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Slovenia’s Ministry of Health has prepared a draft law aimed at improving access to healthcare. The proposal is open for public consultation until November 11.

The key change: if someone loses access to their family doctor, pediatrician, or gynecologist, the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZZZS) will be required to find them a new doctor within 15 days. The search will begin in the patient’s local area before expanding to other regions. Where multiple options are available, patients must be offered at least three doctors to choose from.

ZZZS will also help patients facing excessively long waiting times find earlier appointments at other healthcare facilities.

The problem in numbers: 140,000 people in Slovenia do not have a personal doctor. Patient rights advocate Irena Žagar is skeptical about the initiative, arguing that administrative measures are unlikely to help given the severe shortage of medical professionals.

Source: rtvslo.si

Today, the Slovenian government will review proposed amendments to the Foreigners Act, which have already sparked strong criticism even before reaching parliament.

Key changes:

• Free Slovenian language courses for foreigners will be abolished — participants will have to cover 40% of the costs themselves, while language proficiency requirements will become stricter.

• To renew a residence permit based on family reunification, A2 proficiency will be required instead of A1, while permanent residence applicants will need B1 instead of A2.

• The waiting period before applying for family reunification will increase from 1 year to 3 years.

• The minimum income requirement for obtaining a residence permit will rise from €507.43 to €710.40 (an even higher amount of €1,014.86 was initially proposed).

Trade unions and NGOs have strongly criticized the changes, describing them as an attempt to push workers’ families out of the country and hinder the integration of foreign workers. Businesses are also concerned that Slovenia could become less attractive to international professionals.

Meanwhile, another controversial bill concerning the employment of foreigners is being prepared and has also faced criticism over concerns that it could increase worker exploitation.

Source: lokalec.si

The University of Ljubljana is introducing three new study programmes in the new academic year: biopharmaceutical engineering, bioeconomy, and bioinformatics.

Demand for the Faculty of Medicine remains traditionally high — the number of available places has been increased from 205 to 240, while 467 applications were submitted. There is also strong interest in programmes offered by art academies and faculties in the fields of healthcare, veterinary medicine, architecture, and psychology.

Another important change is the introduction of dedicated places for Slovenians living abroad who hold Slovenian citizenship. A total of 416 places were made available, with 32 candidates admitted, most of them to medicine and veterinary medicine.

More than 3,000 applications were submitted by candidates from non-EU countries, with around one thousand students admitted. Rector Gregor Majdič noted: “We have students from more than 100 countries.”

The total number of students across all levels of study remains at around 38,000.

The university has also started using a new machine translation system for Slovenian and English.

Source: n1info.si

A formal inauguration ceremony for Matej Makarovič, the first rector of the University of Novo Mesto, was held today at the renovated Narodni dom in Novo Mesto. He will officially take office on Thursday.

The establishment of the university is the result of 30 years of efforts dating back to the mid-1990s. The first attempt to establish a public university was made in 2014, but failed to gain sufficient support. The breakthrough came when all eight higher education institutions in the city agreed to join forces. In February 2024, parliament approved the establishment of the university, and it was officially registered on July 1.

Nearly 2,500 students will begin classes on Thursday. The university plans to build a campus in the Drgančevje area and expand student accommodation — the current shortage of housing for students remains the main obstacle to further development.

Source: n1info.si

The University of Ljubljana is introducing two new study programmes in the new academic year: Biopharmaceutical Engineering and Bioeconomy.

Demand for the Faculty of Medicine remains traditionally high, with 467 applications submitted for 240 places. Programmes offered by art academies and faculties in the fields of health sciences, veterinary medicine, architecture, and psychology are also popular.

For the first time, 32 students from Slovenian communities abroad who hold Slovenian citizenship were admitted under a special quota, with most enrolling in medicine and veterinary medicine.

The university is home to students from more than 100 countries worldwide, and it has received more than 1,000 applications from Western Balkan countries. The total number of students across all three cycles of study is approximately 38,000.

Rector Gregor Majdič noted that the university has developed its own Slovenian-English translation tool for international students participating in exchange programmes.

Source: n1info.si

Slovenia is considering introducing free lunches for all schoolchildren, but there is a serious obstacle — an acute shortage of kitchen staff.

The Ministry of Education estimates that providing hot meals to all primary school pupils would require an additional 250 cooks and kitchen workers — an average of 0.5 additional staff members per school.

Some schools are already struggling. At one school in Celje, due to staff shortages, breakfast consists only of fruit, sandwiches and cereal. The ministry acknowledges that attracting new staff is difficult because the salaries are not competitive.

Currently, only breakfasts are mandatory (costing €1.22 for primary school pupils and €4 for secondary school students). Lunches are optional and paid for separately, with subsidies available.

Source: svet24.si

According to research by UNODC (the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), Slovenia ranks among the ten European countries with the lowest homicide rates. It ranks 8th by this measure when countries are ordered from the lowest homicide rate to the highest.

The number of homicides has been declining for 30 years. In the 1990s, up to 100 cases were recorded annually; after 2000, the figure ranged from 60 to 80 cases, while since 2007 it has remained relatively stable at 30–40 cases per year.

Contrary to a common perception, only 30–35% of homicides occur within the family circle, while homicides related to intimate partner relationships account for around 10% of the total.

The crime clearance rate is impressive — over the past 30 years, only around 1% of all homicides have remained unsolved. This high clearance rate is attributed to the rapid response of the police and the work of the National Forensic Laboratory.

Source: lokalec.si

Slovenia’s economy is showing impressive results. In the second quarter of 2024, the country’s GDP grew by 5.0% compared with the same period last year. In the first half of 2024, growth reached 4.1%.

Export performance stands out in particular: in the second quarter of 2024, exports increased by 6.5% — the highest rate in the past seven quarters. By comparison, in 2023, exports of goods fell by 0.7%.

Slovenia is outperforming other Central and Eastern European countries in terms of export growth. Coface analysts attribute this to stronger demand from Germany, the launch of new pharmaceutical production facilities, and deeper integration into European supply chains.

German exports grew by 3.9% in the first half of 2024, positively affecting the entire Central European economy.

Source: rtvslo.si

Slovenia’s Ministry of the Interior and Public Administration has revised the draft amendments to the Foreigners Act and extended the public consultation until August 26.

The key change is that the required means of subsistence will increase from €507 to €1,015 (double the basic minimum-income amount). This is roughly equivalent to the country’s minimum net wage.

Slovenian language requirements are also being tightened: to extend a temporary residence permit for family reunification, A2 level will be required instead of the basic level, while for permanent residence, B1 will be required instead of A2.

Other changes include the end of free Slovenian language courses (40% co-financing will be introduced) and an increase in the waiting period before family reunification is possible — from one year to three years.

The draft is currently under public consultation.

Source:svet24.si

In 2025, more than 523,000 bookings for short-term accommodation were made through the four major international online platforms (Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor) — 16% more than in the previous year.
Based on these bookings, tourists spent 4.53 million nights in short-term accommodation, an increase of 14% compared with 2024. At the same time, 70% of all overnight stays in short-term accommodation were booked through these platforms.
91% of bookings were made by foreign tourists. In 2025, tourists from Germany accounted for the highest number of overnight stays, with 698,000 nights, followed by visitors from the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary and France.
The peak season was July and August, when almost 197,000 bookings and around 2 million overnight stays were recorded.
Source: rtvslo.si

Greg Yurkovich, who holds a degree in political science and previously worked in finance and private equity investment, made a radical career change several years ago — moving from California to Ljubljana and opening a pizzeria.

With no prior experience making pizza, Yurkovich traveled to Naples to learn the craft. His very first pizza was a complete disaster, but through perseverance and hundreds of attempts, he eventually mastered the art of pizza-making.

Today, his restaurant, Pop’s Pizza Place, ranks 34th in the 50 Top Pizza Europe ranking — a list of the continent’s best pizzerias. The secret to his success: dough made with wine yeast, a 36-hour fermentation process, and carefully selected Italian ingredients.

Yurkovich believes that guests should always receive more than they expect.

Source: delo.si

The Ministry of Education, Science and Youth has published the results of university admissions for the 2026/27 academic year.

Out of 18,905 places available at public and concession higher education institutions, 12,454 have been filled. These students were admitted to bachelor’s and integrated master’s degree programs. Of them, 80% were enrolled in the study program they had listed as their first choice.

A total of 3,715 applicants were not admitted to any of the programs they had applied for because they either did not pass the secondary school leaving examination (Matura) or did not meet the admission requirements. Another 470 applications are still under review. These include applicants taking the Matura in two stages, those scheduled to take aptitude tests in the autumn, or those awaiting recognition of their foreign educational qualifications.

The results are available on the eVŠ portal via the SI-PASS system. Applicants have 21 days from receiving the decision to file an appeal. Enrollment takes place from July 24 to August 14.

Source: delo.si