News roundup - Monday, 20 March

Ljubljana, 20 March - Below is a roundup of major events on Monday, 20 March:

Slovenia to join EU ammo procurement for Ukraine shortly

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia has not joined the initial group of 17 EU countries plus Norway that sealed a deal to give one million artillery shells to Ukraine. It will join the joint procurement soon, Defence Minister Marjan Šarec said. "Slovenia will complete this signature shortly, once it has performed all the customary procedures," he said after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. It will not buy the ammunition. Instead it will contribute to the European Peace Facility that will finance ammunition purchases.

Fajon says implementation of Kosovo-Serbia deal key

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon commented on the deal reached by Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić by saying Serbia and Kosovo should be helped in these efforts, and vowing Slovenia's support. "The agreement ... serves as a kind of a basis, but now it depends on implementation regarding the establishment of the community of Serb municipalities or some kind of normalisation of relations," said Fajon, who already welcomed the deal on Sunday.

PM says health insurance, digitalisation bills coming soon

LJUBLJANA - Answering MP questions, Prime Minister Robert Golob said a bill on the public health insurer ZZZS and a bill on digitalisation of healthcare were being discussed by the Strategic Council for Health. Public debate on both bills is scheduled to start by the end of the month. Golob said that the health reform was a key reform planned by this government and that efforts were under way at different levels. The Strategic Council for Health was set up for this purpose.

Golob rejects alleged govt cronyism in business

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Robert Golob rejected allegations from the opposition that he appoints his acquaintances to managerial positions in state-owned companies as he took questions from the floor in parliament. Unlike during the previous government, knowledge and experience is required, not a party membership card, he said about the appointments at Slovenian Sovereign Holding, power utility HSE, and power distributor Gen-I. "Anyone with 15 or more years of experience ... is very qualified to take over a company," he said.

Govt opts for gradual approach in public sector wage reform

LJUBLJANA - The government has opted for a gradual approach in reforming the system of wages in the public sector. Guidelines confirmed last week and obtained by the STA show that some steps will not be completed until 2027, a timeline that trade unions say is problematic. The government has repeatedly said that the reform would entail more than just increasing the wage bill and there are several solutions proposed that upend the current system. Seniority would count for less and there would be less automatism in promotions. Junior staff would be able to advance along the career path more quickly. The system of bonuses would be rejigged to prioritise results and performance as key criteria.

Vox Populi: Govt rating drops, SDS getting closer to ruling party

LJUBLJANA - The latest Vox Populi poll sees the government's rating drop compared to the previous month, while the share of those who perceive it positively is still higher than the share of those who gave it a negative mark. The ruling party Freedom Movement is still on top but the opposition Democrats (SDS) are inching closer. The poll sees the government support at 46.7%, which compares to 46.3% of the respondents who assess the government's work as unsuccessful. The SDS gained most ground among the parliamentary parties, by almost three percentage points to 22.9%, as it inched closer to the Freedom Movement, which lost more than a percentage point to 24.9%.

Slovenia pledges EUR 500,000 in post-quake aid for Turkey, Syria

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia pledged to donate another EUR 500,000 in humanitarian aid for the victims of February's devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria at a donor conference. The Foreign Ministry said that EUR 200,000 will go to a project the ITF Enhancing Human Security fund will carry out in Syria, 200,000 euro will go to Turkey through UNICEF, and the remaining EUR 100,000 to the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund in Syria. Slovenia has already provided EUR 1.13 million in post-quake aid to the two countries.

Slovenia and Italy agree on importance of EU Capital of Culture 2025

NOVA GORICA - Culture Minister Asta Vrečko met her Italian counterpart Gennaro Sangiuliano to discuss European Capital of Culture 2025, a cross-border project bringing together Slovenia's Nova Gorica and Italy's Gorizia. The pair agreed that both countries will regard the undertaking as a national project. Vrečko and Sangiuliano met the mayors of both cities. They discussed several issues, including proposals to reduce red tape in the organisation of cross-border events.

US human rights report focuses on media situation in on Slovenia

WASHINGTON, US - In its 2022 human rights report, the US State Department highlights several issues that have been a feature of these reports for years, including overcrowded prisons and and lack of progress in the resolution of Holocaust-era claims. Special attention is paid to media freedom, including backsliding during the government of Janez Janša, hateful rhetoric at the time, and harassment of journalists. It also mentions protests by RTV Slovenija journalists demanding editorial autonomy and an end of political interference with the public broadcaster.

Banka Slovenije says European and Slovenian banking systems stable

LJUBLJANA - Banka Slovenije sought to reassure the public of the stability of the European and Slovenian banking systems, the turmoil in the US and Swiss banking systems notwithstanding. "The euro area banking sector is resilient, with a strong capital and liquidity position," the Slovenian central bank told STA after the Swiss bank UBS announced its takeover of Credit Suisse and after the collapse of two regional US banks, SVB and Signature.

Secondary school student asked to take off hijab

LJUBLJANA - In an incident at a secondary school in Ljubljana last week, a teacher asked a student to take off the hijab, saying that "wearing a head scarf is not in line with classroom etiquette", the 24ur news portal reported. The teacher asked the student to take the hijab off or else he would stop teaching. The student said she could not do that for religious reasons and left the classroom. After the incident, the headteacher and a school counsellor came to the classroom explaining to the teacher wearing a headscarf was not a reason for refusing to teach. The counsellor also talked to the student, reassuring her that she had done nothing wrong.

Equality ombudsman urges strategy to fight racism

LJUBLJANA - On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the equality ombudsman urged the government to enhance efforts to raise awareness about the negative consequences of racism in Slovenian society and to produce a strategic plan to fight racism with a view to reducing the number of cases of discrimination. The government is working on a national strategy on gender equality and one against anti-Semitism, while the Advocate of the Principle of Equality also urged strategies on gender equality and on the equality of LGBTIQ persons.

Gen-I profit more than halved in 2022

LJUBLJANA - Gen-I, Slovenia's largest electricity trader, saw group net profit decline by 58% in 2022 to EUR 29.5 million. Sales revenue rose by more than a fifth to EUR 4.1 billion, according to a preliminary earnings report. Although profitability declined, the company, which is also the number two in the retail market for natural gas, said it is happy with last year's performance.

Spirit successful in attracting FDI

LJUBLJANA - Spirit Slovenia, the national business development agency, has been around in its current form for ten years. One of its main tasks is to attract foreign direct investment. Its acting director Rok Capl told the STA the agency was successful in that last year despite a challenging international environment. The value of new confirmed greenfield investment and expansion is estimated at EUR 460 million and should create more than 1,100 jobs.

Mobile data roaming figures record high at the end of 2022

LJUBLJANA - The number of mobile network users in Slovenia rose to 2.675 million in the final quarter of last year, 3% more than in the same period a year ago. Mobile data roaming was up by 44% to a record-breaking 94 million gigabytes, while the number of phone calls dropped by 3%, shows fresh data from the Statistics Office (SURS). In the last quarter of 2022, the biggest rise was recorded in the segment of business subscribers, at 4%.

Francophone Film Festival opens in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - The 11th Francophone Film Festival opened in Ljubljana to coincide with International Francophonie Day. The screening of the film La Ligne will be followed by an online talk with its Swiss director Ursula Meier. The Swiss-French-Belgian co-production challenges stereotypes about violence perpetrated by women. Three more French-language films will be screened until the end of the week in Ljubljana, and two in Škofja Loka as part of the Month of European Film in April.

Roglič wins first stage of Tour of Catalunya

BARCELONA, Spain - Slovenia's cycling ace Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the first stage of the Tour of Catalunya on Monday. The 33-year-old beat his main rival, Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), in the sprint to the finish line. Ide Schelling from the Netherlands (Bora-Hansgrohe) was third. "Crazy. I see a lot of people, a lot of fans. I'm enjoying myself. I always want the best, but then you have to do it ... This is only the first day, six very intense days are ahead. We's see how it goes, day by day," Roglič said.

Štuhec and Kranjec keep Slovenian skiing fans proud

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Alpine ski racers kept their contact to the world's best in the past season, however almost exclusively due to Ilka Štuhec in the women's World Cup and Žan Kranjec in the men's competitions. Štuhec, the downhill World Champion from 2017 and 2019, finished second in the final overall downhill standings, and Kranjec was third in the overall giant slalom rankings. He is the first male Slovenian Alpine ski racer to manage such a feat in 23 years.

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