News roundup - Monday, 30 September

Fajon warns of continued threat at anti-IS coalition meeting

WASHINGTON, US - Islamic State (IS) continues to pose a threat to international peace and stability, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said at a ministerial of the Global Coalition against Daesh, hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. She said the strengthening of IS in Africa and Central Asia was particularly worrying, while stressing Slovenia's contribution to the stabilisation of Iraq and north-east Syria by funding demining projects and projects to restore basic living conditions.

Annual inflation rate down to 0.6% in September

LJUBLJANA - The annual inflation rate in Slovenia continued to drop, reaching 0.6% in September in what is the second consecutive month with the inflation rate below 1%, the Statistics Office said. The annual growth rate was pushed up the most (by 0.4 percentage points) by 3.9% higher prices in the recreation and culture category. Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, the annual growth of consumer prices in September was 0.7%, while it was at 7.1% a year ago. The monthly price growth stood at 0.2%.

Slovenia allocates EUR 1m for joint Slovenian-Hungarian minority fund

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission was in session, with Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon saying that Slovenia will allocate EUR 1 million for a joint fund for the Slovenian and Hungarian ethnic minorities on both sides of the Slovenia-Hungary border. The fund laid down in a 2022 agreement between Slovenia and Hungary, and Arčon would like it to launch at the end of the year. Hungarian co-chair of the commission, Ferenc A. Kalmar, could not talk about Hungary's contribution but said his country would not hinder the fund.

Twenty years on, anti-graft watchdog still seen as toothless tiger

LJUBLJANA - As Slovenia's anti-corruption watchdog is turning 20, its head Robert Šumi expressed regret that it continues to lack sufficient mechanisms for enforcement and that politicians often fail to take responsibility in a timely manner. While he stressed the wish for the commission to be taken more seriously, relevant legislative changes do not yet seem a priority. He added that the commission lacks proper enforcement mechanisms and that responses to its recommendations should be made obligatory.

Slovenian minority disappointed but not surprised by Austria election outcome

KLAGENFURT, Austria - The victory of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the Austrian federal general election came as no surprise to the Slovenian minority, but it is nonetheless a disappointment. The heads of the community's two umbrella organisations doubt that the winning party will become a partner in the federal government, which they hope will be supportive of the Slovenian language and culture. They are happy that minority member Olga Voglauer, a member of the Greens, was re-elected MP.

Analyst says Austria's FPÖ voters to be disappointed

LJUBLJANA - Voters of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which has won the general election in Austria, will be disappointed if the party does not get to form a government, which could lead to an even greater success for the far right, Boris Jaušovec, a Slovenian expert on Austrian politics, told the STA. This is the first general election win for the FPÖ and their highest share of votes yet. However, what happened in Austria is "in reality not too different from what is happening in other European countries where the right is gaining followers and voters", he said.

President's forum discusses climate change and its many challenges

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Climate change challenges were at the centre of the fourth forum hosted by President Nataša Pirc Musar, at which she said that solutions to the climate crisis are far from simple, so one must not give in to populism. "Even though there is no easy solution to the climate crisis, we must not give into the temptation of simple explanations and populist slogans that provide no solutions," she warned. Climate expert Lučka Kajfež Bogataj said that adaptation processes must take place alongside the processes of mitigation. She moreover warned about the lack of cooperation among different departments in drafting policies.

Environmental policies could undermine food safety, debate hears

LJUBLJANA - The National Council hosted a debate about restrictions imposed on agricultural land and forests by EU policies, with the participants warning that environmental measures were disproportionate and could lead to a diminished food safety. Addressing the event the upper chamber of parliament organised in cooperation with the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry (KGZS), National Council President Marko Lotrič said that "any ownership restriction" in agricultural lands and forest must "be well thought-out and strictly limited so as not to change their economic function".

Private sector workers want general collective agreement too

LJUBLJANA - Following a new pay deal and collective agreement for the public sector, the Craft and Entrepreneurship Trade Union urged the government and employer organisations to negotiate a general collective agreement for the private sector that would provide for the same basic conditions as those in the public sector. It said that "workers in the private sector, who are the actual net taxpayers, are questioning why they are valued less than public sector workers." The private sector has been without a collective bargaining agreement since 2008.

Investor interested in wind farm near Ilirska Bistrica

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning published an initiative to draft a national spatial plan for a 63 MW wind farm with nine turbines that AAE Gamit would like to erect on hills in the municipality of Ilirska Bistrica, SW. Once the public consultation period ends on 30 October, the ministry will draft the spatial plan to be adopted by the government and followed by a number of documents before the investor gets a permit to build it. AAE Gamit is planning another 14 wind turbines in the southwest, in the municipalities of Sežana and Divača, but has been met with strong opposition by the locals.

Man gets 15 years for attempted murder in a city park

MARIBOR - The Maribor District Court sentenced Luka Gašparič, 24, to 15 years in prison for an attempted murder of a woman he attacked with an axe and a knife in Maribor's City Park in September 2022. The ruling is not final yet and both the defence and prosecution have announced an appeal. The prosecution had asked to 20 years in prison. Gašparič attacked the woman, two years his junior, after luring her to the city park in the evening under the pretence that he would leave there some letters for her.

Prison sentences for four tobacco smugglers

CELJE - The Celje District Court sentenced four men from Celje to between three and five years in prison each for smuggling millions of packs of cigarettes from Belarus to the UK via ports in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2019 and 2020, Slovenian media reported. The four colluded with individuals inside and outside the EU to smuggle Belarusian cigarettes to avoid paying taxes and duties on cigarettes worth an estimated EUR 1.5 million. They set up companies, organised cargo handling and doctored cargo manifest to conceal the true source of the goods. The ruling will be appealed.

Healthcare survey: Staff overworked, patient safety undermined

LJUBLJANA - A survey among healthcare workers indicates that patient safety is undermined by the fact that staff is overworked and overtired, which also affects their efficiency. Moreover, the survey conducted by the university Alma Mater Europaea points to difficulties in putting scientific patient safety findings into practice. Presenting the survey, Alma Mater Europaea's Barbara Toplak Perovič highlighted data from abroad showing that 10% of hospitalisations end in unwanted events, while about half of them could have been prevented if there were an adequate quality system in place.

Two Italians killed in Saturday's car crash

KOPER - Two Italians, a 55-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman, were killed in a traffic accident that happened on Saturday afternoon on the road between Rižana and Kubed in SW Slovenia, as a 19-year-old novice driver from Slovenia veered off onto their lane and crashed into their car after losing control of his vehicle in a slight downhill turn. The police will press criminal charges against him over negligence.

Motocross racer Gajser finishes second in elite MXGP class

COZAR, Spain - Slovenian racer Tim Gajser finished second in the elite MXGP class of the Motocross World Championship this season, improving on the 11th place from the previous season, which was marred by an injury. The four-time MXGP champion finished behind Jorge Prado of Spain, who defended his 2023 title by winning the last race of the season in Cozar, Spain. "Of course it's difficult when you're second in the standings with such small margins, but I can't be too critical," the 28-year-old Slovenian said in a statement on the website of his HRC Honda team.