News roundup - Friday, 16 August

Pirc Musar paying first Slovenian state visit to Mongolia

LJUBLJANA/ULAN BATOR, Mongolia - President Nataša Pirc Musar will embark on Tuesday on a three-day official visit to Mongolia, the first state visit by a Slovenian representative to Mongolia. Pirc Musar will look to strengthen dialogue and enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation in several fields. Accompanied by a business delegation, Pirc Musar will talk about ways to enhance cooperation in business, tourism, connectivity, research, climate change mitigation, sustainable development and women's empowerment.

Police unions call for efforts to increase officer safety

LJUBLJANA - Pointing to the worsening security situation in some areas of the country, the SPS police trade union has called on the Interior Ministry and police commissioner to help bring about legislative changes that would make law enforcement more effective as well as increase officer safety. It was joined by the other police trade union, PSS, whose representatives called on PM Robert Golob to take action to improve the material situation of police employees. This comes after an incident where a group of Roma individuals assaulted officers in the Kočevje area in southern Slovenia. The Interior Ministry and police condemned in the strongest terms any violence and attacks on police officers, noting that such actions need to be processed and punished appropriately.

Another air connectivity scheme call issued

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry issued a new call for air carriers designed to encourage better air connectivity of the country. A total of EUR 16.8 million have been made available for the project until 2025. The preceding calls resulted in new routes from Ljubljana to Luxembourg, Riga, Madrid and Copenhagen. Ten destinations have been made priority: Brussels, Skopje, Prague, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, Athens, Madrid, Amsterdam and Helsinki.

Additional EU just transition funds available to fmr mining towns

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Environment made available additional funds for just transition of former mining towns in Zasavje, raising the funds from EUR 7.76 million to EUR 12.42 million. The funds are available to the municipalities of Zagorje, Trbovlje and Hrastnik, among other things for the development of commercial zones so as to encourage job creation.

Železniki gets long-awaited bypass road

ŽELEZNIKI - Železniki, an old industrial town nestled in the narrow valley of the Selška Sora river in northwestern Slovenia, got a long awaited bypass road, decades in the making. The only road up the valley until now went through the narrow and winding streets of the old town. Mayor Marko Gasser expressed satisfaction that the road had been opened before the start of school on 1 September, especially because it will significantly improve road safety of the town.

Slovenian helicopter returns home after fighting fire in N Macedonia

CERKLJE OB KRKI - A crewed Slovenian Armed Forces helicopter returned from North Macedonia after fighting wildfires there for seven days. The helicopter dropped 175,500 litres of water on fire sites and flew for 22 hours and 30 minutes, the Defence Ministry said. Six members of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) and two members of the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration helped fight the fires and transport rescue teams.

Diesel-filled railway car falls onto side in Postojna

POSTOJNA - A tank car carrying diesel fuel derailed and fell on its side at the Postojna railway station in the afternoon. No signs of the fuel leaking were reported and firefighters have been brought in. The Koper Police Department said that the damage is estimated at around a million euro.

Days of Poetry and Wine focuses on South Korean poetry, brings writing residency

PTUJ - Ptuj and several other towns will turn into a venue of the Days of Poetry and Wine between 19 and 24 August, showcasing 21 poets, shedding light on South Korean poetry and introducing a writing residency. Its honorary guests will be Pia Tafdrup and Valzhyna Mort while Jacek Dehnel will pen this year's open letter to Europe, pointing to AI. This year's curator is Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky, who has selected poets from around the globe who share the experience of duality of being.

Ptuj transforms into Roman Poetovio for annual festival

PTUJ - Ptuj, Slovenia's oldest town, will be catapulted back to ancient Roman times for the 17th year running today to turn into Roman Poetovio for three days. The Roman Games festival will see over 800 participants from seven countries recreate the life and customs from 2000 years ago when the town was a major trade and craft centre. Until the end of the week the north-eastern Slovenian town will be teeming with gladiators, legionnaires, senators, and other ancient figures. According to Andrej Klasinc of the Poetovio LXIX Association, the event is one of the largest presentations of the Roman period in this part of Europe.

Celje drop to UEFA Conference League play-offs, join Olimpija and Maribor

DUBLIN, Ireland - The Slovenian champions Celje have been eliminated from the UEFA Europa League qualifying in the third round by the Irish champions Shamrock Rovers and will join the Slovenian clubs Olimpija Ljubljana and Maribor, which have advanced in their qualifiers, in the play-off for the third-tier UEFA Conference League. Celje will play the Armenian champions Pyunik, Olimpija will face Croatia's Rijeka and Maribor will play Sweden's Djurgardens. The first legs will be played on 22 August.