#SLOVENIA

Talks leading to the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the Cold War began over two years ago and originally involved the freeing of Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny, according to media reports.

Thursday saw the release of at least 24 prisoners by Russia and Western countries in the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War with details now emerging on the identities of some of those freed.

Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan are among prisoners believed to have been released by Russia as part of a major prisoner exchange, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina has claimed that a “malignant Russian influence” was behind an apparent attempt to stop Poles, Romanians and Slovenians from voting in European Parliament elections at diplomatic missions in the country.

Two Polish cave explorers have found the body of a man in Slovenia's Golokratna cave. Local authorities are attempting to determine his identity, although no disappearances have been reported in the area.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský announced on Tuesday that Slovenia has joined the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine. Austria refused however, citing their country’s longstanding military neutrality.

Polish President, Andrzej Duda, welcomed the new cooperation between Poland and Slovenia in the information technology sector.

The EU has granted Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia candidate status, but the reality of actual accession is still far away.

Part-goat, part-devil creatures roared through the streets of Goričane, Slovenia, on November 17 sending shivers down the spines of young children for the traditional Krampus parade.