By: Vida Kocjan
In the year 2023, retirees were deprived of 4.5 percent of their monthly pensions. The ruling coalition led by Robert Golob was responsible for this reduction. The Slovenian Democratic Party is now urging the government to restore 4.5 percent of the monthly pensions to retirees and, simultaneously, to carry out an additional extraordinary adjustment of pensions by 4.5 percent.
Slovenian retirees, under the ruling coalition of Svoboda, SD, and Levica led by Robert Golob, are one of the most neglected groups of Slovenian citizens. 51 percent of retirees receive a pension lower than 827 euros, which is the poverty risk threshold. Among them, around 80 thousand receive a pension lower than 500 euros.
Following a massive protest by retirees in mid-February, where tens of thousands demanded the government’s resignation, Prime Minister Robert Golob and Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities Luka Mesec jointly addressed the public to “calm” retirees with a statement about the regular pension adjustment. Golob and Mesec misled the public by stating that the government had raised pensions to the highest level ever. They claimed it was the highest individual pension adjustment since June 1992 and the highest annual adjustment since 2001. Mesec (Levica) stated that each retiree would receive a pension 8.8 percent higher than last year, without specifying the base month for the 2023 adjustment. Mesec omitted that the February pension adjustment is determined by law. This means that the government did not guarantee this adjustment; they simply followed mandatory legal provisions. This was pointed out by MP Zvone Černač (SDS), stating that the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ) determines the February pension adjustment every year, following precise rules based on the cost of living (inflation) and wage growth. Černač added, “Last year, retirees were deprived of more than half of their pension due to the lack of extraordinary adjustment. With a 10.3 percent inflation, the increase was only 5.2 percent. In reality, it is the smallest increase so far.”
The government should settle the debt
As the government seemed inclined to side-line retirees again, the SDS party decided that if the government does not provide retirees with what is rightfully theirs, they will demand an urgent session of the relevant parliamentary committee. “At the end of 2022, the government claimed to increase pensions by 4.5 percent, but, in reality, they did not, so it is right for them to settle this debt,” said Karmen Furman.