News roundup - Friday, 24 January, until 3pm

Ljubljana, 24 January - Below is a roundup of major events on Friday, 24 January, until 3pm local time:

Slovenian tourist figures hit new record in 2024

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded the highest ever number of tourist arrivals and nights in 2024. Visitor numbers rose by 6.3% to 6.6 million, with the guests generating 16.9 million overnight stays, an increase of 4.5%, the Statistics Office said. The increase was driven by foreign tourists, whose number surged by 8.5% to just over 5 million. The number of domestic guests meanwhile declined by 0.3% to 1.5 million.

Foreign Ministry recommends avoiding mass gatherings in Serbia

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry urged Slovenians staying in Serbia to avoid mass gatherings in Belgrade and other cities, a recommendation that comes after several activists, including a Slovenian, were expelled from Serbia for taking part in an NGO workshop. "In Belgrade and other places in Serbia there are different gatherings attended by many people that can pose significant risk to safety, cause crowding, street closures and traffic jams," the ministry wrote on X.

Slovenia opens honorary consulate in Colorado

DENVER, US - Slovenia officially opened an honorary consulate in Denver which will be headed by honorary consul Tamara Gorenc and will cover the state of Colorado. Slovenia and Colorado have strong ties and the Slovenian Armed Forces often train with the Colorado National Guard, a point noted by Colorado's Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera in her address at the opening ceremony. Slovenian Ambassador to the US Iztok Mirošič highlighted the strong partnership as well.

NGOs want Slovenia to lobby for termination of EU-Israel agreement

LJUBLJANA - Three organisations urged the government to work towards the termination of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the legal basis for the bloc's trade relations with Israel. Israel perpetrates genocide in Gaza and systematically violates human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, the Movement for the Rights of Palestinians, the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (PIC), and the fair trade organisation 3MUHE said.

Slovenia publishes another funding call to boost air connectivity

LJUBLJANA - The Infrastructure Ministry published another open call, the seventh in a row and worth EUR 15.6 million in subsidies, to entice additional airline companies to run flights to and from Slovenia. The scheme prioritises ten routes for the 2023-2025 period - four to serve final destinations - Brussels, Skopje, Prague and Berlin, and another six to fly to airports from where passengers may catch a connecting flight - Vienna, Copenhagen, Athens, Madrid, Amsterdam and Helsinki.

Vigilante group takes on suspected paedophiles

LJUBLJANA - A group of vigilantes going under the name slo_vitezi on Instagram has become the centre of online attention after confronting an alleged paedophile and posting the footage yesterday. The video - the man's face was pixelated - was posted only a day ago, yet the profile has already accumulated 10,700 followers, a lot by Slovenian standards. The police said they were investigating but warned that such self-organised groups cannot investigate crime.

Prevc takes overall lead with fifth win of season

ZAO, Japan - Slovenia's best ski jumper Nika Prevc has retaken the lead in the overall World Cup standings with her fifth victory this season. With jumps of 94.5 and 104.5 metres and 220.1 points, Prevc beat the Norwegian Thea Bjoerseth by 2.6 points. Eva Pinkelnig of Austria was in third, 7.4 points behind.

sys/zm
© STA, 2025