Janša

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša will speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen virtually on Thursday, as the EU summit in Brussels will also be held online and not in person as originally scheduled. Janša and Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti will meanwhile not take part in a discussion on the media scheduled in the European Parliament.

Ljubljana – The head of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) deputy group, Janja Sluga, said during questions time in parliament today that the anti-coronavirus measures would have been more efficient if government representatives had been able to communicate them better. PM Janez Janša replied it was “a bit off” to listen to her advice given the SMC’s low ratings.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday afternoon ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, the Commission said on Friday.

Janša and five other prime ministers called on von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel last week to ensure equal access to vaccines for all member states.

The International Press Institute said on Tuesday that it has joined four other media watchdog organisations in writing to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to express concerns over a decline in press freedom in Slovenia since the government of Janez Jansa came to power.

Ljubljana – Aleksandra Pivec, the former president of the Pensioner’s Party (DeSUS) and agriculture minister, has made good on her announcements about forming a new party. The maiden congress of the For People movement is scheduled for Saturday in Maribor.

Ljubljana – Democrats (SDS) president and Prime Minister Janez Janša has announced in a letter to the party membership that the party will work in realising the commitments from the coalition agreement, and he expects the same from partners. The mechanism of coordination does not allow soloing and the SDS will not allow this, he added.

Brdo pri Kranju – Prime Minister Janez Janša pledged for the government to respond to a third wave of the coronavirus epidemic, which he said could realistically be expected, and implement key commitments in the coalition agreement, as he addressed reporters with the other coalition leaders a day before a year will have passed since his government assumed office.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša called on the director of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), Bojan Veselinovič, to step down. “It is time for the director as a political tool of the extreme left to step down and take responsibility for his unlawful actions. And allow the STA to work and develop normally,” Janša wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s most senior officials called for continued efforts to improve gender equality on International Women’s Day, praising women’s contribution to the battle against Covid-19. They also noted Slovenia’s comparably good gender equality record.

Washington, 6 March – Media developments in Slovenia are being monitored by the US administration, which has noted in this respect that freedom of the press is a fundamental principal of democracy.