News roundup - Wednesday, 22 March

MPs pass Armed Force resolution speeding up increase in spending

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed in a 55:6 vote a resolution that sets out a plan for the development of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) by 2040 under which Slovenia is to spend 2% of GDP on defence by 2030, five years before the current deadline. Spending is to be kept at least at that level until 2040. Each year at least 20% of the total defence expenditure will be spent on military equipment and armament.

Parliament agrees primary school education sufficient to join Armed Forces

LJUBLJANA - Despite a split in the coalition, parliament passed in a 49:5 vote changes to the law governing service in the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) to lower the required level of education to join the SAF to primary education provided the candidates finish secondary school during service. The country currently has nearly 6,170 SAF members, which also includes non-serving civilians, and a reserve of 760. The new resolution on SAF development until 2040 says the goal is to have up to 10,000 members with the option of increasing the number in time of war.

Progress made in compliance with GRECO's 15 recommendations

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has satisfactorily implemented five of the 15 recommendations the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) made in 2017 regarding prevention of corruption and promotion of integrity in top government offices and in the police, but still lacks a government integrity plan and tools to monitor conflicts of interest, shows a report by the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body. Six recommendations have been implemented partly and four have not been implemented at all. The Justice Ministry said the report showed "obvious" progress since the 2021 report. It is confident that it will be able to report about more progress when it submits another report by the end of the year. The anti-graft watchdog hopes the report will encourage "more visible" steps towards preventing corruption, and saying progress was slow and barely noticeable in certain areas, Transparency International Slovenia urged stepped-up action.

EU ministers welcome war crimes conference planned by Slovenia

BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU ministers in charge of general affairs and the justice commissioner have welcomed an initiative for a conference in Slovenia in May to discuss justice cooperation, which would also facilitate cooperation in prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine. Speaking after a session of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on Tuesday, Jessika Roswall, the presiding Swedish minister for EU affairs, said the ministers welcomed the initiative to organise the conference on justice cooperation, but said they did not discuss it in detail.

Pirc Musar tells UN Water Conference that water is life and peace

NEW YORK, US - President Nataša Pirc Musar said in her address at the UN Water Conference in New York that "water is life, existence and peace", and described Slovenia as one of the most water-rich countries in Europe. She called for the post of a UN special envoy for water to be established, noting that this had been endorsed by more than 150 UN members. In the plenary part of the conference, she said that the lack of cooperation was a missed opportunity at best and a security threat at worst.

Slovenian and Serbian defence ministers discuss security in W Balkans

LJUBLJANA - Serbian Defence Minister Miloš Vučević paid a visit to Slovenia to meet his counterpart Marjan Šarec and members of the parliamentary Defence Committee. The ministers discussed the security situation in the Western Balkans, the war in Ukraine, regional cooperation and cooperation in international operations and missions. They agreed that bilateral defence and military cooperation is excellent but there is the potential to expand it to mountain warfare, the Slovenian Defence Ministry said.

Doctors' trade union Fides to resume strike on 2 April

LJUBLJANA - Fides, the trade union of doctors and dentists, announced that industrial action, averted after two deals reached with the government last October and in January, would proceed on 2 April, because the government has postponed the agreed 1 April formation of a separate pay tier for the healthcare system to 30 June.

Extension of caps on electricity and gas prices expected soon

LJUBLJANA - The government is unofficially planing to extend the cap on electricity and gas retail prices for households, small business customers and small and medium-sized companies until the end of the year, as is already the case when it comes to public institutions. It is not yet clear when the cabinet will decide on the matter.

Ombudsman presents activities in support of refugees as he meets Ukrainian ambassador

LJUBLJANA - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina met Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Taran to discuss the situation of refugees from Ukraine. The ombudsman expressed concern over the duration of procedures for temporary protection status at some administrative units and noted he was also closely following potential human trafficking issues. Five cases potentially involving human trafficking with Ukrainian citizens as victims were being investigated at the end of last year, but the suspicion proved unfounded in two of them so far.

Agency for Research and Innovation in Science to be set up

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed in a 52:6 vote amendments to the act on scientific research and innovation, which create an Agency for Research and Innovation in Science (ARIS). The government says the agency will allow for more efficient and consistent implementation of science and research, and innovation policies.

MPs override veto on reintroduction of compulsory receipts

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly overrode an upper chamber veto on the reintroduction of a rule under which retail businesses must give out a receipt for goods or services to customers, who have to accept it. 53 MPs voted in favour and 31 against. The rule, vetoed by the National Council on 2 March, had already been in force from January 2016 to January 2022, but for more than a year now businesses have needed to hand out a receipt only if the customer requested this, which the coalition said caused a rise in grey economy.

MPs pass bill to prevent exploitation of posted workers

LJUBLJANA - Parliament changed the law on cross-border services striking out a provision on payment of lower pension contributions for certain posted workers to bring the legislation in line with EU rules. The bill was passed in a 53:5 vote with MPs warning about the negative consequences for companies posting workers abroad.

Digital inclusion act changed to better target vulnerable groups

LJUBLJANA - MPs backed changes to the digital inclusion act which the coalition argues do away with a discriminatory distribution of digital vouchers for students and the elderly, and better identify vulnerable groups. The opposition finds the changes unnecessary given that a new act is in the pipeline. Digital Transformation Minister Emilija Stojmenova Duh said during debate on Tuesday the amendments were a response to the many grievances, also about discrimination.

Opposition takes issue over administrative unit restructuring

LJUBLJANA - The opposition parties took issue with the government's plan to restructure the system of administrative units as they see it as some units being virtually abolished. The government, on the other hand, said that the availability of administrative services would not be reduced and that units were not being abolished. However, the coalition Social Democrats (SD) also see the planned restructuring as unacceptable.

Greens report Ljubljana sewerage project to police and prosecution

LJUBLJANA - The Greens, a non-parliamentary party, have filed a report to the police and the state prosecution over suspected environmental crime in the construction of C0, a major sewerage project on the outskirts of Ljubljana which has raised concerns about its impact on drinking water. The party argues the construction is illegal and should be suspended until the relevant authorities inspect the project.

Brežan says Slovenia a credible international partner on water

NEW YORK, US - Slovenia is a credible international partner when it comes to water, Minister of Natural Resources Uroš Brežan said in New York on Tuesday ahead of the UN Water Conference and in the light of the country's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2024 and 2025. Brežan, who is representing Slovenia in New York alongside President Nataša Pirc Musar and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, said Slovenia would give two further water-related commitments at the conference.

Ground broken on sustainable complex Vilharia

LJUBLJANA - A foundation stone was laid to launch construction of green offices project Vilharia, which its Slovak developer Corwin describes as the future most sustainable office building in Slovenia. Located in a brownfield site between Ljubljana's central train station and Vilharjeva Street, it is worth EUR 100 million and should be completed in 2025.

Average pay slightly down in January

LJUBLJANA - The average gross pay in Slovenia in January stood at EUR 2,144.72, down 0.7% in nominal and 0.9% in real terms in monthly comparison, while the average take-home pay amounted to EUR 1,399.03, a 1.4% drop in nominal, and a 1.6% drop in real terms, data from the Statistics Office shows.

Intesa Sanpaolo Bank profit down to EUR 16.4m in 2022

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian subsidiary of the Italian Intesa Sanpaolo Bank posted a net profit of EUR 16.4 million for 2022, which is a 7.6% drop from 2021. The operating and financial revenue grew by 20.7% to EUR 79.4 million, the bank wrote in a press release. The bank's total assets grew by 9.4% to EUR 3.69 billion. Gross lending to households grew by 11.8% and to legal persons by 7.9%.