News roundup - Sunday, 16 February

Slovenia condemns Villach knife attack

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian officials condemned Saturday's knife attack in Austria's Villach in which a 14-year-old boy was killed and five people were injured. "Violence has no place in our societies. We stand in solidarity with Austria," President Nataša Pirc Musar write on X, while Prime Minister Robert Golob said his thoughts were with the relatives of the young victim and the other injured. In response to Golob's post, opposition leader Janez Janša suggested the victims' blood was on the prime minister's hands. He said it was very likely the 23-year Syrian asylum seeker who perpetrated the attack had come to Austria via Slovenia.

Foreign Ministry marks 1st anniversary of Navalny's death

LJUBLJANA - Marking the first anniversary of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry called for "immediate and unconditional release" of all political prisoners in Russia. "The human rights situation in Russia remains very worrisome, with hundreds being unjustly and arbitrarily imprisoned," the ministry wrote in a post on X, expressing its continued support for civil society and independent media in the country.

Janša confident SDS will win next election

LAŠKO - Janez Janša declared that his Democratic Party (SDS) was ready to return to power, arguing that the time was running out for the current ruling coalition. Addressing an event marking the 36th anniversary of the SDS in Laško on Saturday, he said the party was entering a period of its biggest political power. He said "some structures will have to be rebuilt" after elections to ensure the freedom of speech, citizens' right to vote, the right to a fair trial and gender as a natural category, among other things.

New poll has SDS in the lead with eight parties in parliament

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democratic Party (SDS) came on top in a new poll by the research centre of the Janez Evangelist Krek Institute, much like in similar surveys conducted by other polling agencies. Apart from the five current parliamentary parties, the poll suggests three more would make the parliamentary threshold: the Democrats of SDS defector Andrej Logar, the green party Vesna, and the anti-establishment party Truth. Of those who would turn out if an election was held now, 19.6% opted for the SDS, 15.9% for the Freedom Movement and 8.5% for the Social Democrats, followed by other parties.

Nika Prevc wins another Ski Jumping World Cup in Ljubno

LJUBNO OB SAVINJI - Slovenian ski jumper Nika Prevc won the second straight World Cup event in Ljubno in the north of the country, sweeping the competition by more than ten points to reaffirm her dominance in the overall World Cup standings. She scored 266.4 points to beat German Selina Freitag (256.2pts) and Austrian Lisa Eder (248.9pts). The event organizers said they were planning to enlarge the Ljubno hill or build a new larger one, so that the venue could host both women and men in the future.

Žan Košir wins Snowboard World Cup parallel giant slalom in Canada

MONTREAL, Canada - Veteran Slovenian snowboarder Žan Košir won the men's parallel giant slalom in Val St. Come, Canada for his seventh career World Cup victory, the first after a space of four years. The 40-year-old three-time Olympic medallist beat Austria's Benjamin Karl, the best snowboarder of the last decade, in the finals to clinch his 23rd World Cup podium and chalk up the 28th World Cup victory for Slovenia.

All four people hit by avalanches on Saturday safe and sound

BOHINJ/BOVEC - Two hikers and two off-piste skiers got caught in two separate avalanches in the Alps in northwestern Slovenia on Saturday. Three them were able to dig themselves out while one was dug out by a rescuer. None of them were injured. The avalanche in the Bohinj area was spotted by a group that included a mountain rescuer, who then triggered a rescue operation to dig out one of them who was completely buried by snow. The two skiers caught by an avalanche on Mount Kanin dug themselves out of snow.