Slovenia’s designated minister of infrastructure and energy implied that the alleged refusal on Wednesday of air traffic authorities to allow a scheduled flight from Israel to land in the country would result in the termination of a top aviation official.
“On Friday morning, we’ll take care of it. The director of aviation should go ahead and prepare the letter,” the designated minister, Jernej Vrtovec, wrote on X in a comment about a news report about the incident on the Info360 news site.
V petek dopoldan bomo to odpravili. Direktor za letalstvo naj kar pripravi dopis. https://t.co/DMdIM7qddp
— Jernej Vrtovec (@JernejVrtovec) June 3, 2026
Prime Minister-designate Janez Janša, head of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), who won the general election in Slovenia in April and whose incoming goverment was approved by parliament last month, reposted Vrtovec’s message on X.
Tomaž Pečnik, head of the Directorate of Aviation and Maritime Transport at Slovenia’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, did not publicly comment on the apparent call for him to resign by Friday, when the new government is scheduled to take office.
The Slovenian air traffic control center, Slovenia Air Navigation Services, told the news site that it was not aware of a flight diversion on Wednesday. An Infrastructure Ministry spokesperson also said this in reply to a query by JNS on Wednesday.
According to Israir CEO Uri Sirkis, an Israeli airliner that has operated the line between Ben-Gurion International Airport and Ljubljana Airport, Flight 6H755, operating in European airspace, was redirected to Zagreb, Croatia, after Slovenian air traffic control denied it permission to land at its intended destination. Sirkis called the incident a “blatant violation” of international aviation agreements and said Israel’s Foreign Ministry had been informed.
Slovenia’s outgoing Prime Minister Robert Golob, a center-left leader in office since 2022, has taken a critical stance toward Israel’s war in Gaza. Last year, Slovenia announced a ban on goods from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Slovenia formally recognized a Palestinian state in 2024.
Janša has taken a more pro-Israel position.
