New Year’s Eve Uncertain
STA, 14 December 2021 – The City of Ljubljana has prepared a New Year’s Eve program at Kongresni trg, but is still waiting for the health authorities to say in what format, or if at all, it can be carried out, Mayor Zoran Janković told reporters on Tuesday.
As Ljubljana’s open-air celebrations on 31 December always attract thousands of people, two weeks ago the mayor asked Milan Krek, director of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), if the celebration could take place.
According to Janković, Krek confirmed that he told the mayor that the format could be similar to the Ljubljana Festival last summer, when there was a need for space between the chairs.
However, as he cannot sit still at -7 degrees Celsius in winter, Janković suggested that the NIJZ approve a free concert and tell the city how many vaccinated and convalescent people can attend, but received no response.
Jankovic was also critical of the government’s recent decision to close food and beverage stalls at Christmas markets, saying it was a pointless move.
He also believes that there is no legal basis for this, and said that one of Ljubljana’s utilities has already filed a lawsuit against the government.
He also criticized Prime Minister Janez Jansa for posting an “offensive” tweet accusing Jankovic of trying to get as many people sick as possible and closing schools, kindergartens and shops, as he posted a video of people walking around. stalls along the Ljubljanica.
Janković said that Ljubljana has a lot of visitors, who are now crowding on a smaller area than before, when the stalls were still open. He believes it would be “more normal” to send a positive message in the sense of “the light is coming, we are splitting”.
He called on all unvaccinated Ljubljana residents to get an injection, claiming that about 10 percent of the city’s population prevents them from living a normal life.
Referring to NIJZ data, he said that Ljubljana has the highest vaccination coverage (59%) in central Slovenia, the region with the highest vaccination coverage in the country (57.5%), and another 18% of Ljubljana residents are convalescents.
“If we add the number of vaccinated convalescents, we get 77%, but if we add another 40,000 school and kindergarten children, who represent 13% of our residents, we are at 90%,” said the mayor.