News roundup - Tuesday, 15 October, until 3pm

ECB boss checks out prices at Ljubljana central market

LJUBLJANA - Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), checked out prices at Ljubljana central market, visiting Slovenia on a courtesy visit ahead of the ECB Governing Council meeting at Brdo estate on Thursday. Lagarde walked through the centre of Ljubljana accompanied by Bank of Slovenia Governor Boštjan Vasle before she was due to meet Prime Minister Robert Golob later on Tuesday. She came to the market "because it shows the fabrics of a country, it shows the local production and I always look at prices. That tells me a lot about how the situation is going," she said.

Slovenia provides aid as expression of solidarity, responsibility, Fajon says

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is a tiny donor of development aid and emergency humanitarian aid in global terms, yet its contribution, which is an expression of solidarity and responsibility, is invaluable, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said in her address to the Slovenian Development Days. The country currently spends 0.24% of GNI for this purpose. Ahead of UN Security Council elections last year, Fajon met representatives of several developing countries, building a long list of proposals how Slovenia could help - from education, scholarships and transfer of knowledge to investment in education, healthcare and agriculture, she said.

Public sector pay reform bill sees minor tweaks in second reading

LJUBLJANA - Parliament's Interior Affairs Committee conducted the second reading of the public sector pay reform bill on Monday in a debate that saw the opposition note the absence of an agreement with 16 of the sector's 46 trade unions. The committee passed several amendments in response to criticism by the National Assembly's legal service. A key change is the setting of 1 January 2025 as the clear date of the enforcement.

Sole Slovenian UNTSO observer in Lebanon alive and well

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Slovenian soldier is present in southern Lebanon as part of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), but his life was not at risk in the recent attacks by Israeli forces on the UN peacekeeping mission in the country. However, the situation in the area is very serious and the Slovenian army is in constant touch with the soldier.

RTV Slovenija head wants modern, well-funded public broadcaster

LJUBLJANA - Natalija Gorščak, who was appointed chairwoman of RTV Slovenija with full powers in September, has told the STA she aims to transform the public broadcaster into a modern public service that keeps up with contemporary trends. She expressed her desire to see more high-quality Slovenian programmes, even if this leads to fewer shows overall. Gorščak also highlighted the need to improve promotion and distribution of programmes while raising their quality. RTV Slovenija, despite being an organisation heavily reliant on technology, has lacked a strategic approach to digitalisation, she added.

University of Primorska no longer co-founder of Russian uni's branch

KOPER - The University of Primorska is no longer a co-founder of Lomonosov Moscow State University's branch in Koper, which was founded in 2017, as the Koper District Court granted its request to be deleted from all legal records as co-founder last week. The university withdrew from the project, the Russian university's only subsidiary in Europe, two years ago after creditors pointed to Lomonosov's controversial financial practices.