Vera Jourova

Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, who opened the debate, also expressed concern about developments in the three countries: she explicitly referred to Klubradio, Hungary's last independent station, which lost its broadcasting licence; to Poland's new tax on advertising, which could end up disproportionately hitting independent newspapers; and to "continuous attempts to undermine the sustai

Ljubljana – Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya announced her country’s support for Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council in the second half of the year as she met Slovenian counterpart Anže Logar in Ljubljana on Thursday. The pair also talked about resilience of the EU and migrations, which are among the priorities of the presidency.

Brussels – Addressing the EU Parliament plenary on Wednesday, EU Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova pointed to continuous attempts to undermine the sustainable funding and the independence of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). She also noted that frequent verbal attacks against journalists in the country were cause for concern.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with an invitation for the Commission to appoint a fact-finding mission that would visit Slovenia to get acquainted with the state of democracy, rule of law, independence of the judiciary and media plurality.

Brussels – Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew) has invited PM Janez Janša to Brussels to take part in a discussion on the media in Slovenia that is expected to take place in March, public broadcaster TV Slovenija reported on Monday.

Ljubljana – The heads of the junior coalition partners New Slovenia (NSi) and Modern Centre Party (SMC) have proposed to Prime Minister Janez Janša that the government invite an EU mission that would investigate the state of freedom of the press in Slovenia.

Ljubljana – Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld (D66/Renew) believes there is sufficient ground for the European Parliament’s Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, which she heads, to start monitoring the situation in Slovenia.

Brussels – The Brussels-based web portal Politico has published an extensive analysis of the media situation in Slovenia based on talks with Slovenian journalists and foreign observers, in which it says that “Prime Minister Janez Janša’s attacks create climate of fear”. It adds that Janša is waging a big campaign against journalists he does not like.

Ljubljana – The government has provisionally approved the release of overdue budget payments to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) as required by the 7th economic stimulus package, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said on Thursday.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Culture Committee voted 10:8 in favour of amendments to the act governing the STA that would require the STA English Service to report on the work of NGO as a legal requirement, amidst warnings that the STA has still not received overdue payment from the government for the performance of public service.