Israel seeks second honorary consulate in Maribor

Israel is planning to open an honorary consulate in Maribor, its second such in Slovenia, but the government appears to be reluctant to give its go-ahead at the moment with Prime Minister Robert Golob saying he is not sure the timing is right.

While Slovenia has an embassy in Tel Aviv and an honorary consul in Haifa, Israel does not have an embassy in Slovenia, with its ambassador in Vienna serving as concurrent ambassador to Slovenia, but has an honorary consul in Ljubljana, entrepreneur Roman Lisac, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon confirmed last week that Israel notified the government of its proposal to open a second honorary consulate, but the government has not yet decided on the plan.

Citing unofficial information, the newspaper Delo has reported that Israel put forward Zoran Ličen from Maribor for the post. Ličen ran for MP in the 2022 election on the ticket of the Social Democrats, the party formerly headed by Fajon.

The newspaper Večer has noted that Ličen is well known in business circles in Maribor, having spent most of his career working for the former NKBM bank and the national postal company. Earlier, he had also worked as a journalist.

Slovenia recognised Palestine last year and has been raising violations of international law by the country through various international forums, including as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, all of which have strained the bilateral relationship.

Asked about the new Israeli consulate in questions time in parliament on 3 March, Prime Minister Robert Golob expressed skepticism, saying he was not sure all the conditions had been met for Israel to open the consulate.

Israel has the right to propose that and then the Foreign Ministry assesses the proposal and takes the necessary steps, Golob said in response to a question from an MP from the Left, a party that is a member of the government coalition.

"I have expressed skepticism that this truly is the right time and that all conditions have been met. Therefore, as I understand, the Foreign Ministry has asked the request be supplemented. When I learn more, you will learn as well," he said.

The news portal N1 reported earlier that the government had discussed Israel's proposal but suspended the debate. The report said that a number of reservations had been raised with Asta Vrečko, the culture minister who heads the Left, declaring that the party's three ministers would vote against such a proposal.