News roundup - Tuesday, 8 October

Top court dismisses opposition's request to review recognition of Palestine

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court dismissed a request by the two opposition parties, the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), to review Slovenia's recognition of Palestine, which the parliament finalised on 4 June. The court decided in a 5:3 vote that it has no jurisdiction to review a decision on the country's recognition of a state. Prime Minister Robert Golob and National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič welcomed the decision.

Pirc Musar calls for faster EU accession of W Balkans

TIVAT, Montenegro - President Nataša Pirc Musar stressed at the Brdo-Brijuni Summit that the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans should be sped up. This is why Slovenia is working with Germany on the "extremely important project" of qualified majority voting. "We have seen in several cases of candidate countries what the veto or unanimity required for certain decisions means for certain candidate countries. The proposal of Slovenia and Germany ... is that at least certain chapters could be opened by qualified majority, not by unanimity," she said.

New ethics rule proposed for Constitutional Court

LJUBLJANA - National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič tabled changes to the Constitutional Court Act specifying that the Commission for Corruption Prevention (KPK) would be the institution that would decide on incompatibility of offices of Constitutional Court Judges. The bill comes in the aftermath of revelations about a judge's sole proprietorship that led to circular arguments about who is in charge of overseeing potential ethics breaches by Constitutional Court judges.

Levičar and Avšič Bogovič reported to corruption watchdog over Krško 2

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption received a complaint against State Secretary Danijel Levičar and chair of the parliamentary infrastructure committee Nataša Avšič Bogovič, alleging a conflict of interest and unlawful lobbying about a referendum on a second nuclear reactor. The person who reported them to the watchdog says that they both came to their present jobs from the energy group GEN, where their previous jobs are awaiting them.

Car industry event hears about opportunities to step up cooperation with China

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian companies were presented to Chinese car manufacturers at an event where Economy Minister Matjaž Han expressed confidence that Chinese businesses will recognise the qualities of Slovenian suppliers and Slovenia's geostrategic advantage. He also pointed to Slovenia's recent vote against the imposition of additional tariffs on imports of China-made electric vehicles. "We did not do that for China but for Slovenia."

Post-flood aid for Slovenia receives final stamp of approval

STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament gave the final go-ahead for the allocation of EUR 428 million from the EU Solidarity Fund to Slovenia for reconstruction efforts in the wake of the August 2023 floods. The disbursement of EUR 328 million is due by the end of the year, while Slovenia received an advance payment of EUR 100 million already last December.

Slovenia's energy dependence lower last year

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has lowered its energy dependence last year, having covered more than half of its needs with energy from own sources, including renewables, the Statistics Office said. While in 2022, one of the most difficult years for the energy sector since independence, the country met 47% of its energy needs from domestic sources, this share rose to 52% last year under significantly more favourable conditions.

Gorenje closing its Rogatec plant

ROGATEC - Home appliances manufacturer Gorenje is closing a refrigerator components factory in Rogatec. All 120 employees will be offered work at the group's main Slovenian production hub in Velenje, about an hour's drive away. Output at Rogatec will be considerably scaled down at the end of 2024 before the facility closes at the end of August 2025.

New mental health centre for youth opens in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Community Health Centre opened a new mental health centre for children and youth, which will offer services that were previously available across different units in one place. A new multidisciplinary team working there will improve the quality of care since a team treatment of a patient in one location takes less time, and is more effective and personal.

Report: Three persons get prison sentences in major prostitution case

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana District Court has handed down years long prison sentences to three of ten people charged with abuse of prostitution and illicit drug trade in August. All three confessed to the crimes. The chief defendant, Mladen Bilić, has not entered his plea yet and his lawyer was slapped with a fine, the newspaper Dnevnik reported.

Over 3,000 kilos of drug kratom found at Koper port

KOPER - Customs officers at the port of Koper discovered over 3,000 kilos of kratom, a herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects and is illegal in Slovenia. The drug was found in a container that arrived in the port on 1 October from Indonesia. Packaged in 120 carton boxes, the shipment was bound for an EU member state, the Financial Administration (FURS) said.

Slovenian-Italian film festival spotlights burning issues

GORIZIA, Italy/NOVA GORICA - The cross-border film festival Tribute to a Vision will get under way as part of the 2025 European Capital of Culture, which is hosted jointly by Nova Gorica and Italy's Gorizia. Running until Sunday, the festival will strive to shed some light on marginalised social issues.

Ljubljana to cut 200 trees on castle hill for safety concerns

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana municipality has decided to cut down 205 trees on the castle hill, almost a quarter of all trees growing there. Expected to cost up to EUR 1.2 million, the works could start this year and will involve helicopter logging. The primary aim is to safeguard citizens and buildings in the nearby City Square and Old Square areas as well as castle hill visitors, deputy mayor Rok Žnidaršič said.