14th Government of Slovenia

Ljubljana – The two conservative parties that moved to opposition after the 24 April general election have promised not to abuse parliamentary tools at their disposal, but will use them when necessary, also to fight against the coalition’s “misconceptions”.

Ljubljana – The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) is looking at an improved result in Sunday’s general election compared to the 2018 vote, which party president Matej Tonin likened to “winning a medal”. He noted that the NSi would likely be in the opposition in the next term, where it would be constructive as Slovenia is facing many challenges.

Kamnik – Matej Tonin, the defence minister, praised his Christian democratic party for its efficiency in delivering on its promises as he addressed the annual get-together of New Slovenia (NSi) in his home town Kamnik on Saturday.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša spoke for the Italian public broadcaster Rai on Thursday evening to note that, when it comes to the situation in Ukraine, Slovenia shares with other European countries the concern for peace in the eastern neighbourhood. He also discussed the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans and relations between Slovenia and Italy.

Ljubljana – New Slovenia (NSi) met for a virtual congress on Saturday in preparation for next year’s general election where their leader Matej Tonin said this Christian democratic party should get the mandate to form a government in order to avoid the “inefficiency” of the centre-left and the “sharpness” of the senior partner in the current ruling coalition.

Ljubljana – Media have reported that Prime Minister Janez Janša and Defence Minister Matej Tonin on Friday received threats by mail, with live ammunition being enclosed in the letters. The threats sent to the politicians’ home addresses were later confirmed by the prime minister’s office and Tonin himself.

Ljubljana – Janez Janša won another term at the helm of the Democratic Party (SDS) at a party congress in Slovenske Konjice on Saturday. He was endorsed by 650 of the 656 delegates as the only candidate for party head.

Brdo pri Kranju – The government has endorsed the proposal of the Covid-19 advisory team to impose an 11-day circuit breaker lockdown from 1 April in a bid to help hospitals cope with an expected influx in Covid-19 patients following an increase in Slovenia’s coronavirus transmission rates driven by the UK variant.

Brussels – Prime Minister Janez Janša’s appearance in front of the European Parliament’s democracy monitoring group was overshadowed by a row with chair Sophie in ‘t Veld over a video alleging journalists are biased. After In ‘t Veld refused to play the video during the time allotted for his statement, Janša disconnected from the videoconference.

Ljubljana – Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti survived on Thursday a vote of no-confidence mounted by the centre-left opposition over several grievances, including his inaction during the epidemic and attitude to the self-employed and public media. 43 MPs voted to oust him, three fewer than needed for dismissal.