News roundup - Wednesday, 26 February, until 3pm

Pirc Musar and Milanović offer differing views on Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar and her Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanović offered diverging views on the war in Ukraine, in particular potential deployment of peacekeepers, as they praised bilateral relations between the two countries during a meeting in Ljubljana. Milanović, who is in Slovenia on his first official trip abroad since being sworn in for his second term, said the meeting with Pirc Musar focused on bilateral relations and the situation in Europe, which he said was not good. The two leaders also touched on the issue of border arbitration award, noting that Croatia does not recognise the decision by an arbitration tribunal that determined the disputed border between the countries in 2017.

SDS files bill to abolish long-term care contribution

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democratic Party (SDS) filed to parliament changes to the Long-Term Care Act to abolish a long-term care contribution that is scheduled to start to be collected in July, when the right to home care is to become available. The bill also aims to make pensioners eligible for the status of a carer of their family members. The SDS said as it announced the bill that, contrary to its promises of cutting taxation of labour, the government is introducing new taxes. The long-term care contribution is to be paid by employees, employers and pensioners as 1% of the gross wage or net pension.

Fajon outlines new foreign policy strategy to MPs

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said that the country's new foreign policy was a modern document with a long-term orientation, as she outlined it to the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee. Noting that the document is primarily a response to the current geopolitical situation in the world, she urged greater coherence of all foreign policy players in Slovenia. Fajon also told the committee that the Israeli government proposed opening its second honorary consulate in Slovenia, but the government has yet to decide on the matter.

No-confidence motion attention-grabbing move, analyst says

LJUBLJANA - The motion of no confidence in the Robert Golob government filed on Tuesday by the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) cannot be seen as anything else but an attempt to grab attention, Valicon analyst Andraž Zorko believes. The motion is likely to end with only a debate, but one held in front of an important voter base - pensioners. It seems illogical that "a party that practically daily manipulates facts and distorts them on social media," would file a no-confidence motion after one statement by Golob on the pension reform that he did not apologise for, Zorko has told the STA.

Dončić notches triple-double in win against former team

LOS ANGELES, US - Slovenian NBA superstar Luka Dončić notched a triple-double in a 107:99 win of his Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in what was his first game against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, which recently traded him to the Lakers after Dončić spent his first six full seasons there. Dončić notched his first triple-double as a Laker, as he scored 19 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 12 assists. After the matchup he struggled to explain how it felt playing against the Mavericks. "I didn't know what was happening. It was different. I can't even explain," he told reporters. The Slovenian has now joined an elite group of a few players in NBA history who have posted a triple-double against all 30 teams in the league.