Slovenia Criticised for Suspending National News Agency’s Funding

The Slovenian Government Communication Office, UKOM, has faced strong criticism after it announced this week that it will suspend payment for the services provided by the Slovenian Press Agency, STA in January - the second time it has suspended the state-funded STA's payments in recent months.

"This is the most blatant example of the goals and strategies of [Prime Minister] Janez Jansa to get all the media under control," prominent Slovenian investigative journalist Blaz Zgaga told BIRN.

"The Slovenian Press Agency is actually the backbone of the Slovenian media system because it covers many events in politics and society that other media do not cover… everything depends on the STA," Zgaga said.

He added that if the agency falls under political control, right-wing premier Jansa will have a greater influence on all the other media that depend on the material provided and events organised by the STA.

UKOM also refused to pay monthly instalments for the public service provided by the STA for October and November.

But UKOM has said that it refused to pay the STA because the two parties have not yet signed a contract for 2021.

UKOM told BIRN on Thursday that it has not stopped funding the STA but it has only "refused to pay the invoice that STA Director Bojan Veselinovic sent to UKOM for reasons unknown to us".

It said that "as of 31 December 2020 all the contracts concluded between UKOM and STA expired".

Veselinovic has argued that the budget allocations for funding the STA had already been set out by the government for this year, regardless of whether a contract with the founder has been signed or not, and that all required documents are always available to the government and relevant supervisory bodies.