News, Notices

At today's session, the Government was briefed on the Estimate of Direct Flood Damage, it finalised the draft Resolution on the 2023–2030 National Road Safety Programme and adopted the 2023–2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme.

The 11th Slovenian Development Days are in full swing. The event traditionally takes place in the first week of October to present to the Slovenian public the contribution of Slovenia and its partners to sustainable development, global solidarity and world peace.

Today, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob sent a proposal to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for the appointment of Prof. Dr Valentina Prevolnik Rupel to the post of minister of health.

At the government committee meetings, the Government adopted its opinion on several legislative proposals and provided funds to deal with the aftermath of this summer's storms and floods.

The Slovenian-Italian application to the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) Secretariat for the establishment of the Julian Alps Transboundary Biosphere Reserve was officially submitted yesterday in Paris. The application proposes a merger of the existing national biosphere reserves – the Slovenian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve and the Italian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve.

The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport paid €31.77 million in advance payments to compensate for damage to the economy caused by August’s floods and landslides. Advances were made to all eligible businesses that submitted a damage assessment to the Ministry by 1 September, requesting an advance payment of 10% of the estimated damage.

Today, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon participated in the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv, in the presence of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also took part in the meeting.

The 17th session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Monitoring the Treaty between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the Regulation of the Status and Other Legal Relations regarding Investment, Exploitation and Decommissioning of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) took place today.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), visited the Jožef Stefan Institute, met with representatives of Slovenian collective management organisations and the winners of this year's Innovation Day, as well as with startup companies at the Technology Park in Ljubljana.

Prime Minister Robert Golob took part in the 10th summit of the heads of the EUMED-9 member states, which was held in Valletta, the capital of Malta.

The European Commission today welcomed the proposal to amend the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan. The amendment to the plan also needs to be approved by the Council of the European Union. The renewed plan, which now also includes a REPowerEU chapter, will be worth EUR 1.61 billion in EU grants and EUR 1.07 billion in loans.

Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek attended the informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy that was held in Murcia under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Minister Jevšek called for a strong, resilient, and flexible Cohesion Policy that should be the main long-term investment policy of the European Union (EU).

Minister Tanja Fajon addressed deputies at a public hearing at the National Assembly on the subject of increased use of qualified majority voting in EU foreign and security policy. She stressed: "I am not an advocate of changing the EU Treaties, but I would like to see a reasoned debate on the wider use of the instruments at our disposal to make decision-making more effective and to protect our national interests."

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar spoke by telephone with Nenad Nešić, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On September 15, 2023, newly appointed Slovenian Ambassador to the United States of America Iztok Mirošič attended a ceremony at the White House, in which he formally presented his Letter of Credence from the Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar to U.S. President Joseph R. Biden. He also conveyed greetings from the Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels.

Slovenia retained its 33rd place among 132 countries in this year's ranking. Switzerland retained the top spot among the world's most innovative countries, a position it has held for more than a decade.

The 11th Slovenian Development Days will take place in Ljubljana from 2 to 6 October. The Slovenian public will be able to learn more about how Slovenia is responding to the numerous global crises and humanitarian needs in the world and how, together with its partners, it is contributing to global solidarity, sustainable development and peace in the world.

The Government has approved the budget package for 2024 and 2025. The priority for the next two years is to finance measures to deal with the consequences of this year's floods. The draft budgetary amendment for 2024 foresees €14 billion in revenue and €16.2 billion in expenditure, and for 2025 €14.56 billion in revenue and €15.82 billion in expenditure.

On 27 September 2023, the third conference of the honorary consuls of the Republic of Slovenia began in Nova Gorica and will last until 29 September 2023. It is an important event for promoting Slovenia and its economy abroad.