News roundup - Friday, 9 August

Vodišek wins silver in men's Formula Kite at Paris Olympics

MARSEILLE, France - Sailor Toni Vodišek won the silver medal in the men's Formula Kite event in Marseille to earn the second medal for Slovenia at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. "It's not been easy. A lot of effort and sacrifice is required. We've now shown that small Slovenia can compete as equals with bigger and stronger countries," said the 24-year-old after winning the fourth Olympic medal for Slovenia in sailing as the Formula Kite class debuted at the Olympics.

Slovenia welcomes effort to resume talks on ceasefire in Gaza

LJUBLJANA - PM Robert Golob and the Foreign Ministry welcomed the latest effort of the US, Egypt and Qatar to resume the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Golob said on X that the catastrophe facing the Palestinian people must stop immediately. He also called for the release of the hostages and for escalation of the conflict to be prevented, while urging a two-state solution as the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

Ex-President Türk appointed to Peacebuilding Architecture Review group

LJUBLJANA - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed former Slovenian President Danilo Türk to the five-member Peacebuilding Architecture Review group, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday, welcoming Guterres' decision. The ministry said on X it was honoured that Guterres appointed Türk to the group of eminent persons for the Peacebuilding Architecture Review. The appointment comes after Guterres named Türk in 2022 to the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism along with eleven other respectable former and current leaders and experts.

Potential Russian gas supply interruption could cause price volatility

LJUBLJANA - Potential disruptions at Russia's Sudzha connection point for transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe, a territory into which Ukraine has made incursions, would likely significantly affect the price volatility of less liquid trading hubs, such as Austria's VTP, from where Slovenia receives most of its gas, Slovenia's largest gas trader Geoplin said. Gas network operator Plinovodi meanwhile said that Slovenia's supply is stable and would likely not be uninterrupted even in case of potential escalations on the Russia-Ukraine border.

Govt officially names Vesel as EU commissioner candidate

LJUBLJANA - The government officially named the country's former chief auditor Tomaž Vesel as Slovenia's candidate for European commissioner after he received a nod from the parliamentary EU Affairs Committee yesterday. The government also tasked the Foreign Ministry with submitting the candidacy to the relevant EU institutions. Member states have until 30 August to submit the names of their commissioner candidates but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will start talks with the candidates already in the second half of the month. If she approves Vesel as a member of her team, he will undergo a hearing before the European Parliament in autumn.

Rhythmic gymnast Vedeneeva 6th in all-around in Paris

PARIS, France - Russian-born rhythmic gymnast Ekaterina Vedeneeva, who has been representing Slovenia since August 2018, finished sixth in the individual all-around final at the Summer Olympic Games. She thus improved on her result from Tokyo in 2021, when she finished 16th in the qualification for the individual all-around final in what was her fist Summer Olympics appearance for Slovenia. "I achieved an excellent result. Both for myself and for Slovenian rhythmic gymnastics. Qualifying for the final alone was a great victory, and today's sixth place is an even greater victory," she said.

Svetina wants to be reappointed as ombudsman

LJUBLJANA - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina would like to get another six-year term at the helm of his office after his current one expires in February 2025. The ombudsman is elected by parliament, but it is the president of Slovenia who nominates a candidate for the post. There have been speculations that there is another contender in the run for the position - Katarina Bervar Sternad, head of an NGO, but both the president's office and herself told the STA they had not discussed this.

Supreme Court gets EUR 5.8m in EU funds for digitisation projects

LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court said it had obtained around EUR 5.8 million in EU funds for three projects as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan that the court says will contribute to the digitisation and modernisation of the judiciary, which will in turn speed up court proceedings and improve the efficiency of the system. The projects will be supported with the funds of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of the Next Generation instrument, which is intended to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Subsidies for rooftop solar on public buildings raised to EUR 48m

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy has made an additional EUR 28 million in subsidies available for rooftop solar installations on public buildings and parking lots on land owned by the state or local communities. The funds, now amounting to EUR 48 million, are available through 2026. The corrected call for applications was published today, after the ministry made EUR 20 million in subsidies available for this purpose in the initial call in March.

Royal ties unite Nova Gorica and Saint-Denis

PARIS, France - Nova Gorica, the Slovenian city whose Franciscan monastery holds the remains of the last French king, and the French municipality of Saint-Denis, whose basilica served as the burial site for most French monarchs, signed an agreement on cooperation in tourism and culture. The partnership was announced as culture was celebrated at Slovenia House in Paris on Thursday. The Nova Gorica municipality, which will be the European Capital of Culture in 2025 together with Italy's Gorizia, would like to see more French tourists.

Workers in retail and manufacturing still in high demand

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's job market was marked by a very high demand for staff in the first half of the year. Most sought after were workers in retail, manufacturing, warehousing and sales. Demand for postmen saw a record 208% growth, shows a survey that pollster Valicon conducted for the employment portal MojeDelo.com. There were still many vacancies listed on the portal in the first half of 2024 but 4% fewer than in the same period in 2023, Styria Digital Marketplaces, which includes the portal, wrote in a press release.

Experts warn of alarming rise in electric scooter injuries

LJUBLJANA - Data from police and healthcare institutions show a significant increase in the number of accidents and injuries among electric scooter riders. The UKC Ljubljana hospital treated 661 scooter-related injuries last year, with 352 cases reported by July this year, including 200 involving minors. UKC Maribor also reported 111 injuries, 60 involving minors. Doctors called for responsible behaviour and thereby fewer injuries and more road safety, warning that 5-10% of injuries require hospitalization.

Escaped Dutch prisoner apprehended in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian police apprehended on Tuesday a 52-year-old Dutch citizen convicted for smuggling illicit drugs in the Netherlands who had been on the run from prison since June 2021. The fugitive was arrested based on a European arrest warrant. He was remanded in custody by District Court in Koper.

Ljutomer celebrates 150 years of harness racing in Slovenia

LJUTOMER - The 150th anniversary of the first ever harness race in Slovenia was marked this evening at the hippodrome in the town of Ljutomer, the country's historical centre of trotter breeding that continues to go strong. Moreover, on Saturday afternoon, the Ljutomer hippodrome will host the 34th Slovenian Harness Racing Derby, the race of races, which a horse runs only once in its lifetime at the age of four. Only the 12 best trotters in the country will be competing.

Seviqc early music festival coming to Celje for first time

CELJE - This year's Seviqc early music festival kicked off featuring eight concerts at four venues in Celje, which is hosting the festival for the first time in more than four decades. The festival will be opened in Celje Cathedral by violinist Adriana Alcaide and harpsichordist Ana Marija Krajnc, who will also perform the closing concert at the same venue on 23 August, the municipality of Celje announced.

Film and poetry in focus of Cinematheque's open-air cinema

LJUBLJANA - A digitalised and remastered copy of a 1972 Yugoslav classic kick-started a summer series of open-air screenings the Slovenian Cinematheque is hosting between 9 and 24 August in Ljubljana. This year's event focuses on the links between film and poetry. The opening film, Life of a Shock Force Worker (Slike iz Života Udarnika) by Bosnian director Bahrudin Čengić, deals with worker glorification propaganda in communist Yugoslavia.