remember the tragic events of eight decades ago, referring to the Romani genocide, or Porajmos, during World War II.

Journalists speak up against lay-offs at Večer

MARIBOR - After the newspaper Večer started laying off journalists in line with its plans announced in June, the Association of Journalists (DNS) expressed its concern calling for the Media Act to be adopted soon, as otherwise the support systems might come to life only once those that need the help are already gone. Laying off journalists in the name of making a profit is an unwise business move that also undermines credible journalism and limits the public's right to information, the association said.

Doctors take strike-limiting legal provisions to top court

LJUBLJANA - The Fides trade union of doctors and dentists, who have been on strike since 15 January, petitioned the Constitutional Court to review legislative changes that were adopted in April to expand the range of services doctors must provide during strikes. Fides, which wants the top court to examine the matter as an absolute priority and to halt the challenged provisions until a final ruling, says the changes gravely encroach on doctors' right to industrial action.

Annual inflation drops to 1.3% in July

LJUBLJANA - The annual inflation rate in Slovenia dropped to 1.3% in July, the second lowest rate after March 2021, the Statistics Office said. Annual inflation decreased for the fourth month in a row. Contributing 0.4 percentage points to the annual inflation rate in July was a 6.1% increase in the prices of services in restaurants and hotels. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were on average 0.1% lower in July, mostly due to lower prices of clothing and footwear.

Slovenian-French forum stresses competitiveness in car industry

PARIS, France - The global automotive industry is facing important challenges, the impact of which will be felt by automotive industries in Slovenia, France and the EU, heard a Slovenian-French forum organised by the SPIRIT agency and the Manager Association. If there are no swift measures to electrify transport and cut red tape, the EU will fall behind in competitiveness, heard the event, held at the Slovenia House on the sidelines of the Paris Olympics.

Insurers pay out EUR 335m in natural disasters claims

LJUBLJANA - Insurance companies paid out EUR 335 million in natural disasters claims for 2023, including EUR 150 million for the damage caused by the August 2023 floods, shows data by the Insurance Supervision Agency. The damages for the August floods were the highest compensation paid out for a single weather event in Slovenia. Previously the highest damages payouts were EUR 85 million for the storm and hail in August 2008.

Dnevnik assembly confirms separation of publishing activities

LJUBLJANA - The shareholders of the media company Dnevnik, which publishes one of the leading Slovenian dailies, approved on Tuesday a plan to spin off the company's publishing business. The new company will be named Dnevnik Mediji and will absorb all of Dnevnik's employees. Based on a counterproposal from the largest shareholder, publisher DZS, a higher dividend for shareholders was also approved, amounting to EUR 1.80 gross per share.

Slovenian-Polish researchers busy unlocking the scent of history

LJUBLJANA - Determined to address the absence of the dimension of scent and allow visitors to experience items in museums beyond merer visual observation, a Slovenian-Polish project has set about understanding the role of scent in historical contexts and developing methods to reproduce and archive these scents for future generations. A collaboration between the National Museum of Slovenia, the Ljubljana Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, and the Krakow National Museum the University of Economics, the Odotheka project involves the analysis of the scent of ten museum items.

Men's handball team step closer to Olympic quarter-finals

PARIS, France - In an important step towards a desired quarter-finals berth in the men's handball tournament at the Paris Olympics, Slovenia made it two of three in the preliminary stage by beating Sweden 29:24. Slovenia still face Germany and Japan in Group A, where Slovenia, Croatia, Spain and Germany now have four points each, while Sweden have two and Japan none. The top four teams from the group will advance to the quarter-finals.

Eva Alina Hočevar 9th in canoe slalom

PARIS, France - Slovenian Eva Alina Hočevar finished 9th in her Olympic debut in the women's canoe slalom. Gold went to the defending champion, Australian Jessica Fox, silver to Germany's Elena Lilik and bronze to Evy Liebfarth of the US. Hočevar paddled well in the semi-finals, posting the 4th best time of 109.22 seconds, which would earn her bronze in the finals. However, the 22-year-old failed to repeat her great performance in the final run.

Celje ousted from Champions League qualifying

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Slovenian football champions Celje were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League qualifying by the Slovak champions Slovan Bratislava in the second round with an aggregate score of 1:6. Celje suffered a humiliating 0:5 defeat in Bratislava on Tuesday evening in the second leg, after playing out a 1:1 draw at home last week. They have now been relegated to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and the match-up with the Irish champions Shamrock Rovers.