Miha

Ljubljana – MPs endorsed on Tuesday a government-sponsored act that temporarily increases the scope of temporary or casual work available for pensioners to help the labour market recover in the wake of Covid-19. The government says the proposal will help mitigate labour shortages, whereas a part of the opposition believes the solution comes too late.

Ljubljana – The 37th Slovenian Book Fair, held online over the past two weeks, formally closed on Saturday evening with an awards ceremony. Art editor Pavle Učakar received the Schwenter Award for his contribution to publishing and Erica Johnson Debeljak’s compelling book about widowhood received the Book of the Year Award.

Ljubljana – An initiative by the opposition Left to call a consultative referendum on a long-term programme for the development of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) was voted down by eight votes to one on the Defence Committee on Tuesday. The vote is not binding on the plenary.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Defence Committee approved the draft resolution on the general long-term programme for the development and equipping of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) until 2035. The resolution is strongly opposed by the Left party, which plans to propose a consultative referendum.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly has passed changes to pension legislation to remedy injustices done to persons who voluntarily continued to pay mandatory pension and disability insurance contributions despite being for instance unemployed after 1 January 2013, not being aware that this would not count towards their pensionable years.

Domžale – The 15th Mountain Film Festival starts on Monday in Domžale near Ljubljana, featuring 33 films from 19 countries in four categories: mountaineering, climbing, mountain nature and culture, and sports and adventure. The festival, concluding on Sunday, will bring a plethora of productions on wild animals and epic stories from the Himalayas.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly passed in a 50:36 vote on Tuesday amendments to the act on road transport that create the legal basis for transportation platforms such as Uber or Lyft, changes that the government argues will facilitate the digitalisation of the transport sector.

Ljubljana – Slovenian tourism providers are cautiously optimistic ahead of the summer tourism season in light of a major decline in the epidemic. Roughly half the accommodation facilities are open, whereas the bulk of the other half will welcome guests again in early June.

Ljubljana – Parliament debated Tuesday the Court of Audit’s recent findings about the efficiency of personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement during the Covid-19 epidemic last spring. Centre-left opposition MPs insisted there had been serious problems with the purchases, coalition MPs saw today’s plenary as a mere show for the public.

Ljubljana – The Constitutional Court has annulled in an unanimous decision the implementation of a provision from one of the legislative packages for mitigating the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic that extends accreditations to higher education institutions.

The provision was stayed in late January, and the country’s top court announced the final ruling on Tuesday.