PARLIAMENT PASSES 2009 AND 2010 BUDGET BILLS
The National Assembly passed the national budgets for the coming two years on 25 November amidst a continuing split between the coalition and opposition on whether the documents appropriately reflect the country's priorities for the coming period.
The 2010 budget envisages revenues of EUR 8.6bn and expenditure of EUR 10.5bn, with the budget deficit envisaged at EUR 1.8bn or 5% of GDP, the highest in years and significantly above that allowed by the EU. The government maintained that the extra spending is required to prop up Slovenia's economy on the road to recovery following the recession in the first two quarters of 2009.
The opposition was however not convinced, saying that the government failed to fully root out spending that does not have developmental purposes. It also believes that the government will fail in implementing the envisaged budget due to increased unemployment.
In the 2011 budget, the government envisaged revenues of EUR 8.8bn and spending of EUR 10.4bn. The expected budget deficit stands at EUR 1.5bn or 4.1% of GDP.
Along with the budget bills, parliament also passed a budget implementation bill that gives the government the possibility of raising EUR 3.6bn in debt in 2010 and EUR 2.6bn in 2011 to finance its spending plans and plans for the sale of assets in 2010 and 2011 that does not envisage the privatisation of any key stakes in companies.
PRIME MINISTER ASSESSES FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE
Prime Minister Borut Pahor gave his assessment on the government's first term in office on 25 November voicing his confidence the coalition would successfully overcome disagreements among coalition partners and within parties to hold out until the end of the term.
Commenting on the recent division in the coalition over legislation preventing deputies from serving as mayors, Pahor said he would push for parliament to take a renewed decision on the changes in legislation. The prime minister told the press that he was unhappy because nearly half of deputies from his party failed to back the legislative changes in parliament last week. The coalition is set to meet to discuss the failure of the bill at a meeting scheduled for early December.
Pahor singled out the signing of the border arbitration agreement with Croatia as the biggest foreign policy achievement in the first year of his government. He believes solving the issue opens the door for Slovenia to again become an important player in SE Europe.
Turning to the economic turmoil, he predicted that the Slovenian economy would need a few years to stabilise. He listed several goals that should give Slovenia a competitive edge.
As the first goal in this time when GDP growth would be at around 1% or possibly up to 3%, Pahor quoted Slovenia's exceeding the EU's development average. The second goal would be to enhance Slovenia's economic and political presence in the Western Balkans and the third goal would be for the heavily export-oriented Slovenian economy to disperse its exports and reduce dependence on individual markets, especially Germany, France, Italy and Austria.
Opposition leader and Democrats (SDS) president Janez Jansa said that in its first year in office, the government increased state debt by spending money on short-term crisis measures and for interests of the ruling coalition. He also noted that the government blamed the economic crisis for failing to create social dialogue and political consensus.
>SOLDIER SUICIDES SHOCK THE COUNTRY
Slovenia was shocked this week by two suicides in the army ranks. The death of a soldier in her late 20s in Kosovo is the first of a Slovenian soldier on a mission abroad since Slovenia began taking part in international peacekeeping operations in the late 1990s.
Another service member, who shot himself at his home, worked as a military driving instructor in the northeastern town of Slovenj Gradec and had never served abroad. The 30-year-old was said to have taken his life after having recently returned from psychiatric treatment.
Defence Minister Ljubica Jelusic voiced concern that the two incidents could trigger further suicides, or rather "suicide threats, when people begin to use threats to achieve their personal ends". "We are getting ready for all possible scenarios, and have already taken steps to activate the psychological counseling services and instruct commanders to give more attention to soldiers," she said.
Slovenian army spokesman Simon Korez said the suicide rate in the army was well below that in Slovenia in general, where there are around 500 suicides on average every year.
SLOVENIA INVOLVED IN MATCH-FIXING PROBE
A second match involving a Slovenian club has been mentioned as part of UEFA probe on match fixing, with German media reporting that up to seven Slovenian premiership matches are being scrutinised by investigators.
German public broadcaster ARD reported on 22 November that up to seven premiership league games in Slovenia are being investigated as part of the Europe-wide probe. A 4:1 loss by Nafta against Drava in April is said to be one of the matches.
Croatian police meanwhile arrested a 38-year-old Slovenian citizen, Dragan Mihelic, while trying to cross into Croatia on 23 November. German authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Mihelic, suspect he is involved in a betting ring that conspired to fix matches in Europe.
Earlier this month, reports said a match involving Ljubljana-based club Interblock was also under investigation.
The Slovenian Football Association (NZS) attended a meeting UEFA held with nine national associations on the inquiry in Nyon on 24 November. European football officials announced a zero tolerance policy on match-fixing in the fact of the biggest scandal to rock football.
UEFA is investigating a total of some 200 premiership and lower league matches in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria.
CHRONOLOGY:
SATURDAY, 21 November
LJUBLJANA - Taking a look at the first year in office of the centre-left government of Borut Pahor, two political analysts, Miro Kline and Matej Makarovic, assessed for STA that the cabinet had not been successful in dealing with the economic crisis.
CELJE - The junior coalition Zares party endorsed the report for 2009 and political guidelines for 2010, thus giving their president Gregor Golobic a vote of confidence, and decided to demand a coalition summit after coalition SD MPs voted against legislation preventing deputies from serving as mayors.
KAMNISKA BISTRICA - Around 2,000 people gathered at the foot of the Alps in northern Slovenia to bid their final farewell to climber Tomaz Humar (1969-2009), who was found dead in the Himalayas on 14 November.
NOVA GORICA - Workers at two Nova Gorica casinos, Park and Perla staged another, six-hour strike after negotiations failed between the management of Hit, Slovenia's biggest casino operator, and the trade union of gaming industry employees.
LJUBLJANA - The boss of the Slovenian state-owned railway company, Goran Brankovic, opted in favour of cooperation with Deutsche Bahn in an interview with daily Delo, but suggested Slovenske zeleznice would not want to get tied to one partner alone.
LJUBLJANA - A man infected with swine flu died at the UKC Ljubljana, the country's leading hospital, in what is the second swine flu-related death in Slovenia.
SUNDAY, 22 November
LJUBLJANA - The Borut Pahor government is perceived as doing a good job by 39% of those polled in the latest Vox populi survey, which is an improvement over the October survey (32.2%).
LJUBLJANA - Croatian war drama "Crnci" (The Blacks) by Zvonimir Jurica and Goran Devic won the Kingfisher Award, the top award handed out at the closing of the 20th Ljubljana International Film Festival.
PIRAN - The biennial Piranesi architectural award for 2009 went to Greek architectural bureau Deca Architecture for the house Aloni on the Greek island Antiparos.
MONDAY, 23 November
LJUBLJANA - Quoting the chief Finnish investigator in the Patria case Kaj Erik Bjoerkqvist, daily Delo reported that the bribe money from the 2006 deal between the Finnish defence contractor and Slovenia went not the former Slovenian PM Janez Jansa, but to his party. Bjoerkqvist told STA that Delo misquoted him.
MADRID, Spain - As part of a working visit to Spain, PM Borut Pahor discussed with his counterpart Jose Luis Zapatero the priorities of Spain for its upcoming six-month stint as EU president and examined possibilities for upgrading economic ties.
LJUBLJANA - More than half (52.5%) of those questioned in a poll carried by daily Dnevnik backed the ratification of the border arbitration agreement between Slovenia and Croatia, while 30.7% opposed it.
LJUBLJANA - The government Roma Community Protection Commission confirmed the draft national strategy for the Roma for 2010-2015. The document focuses on the legalisation of Roma settlements and on education of Roma children, and is to be adopted by the government in early 2010.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Environment Minister Karl Erjavec said at an extraordinary session of the EU Environment Council aimed at setting EU's positions for the Copenhagen climate talks that the EU should push for a 30% cut in greenhouse gas emissions and define concrete financial aid to developing countries in international climate talks.
LJUBLJANA - Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Gregor Golobic stressed an increase in the funding of science and research as an achievement in the first year's work of his ministry in the area of science.
LJUBLJANA - A debate organised by the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) highlighted the need for better dialogue and stronger cooperation among social partners as crucial for overcoming the economic crisis in Slovenia.
LJUBLJANA - Alojz Kralj, professor emeritus at the Ljubljana Faculty of Electrical Engineering, was conferred the Zois Award, the highest national prize given out once a year for lifetime achievements in science.
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana-based business consultancy company Arkas was the best Slovenian company in 2008, according to a list compiled by Delo FT, the business supplement of the daily Delo.
LJUBLJANA - A second match involving a Slovenian club has been mentioned as part of UEFA probe on match fixing, with German media reporting that up to seven Slovenian premiership matches are being scrutinised by investigators.
TUESDAY, 24 November
ZAGREB, Croatia - Defence Minister Ljubica Jelusic paid a visit to Croatia, citing the countries' cooperation in defence and security as an example for other countries in SE Europe.
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry said that Slovenian and Italian foreign ministers Samuel Zbogar and Franco Frattini had called on their EU counterparts in a letter to step up the process of visa liberalisation for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania.
LJUBLJANA - President Danilo Tuerk called for intensive social dialogue as he received representatives of trade unions, who presented him their views on the current situation of workers, their requests for a higher minimum wage and doubts regarding the proposed pension reform.
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Interior Minister Katarina Kresal reiterated Slovenia's steadfast support for Macedonia's efforts to join the EU as she wrapped up her two-day visit to Skopje.
LJUBLJANA/CAIRO, Egypt - The Foreign Ministry said that Slovenian Ambassador to Egypt Borut Mahnic had been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Arab League, seated in Cairo.
KRANJ - CEO Andrej Polenec said that Iskratel, Slovenia's leading telecommunications company, which generates the bulk of its revenues abroad, had been affected by the crisis as telecoms operators have radically cut investment.
LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) expressed its concern over the extent of the workers' protest announced for 28 November, with its director general Samo Hribar Milic saying that conflicts might arise during the gathering.
PEC, Kosovo - A Slovenian soldier on service in Kosovo committed suicide at her base in Pec in what is the first suicide by a Slovenian soldier abroad.
LJUBLJANA - A road assessment programme, carried out in cooperation with the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), found 59% of Slovenian roads to have high or medium risk rates.
ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatian police said they had arrested a 38-year-old Slovenian citizen on an international arrest warrant issued by Germany related to the investigation of the biggest match-fixing scandal in Europe.
PORTOROZ - The Slovenian Basketball Association (KZS) announced its candidacy for hosting the European Basketball Championship in 2013.
LJUBLJANA - Publisher Milos Mikeln received the Schwentner Award for lifetime achievement conferred by the Slovenian Publishers' Association as the 25th annual Slovenian Book Fair opened at arts centre Cankarjev dom.
WEDNESDAY, 25 November
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the national budgets for 2010 and 2011 amidst a continuing split between the coalition and opposition on whether the documents appropriately reflect the country's priorities for the coming period.
LJUBLJANA - PM Borut Pahor predicted that the Slovenian economy would need a few years to stabilise in the aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis as he held a news conference to assess the first year in office of his government.
LJUBLJANA - The government's crisis task force headed by Development Minister Mitja Gaspari, decided at a meeting to pool the services offered by state financial and development institutions in the country for dealing with the crisis.
LJUBLJANA - The parent company of insurance group Zavarovalnica Triglav reported a net profit of EUR 28m in the first nine months of 2009, which is a 16% increase over the same period last year.
VELENJE - The head of the Economic Forum of the opposition Democrats (SDS) Zofija Mazej Kukovic said at a conference of the SDS that the economic crisis in Slovenia was poorly managed.
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly held an extraordinary session to debate appointments of ambassadors requested by the opposition Democrats (SDS) after Russia appointed Doku Zavgayev, Chechnya's first pro-Russian president, as ambassador to Slovenia.
ZRECE - Tooling company Unior published a prospectus on a new share issue in a bid to increase its nominal capital from EUR 19.5m to up to EUR 23.6m.
WOLFSBURG, Germany - The two biggest owners of Slovenian car seat cover maker Prevent Global agreed to search for solutions to avoid bankruptcy of the group, which employs 1,300 workers in Slovenia, and to overcome the differences which prompted the second-largest owner to seek that production be moved out of Slovenia.
LJUBLJANA - Participants of a round table on foreign direct investments (FDI), organised by the Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) and English-language paper The Slovenia Times, agreed that despite high economic growth in the past years the share of FDI in Slovenia was never high, and concluded that the country's business environment should be made more attractive.
MOKRONOG - Justice Minister Ales Zalar unveiled a project to transform a former barracks into a prison and plans for the expansion of Slovenia's biggest jail Dob, hailing progress in creating new prison capacities.
LJUBLJANA - Robert Krmelj was appointed charge d'affaires at Slovenia's Embassy in Zagreb pending the appointment of a new ambassador to Croatia who is tipped off to be former Ambassador to the UK Iztok Mirosic.
LJUBLJANA - Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Gregor Golobic highlighted changes to the higher education act providing the basis for an independent agency, which is to boost quality in higher education, as the main achievement of the ministry in the past year in the area of the higer education.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A report by the European Commission found that while the EU is too slow in attaining key targets in education and training reform for 2010, Slovenia has already met four out of the five benchmark targets.
MONACO, Monaco - President Danilo Tuerk met Prince of Monaco Albert II and exchanged with him an agreement on support for projects in the area of promotion of the preservation of nature and biotic diversity.
IZOLA - Agriculture Minister Milan Pogacnik stressed at a meeting with representatives of Slovenian fishermen that the EUR 28m Slovenia secured as part of EU development funds needed to be used efficiently.
SLOVENJ GRADEC - A military driving instructor in the northeastern town of Slovenj Gradec shot himself at his home in what was the second suicide in the army ranks in a week.
LJUBLJANA - Acclaimed theatre director Jernej Lorenci (36) was stabbed with a knife by one of his students on at the Faculty of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGFRT).
THURSDAY, 26 November
BRDO PRI KRANJU - President Danilo Tuerk stressed after meeting the chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Zeljko Komsic that Bosnia needed to obtain an action plan for NATO membership "without delay", because "it has done all that had to be done".
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted legislative changes designed to determine Slovenia's eighth member to the European Parliament, which will be rushed through parliament.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The first full-time president of the European Council, former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, will visit Slovenia on 1 December in his second trip abroad after his appointment on 19 November.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A member of the European Parliament responsible for overseeing Croatia's progress in EU membership talks, Hannes Swoboda, urged Slovenia to ratify the border arbitration agreement with Croatia.
LJUBLJANA - A two-day international conference on developments in Slovenia in the 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall featured opposition Democrats (SDS) leader Janez Jansa, who described the period as one of progress, while EPP president Wilfried Martens stressed the importance of the Demos coalition, which won the 1990 elections.
ANKARAN - Jurij Zurej, the head of the expert group drawing up changes to the media legislation, told a meeting of journalists on Thursday that 80% of the draft bill on RTV Slovenija was beyond reproach.
LJUBLJANA - The government confirmed a redistribution of spending entitlement, among other things allocating additional funds for the recently discovered Huda jama mass grave site near Lasko.
LJUBLJANA - Answering a question from a coalition MP regarding opposition's claims of partisan staffing, the government said that it had made 713 appointments so far, while the previous government made 2,122 in its term.
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) filed a demand for a parliamentary session related to controversial loans given by the NLB bank to a company with ties to Higher Education Minister Gregor Golobic.
LJUBLJANA - Trade unionists presented reasons for a mass protest on 28 November, highlighting the demand for the government to drop its proposals to extend the working age to 65 and to raise the minimum wage to EUR 600 net.
LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed the head of Slovenia's telecoms and post regulator Tomaz Simonic, after he faced criticism over the way the Agency for Post and Electronic Communications (APEK) issued a licence for third-generation mobile services to Tusmobil.
LJUBLJANA - The Securities Market Agency (ATVP) was left without a boss after the Administrative Court found Damjan Zugelj's appointment to the post flawed.
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted an action plan for the transition from the current system of toll stickers to electronic free-flow tolling system envisaging the abolishment of the toll stickers by 2014.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - President Danilo Tuerk and the visiting chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Zeljko Komsic agreed at a Slovenia-Bosnian business conference that economic cooperation between the two countries needed to be strengthened further in the future.
LJUBLJANA - Two parliamentary committees, the Committee for Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Disabled and the Finance and Monetary Policy Committee, urged the Finance Ministry to deal with the issue of EUR 182m unpaid social security contributions by Slovenian employers.
KOPER - The Istrabenz holding, in compulsory settlement since July this year, recorded a loss of more than EUR 65m in the first nine months this year.
TRIESTE, Italy - A technical panel of Slovenian and Italian experts found several flaws in the documentation for the project of a gas terminal at Aquilinia, just off the border with Slovenia, presented by the investor, Spanish company Gas Natural.
LJUBLJANA - Window Jelovision produced by furniture company Jelovica and hybrid vessel Greenline 33 made by Seaway were declared the most environmentally friendly products of the year at an eco conference organised by business daily Finance and Slovenia's Eco Fund.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Education and Sport Minister Igor Luksic, who attended a session of the EU Education, Youth and Culture Council in Brussels on Thursday, said that educational systems in the EU and Slovenia should be more selective.
LJUBLJANA - Poet, playwright and translator Milan Jesih was elected the new president of the Slovenian Writers' Association for a two-year term.
FRIDAY, 27 November
KESZTHELY, Hungary - PM Borut Pahor and his Hungarian counterpart Gordon Bajnai agreed that Slovenia and Hungary have no open political issues, but that they do have shared challenges for a joint future within Europe as the governments of the two countries held a joint session.
BRUSSELS, Belgium, LJUBLJANA - EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso nominated Slovenia's Janez Potocnik as environment commissioner in his future line-up.
LJUBLJANA - Verica Trstenjak, advocate general at the European Court of Justice, expressed her doubts about the border arbitration agreement with Croatia saying in a op-ed that Slovenia has achieved too little in the negotiations with Croatia and that the country was in no hurry to ratify the arbitration agreement.
LENDAVA - President Danilo Tuerk, the keynote speaker at a ceremony marking 50 years since Slovenian-Hungarian primary education was introduced in the region of Prekmurje (NE), underlined that the unique bilingual education system is something to be proud of.
LJUBLJANA - Head of the opposition Democrats (SDS) Janez Jansa said at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the country's first democratic coalition DEMOS that the democratic movement in Slovenia brought two important changes to the country that deserve to be celebrated - Slovenia's independence and the democratic parliamentary system. He voiced regret over the fact that the transition was not yet complete.
LJUBLJANA - The council of the Securities Market Agency (ATVP) decided to propose to the government to appoint its incumbent boss Damjan Zugelj as acting director, after the Administrative Court annulled his 2008 appointment a day earlier.
LJUBLJANA - Boris Sustar, a former Economy Ministry state secretary sentenced in 2007 to six years in prison for corruption, decided to file a lawsuit against the state demanding between EUR 180,000 and EUR 750,000 in damages caused by the trial.
LJUBLJANA - The National Council vetoed amendments to the chambers of commerce and industry act which address the division of assets held by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) before its 2006 transformation among the new GZS and other representative chambers.
LJUBLJANA - The state-owned postal company, Posta Slovenije, reported over EUR 17m in profit for the first nine months of 2009, exceeding plans by about 7% despite unfavourable economic conditions.
ANKARAN - Radio journalist Gojko Brvar received the lifetime achievement award Consortium Veritatis (Fellowship of Truth) conferred annually by the Slovenian Association of Journalists (DNS).
