Ljubljana, 5 July (STA, VČP) - President Danilo Türk stressed that Slovenia must respect the decision of the European Court of Human Rights regarding some 26,000 nationals of former Yugoslav countries who were erased from the permanent residence registry in 1992, as he was handed the annual human rights report by Ombudsman Zdenka Čebašek-Travnik on Thursday.

The president moreover expressed concern over the fact that the overall respect for human rights was not improving in Slovenia, pointing to violations of labour rights.

He urged the government to consider that in the drafting of labour legislation which is announced for the autumn.

Touching on the cut in pensions stemming from the act on the balancing of public finances, Türk stressed that the law entailed bad solutions.

He added that Čebašek-Travnik had been drafting a comprehensive analysis of the problem, which the government should consider with care, as "we all know" that the law was drafted hastily and any mistakes should be rectified.

What is more, the ombudsman noted that Slovenia's international human rights rankings had been dropping, which is something "that we must be worried by", according to the president.

He hopes that the ombudsman's report will be carefully studied by the National Assembly and the government, while he will continue doing everything in his power to ensure the protection of human rights in Slovenia.