Next week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Miro Cerar will host the 14th Bled Strategic Forum (14. Strateški forum), attended by some 1000 politicians (including 12 foreign ministers) and representatives of the economy, the civil society and the academia from the region and beyond. On 2 September, Minister Cerar will inaugurate the Forum, which in 14 years of its existence has become one of the most prominent foreign affairs events in Eastern and Central Europe. In the afternoon, he will participate in the main panel entitled Multilateralism at a Crossroads, together with the President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the candidate for the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell Fontelles and Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The main topic of this year’s BSF is sustainable development, which has become a mainstay for Slovenia, and the related issues of democracy, the rule of law and global security – flagship themes in the international community.

On the sidelines of the BSF 2019, Minister Cerar will hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of Spain, Finland, Turkey, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Hungary, with the President of the 73rd session of the UN GA María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Jeria and the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean Nasser Kamel.

State Secretaries Simona Leskovar and Dobran Božič will also hold bilateral meetings. State Secretary Leskovar will moderate the panel entitled (Re)sources in Women’s Hands: Tapping the Potential, and give the Forum’s concluding speech on 3 September.

Minister Dr Cerar’s Agenda

(Each bilateral meeting will be preceded by a photo session.)

Monday, 2 September 2019

10.40–11.10      Bilateral meeting with MFA of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

11.20–11.50      Bilateral meeting with the current President of the UN GA María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527 

13.00–13.55      VIP Handshake

Bled Festival Hall, 1st floor

14.00–14.30      Opening of the 2019 BSF

Bled Festival Hall

Addresses: BSF Secretary-General Peter Grk, Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec

15.15–16.15      Speech at the panel Multilateralism at a Crossroads

Bled Festival Hall

17.30–18.00      (TBC) Bilateral meeting with Turkish MFA Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

20.00                Networking Reception

Grand Hotel Toplice

Tuesday, 3 September 2019

09.50–10.20      Bilateral meeting with Union for the Mediterranean SG Nasser Kamel

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

10.30–11.00      Bilateral meeting with Spanish MFA Josep Borrell Fontelles

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

12.00–12.45      Bilateral meeting with Hungarian MFA Péter Szijjártó

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

13.30–14.00      Bilateral meeting with Kosovo MFA Behgjet Pacolli

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

14.10–14.40      Bilateral meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Jeria

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527

14.50–15.20      Bilateral meeting with Finnish MFA Pekka Haavisto

Rikli Balance Hotel, apartment 527