News

State Secretary Dr. Stanislav Raščan addressed the participants of the US-led virtual Ministers’ Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) via a live video link.

On 17 November 2020, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended a video conference of ministers and state secretaries for European affairs to discuss topical issues.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Safety and technical upgrade of the Karavanke railway tunnel”. The project worth EUR 79.3 will be implemented by the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency and will receive EUR 49.2 of Cohesion Fund support.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government declared that the state of epidemic with regard to COVID-19 would be extended for another 30 days for the entire country.

Deana Potza from the health inspectorate opened the morning press conference about the current Covid-19 situation by saying that on the first day that the ordinance banning gatherings was in force, Friday, 13 November, only warnings were issued. There were at least 1,814 reports of breaches between 1 September and 8 November of this year, the highest number relating to the hospitality industry, followed by public spaces. She said that observation of the measures has been continually improving, as we head in the right direction as a society. This will help us get through the current challenging phase of the epidemic as quickly as possible, while allowing the health sector to operate at capacity.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša took questions from deputies in the National Assembly. Marjan Šarec from the List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ) raised a question related to current developments in the country, Franc Trček from the Social Democrats (SD) a question associated with the fight against the epidemic, Luka Mesec from the Left with regard to the measures to control the epidemic and Janja Sluga from the Modern Centre Party (SMC) a question regarding the regulation of comprehensive use of cannabis.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer attended a virtual ministerial conference to promote the freedom of religion or belief, which was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland as a follow-up to the meetings of senior representatives of countries, international organisations, civil society, and religious leaders. The event was intended to discuss the state of religious freedom around the globe.

Government spokesman Jelko Kacin started the press conference with an overview of the current epidemiological situation. Yesterday, 1,792 tests were conducted and 501 infections (27.9%) were confirmed, with most new infections recorded in Kočevje (44), followed by Ljubljana (39). On Saturday, 920 cases (25. 82%) were confirmed with 3,563 tests performed. On Sunday, 34 people died.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Collection and treatment in the Drava River basin – Urban Municipality of Maribor”. The project worth EUR 11 million will be implemented by the Urban Municipality of Maribor and will receive nearly EUR 4.3 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek participated today in an informal videoconference of EU Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries. On the Agenda, the Ministers had agricultural as well as forestry issues. In focus was the discussion on the state of play in agricultural markets due to Covid-19 pandemic, on food loss and waste, African Swine Fever (ASF), on the common position on the EU Forest Strategy, and on preparations for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021, one of the greatest international events to take place during Slovenia’s 2021 EU Council Presidency.

Prime Minister Janez Janša visited the Jesenice General Hospital today, where he met the hospital’s director Marko Toplak and management staff, and viewed construction works in progress at the hospital.

Doroteja Novak Gosarič, Secretary from the Health Care Directorate at the Ministry of Health, spoke about the current situation regarding Covid-19 disease.

The Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs and State Secretary Anton Olaj attended an extraordinary meeting of the EU Council of home affairs ministers through a videoconference call. The morning session, attended by the State Secretary, was devoted to a discussion on the fight against terrorism. The reason for putting this topic on the agenda was the recent terrorist attacks across Europe, which Slovenia condemned in the strongest terms.

Today, State Secretary Tone Kajzer held a video call with Polish Undersecretary of State Paweł Jabłoński to discuss economic cooperation, the current activities in both countries in the framework of the Three Seas Initiative and some other topical issues.

In order to improve the epidemiological situation in the country, the Government extended the existing measures for 14 days and adopted some new ones.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Jože Podgoršek has outlined measures to soften the impact and eliminate the consequences of Covid-19 in the Sixth Coronavirus Package (PKP6).

The Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Janez Cigler Kralj, presented the measures to mitigate and remedy COVID-19 consequences, as part of the sixth anti-coronavirus package (ACP6). In addition, he spoke about the situation in care homes and the measures adopted by the ministry to contain the spread of the virus.

Slovenian Minister of Finance Andrej Šircelj, Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Medical Director of the Murska Sobota General Hospital Daniel Grabar and government spokesman Jelko Kacin spoke today at a press conference about the current situation regarding COVID-19.

Two of the speakers at the afternoon press conference on the current COVID-19 situation were Maja Kalin, the president of the Slovenian High-school Student Organization (DOS), and Robert Masten from the Psychology department of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.

For the ninth year in a row, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised the Africa Day International Conference as part of the Bled Strategic Forum. As always, the event was organised in cooperation with Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the European Commission. Marking a first for the Conference, this year the event was held virtually, focusing on the central issue – Africa and the EU: Cooperation for a Sustainable Future.

Robert Carotta, Coordinator for COVID-19 hospital beds at the Ministry of Health; Primož Horvat, Head of the COVID-19 Department at Ptuj General Hospital; and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19.

At the invitation of Michael Roth, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office, a video conference meeting of state secretaries for EU affairs of the Trio presidency Germany-Portugal-Slovenia was held tonight. The state secretaries exchanged views on the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and called for further coordinated action at Union level, particularly with regard to the vaccine and testing. The latter will also be the topic of a video conference meeting of Heads of State and Governments to be held on 19 November.

General Manager of Ljubljana University Medical Centre Janez Poklukar and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin spoke about the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic.

Today, in the Grand Hall of the Presidential Palace in Ljubljana, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the decision taken by Demos to call for a plebiscite on the independence of the Republic of Slovenia. On 9 and 10 November 1990, a meeting was held in Poljče, where members of the Demos coalition adopted a decision to call for a plebiscite on the independence of the Republic of Slovenia. Based on the decision taken at the meeting in Poljče, the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Plebiscite on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Slovenia Act on 6 December 1990, which determined that the plebiscite would be held on Sunday, 23 December 1990.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, addressed the public.

The following address is unauthorised.

A new book entitled International Humanitarian Law has been added to the International Law Series, published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Faculty of Social Science of the University of Ljubljana. The newest addition to the series features a collection of papers by 21 authors discussing war and the related ethical, moral and legal issues, and international humanitarian law and related issues, as well as Slovenia's views and positions on this topic. The publication also includes references to older Slovenian literature on the law of war, including Professor Ivan Tomšič’s book on the law of war, the first Slovenian book on the subject.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended a virtual meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia, which form the unofficial regional group Central5. The ministers focused on COVID-19 coordination, especially the cross-border movement of persons, goods, and services.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Infrastructural modernisation of the craft and industrial zone Nasipi”. The project worth over EUR 2.8 million will be implemented by the Municipality of Trbovlje and will receive nearly EUR 1.74 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

The Slovenian Government took note of the assessment carried out by the expert group for the containment and control of the COVID-19 epidemic at the Ministry of Health as regards the expert justification of measures for the containment and control of COVID-19, and decided to extend the measures and restrictions under the ordinances.

The press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Simona Kustec, the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Ajda Cuderman, and the Government's spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

Today, the Director-General for EU Affairs, Barbara Sušnik, held bilateral consultations with the Director-General for EU Affairs at the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, Rui Vinhas. Due to the current situation related to the pandemic, consultations were held via videoconferencing. The topics of discussion covered bilateral relations, current European issues and preparations for the EU Council presidency. The two countries are participating in the current trio of presidencies together with Germany.

At a time when Slovenia is once again facing an epidemic, the importance of local self-sufficiency and short supply chains is particularly highlighted. Every third Friday in November we celebrate Slovenian Food Day, in whose context the Traditional Slovenian Breakfast project, consisting of locally produced and processed foods, will be carried out this year for the tenth consecutive year.

Today, State Secretary Tone Kajzer took part in the 130th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which on this occasion was held in a virtual format, under the auspices of the Greek Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.

As part of the ongoing preparations for Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU Council, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today held a virtual meeting with full and alternate members of the Slovenian delegation to the Committee.

Address to the nation by Janez Janša, Slovenian Prime Minister

This morning, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Dr Jože Podgoršek, participated in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) High-level Conference, taking place in the form of an audio-video conference. The topics of the Conference included the preparation of a new strategy for fisheries and fish farming in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.

On 22 October 2020, the Government of Slovenia endorsed the 7th National Report under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and sent it to the International Atomic Energy Agency. With this Slovenia fulfilled one of the obligations under the Joint Convention on time.

Psychologist Eva Kovač spoke at the press conference about distress during this time of epidemic.

Dr Matjaž Vogrin, Medical Director of Maribor University Medical Centre, Dr Irena Grmek Košnik, epidemiologist from Kranj Regional Unit of the National Institute of Public Health, and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current COVID-19 situation.

At the initiative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, a copy of the Bible with full title, Biblia, tu ie, vse Svetu pismu, Stariga inu Noviga testamenta, which has thus far been kept at the castle in Brdo pri Kranju was handed over to the National and University Library for safekeeping.

Dr Daniel Grabar, Medical Director of Murska Sobota General Hospital, Robert Masten from the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the afternoon press conference on the current COVID-19 situation.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia decided to extend the validity of the ordinances on measures and restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the basis of the expert assessment of the Expert Group for the Containment and Management of the COVID-19 Epidemic. It also adopted information on negotiations with representative public sector unions about the reimbursement of transport costs to and from work.

The press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Dr Simona Kustec, Minister Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Dr Tina Bregant, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, and the Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin.

After an evening consultation of the core government team and the expert advisory group, Prime Minister Janez Janša communicated via Twitter that the number of people infected with COVID-19 will unfortunately still increase for some time according to projections. "The measures will thus be extended for a week," he forecast.

The International Law Week has traditionally been the highlight of the UN General Assembly Sixth Committee in New York, the primary focus of which is to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification.

Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate, Tomaž Pečjak, Deputy Director General of the Police, psychologist Barbara Čibej Žagar and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic.

After visiting Ljubljana University Medical Centre yesterday, Prime Minister Janša visited Golnik Hospital today where he met Director Aleš Rozman and viewed the hospital’s capacities.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer today took part in the OECD’s virtual annual Ministerial Council Meeting.

In the last month of their deployment, three members of the 15th Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) contingent in the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) continue to perform their duties. Their deployment was also marked by measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and the consequent hibernation period of the mission.

Janez Cigler Kralj, the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Nuška Čakš Jager, Deputy Head of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the National Institute of Public Health, Dr Mateja Logar from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses of Ljubljana University Medical Centre and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current situation of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Together with other EU leaders, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the video conference of the European Council. The topic of the discussion was the fight against coronavirus. The urgency of the situation in the Member States results in the need to enhance joint efforts.