News roundup - Thursday, 19 September, until 3pm

Govt confirms Marta Kos as nominee for Slovenia's EU commissioner

LJUBLJANA - The government unanimously confirmed Marta Kos as Slovenia's candidate for EU commissioner. Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arčon reiterated the significance of Kos being assigned the enlargement and European neighbourhood portfolio, highlighting Ukraine's reconstruction as well as enlargement as one of the Commission's priorities. He argued that Slovenia might not yet fully grasp the significance of Kos's role in the new European Commission team.

Commissioner candidate denies allegation of pro-Russian views

LJUBLJANA - Marta Kos, the candidate for EU enlargement commissioner, denied allegations of her pro-Russian views that appeared in the foreign media and were also raised during her interview at the relevant parliamentary committee. Kos, whose portfolio would also include Ukraine, says she has been on Kyiv's side since the start of the war. "Since the beginning of the war I have been on the side of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people ... We must support Ukraine in every possible way - politically, financially and militarily - for as long as it takes," she wrote in her response to the STA.

Jurist Trstenjak appointed to ECB review body

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian jurist Verica Trstenjak has been appointed to the Administrative Board of Review of the European Central Bank (ECB), the Slovenian Bank Association announced in a post published on its website on Monday. The EU law expert is one of Slovenia's four members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and has previously served as advocate general at the EU Court of Justice and a judge at the General Court of the EU, among other things. The Administrative Board of Review has five permanent and two alternate members, all serving five-year terms with the possibility of reappointment.

New logistics centre being built in Logatec

LOGATEC - A new logistics centre is being built in Logatec, a town sitting along the motorway and the railway linking Ljubljana to the port of Koper. The construction is being managed by Atrios, a Slovak company whose website states that LOGspot Logatec is to span 26,000 square metres of storage space and 1,000 square metres of office space. Construction on the project started in May 2024 and is due to be completed in the first half of 2025. The investor is not known, but the business portal Finance reported it was an Austrian company headquartered in Vienna.

Ljubljana gets EUR 16m in soft loans to build 180 non-profit flats

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Housing Fund acquired EUR 16 million in soft loans in a public call from the national Housing Fund. The financing will allow the Ljubljana fund to build 184 non-profit flats, according to a press release from the Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future. The funds will be invested in two projects: four apartment blocks with a total of 87 rental flats in Zvezna Street in the Moste borough and another 97 rental flats on Litijska and Pesarska Streets.

Geolocation project unveils dozens of unexploded bombs in small Maribor area

MARIBOR - No fewer than 30 unexploded bombs have been geolocated in a single borough of Maribor, the most targeted city in Slovenia and Yugoslavia in 1944 and 1945, in a pilot project marking the 80th anniversary of the heavy Europe-wide bombing campaign that accelerated the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Geodetic Institute of Slovenia and researcher Sašo Radovanovič identified the bombs across 100 hectares in Maribor's Studenci area, using old WWII bombing photos.

Event stresses importance of meeting religious needs with school meals

LJUBLJANA - Most primary schools in Slovenia take into consideration Christian dietary requirements when providing school meals but fail to consider other religious food requirements, shows a study conducted by an Islamic Community task force. The study presentation and discussion on Tuesday heard about the importance of equal treatment in this respect. Most schools have on their menus meals containing pork once per week on average, even though pork is forbidden for Muslims, noted the task force's head Ela Porić.