Urška Klakočar Zupančič, the speaker of the National Assembly, has come under public scrutiny for flying to Austria's capital to attend the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's concert aboard the government jet.

Social media users and some media raised issue with the speaker's carbon footprint, suggesting she could well make the 380-kilometre trip in a more climate-friendly way. Others complained about the cost and the taxpayers having to foot the bill.

Klakočar Zupančič responded on 4 January by saying her attendance at the concert had been part of a state visit which she made at the invitation of her counterpart Wolfgang Sobotka.

"The official invitation came through the usual diplomatic channels, while an invitation to the cultural event during the visit is part of the Austrian protocol," Klakočar Zupančič told the press.

She said the concert was followed by a four-hour bilateral meeting, which raised a number of topics, including the Slovenian minority in Carinthia, the non-implementation of the Austrian State Treaty and bilingualism in kindergartens, schools and courts, as well as the German-speaking minority in Slovenia and the issue of anti-Semitism in Austria.

"The meeting was a great success. We have established relations that did not exist in previous terms," said Klakočar Zupančič, adding that this was the only sensational thing to report about the visit.

"The trip was made with the government's Falcon jet, as many times before. This is no different from the way my predecessors and members of the government travelled," she said. She added that under the previous government the Falcon had on one occasion flown empty to Milan to pick up one of the cabinet members there.

While arguing that travelling by car would have entailed a larger entourage and a bigger security challenge, she agreed that taking the jet was not optimal in terms of the carbon footprint.

"But no one can travel without a carbon footprint any longer ... Unless we all decide to travel by carriage, and even then you will have a minimal carbon footprint," said Klakočar Zupančič.

This is not the first time that Slovenia's first woman parliamentary speaker came under attack in social media. In May 2022 she became the target of insults for wearing red high heels at the maiden session of parliament.

In show of solidarity, MPs of what at the time were yet to become ruling coalition parties responded by appearing in red heels, red sandals and red trainers in parliament a few days later.