News roundup - Sunday, 9 February

Industrial fire in Maribor causes extensive property damage

MARIBOR - A large fire broke out on Saturday evening in an industrial facility in the Tezno borough of Maribor, but was put out during the night. While no one was injured, the fire consumed as many as 9,000 pallets of plastic products, causing damage that has been estimated at millions of euros. The fire broke out in the warehouse of the company Plana, which stores plastic materials, in the southeastern outskirts of Maribor. The police are working on determining the cause of the fire.

Slovenia hosts culture ministers from Western Balkans

VIPOLŽE - Culture Minister Asta Vrečko hosted a meeting of the culture ministers from the Western Balkans on the sidelines of the launch of the 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECoC) project. They discussed future cooperation in culture and the adoption of good practices of the project by other countries. The meeting was also attended by Marta Kos, the Slovenian member of the European Commission in charge of enlargement. It was an opportunity to discuss further cooperation, joint projects in film, audiovisual culture and exhibitions, digitisation, UNESCO projects and national or regional nominations.

Slovenians condemn desecration of Italian foibe victim memorial

BASOVIZZA, Italy - The Slovenian Community, the political party of the Slovenian minority in Italy, and the anti-Fascist association TIGR Primorske joined the condemnation of the desecration of a memorial site in Italy's Basovizza dedicated to the Italian victims of summary post-war executions. On Friday night, unknown individuals scrawled the slogans "Trieste is Ours" and "Death to Fascism, Freedom to the People" in Slovenian at the entrance to the monument. The condemnation comes after the vandalism was condemned by Italian politicians, including Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli.

Nika Prevc earns second win in Lake Placid, Anže Lanišek third

LAKE PLACID, US - Slovenian ski jumper Nika Prevc on Saturday claimed her second victory in as many events as part of the women's World Cup meet, bagging it only 20 hours after the first one. With what was her seventh World Cup victory this season, Prevc significantly extended her overall lead in the World Cup. Anže Lanišek meanwhile finished third in today's event for men, scoring his second podium finish this season.

Rally in support of Serbian protests also held in Maribor

MARIBOR - Several hundred people gathered in Main Square in Maribor to express support to the student protests in Serbia, and to observe 15 minutes of silence to pay respects to the victims of the railway station canopy collapse in Serbia's Novi Sad last November, which claimed 15 lives. The newspaper Večer reported that the rally was held by the Organisation of Serbian Students in Slovenia. It was held a day after around 1,000 protesters took to the streets of Ljubljana to express support to the protests and demand an apology from Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković for backing Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Thirty Slovenian athletes to compete at EYOF

BAKURIANI, Georgia - Thirty young athletes are representing Slovenia in the winter edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) taking place in Georgia for a week starting today. Slovenian athletes, 16 boys and 14 girls, will compete in Alpine skiing, biathlon, short-track speed skating, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing and figure skating.