News roundup - Wednesday, 26 February

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 the 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.

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.

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.

Telekom Slovenije confirms cybersecurity incident

LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije confirmed a cybersecurity incident in which certain internal business data has been compromised. While the majority state-owned telecoms incumbent refrained from disclosing specifics due to ongoing investigations, it said there had been no breach of its customer database or of customers' communications. Meanwhile, the news portal Finance reported that a package of 385 files allegedly linked to Telekom Slovenije already appeared on the dark web on Tuesday. The files have been obtained by Finance and reportedly include personal data of customers, clients, and contractual partners. The attackers have reportedly not issued any ransom demands so far.

National Assembly president says her deputy enjoys her support in ouster motion

LJUBLJANA - National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič said that Nataša Sukič, her deputy whom the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) wants to oust over her false statement about pensions, enjoyed her support. She said the ouster motion would most likely be debated at a plenary that starts at the end of March. She also said that in this term the SDS was definitely the winner of lying and manipulating. Responding, SDS head Janez Janša said that truth was the natural enemy of Klakočar Zupančič's party, the ruling Freedom Movement.

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.

Slovenian SMR project financed with US intl aid suspended

LJUBLJANA - As US President Donald Trump decided to suspend US international aid to re-evaluate relevant projects, Project Phoenix, a programme for coal-to-nuclear small modular reactors (SMR), has also been suspended, according to news portal Forbes Slovenija. As part of the project, the US provided funds for technical advisory and consulting services to analyse the potential to use SMR technology and locations for these reactors. However, the relevant ministry said that the project was in its final stage and that the pre-feasibility study had been practically completed.

Public broadcaster's 2024 outlays EUR 2m higher than revenue

LJUBLJANA - RTV Slovenija, the country's public broadcaster, finished 2024 with a loss of just over EUR 2 million as its revenue amounted to EUR 146.3 million and outlays to EUR 148.4 million, shows the annual business report, which the broadcaster's council debated on Wednesday. Higher outlays were a result of wages at RTV Slovenija increasing by 3.36% in June as part of an across-the-board increase in the public sector.

Israeli author Noam Yuran's appearance at Fabula met with disapproval

LJUBLJANA - A group of publishers, festivals, culture associations and trade unions has called on the Fabula literary festival to rescind its invitation to Israeli author Noam Yuran or explicitly clarify that he is attending in a personal capacity. Yuran, despite being regarded as a liberal voice who has recently voiced opposition to the current Israeli government, is a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, which forms part of the Israeli system of settler colonialism and apartheid, the group said. Fabula has since confirmed Yuran will participate in his own capacity, without the support or involvement of any Israeli institutions or the state of Israel.

Police bomb squad has new specialised vehicle

LJUBLJANA - The special police unit received at the end of January a new vehicle designed for the work of bomb technicians when visiting explosion sites and intervening in suspected cases of the use of dangerous agents and substances, the police said. This is the first such vehicle in Slovenia, the police told the STA. It is worth around EUR 400,000 with 75% to be covered from EU funds.

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.