News

The new issue of the News from Nuclear Slovenia is published.

At the Government committees meetings, the Government adopted, among other things, two answers to the questions of the National Council Commissions on the wolf issue and included several new projects in the current Development Programmes Plan 2023-2026.

Today, the Strategic Council for Nutrition and the Strategic Health Council held a joint session. The experts from both councils expressed the clear view that decisive measures are needed to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and alcohol and the use of tobacco, in particular among young people.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met today with the leaders of parliamentary parties. The meeting was aimed at finding a consensus on solutions to the Act on Reconstruction, Development and Provision of Financial Resources.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met with the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, who was on a visit to Slovenia.

The 17th Meeting of the Agriculture Ministers of the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group in South-Eastern Europe (SWG) was held in Jahorina, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovenia, participating as an observer, was represented at the meeting by Maša Žagar, Director-General of the Agriculture Directorate.

Today, the first national conference on artificial intelligence, entitled "Artificial Intelligence - an Advantage and an Opportunity for Slovenia", took place at Jable Castle. The conference was opened by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and Minister of Digital Transformation Emilija Stojmenova Duh.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development, in collaboration with PiNA – Association for Culture and Education, has initiated a pilot project called At the School of Open Cohesion. The project involves eight secondary schools from various regions of Slovenia. It is an interdisciplinary educational programme that combines civic education, digital and statistical skills acquisition, and data journalism competencies.

Today at the Space Summit in Seville, Spain, Slovenia presented a formal request for full membership of the European Space Agency (ESA). The request for membership, which follows the official decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia last Friday, was submitted today to the Director-General of ESA, Josef Aschbacher, by State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matevž Frangež, and the head of the Slovenian Space Office, Tanja Permozer, on the margins of the ESA ministerial meeting.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon hosted Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. Their discussion focused on three important topics: bilateral relations, economic cooperation and the non-permanent membership of both countries in the UN Security Council.

At a correspondence session, the Government adopted Slovenia's first Space Strategy and the decision to apply for full membership of the European Space Agency.

Following a turbulent night, the weather is gradually settling, but another weather front is forecast to sweep over Slovenia on Sunday. A yellow alert is in place for most of the country and an orange alert for the Primorska region and the northwest due to strengthening south-westerly winds and forecast heavy rainfall on Sunday.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar and Director General of the Police Senad Jušić attended a trilateral meeting of the Ministers of the Interior of Slovenia, Italy and Croatia in Trieste.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the Berlin ministerial conference "A larger, stronger Union", hosted by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The discussions focused on how the EU and its future members can best prepare for enlargement, which has become a necessity in the new geopolitical reality.

The expected extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions in Slovenia were presented at the press conference by meteorologist Branko Gregorčič and hydrologist Janez Polajnar, both from the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO), Director of the Slovenian Water Agency Neža Kodre, Commander of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Slovenia Srečko Šestan, and Director of the Geological Survey of Slovenia Miloš Bavec.

Below is the message by Prime Minister Robert Golob on the occasion of Reformation Day on 31 October.

Due to the Reformation day the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia will be closed on 31 October.

The State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia invites interested lawyers and law firms in Romania to submit tenders to represent the Republic of Slovenia before the courts and administrative authorities of Romania.

Prime Minister Robert Golob, Head of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Post-Flood and Landslide Reconstruction Boštjan Šefic and Commander of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Slovenia Srečko Šestan today visited the flooded areas in Baška Grapa, where a preventive evacuation from the most seriously affected buildings was ordered yesterday to ensure the safety of citizens. A total of 36 inhabitants have been relocated.

On 27 October 2023, the Slovenian Government took a significant step by pledging a donation of EUR 150,000 to the World Food Programme for emergency humanitarian aid for the affected population in Gaza.

Temporarily reintroduced controls at the internal borders with Croatia and Hungary initially introduced on 21 October 2023 will remain in force for 20 more days until 19 November 2023.

 On 26 and 27 October 2023, Prime Minister Robert Golob attended the regular session of the European Council in Brussels. The agenda of this year's summit focused on the situation in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, the revision of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework, migration management, the economy and other pressing issues.

State Secretary Marko Štucin and Slovenia's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Anžej Frangeš met with German Federal Government Special Representative for the Countries of the Wester Balkans Manuel Sarrazin, who is on a visit to Slovenia. In their talks, they exchanged views on the current situation in the region and the next steps in the EU enlargement process.

In a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon recalled that today Slovenia and Moldova are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On the basis of the Act on Aid to Ensure Enhanced Air Connectivity (hereinafter reffered as: the Act), a Public Tender for Enhanced Air Connectivity of Slovenia was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia and the Official Journal of the European Union on 27. 10. 2023. In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Act, the tender documentation is publicly published, however, the English translation is merely an information aid for foreign air carriers when preparing applications for aid.

The application for aid and Annexes must be submitted in Slovene language. Submission deadline is 27. 11. 2023 at 23.59

Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) commenced with repairs on a damaged pipeline of the safety injection system after the plant shutdown and transfer of fuel assemblies from the reactor to the spent fuel pool.

Prime Minister Robert Golob is attending the two-day October European Council meeting in Brussels. Ahead of the regular meeting of the leaders of the Group of 27 countries, he stressed that the current situation in the Middle East will mark the first day of the meeting.

Speaking at a press conference, Branko Gregorčič of the Slovenian Environment Agency has said that the weather conditions would worsen in the second half of the night and on Friday morning. Heavy rain is expected, and the south-westerly wind will intensify.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York. She advocated for a stronger role of the Security Council in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS), and stressed the need to prevent and combat retaliation against women who inform the Security Council about certain crises and armed conflicts.

At 78th session, the Government considered the Bill on Reconstruction, Development and Provision of Financial Resources and the Draft Amendment to the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023. The proposed solutions from both laws were presented by the Minister of Infrastructure Alenka Bratušek and the Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič.

On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, the fourth public consultation on drafting the amendments to the Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act took place at the Sodni Stolp Tower in Maribor. The consultation focused on monitoring regional development, indicators and criteria, and the development risk index.

The Guidelines for the Mainstreaming of Gender Equality in Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, endorsed by the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon in May 2023, are now also available in English. This has made the Guidelines accessible to all implementing NGO partners and institutions carrying out development cooperation projects in partner countries.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Digitalisation of Notarial Services.

Prime Minister Robert Golob marks Sovereignty Day with these words: It has been 32 years since we became a sovereign country and were given the exclusive authority to take control of our own territory.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic today addressed the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East, convened at ministerial level by the Brazilian Presidency. The Open Debate focused on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's membership of the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs organised the first debate entitled "Made in Europe, Made in Slovenia" on the future of industry in the context of green transition. In her opening address, Minister Tanja Fajon recalled that, in addition to the benefits of the membership, EU Member States also share some challenges, such as climate change and the green transition.

Prime Minister Robert Golob and Minister of Finance and Public Administration Klemen Boštjančič met today, on 24 October 2023, with the representatives of the Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia, the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia and the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia. They discussed the lump sum funding per capita for 2024 and 2025.

Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed ministers and representatives from 14 Danube countries to a ministerial meeting at Brdo pri Kranju and opened the 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). Slovenia thus concluded its one-year EUSDR Presidency and handed it over to Austria. More than 350 participants from all over Europe attended the Forum.

The main event under Slovenia’s one-year Presidency of the Forum of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) took place at Brdo pri Kranju. The opening ceremony was addressed by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek and European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform Elisa Ferreira.

The State Secretary for European Affairs in the Office of the Slovenian Prime Minister, Igor Mally, attended the meeting of the Ambassadors of the EU Member States in Slovenia (EU HoMs) on Tuesday, 24 October 2023, at the invitation of the Ambassador of Spain, H.E. Juan Arístegui Laborde, in his capacity as Chairman of the meeting.

European telecommunications and digitalisation ministers gathered in León, Spain. In light of the unprecedented challenges we face as a result of the rapid development of modern technologies, the foundations for new global standards are being laid.

On Monday, October 30th, the Archive, the reading room and the information room will be closed due to a collective leave day.

At the correspondence session, the Government adopted amendments to the Decree determining the amount of excise duty on energy products and electricity.

Based on a decree issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia, Andriy Taran, awarded the State Secretary for National and International Security, Andrej Benedejčič, the Order of Prince Jaroslav the Wise.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The meeting focused on the situation in Israel and the region, as well as on the Russian aggression against Ukraine. This was followed by an EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, which was held together with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today participated in a public consultation of experts, politicians, civil society and the general public on changes to the electoral system.

The 14th session of the Slovenian-Chinese Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation was chaired by Mr Slobodan Šešum, Director-General of the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy, and co-chaired by Mr Yu Yuantang, Director General of the Department of European Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The previous session was held in Beijing in 2018.

We have all followed the mass shootings that occur in the United States. The two massacres that took place a few months ago in Belgrade, close to us, remind us of the evils that arise when it becomes too easy to access weapons

Slovenian Regional Development Fund has published two calls on its website (BIZI liquidity floods and BIZI liquidity energy). The two financial products target micro enterprises and SMEs and are designed to support flood recovery projects in the aftermath of the devastating floods in early August 2023 and/or projects aiming to reduce energy consumption amid energy crisis and price increases.

State Secretary Marko Štucin received the Austrian Governor of Styria, Christoph Drexler, in Ljubljana. They discussed cooperation between Slovenia and the Austrian province of Styria and called for its further development.