Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 2-8 Aug

FRIDAY, 2 August

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Robert Golob assessed that by participating in a major East-West prisoner swap the day before, Slovenia achieved a historic feat. Vojko Volk, a state secretary in his office, added that by including two Russian spies in the deal, Slovenia gained respect and trust from other security services.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia posted a foreign trade deficit on goods of EUR 2.5 billion in the first half of 2024 as exports rose by 7% year-on-year to EUR 30.3 billion and imports grew by 14% to EUR 32.8 billion, according to the Statistics Office.

LJUBNO OB SAVINJI/ČRNA NA KOROŠKEM - Officials in charge of reconstruction following the devastating August 2023 floods took stock of the progress made in the first year and said they will focus on protective measures against future floods and the completion of red-tape heavy housing replacement and financial compensation programmes.

LJUBLJANA - Central and northeastern Slovenia were hit by storms with strong winds and hail, with firefighters having to remove uprooted trees from roads, cover damaged roofs and pump water out of flooded buildings. A total of 249 incidents were recorded and 106 firefighting units activated.

SATURDAY, 3 August

KLAGENFURT, Austria - Slovenian media in Carinthia reported that members of the Slovenian minority in Austria, Bernard Sadovnik, head of the Community of Carinthian Slovenians (SKS), and Ingrid Gasser, head of a cultural workshop, will be honoured with the Grand Badge of Honour of Carinthia for the overall development of the state in their respective fields.

PARIS, France - Slovenian cyclist Jan Tratnik finished eighth in the men's individual road race at the Olympics, which was won by Belgian ace Remco Evenepoel (6:19:34). Silver went to Valentin Madouas and bronze to Cristophe Laporte, both from France.

PARIS, France - The Slovenian women's handball lost to Sweden 23:27 (14:11) in the last match of the preliminary round of the Olympic Games to get eliminated from the tournament with only one win in five games. In their debut Olympic appearance, Slovenia managed only to beat South Korea in Group A and lost to Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

SUNDAY, 4 August

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon expressed concern about the rising tensions in the Middle East in a phone call with Iran's acting Foreign Minister Bagheri Kani. She urged maximum restraint by all actors in the region and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and in the region.

TARVISIO, Italy - Catholics from Slovenia, the diaspora and the neighbouring countries met atop Mount Lussari in Italy as they made their annual pilgrimage to the church near the tri-border with Slovenia and Austria.

PARIS, France - Slovenian swimmer Neža Klančar finished 6th in the 50 metre freestyle at the Paris Olympics with a time of 24.35 seconds, setting a new national record. Sweden's Sarah Sjöstrtöm (23.71) won gold, Australian swimmer Meg Harris won silver (23.97) and China's Yufei Zhang won bronze (24.20).

MONDAY, 5 August

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's registered jobless total was at 44,384 at the end of July, up 2.3% from June but down 6.1% year-on-year. The increase on the monthly basis was mostly due to a rise in job seekers whose fixed-term employment contracts expired, the Employment Service said.

LJUBLJANA - Joining the global stock market plunge, blue chips on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange plummeted, pushing the SBI TOP benchmark 4.52% lower, below 1,600 points. Commenting, Blaž Bračič from NLB Funds told the STA this is a normal correction for stock markets after they had posted high growth this year. He advised investors to keep a cool head and avoid "drastic moves".

PARIS, France - The Slovenian national men's volleyball team was knocked out of the Paris Olympics by losing 1:3 to Poland in the quarterfinals. The defeat in what was their debut Olympic appearance came after three consecutive wins in the preliminary round, including a five-set thriller against France.

TUESDAY, 6 August

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia urged all parties in Bangladesh, where PM Sheikh Hasina resigned after weeks of anti-government protests, to practice restraint and ensure a peaceful transition to a democratically-elected government, the Foreign Ministry wrote on X a day after EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell issued a similar call.

MOSCOW,Russia/LJUBLJANA - The Russian spies that were part of the recent prisoner swap told the Russian state TV station Rossiya 1 that while they were in prison in Slovenia a member of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR visited them to tell them Russia was making efforts to save them. The Slovenian government declined to comment on the allegation.

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) proposed to the parliamentary Interior Affairs Committee to set up a sub-committee that would closely monitor Roma-related issues and the coalition Social Democrats (SD) urged the government to address the issues properly and set up systems to prevent peer violence and ensure parents would send their children to school consistently.

LJUBLJANA - Digital Transformation Minister Emilija Stojmenova Duh rejected all allegations made by opposition Democrats (SDS) in the ouster motion against the minister submitted in July. The SDS accused Stojmenova Duh, among other things, of negligent work and misleading the public in a purchase of 13,000 laptops.

KLAGENFURT, Austria - The Austrian national broadcaster ORF reported that Carinthian Slovenian and head of the Association of Slovenian Organisations (ZSO) Manuel Jug had decided to withdraw from politics. Jug mentioned reasons related to his private life and said politics was no longer a challenge for him. He said discussions about his successor at the helm of the ZSO had already begun.

WEDNESDAY, 7 August

LILLE, France - Slovenia defeated Norway 33:28 in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men's handball tournament and will face Denmark in the semifinals on 9 August.

PARIS, France - Slovenia's Kristjan Čeh finished fourth in the men's discus throw at the Paris Olympics with a throw of 68.41 metres, improving on his fifth place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jamaica's Roje Stona won gold with a distance of 70.00 metres, beating the Olympic record.

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar hosted at Presidential Palace children who attended a summer camp in the Roma village of Dolga Vas in Prekmurje, north-east, which was held under her sponsorship. Stressing the role of education, she urged Roma parents to make sure their children finish at least nine-year primary education.

THURSDAY, 8 August

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary EU Affairs Committee endorsed Slovenia's EU commissioner candidate Tomaž Vesel. In his presentation, the former chief auditor stressed the need for cooperation with MEPs and MPs. He feels there are no insignificant portfolios in the European Commission, which he sees facing major challenges solvable through compromise.

OBREŽJE - The Novo Mesto Police Department confirmed that a migrant registration facility opened at the former Obrežje border crossing at the end of July, allowing the police to perform all necessary measures related to migrants at one location.

LJUBLJANA - The government decided to deploy a Slovenian Armed Forces helicopter with army and civil rescue members to North Macedonia again on 10 August to assist the country as it continues to battle wildfires. This is the third time in a month that Slovenia has responded to North Macedonia's request for assistance.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's leading bank, NLB, announced it had obtained all required regulatory approvals to acquire the outright stake in the leasing company Summit Leasing Slovenija. The bank expects to complete the transaction in mid-September.

LJUBLJANA - The news portal Necenzurirano reported that the sale of Celjske Mesnine, a Slovenian meat processing company, to Croatian group Braća Pivac will be delayed by at least a few months as courts imposed restrictions on stakes that would be part of the sale.

MARIBOR - Turkish entrepreneur Acun Ilicali, who owns the English club Hull City, revealed his plans to invest in the football club Maribor, a decision he said was motivated by the football-friendly environment in Slovenia's second city and talks with UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. Ilicali signed a letter of intent with Maribor in May, in which he and the club's management defined the objectives of future cooperation.