Slovenia.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia against the Proposed Hungarian Constitution.

Sloveniatimes.com
31.03.2011

Several Slovenian political parties have voiced harsh protest over the proposed new Hungarian constitution, which they believe excludes ethnic minorities in Hungary with a wording making them part of the Hungarian nation. Such assimilation attempts are unacceptable, they point out.

According to the senior coalition Social Democrats (SD) and the opposition Democrats (SDS) and People's Party (SLS), striking minorities out from the constitution is a grave violation of European standards and a number of international treaties.

On Tuesday, the SD pointed at the 1995 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) and other minority protection documents of the CoE, EU, UN and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Slovenians who live in Hungary and have Hungarian citizenship are still ethnic Slovenians and the same goes for other national minorities in the country, the SDS meanwhile stressed in a press release yesterday. The party urged the authorities in Hungary not to pass such constitutional changes in their vote expected in mid-April.

The SLS said in a press release on Wednesday that the proposed constitutional changes, expected to step into force on 1 January 2012, were against all that the EU is based on and believes in, adding that such a move was "indecent" for a country that is currently at the helm of the EU.

According to SLS president Radovan Zerjav, a response by the Slovenian government is not enough and the Slovenian members of the European Parliament should also raise their voice.

The new wording is not only an internal matter of Hungary but directly touches upon all its neighbouring countries and nations with national minorities in the country, wrote Zerjav, who believes Hungarians will realise this does not lead to a friendlier coexistence of nations and will acknowledge the minorities and their rights.

Some 3,000 Slovenians live in Porabje, an underdeveloped region in the south-west of Hungary. The minority is struggling with a lack of funds and unresolved issues regarding the use of the Slovenian language in schools, official institutions and the media.

[TsarSamuil]

The Bilingual Sings of Good Relationship.

DAILY NEWS, 17 Aug / By STA

Prime Minister Borut Pahor attended the main ceremony honouring the erection of first additional German-Slovenian signposts in the province of Carinthia in line with the new Austrian law on minorities, labelling it a day of "tolerance, peace and good neighbourly relations".

"Today we are sending a message that we will focus on the future with the benefit of our people in mind. We will solve the present and future challenges together. We respect the political, national and every other difference between us," Pahor said in his address at the ceremony in Austria's Klagenfurt.

The ceremony, also attended by Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, marked the start of the implementation of the agreement on German-Slovenian town signs which was reached in April between the Slovenian minority and Austrian authorities and which envisages bilingual city limit signs in 164 localities in Carinthia.

Pahor added that the implementation of Article 7 of the 1955 Austrian State Treaty, which also safeguards the Slovenian minority, was an important signal for Slovenia.

"This does not mean that Article 7 has become obsolete, but the action of the Austrian authorities is action in the right direction," said the Slovenian prime minister.

Faymann meanwhile pointed to the diversity of Carinthia, including the bilinguality. "We are proud of Carinthia and its diversity. It can serve as an example for the entire Austria."

While he noted that the issue of bilingual city limits had been accompanied by hatred and fear in the last 50 years, Faymann stressed that every relationship needed a firm basis, mutual respect and the feeling that everybody is equal.

The ceremony was also attended by Minister for Slovenians Abroad Bostjan Zeks, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, and representatives of the Slovenian minority in Austria and of the Carinthian authorities.

Pahor and Faymann also attended the erecting of the first sign in Bad Eisenkappel/Zelezna Kapla. Pahor said that this was a milestone coming upon the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's independence. "This is not the end of the path, but a beginning, a beginning in the right direction."

The Austrian chancellor said that today was a "special day for Carinthia and a special day for Austria," adding that everybody should be as proud of their language as they were proud of their national costumes.

The erection of the signs was also welcomed by representatives of the National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS), a Slovenian minority organisation, and the Carinthian Unity List (EL), the only political party of the minority.

NSKS president Valentin Inzko said in a press release that this was a day of joy for all places which will get bilingual signposts, and Carinthian Unity List head Vladimir Smrtnik welcomed the "historic event for the entire Slovenian community".

The agreement on the signs, which also settles issues of minority education funding and the status of Slovenian as an official language in certain municipalities in the province, was brokered on 26 April after years of unsuccessful efforts.

The new arrangement encompasses the 91 settlements already included in a decision from 1977, as well as Bleiburg and Ebersdorf, where signs were erected by decree of the Constitutional Court.


Carinthia

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenian govt. falls after confidence vote.

Beta, Tanjug
Region | Wednesday 21.09.2011 | 10:44

LJUBLJANA -- Slovenian parliament ousted Prime Minister Borut Pahor’s government after a no confidence vote on Tuesday, Slovenian news agency STA has reported.

This has created conditions for early elections.

51 MPs were against, while 36 MPs were in favor of the government.

After the no confidence vote in parliament, Pahor thanked the MPs for their work and cooperation.

The Slovenian parliament has a month to choose a new PM-designate. If it fails to do so the president will call early elections in the next two months.

It is speculated in Slovenia that the elections could be held on December 4.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia to Hold Snap Elections on December 04.

Novinite.com
World | September 28, 2011, Wednesday| 244 views

Slovenia will hold early parliamentary elections on December 04 after its government collapsed earlier this month.

Slovenian President Danilo Turk called the vote after the center-left government of Prime Minister Borut Pahor was ousted in a no-confidence vote held on September 20.

This will be Slovenia's first snap elections since the country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

The government was toppled after months of disagreements between ruling coalition partners and several Cabinet resignations.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia begins voting to elect new gov't.

LJUBLJANA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia began its parliamentary elections on Sunday which witnessed tens of thousands of eligible voters flocking to polling stations throughout the country.

More than 1.6 million people are expected to cast their votes during the one-day general elections, which is the seventh of its kind since Slovenia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Seventeen political parties in Slovenia and the two constitutionally recognized minorities, the communities of Hungarian and Italian, in the country, will strive for the 90 seats in National Assembly.

Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk dissolved the country's parliament on Oct. 21 after the government of Prime Minister Borut Pahor was ousted in a failed confidence vote on Sept. 20, and there were no proposals for new prime minister-designate from parliament.

[TsarSamuil]

Ljubljana mayor's party tops in Slovenia's parliamentary elections: exit poll.

LJUBLJANA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Positive Slovenia, a new political party led by Zoran Jankovic, won the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to an exit poll.

Jankovic, an influential businessman in Slovenia, has been the mayor of Ljubljana since October 2006.

Jankovic's party, with the full name of Zoran Jankovuc's List, P|ositive Slovenia, won 29.1 percent of the vote and 28 seats in the 90-member legislature, while the Slovenian Democrats (SDS) of opposition leader Janez Jansa got 26.5 percent and 26 seats, according to the Mediana exit poll run by television stations TV Slovenija and POP TV.

Janez Jansa was Slovenian prime minister between 2004 and 2008.

Outgoing prime minister Borut Pahor's party, the Social Democrats (SD), is at 10.8 percent and 10 seats.

Some 829,400 Slovenian citizens, or 48.5 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections by 4 p.m. local time (GMT 1500) on Sunday, according to the National Electoral Commission.

Beginning from 7 a.m. in the morning, voters, including many elderly people or people riding in wheelchair, were seen flocking to polling stations.

"They are voting for change in the country," a member of staff at the polling station told Xinhua.

In preparation for the general elections, the National Electoral Commission set up 3,382 polling stations throughout the country. In addition, 86 others were available for those voting outside their place of residence.

Seventeen political parties in Slovenia and the two constitutionally recognised minorities, the communities of Hungarian and Italian, in the country, participated in the general elections.

Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk dissolved the country's parliament on Oct. 21 after the government of Prime Minister Borut Pahor was ousted in a failed confidence vote on Sept. 20, and there were no proposals for new prime minister-designate from parliament.

Pahor and his cabinet was normally thought to rule until September 2012. Pahor is the third prime minister to be forced to step down due to the failure in a vote of confidencesince since Slovenian declared independence from the former Jugoslavia in 1991.

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Janković Launches Coalition Talks.

06 Dec / By STA

Zoran Janković, the presumptive winner of Sunday's general election, started coalition talks with Social Democrat (SD) president Borut Pahor.

The meeting with Pahor was "a preliminary discussion" and the pair will meet again, Natasa Pelko, the spokeswoman for Jankovic's Positive Slovenia, told the STA.

Pelko said Jankovic would talk to all parties that have made it to parliament, including the Democrats (SDS).

Jankovic had previously said in explicit terms that a coalition with SDS leader Janez Jansa was out of the question due to unbridgeable differences in programmes.

Pahor's SocDems are seen as a natural fit for the leftist Positive Slovenia, but the two parties do not have enough seats to form a coalition themselves.

Their most likely partners are either the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), the Gregor Virant List or the People's Party (SLS), or any combination of the three.

Jankovic will have to wait at least until the end of December before the president of the republic can entrust him with forming a government.

The new parliament will probably be inaugurated on 24 December, whereupon President Danilo Tuerk can start formal consultations with deputy groups on the prime minister-designate.

[TsarSamuil]

Former Slovenian premier nominated as new PM-designate.

LJUBLJANA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Former Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa was nominated by a five-party coalition on Wednesday as new prime minister-designate after his predecessor Zoran Jankovic failed to get parliament's approval two weeks ago.

Jansa, 53, needs to win an absolute majority of 46 votes in the 90-strong National Assembly before the nomination turns to be effective.

The parliamentary vote is due to be held on Saturday.

The newly formed five-party coalition, featuring the Slovenian Democrates, the Virant List, the People's Party, the Pensioners' Party and New Slovenia, is expected to form a centre-right government to replace the outgoing Prime Minister Borut Pahor and his cabinet.

Jansa, president of the Slovenian Democrates, served as prime minister from 2004 to 2008. His party, founded in 1989, secured 26.3 percent of the vote in the December 4 parliamentary elections, ranking immediately after Jankovic's Positive Slovenia that took the first position in the general elections.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia Won't Seek Bailout in Coming Year - FinMin.

Novinite.com
World | July 5, 2012, Thursday| 101 views

Slovenia will not apply for an international bailout for at least a year and most probably not thereafter, according to the country's Finance Minister, Janez Sustersic.

The government has now boosted the capital of Slovenia's largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka, and enforced budget cuts.

Sustersic has declared that the government is determined to keep Slovenia's public debt at around 50 percent of gross domestic product, below the European Union's official limit of 60 percent.

"Our debt will certainly not rise above 60 percent of GDP ... there is no danger that Slovenia would not be able to pay its financial obligations," he has told Reuters.

Economists had predicted that Slovenia may become the sixth Eurozone state to seek an international bailout.

On June 27, PM Janez Jansa warned that Slovenia risked a "Greek scenario." Two days later, he declared that his government was "doing everything to find a solution" and avoid the need for assistance.

Cyprus and Spain applied for financial assistance last Monday. Greece, Ireland and Portugal and were also forced to seek financial aid after their borrowing costs surged.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenian PM voices support for private ownership of banks.

English.news.cn 2012-07-18 08:01:39

LJUBLJANA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Tuesday called for private ownership of banks in the country, saying that keeping banks in state ownership would only lead to new recapitalizations.

State-owned banks were a crucial part of the problems of the banking sector, Jansa told reporters after an extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

Noting that banks with private owners are doing significantly better, the prime minister said the state should lower its share to at least 25 perecent once the bank's balance sheets are cleaned.

Jansa made the remarks after he rejected allegations in late June that the government had planned to sell Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), the biggest state-owned bank in Slovenia which controls one third of the country's banking assets.

"Until the actual situation in the bank becomes clear, nobody can attempt this," he said at the time.

Slovenian Finance Minister Janez Sustersic said last week that the NLB has 1.5 billion euros (about 1.84 billion U.S. dollars) in the so-called "red category" loans, which would probably never be repaid.

Under the government's plan, the financial minister said, state-owned banks, including NLB, will transfer their bad loans to the planned Slovenian Sovereign Holding, a super-custodian of all state assets.

The holding would then recover the loans or invoke insurances, which will minimize losses and enable the NLB to focus on its core businesses and attract investors, Sustersic said.

With the approval of the European Commission, Slovenia injected 382.9 million euros into the NLB at the beginning of July to improve its Core Tier 1 ratio from just below six percent to nine percent that is in line with the requirements from the European Banking Authority (EBA) and Slovenia's central bank.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia voices regret over Moody's downgrade.

English.news.cn 2012-08-04 01:36:45

LJUBLJANA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia voiced on Friday its regret over the downgrade by Moody's rating agency of Slovenia's government bond rating from A2 to Baa2, which is just two notches above junk.

Slovenia is disappointed by Moody's failure to take into account its measures consolidating public finances and the political consensus on the golden fiscal rule and the management of bank claims, the finance ministry said in a press release.

In response to Moody's concerns about Slovenia's troubled banks and rising borrowing costs, the ministry said that macroeconomic data did not allow a comparison of Slovenia with Spain, Italy or Greece, which are all in serious financial crisis.

The problems of Slovenia's banking sector were not as serious as those of Spain, the ministry said.

"The Slovenian government has adopted a number of measures for the consolidation of public finances, and the act on the balancing of public finances and the supplementary budget for this year were vital steps towards balancing public finances this year as well in the mid-term," the ministry said.

Stressing its efforts to secure a stable banking and financial system, the ministry also reiterated that Slovenia did not need at present to request aid from European mechanisms to fix banking problems.

Slovenia was not exposed to refinancing risks, and funds available allow the budget for this year to be executed smoothly even in the event of tougher conditions on financial markets, the ministry insisted.

Citing Slovenia's three major banks which are likely to require capital support in the range of 2 percent to 8 percent of GDP, Moody's claimed that "the deteriorating macroeconomic environment" in the country "opens the possibility that external assistance may be required."

Unofficial sources said recently that Slovenia would need to borrow some 1.3 billion euros (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in November.

NLB, the biggest state-owned bank in Slovenia, has 1.5 billion euros in so-called "red category" loans, which will probably never be repaid, Slovenian Finance Minister Janez Sustersic said in July.

Bad loans at Slovenian banks increased in April to more than 6 billion euros, putting more pressure on the fragile banking industry. (1 euro = 1.23 U.S. dollars)

[TsarSamuil]

Türk Collects Enough Voter Signatures to Stand.

Politics, 31 Aug 2012 / By STA

Slovenia's incumbent President Danilo Türk has collected a sufficient number of voter signatures to formally file his candidacy for the 11 November presidential election, according to his campaign headquarters.

To run with the support of voters, candidates need to collect at least 5,000 signatures in support of their bid.

Alternatively, candidates may also be put forward by ten MPs or by political parties, in which case the candidacy needs to be backed by at least three MPs or 3,000 voters.

An intention to stand has so far been announced by 13 hopefuls. Apart from the incumbent president, the most serious contenders are former Prime Minister Borut Pahor and MEP Milan Zver.

Zver will run on behalf of the ruling Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), while Pahor will stand for the Social Democrats (SD), but he is also collecting signatures from voters.

Türk already stood as an independent with the support of voters in the 2007 presidential election, while he was also endorsed by the SD, Zares and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS).

This time he enjoys the backing of the opposition Positive Slovenia (PS).

He is heading public opinion polls, ahead of Pahor and Zver.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenia Embraces for Presidential Election on Sunday.

BELGRADE, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - Slovenia, an economically troubled European Union member state, is holding a presidential election on Sunday with voters to decide among three candidates running in the race.

The post of the head of the country, with a population of two million people, is contested by incumbent President Danilo Turk, former center-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor and center-right ruling coalition candidate Milan Zver.

According to pre-election polls, President Turk is the most likely candidate to win the election with 44 percent of the vote, while his closest contender Pahor was predicted to gain over 30 percent.

The winner of the election must gain over 50 percent of the votes and in case none of them pass the required threshold a second round of the election is announced with two top candidates from the previous round.

Slovenia, one of the 17-country group that uses euro as its currency, is facing one of the worst recessions and is in danger of needing a bailout.


Slovenian Presidential candidates Borut Pahor, Danilo Turk and Milan Zver

[TsarSamuil]

So, the choice is between a Turk and a homosexual former male photo-model...

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Slovenian presidential elections go to runoff.

B92
Region | November 12, 2012 | 11:18

LJUBLJANA -- Former Prime Minister Borut Pahor and President Danilo Turk have won the most votes in Slovenia's presidential elections held on Sunday.

Pahor received 41.9 percent of the vote, followed by Turk with 37.2 percent.

Milan Zver placed third and will not take part in the runoff, scheduled to take place on December 2.

Some sources are predicting that Pahor will be the overall winner "even more convincingly".

Slovenia's Election Commission said that since the first presidential elections, held in 1992, the turnout has been steadily decreasing. On Sunday in stood at only 47 percent.

[TsarSamuil]

Vid & pics,
rt.com/news/slovenia-clashes-corrupr-parliament-015/

Slovenian police use tear gas after protesters attempt to enter parliament (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

RT.com
1 December, 2012, 00:29

Tear gas and water cannon has been deployed against angry demonstrators as they tried to storm the parliament premises in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Thousands flooded the streets demanding the “corrupt” government resign.

Police arrested several protesters as they tried to disperse the crowd.Some of the demonstrators were said to be throwing rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them, AP reports.

People were carrying banners that read "You are finished" and "thieves," as a crowd of about 8,000 gathered to voice their anger about with government cost-cutting measures and other reforms designed to avoid an international bailout in the cash-strapped EU nation.

The latest unrest follows a massive march on Friday when thousands protested against Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Cabinet, accusing them of corruption and fraud and demanding their resignations. The actions come ahead of this weekends presidential election.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovenians vote in presidential runoff.

B92
Region | December 2, 2012 | 13:12

LJUBLJANA -- Polls opened in Slovenia on Sunday morning in the second round of the presidential election.

The citizens will choose between former PM Borut Pahor and current President Danilo Turk.

According to the latest opinion polls, Pahor has support of 55 and Turk of 24 percent of the citizens.

For the first time in Slovenia’s history both candidates belong to the left wing.

Slovenians have been protesting against all political options and politicians in the past several days. Protests turned violent in Ljubljana on Friday when protesters clashed with police. Two dozen people were injured and 30 were arrested.

1,700,000 Slovenians are eligible to vote in the presidential runoff election.

Unofficial results of the vote will be known late on Sunday and citizens have announced they will hold new protests in Maribor on Monday.