Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 8-14 November

FRIDAY, 8 November

BUDAPEST, Hungary - PM Robert Golob said that Europe should know how to get on its feet as he attended an informal summit of EU leaders dedicated to competitiveness. The discussion was focused on finding common ground, Golob said, adding that the "world is not just the USA but much more," and noting that the government is increasing investment in R&D.

BUDAPEST, Hungary - PM Robert Golob condemned the violence between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli fans that broke out after a football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv and expressed his sympathy to all victims. Speaking on the sidelines of informal summit of EU leaders, he added that "this war must end ASAP", linking the riots to the ongoing war in Gaza.

LJUBLJANA - The government and public sector trade unions initialled an annex to the collective bargaining agreement for the non-corporate sector and a general agreement that brings some pledges, in what is yet another step towards sealing the ongoing wage reform.

LJUBLJANA - The receiver of the Austrian company Bia Separations stepped up legal proceedings against the company's former subsidiary in Slovenia. A criminal complaint has been filed against it and the man who ran it for allegedly cheating them out of the subsidiary. What is now Sartorius Bia Separations is being sued for nearly EUR 83 million.

LJUBLJANA - The Justice Ministry and the Supreme Court condemned a 6 November attack on the house of a Brežice judge where a fire was set causing EUR 250,000 worth of damage. The attack was unacceptable and it is an attack on the principles of the rule of law, the ministry said.

BRNIK - An Iranian woman was found stabbed to death in a car park serving Ljubljana airport. The police later established that she was killed by her former husband, also an Iranian, who fled the scene to Austria, where he was arrested. Slovenia is awaiting his extradition to try him for what has been labelled as femicide. The pair had three children.

LJUBLJANA - The foundation of the Slovenian Olympic Committee helping athletes from financially underprivileged families marked its 10th anniversary with a gala fund-raising event, featuring basketball star Goran Dragić. As ambassador of the project he managed to raise EUR 885,983 to help young aspiring athletes.

SATURDAY, 9 November

LJUBLJANA - More than 51% of respondents in a poll commissioned by the newspaper Delo said they believe the Robert Golob government will finish its term. More than 22% think it will only last until the spring of 2025, 7.2% that it will last until the autumn of 2025 and 17.3% were undecided. The poll also showed that 42.2% of respondents are in favour of a snap election.

ŽALEC - Juteks, the Žalec-based floorings maker owned by the Belgian Beaulieu International Group, reported EUR 62.1 million in sales revenue for 2023, up 2.8% year-on-year, while net profit was down by more than a third to EUR 7.4 million.

SUNDAY, 10 November

LJUBLJANA - Former senior Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) member Anže Logar told the STA ahead of the formal launch of his new party, the Democrats, in Maribor on 16 November, that the Democrats "will do everything in our power" to steer Slovenia on a new path of prosperity. The party's priorities are security, modern society, favourable economic environment, healthcare system reform and fighting corruption.

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian premiere of Saint Joan of the Stockyards, an international production of Bertolt Brecht's play written in response to the 1929 Wall Street crash, was staged at the Cankarjev Dom arts centre. Directed by Davide Sacco and Agata Tomšič, the show features original music composed and performed live by the industrial rock band Laibach.

LJUBLJANA - Police said that a body of an infant boy had been found in the Šiška borough, with investigation into the circumstances of his death still ongoing. The web portal 24ur.com reported that the infant had been dead for a while and that the body was found wrapped in a towel among waste that was scheduled to be collected on the following day.

MONDAY, 11 November

PARIS, France - President Nataša Pirc Musar said at the Paris Peace Forum that sustainable development goals will not be achieved without the social and economic empowerment of women. She also stressed the need to reform global governance, and increase public funds to fight poverty and protect the planet.

LJUBLJANA - Six Slovenian partners announced they will take part in Endurance, a three-year EU project designed to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure as part of the European Commission Horizon programme. With a budget of EUR 6.48 million, the project comprises 22 partners from six EU countries.

KOPER - The police announced that tree Slovenian Railways employees had been charged in relation to the accident in which two maintenance workers were killed by a passenger train in December 2023 near Rakitnik (SW). The accident took place in a narrow cutting as the driver apparently could not see the workers in time. Unofficially, an internal investigation showed that the signalman failed to inform the maintenance crew that the train was approaching.

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court announced it had found a section of the Foreigners Act dealing with the justification of movement restrictions and appeals in such cases to be unconstitutional, because it unclear which court has jurisdiction to rule on the appeals. The lawmakers have six months to change the legislation.

TRBOVLJE - The state-owned power utility HSE announced an upgrade of the Prapretno solar power plant in eastern Slovenia to almost triple of its current capacity of 3.3 megawatts in a EUR 11 million project, to make it once again the largest solar power plant Slovenia. An upgrade of the battery storage to up to seven megawatts was also announced as part of the project slated for completion in October 2025.

LJUBLJANA - Public support for the ruling Freedom Movement drooped to the lowest point yet, to 12.4%, having halved since September 2023, showed a poll published by the newspaper Delo. PM Robert Golob is the lowest rated politician in November, while 57% of the respondents rated the government's work negatively.

NEW YORK, US - Presenting Slovenia's stance on UN Security Council reforms at a session of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Samuel Žbogar advocated for an additional non-permanent seat for the Eastern European Group. The request is based on the group's membership having more than doubled since 1964.

TUESDAY, 12 November

WASHINGTON, US/LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar spoke with US President-elect Donald Trump over the phone to congratulate him on winning the recent US election. Pirc Musar said Slovenia remains a firm ally of the US and a trusted partner within NATO, and the pair reaffirmed excellent bilateral relations, the president's office said.

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's plan to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It sees his moves as a threat to regional stability and the viability of a two-state solution. Such unilateral steps disregard international law and undermine peace efforts, so they must be avoided at all costs, the ministry said on X.

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry said that three of the children from Gaza who came to Slovenia for injury rehabilitation and their guardians had asked for international protection, while another girl and her guardian disappeared. Those seeking asylum were moved to the Asylum Centre in Logatec. The other ten children in the rehabilitation programme and three guardians remain at the URI Soča rehabilitation centre in Ljubljana.

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar and PM Robert Golob held a working meeting following reports that an invitation for a visit Pirc Musar extended to Chinese President Xi Jinping without having consulted the government had caused upset. Following the meeting, they each stressed the importance of communication and respect.

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Education Committee approved changes to the Scientific Research and Innovation Activity Act that will provide state funding for the final stages of pre-clinical and clinical development of treatments of rare diseases in children, which are not pursued by the pharmaceutical industry.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian eighth-grade students ranked slightly above the international average in computer and information literacy, but their scores dropped compared to a decade ago, according to the 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS). In computer thinking skills, they fell below the international average.

WEDNESDAY, 13 November

LJUBLJANA - Numerous senior officials, including President Nataša Pirc Musar, PM Robert Golob, Supreme Court President Miodrag Đorđević, as well as institutions, including the Association of State Prosecutors and the Judicial Council, condemned the recent posts on X threatening several judges and a prosecutor sued by opposition leader Janez Janša and revealing their home addresses. Moreover, the image of the former Supreme Court president was photo-shopped to include a gun shot wound.

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary commission investigating alleged political meddling in the work of the police adopted an interim report that dismisses the heaviest allegation against PM Robert Golob along with the opposition's demand that he be interviewed. Golob said the commission had established that the accusations levelled against him by former Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar regarding his alleged involvement in the case of the arrest of Russian spies in 2022 were false.

LJUBLJANA - FM Tanja Fajon stressed that asking for asylum is a fundamental human right as she fended off the opposition's criticism after three children from Gaza and their guardians filed for international protection while being treated at the URI Soča rehabilitation hospital in Ljubljana. SDS MP Andrej Poglajen, who believes the request amounted to abuse of the right to asylum, asked Fajon whether she could assure that these people had not been involved in the campaigns of Hamas.

LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije, the majority state-owned telecoms incumbent, generated EUR 536.4 million in operating revenue in the first nine months of the year, 2% more year-on-year. Net revenue was up by 2% to EUR 530.8 million and net profit was up by 17% to EUR 46.6 million.

LJUBLJANA - Karl Erjavec, the former long-serving head of the Pensioners Party (DeSUS) who retired from politics in 2021, formally registered as the 200th signatory in support of the formation of a new political party, called Trust. The 64-year-old, who also served as foreign, defence and environment minister, said that the party wants to "address voters who are worried about Slovenia's future. The founding congress of the new centrist party is scheduled for later this month.

ORMOŽ - Pilfinger, the Austrian manufacturer and supplier of cranes and lifting solutions, announced plans to expand its operations in Slovenia by building a EUR 70 million facility in Ormož, northeast by 2028. A memorandum on the project involving a production facility for cranes and hoists, a training centre, a logistics centre and a paint shop, was signed by Economy Minister Matjaž Han, who announced that the government will chip in up to 30%.

THURSDAY, 14 November

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed a package of changes to six tax-related laws aimed to increase the competitiveness of the economy, attract skilled foreign workers and promote innovation and investment. The changes also include provisions raising VAT on sugary drinks, and reduce the ceiling for sole proprietors to be included in the flat rate income tax scheme.

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's GDP growth accelerated to 1.4% in real terms in the third quarter of the year compared to the same quarter last year, after the economy grew at 0.7% in quarter two, considerably below the Q1 figure of 2.1%, the Statistics Office said. Annual growth in January-September also reached 1.4%. While domestic expenditure dropped 0.4% year-on-year.

LJUBLJANA - The Privileges and Credentials Commission decided not to approve Anton Rop, the president's nominee for central bank governor. While the final decision will be made by the National Assembly in a secret vote at a plenary that starts on 18 November. PM Robert Golob said the coalition is united in support for Saša Jazbec, a Finance Ministry state secretary.

LJUBLJANA - The government extended the electricity price caps for households for the next four months in order to prevent electricity bills from rising in the winter following the introduction of a new system of electricity network charges in October. An emergency bill is planned for companies.

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Slovenia wrapped up its second presidency of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) by hosting the 9th EUSALP Annual Forum, handing over to Austria and Liechtenstein. Addressing the press after the handover, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon assessed the Slovenian one-year presidency as a success.

NOVO MESTO - The pharmaceutical group Krka reported EUR 1.43 billion in revenue for the first nine months of the year, an increase of 7% year-on-year. Profit increased by 19% to EUR 281 million and investment was up by 13% to EUR 91.70 million. East Europe remains Krka's largest regional market.

LJUBLJANA - The government decided for Slovenia to contribute EUR 20,000 to the fund managed by the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict this year. Slovenia also dispatched the third package of humanitarian aid for the Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, valued at half a million euros.