Slovenia

Ljubljana – The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, EUR 2.5 million granted by Slovenia to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) in compensation to fulfil its public service mission.

Ljubljana – The Labour Ministry announced on Thursday, the European Day of Solidarity between Generations, that Slovenia would host a conference focussing on population ageing during its presidency of the Council of the EU. The conference will particularly stress the importance of intergenerational solidarity and cooperation, the ministry said.

A firmer stance from Brussels - noticeably missing last week - against a controversial document proposing border changes in the Western Balkans would help calm the growing anxieties in the region, analysts said. At the same time, regional and international actors contacted by EURACTIV firmly rejected ideas from the phantom non-paper.

Brdo pri Kranju – Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his Italian and Croatian counterparts, Luigi di Maio and Gordan Grlić Radman, signed in Brdo pri Kranju on Wednesday a joint statement on trilateral cooperation in the northern Adriatic. The document is the foundation for strengthening cooperation in areas that are key for all three countries, Logar said.

Brussels – European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson will start a two-day visit to Slovenia on Thursday to discuss the country’s EU presidency preparations. She intends to raise the issue of media freedom and pluralism as well. Slovenia should not underestimate the risk to its international reputation when it comes to this, Johansson has told the STA.

Ljubljana – Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek and the ministry’s state secretary Aleš Irgolič participated on Wednesday in a meeting of agriculture ministers of the Visegrad Group, plus Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. The meeting was dedicated to challenges facing farmers and the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy.

Ljubljana – The Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry rejected at the end of March the BŠP company’s request for a building permit to overhaul a rundown Ljubljana stadium designed by acclaimed architect Jože Plečnik. BŠP boss Joc Pečečnik says he will not give up on the project he launched in 2007 and will press charges.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s youth aged between 15 and 35 see climate change as the third worst global problem after environmental pollution and poverty. The European survey Climate of Change also shows that 36% of them are very or extremely worried about climate change, which is 10 percentage points below the average of 23 European countries.

Ljubljana – The EU presidency, which Slovenia will hold in the second half of the year, will be even more demanding than usually owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Gregor Štajer, the head of the government secretariat in charge of presidency organisation, has told the STA. Slovenia plans to host nearly 190 events, many of which may have to take place online.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor talked on Monday with Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović about freedom of the press and hate speech in Slovenia. Pahor stressed the importance of supervisory mechanisms of international institutions, including the CoE, and the need of regular and open dialogue with them.