News roundup - Monday, 25 November, until 3pm

New parties surge in POP TV poll

LJUBLJANA - Some of the new or potential upcoming parties appear to be off to a strong start, with a POP TV poll released on Sunday showing that the Democrats, the party recently founded by MP Anže Logar, leapfrogged to third place, and MEP Vladimir Prebilič would place fourth if he was to form his own party and contest the next election. Excluding the Democrats and several parties that are to be founded soon, the poll placed the Democratic Party (SDS), the largest opposition party, at 20.6%, down a point and a half from October, with the ruling Freedom Movement gaining more than three points to 15%. The government's rating appears to have recovered with the share of those who support the government jumping by a full ten percentage points to 36.3%.

Judges say SDS leader's X post hateful

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Judicial Association condemned social media comments about judges and court costs posted by Democratic Party (SDS) leader Janez Janša as destructive and sexist, arguing that Janša was instigating hatred and fanning distrust in the judiciary. In a comment posted on X on Thursday about high litigation costs he has been ordered to pay in several recent defamation cases he lost, Janša said, among other things, that "when they find the right female judges, they can order a single person to pay more than EUR 65,500".

Foreign tourist arrivals up by 15% in October

LJUBLJANA - Almost 472,000 tourist arrivals and 1.1 million tourist nights were recorded in Slovenia in October, which is 12% and 8% more year-on-year, respectively, the Statistics Office reported. The number of foreign tourist arrivals was up by 15% to almost 339,000, and the number of nights spent by foreign tourists was up by 11% to 772,000. Same as in October last year, guests from Germany generated the most overnight stays among foreign tourists - 106,000 or 14% of all nights, followed by Austrians, Italians, Croats, Americans and Hungarians.

Business sentiment improves

LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment improved in November after dropping in September and October. The indicator was at -3.1 percentage points, up by 0.9 points compared to October and up by 2.2 points compared to November 2023, the Statistics Office said. The sentiment indicator was pulled up by four out of five indicators. The indicator in retail was up by 0.8 points, in construction by 0.2 points, and in services and manufacturing by 0.1 point each. On the other hand, the indicator among consumers dropped by 0.3 points.

Use of new tobacco, nicotine products on the rise among teens

LJUBLJANA - New tobacco and nicotine products are increasingly popular among secondary school students, and the share of students who smoke is no longer falling, Helena Koprivnikar from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said as she presented the results of a survey the NIJZ conducted among 1,207 secondary school students aged 16 or 17 in November 2023. Girls use cigarettes and e-cigarettes, while boys opt for smokeless tobacco products and nicotine pouches.

Featuring 280 events, Slovenian Book Fair expected to attract 60,000 visitors

LJUBLJANA - The 40th Slovenian Book Fair, opening on Monday evening, brings over 280 events to Ljubljana this week. Croatia will be the country in focus while Slovenske Konjice, a town in northeast Slovenia, will be the guest town, remembering its poet Ivan Minatti (1924-2012). The organisers expect the fair, which extends on an area of 5,000 sq. metres, to attract 60,000 visitors until Sunday. The fair will feature 110 exhibitors, including all major Slovenian publishers and guests from five countries.