Slovenians protest corruption, austerity measures

In Slovenia, thousands of demonstrators have gathered in protest against corruption and tough austerity measures imposed by the debt-ridden country’s government.

On Saturday, some 2,500 protesters gathered in central Ljubljana and demanded early elections to be held by the end of 2013.

Protesters held banners reading “power to the people,” “money to the people, not to banks,” and “we won’t pay your crisis.”

The protest was the second major demonstration to be held in months.

In February, Prime Minister Janez Jansa lost a confidence vote in parliament over a corruption scandal. Alenka Bratusek has been prime minister since March, promising to stabilize the country’s economy.

Slovenia’s banking industry is under strain after the recession in 2009 depleted its capital. Experts believe that Slovenia is already a bailout candidate as it will not manage the crisis on its own.

The country’s three largest banks together would require a 2-billion euro (2.6-billion US dollar) injection of fresh capital this year, according to Fitch.

Slovenia — which was an economic star among EU newcomers when it joined in 2004 and adopted the euro as its currency in 2007 — was badly hit by the global crisis and fell back into recession in the third quarter of 2012 amid lower export demand and budget cuts.

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures, triggering protests against spending cuts in many European countries.