News roundup - Friday, 24 January

Ljubljana, 24 January - Below is a roundup of major events on Friday, 24 January:

Victims of coal mine accident commemorated on day of mourning

VELENJE - The three miners who died in Monday's accident in the Velenje coal mine were commemorated on a national day of mourning, first with a minute of silence at noon at the miner monument in Velenje and later at a commemoration at the Velenje Community Centre, which was also attended by President Nataša Pirc Musar and PM Robert Golob. Flags at all state institutions across the country were at half mast today while a fund-raiser for the victims' families has already been launched. Velenje Mayor Peter Dermol said that a "dignified farewell is what our three heroes need and what their families deserve," pledging that the city will help their families. The cause of the deadliest coal mining accident in more than 20 years is still being investigated.

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 nights, an increase of 4.5%, the Statistics Office said. The increase was driven by foreign tourists, whose numbers surged by 8.5% to just over 5 million. The number of domestic guests meanwhile declined by 0.3% to 1.5 million.

Gross minimum wage to increase by 1.9% to EUR 1,277.72

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's gross minimum wage will be raised by 1.9% to EUR 1,277.72 this year, the Labour Ministry announced what is a minimum indexation required under the law, as the increase will adjust minimum wage only to annual inflation recorded at the end of 2024. The announcement comes after social partners met last week as part of the Economic and Social Council (ESS) to express opposing views regarding minimum wage. The trade unions suggested that the increase should amount to 3.5% based on the situation in business, while employers advocated for an increase in line with inflation.

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 towns 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.

More than 1bn spent on post-flood reconstruction so far

MUTA - By the end of 2024, a total of EUR 1.053 billion was spent on reconstruction after the August 2023 floods, Boštjan Šefic, the government's point-man for post-flood reconstruction, announced at a meeting of the Koroška development council. The northern region of Koroška, which was hit the hardest by the floods, received around a fifth of all the money that has so far been earmarked for reconstruction. Šefic assessed that municipalities have done an extraordinary job after the floods.

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.

MPs call for measures to help disabled workers in CSS company

LJUBLJANA - Several parliamentary committees debated the planned liquidation of the company CSS, a state-owned sheltered workshop, this week. They all called for solutions to prevent its workers, especially those with disabilities, from going jobless, and questioned the way Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) went about addressing the situation. While the state asset custodian insists that all other options have been exhausted and that liquidation is better than letting the Škofja Loka-based company go into receivership, the move has sparked negative reactions from politicians across the aisle.

Govt-funded programme boosts minority's economic base in Hungary

SZENTGOTTHARD, Hungary - The Association of Slovenians in Hungary has carried out 39 projects as part of a EUR 2.1 million programme for the 2021-2024 period to strengthen the Slovenian ethnic minority's economic base in the Raba Valley, an area known in Slovenian as Porabje. The programme has boosted economic and tourist development, with the association president Andrea Kovacs assessing it as a success in a statement for the STA. She noted as very important the purchase of new equipment and machines, reconstruction of tourism infrastructure, and energy efficiency improvement projects on buildings.

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 on Thursday. 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.

Slovenia launches institute for psychopathy research

LJUBLJANA - The Institute for the Scientific Research of Psychopathy (IPSIH) was launched in Ljubljana with the aim to inform about the symptoms of psychopathy and its effects on the individual and society. A free online AI chat bot for psychopathy has also been launched, institute representatives announced. IPSIH director Leonida Zalokar and programme director Andreja Pšeničny said that the personality structure of a psychopath is increasingly common in modern society, and that around 15,000 Slovenians fit the clinical criteria of psychopathic personality disorder.

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 Norwegian Thea Bjoerseth by 2.6 points. Eva Pinkelnig of Austria was in third, 7.4 points behind.

Handball worlds: Slovenia squander chances for quarter-finals

ZAGREB, Croatia - Slovenia lost to Egypt 25:26 in the second match of the main round of the World Men's Handball Championship to squander all chances to make it to the quarter-finals. Slovenia will thus travel home after Sunday evening's match against the hosts, Croatia. The exit before the quarter-finals is a disappointment of sorts for Slovenia, who finished one place shy of a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while slightly revamping the squad after three mainstays retired.

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