Slovenia

Ljubljana – It is one year to the day since the first infection with the novel coronavirus was confirmed in Slovenia. More than 192,000 have been confirmed since, and almost 3,900 persons have died of Covid-19. Slovenia has been in the state of epidemic for 60% of the time, with many restrictions remaining in force.

Oberstdorf – Slovenia’s Nika Križnar won the bronze medal in the women’s large hill competition at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Germany’s Oberstdorf on Wednesday in what is the fourth medal for Slovenian ski jumpers there.

Ljubljana – Slovenia will roll out biometric identity cards in line with legislation passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday that implements an EU requirement that all member states should start issuing biometric identity cards by August 2021.

Brussels – Three of Slovenia’s four MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) did not back changes to the rules of procedure allowing the European People’s Party (EPP) to suspend or exclude a member party from its ranks. Ljudmila Novak, the fourth Slovenian EPP MEP, voted for the changes, having been one of its proponents.

Ljubljana – A survey of ten major news portals in Slovenia in 2020 has shown that the majority of news, except on the portal Nova24TV.si, is unbiased. Among articles that were flagged as biased, those that were critical of the government far outnumbered pro-government reporting.

Ljubljana – All secondary school students who have been learning remotely will return to in-person teaching on Monday, while primary school students in grades six to nine will have to wear masks at all time in class, the government decided as it conducted its weekly review of coronavirus restrictions.

Ljubljana – Slovenia is planning to start mass vaccination of teachers against Covid-19 next week, Jelko Kacin, the coordinator for the logistics of mass vaccination, announced as he visited a vaccination point in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

Ljubljana – After three months of growth, Slovenia’s registered unemployment total dropped by 3.8% in February to 88,051. Still, the number of people registered with the Employment Service as being out of a job is 13.6% higher than the same month a year ago.

Ljubljana – PM Janez Janša and Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti gladly accept an invitation to an exchange of views on Slovenian media with the European Parliament’s Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, however the discussion should be held in face-to-face format in the European Parliament, the government said on Tuesday.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian central bank says the anti-crisis measures have contributed to the economic recovery and to keeping the country’s potential afloat, albeit at the expense of public finance situation. A gradual approach and targeted withdrawal of measures will be needed so that the economy is not exposed again to negative shocks.