Freedom Movement

Ljubljana – Lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar and Anže Logar, the former foreign minister, are in the lead in a presidential opinion poll released by commercial broadcaster POP TV, polling at 28.7% and 25.4%, respectively. Marta Kos, the former diplomat who will run for the ruling party Freedom Movement, polled at 11.4%.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly unanimously passed on Tuesday changes to the VAT act reducing VAT on electricity, gas, biomass and remote heating from 22% to 9.5% between 1 September 2022 and 31 May 2023.

Ljubljana – Today is the first day when candidates vying to become Slovenia’s new president in the 23 October election can submit their candidacy, and voters can formally support their candidates with signatures.

The candidates have until 28 September to submit their candidacy with the National Electoral Commission.

Ljubljana – The coalition Social Democrats (SD) will not field their own candidate in the 23 October presidential election and the party will also not endorse any of the candidates running, the SD presidency decided on Monday. SD leader Tanja Fajon said the party might decide to endorse a candidate in a potential run-off.

Ljubljana – Last week has shown whose servants are the many journalist who were calling for journalistic autonomy under the previous, SDS-led government, including during the strike at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, the magazine Demokracija says in Thursday’s editorial, headlined Incest of Journalism and Politics Laid Bare.

Ljubljana – Defections of prominent journalists to politics are undoubtedly deepening the crisis of journalism and undermining its credibility, Delo says in Saturday’s front-page commentary after two journalists have joined the Government Communication Office (UKOM) and the ruling Freedom Movement PR teams this week.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Robert Golob has indicated that Dragan Barbutovski is being replaced as director of the Government Communication Office because he lacks organisational and managerial skills to run an office that the government would want to get help from in the war on hate speech.

Ljubljana – Gynaecologist Sabina Senčar has joined ten hopefuls who have so far announced their presidential bids as the country will be electing a new president on 23 October. She intends to run with the support of Resni.ca, a non-parliamentary party founded amid the Covid epidemic to oppose restrictions.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Robert Golob has proposed that TV Slovenija journalist Petra Bezjak Cirman be appointed the new head of the government Communications Office (UKOM). Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister’s office confirmed for the STA that Dragan Barbutovski was leaving the post after just over two months on the job.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly passed in 53:26 vote on Thursday changes to the act on RTV Slovenija with which the government would like to reduce what it sees as the influence of politics on the public broadcaster. The changes come after RTV journalists recently went on strike twice demanding editorial autonomy.