Minister of Justice dr. Dominika Švarc Pipan and State Secretary dr. Igor Šoltes visited the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Council of Europe, in light of the thirtieth anniversary of Slovenia's membership in the Council of Europe, which will take place next year.

18th November 2022 we are celebrating European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Slovenia together with initiating countries Andorra, Belgium, Monaco and San Marino prepared a statement to mark this day for the 8th year in a row. This year, another 40 European countries, plus Mexico, have backed a joint statement.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar took part at the 132nd session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe organized by Italian Presidency in Turin. At the heart of the discussion was Council of Europe's response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Russian Federation was expelled from the Council of Europe on 16th of March 2022.

Today marks the fifth World Bee Day, declared by the UN General Assembly on Slovenia’s initiative on 20 December 2017. In this European Year of Youth, World Bee Day is dedicated to the future of beekeeping and the role of young people in raising awareness of its importance.

Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the Council of Europe Ambassador Andrej Slapničar hand over today to the Deputy Secretary General of Council of Europe Bjorn Berge the instrument of ratification of two conventions: Council of Europe Convention on counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health (Medicrime) - CETS No. 211 and Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs – CETS No. 216.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has made voluntary contributions to the Council of Europe to support three important areas of their work.

Today, 18th November 2021, we are celebrating European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Slovenia is one of the initiating countries, which together with Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and San Marino prepared a statement to mark this day for the 7th year in a row. This year, the biggest number of countries have joint the statement – all 47 member states of the Council of Europe, the European Union and Tunisia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić in Strasbourg. He presented priorities of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU – topics that are also at the heart of Council of Europe's activities. During the meeting, they discussed accession of EU to the European Convention of Human Rights that was envisaged in the Lisbon treaty. They also reviewed other current political and strategic directions of the Council of Europe, the oldest pan-European international organization especially in the light of Covid-19. At the same time, the meeting was excellent opportunity to assess cooperation between Council of Europe and Slovenia.

Third-country nationals should exercise the utmost caution in all dealings with companies that claim to offer assistance in obtaining Slovenian citizenship or Slovenian passports. Many websites and e-mail scams attempt to mislead individuals into believing the companies are offering to expedite citizenship or passport applications or are acting on behalf of the Slovenian authorities.

We are pleased to inform you about the launch of the event of the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO (IRCAI), which will take place on 29-30 March 2021. The event will be held online, with the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, participating as an introductory speaker on March 29.

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.