Morning headlines for Slovenia: Sunday, April 10, 2022
Hojs and Nouris discuss the Ukrainian war and the migration pact
LJUBLJANA – Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Nouris discussed the war in Ukraine and its consequences on Friday. They emphasized the importance of managing migration at EU level. They also talked about the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, where Slovenia advocates flexible solidarity. Ministers agreed that the Ukrainian war and its aftermath require great attention and coordinated action between EU countries. Slovenia is in solidarity with concrete actions, including humanitarian aid, diplomatic support and the activation of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine, Hojs said.
Košorok sees the second nuclear reactor as a guarantee of a reliable energy supply
KRŠKO – Blaž Košorok, the new head of GEN Energija, the state-owned power plant that manages the Slovenian half of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, believes that a second reactor in Krško would ensure a reliable and cost-effective energy supply. Energy prices will never return to what they were, he said in an interview with STA. Košorok is particularly concerned about Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which he said will affect the energy sector in the coming years. He believes that cooperation is the answer. “If we are divided populist, nothing good will happen to us, not only in the energy sector, but in the economy in general, which expects quick reactions.”
The Minister addresses the Texas Feels Slovenia business conference
DALLAS, USA – Minister of Public Administration Boštjan Koritnik on Friday addressed the opening of the Texas Feels Slovenia business investment conference as part of his visit to the USA. According to the ministry, the conference was attended by quite a few potential US business partners and investors. He emphasized that the Slovenian government was focusing on the digital transformation and was striving for the greatest possible progress in the shortest possible time. “Our goal is to make our country one of the top five digitally most advanced European countries by the end of this decade,” he said.
The poll shows that the Movement for Freedom is in the lead, the left is asserting itself
LJUBLJANA – A poll conducted by Ninamedia for several newspapers showed that the Free Movement is the most popular party with 23% of the vote, and its support increased by 2.3 percentage points. The Democrats (SDS) lost second place, while support fell by 1.4 points to 18.1%. The left, which ranked third, also established itself. The left added 2.2 points to the poll at 10.1%, according to the 2022 poll for Večer, Dnevnik, Svet24 and Primorske novice. The Social Democrats (SD) are in fourth place with 9.8%, down 0.3 points from the previous month. They are followed by the Marjan Šarc List (LMŠ) and Nova Slovenija (NSi) with 4.8% and 3.9%, respectively.
A report by the Council of Europe shows that prison overcrowding in Slovenia is no longer a problem
STRASBOURG, France – Slovenia is no longer facing overcrowded prisons, according to a Council of Europe report on prison statistics in its 52 member states for 2021. This is also due to a significant reduction in the number of prisoners during the Covid-19 pandemic. . According to the report, the key factors contributing to the reduction in the number of prisoners in 2020 and 2021 are the early release of prisoners to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which is also being implemented by Slovenia.
Record number of vacancies in March
LJUBLJANA – Total unemployment in Slovenia is low, and employers find it difficult to find a qualified workforce, according to an analysis by MojeDelo.si, Slovenia’s largest online job market. March was the second lowest recorded unemployment rate in the history of Slovenia. This is also reflected in the data collected by MojeDelo.com, where a record number of job postings was observed. Currently, the portal has 900 active employers looking for almost 5,000 new employees.
The number of registered cars in Slovenia increased by 1.6% in 2021.
LJUBLJANA – The number of registered cars in 2021 was barely 1.2 million, which is 1.6% more than in 2019. Hybrid cars increased the most, by more than 160%. The fleet renewal rate was low due to the large number of new used car registrations. The number of newly registered cars reached 88,235 last year, which is 8.9% more than the year before. The number of registered new cars remained the same as in 2020, while new registrations of used vehicles increased by 26%.
Covid-19 continues to retreat
LJUBLJANA – A total of 1,839 coronavirus infections were recorded in Slovenia on Friday, which is more than 1,600 less than a week ago. Hospitalizations are also declining, as today 152 patients are being treated for Covid-19 in Slovenian hospitals, 21 of them in intensive care. Four patients died. The number of hospital patients decreased by 16, while the number of those in intensive care remained at the same level.
The ninth lynx from Romania arrives in Slovenia
ILIRSKA BISTRICA – An adult male lynx arrived on Friday from the Carpathians in Romania on the Snežnik plateau and is adapting to the new environment in the enclosure. This is the ninth lynx to arrive from Romania, according to partners from the LIFE Lynx project, which aims to preserve the Dinaric-Alpine lynx population. The location of the fence is not made public, and people are urged not to approach it. The area is under video surveillance, hunters and an inspector are also patrolling the area.
Volunteers plant more than 10,000 trees
KOČEVJE – As part of the annual campaign for the restoration of forests affected by natural disasters, more than 10,000 trees were planted at six locations across Slovenia. After a two-year break, the campaign was organized by SiDG, the state forestry company, and its partners. As part of Spring Forests 2022, volunteers planted seedlings of spruce, larch, beech, cherry, linden, oak, wild boar, sycamore and maple. The trees were planted in the areas of Kočevska Reka, Škofja Loka, Trojan, Rakov Škocjan, Trnovske gozdov and Kidričevo on almost five hectares.
A film about the disappearing Slovene language in Austria was shown in Graz
GRAZ, Austria – The documentary by Andrina Mračnikar, an Austrian director and screenwriter of Slovene descent who deals with the disappearance of the Slovene language from everyday life in Carinthia, was presented at the Diagonale Film Festival in Graz. The feature-length documentary Verschwinden (Disappears) is “a call against resignation and courageous political action,” it says in a presentation of the film in the festival’s catalog.