News

Since Slovenia became an Associate Member of the European Space Agency (ESA) at the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, led by Zdravko Počivalšek, activities in the field of space and space technology have increased significantly, and ESA has chosen Slovenia as the location for the training of astronauts for future missions.

Young people in Slovenia will be again protesting against the authorities doing nothing or too little to tackle the climate crisis and preserve the environment.

The Klagenfurt-based Slovenian-Austrian author Maja Haderlap is to receive an Austrian Art Prize which comes with a EUR 15,000 cheque. The award ceremony will take place at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna on 25 November.

The past few days in Slovenia have been dedicated to celebrating Mobility Week, which features the introduction of sustainable mobility actions. A record number of 78 Slovenian municipalities participated in the event this year, and the common theme of this year’s Mobility Week was the slogan ‘Walk with us!’, under which numerous organisations promoted the advantages of walking.

Six astronauts from five space agencies are training in Slovenia these days for space missions as part of the CAVES programme by the European Space Agency (ESA). Training in caves presents the astronauts with environments and situations very similar to spaceflight, to help them transfer the learning from their caving expedition to space.

Rogla, the well-known Slovenian winter tourism centre, is now offering guests a new experience, a panoramic treetop trail, where they will be able to walk along the elevated pathway among the treetops and get to know Pohorje from a different perspective.

On the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Slovenian Constitution, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court have prepared a joint project called The Constitution in a Comic Strip. The strip, which was drawn by Zoran Smiljanić, uses the language of comic strips to make complicated legal ideas sound interesting, educational and fun – even for kids, but not just for them.

It has become a tradition for our September issue to draw attention to topics related to Slovenian literature and themes associated with the Bled Strategic Forum. These two areas are a platform for presenting Slovenia's art, cultural heritage, successful projects in science and business, tourism, cuisine, and more. When a successful project or an interesting person captures our attention, we always feel an urge to share the story with you.

Between 13 and 15 September 2019, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) will host the NATO Military Committee Conference in Chiefs of Defence session with the participation of all allied armed forces and the highest NATO military representatives. The aim of the conference is to enable Chiefs of Defence and strategic commanders to exchange views on topical defence and security matters important for the Alliance as part of its peacekeeping and security efforts.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Aleksandra Pivec is on a three-day visit to Canada, where she is attending the 56th Apimondia International Apicultural Congress. During her visit she met with several apiculture representatives from all over the world, and at the fair she presented Slovenia as a beekeeping country.

Slovenia is up five spots in the latest biannual global Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, standing at 36th place among the 140 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek commented on the improvement by saying that Slovenia was on the right track in the field of tourism.

On Tuesday, the European Research Council (ERC) published the results of a call for proposals from researchers who are just beginning their research careers. Among the 3062 project proposals submitted, 408 were selected for funding, including two Slovenian projects.

At its latest session, the Slovenian government adopted a decision to repatriate persons of Slovenian origin from Venezuela, which has been undergoing a protracted economic and political crisis. The list currently includes 47 persons who wish to return to Slovenia.

Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec paid an official visit to Serbia at the invitation of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. At their meeting, the two Prime Ministers focused above all on bilateral relations and plans for future cooperation between the two governments, with an emphasis on strengthening economic cooperation and achieving further progress with regard to succession issues.

It was on 15 July, that the first British Airways flight landed at Ljubljana Airport – after long 18 years. The flight connection between London Heathrow and Ljubljana will run until 2nd of September, every Monday and Friday.

A group of researchers from the Jožef Stefan Institute has discovered what they describe as an entirely new kind of matter that cannot be understood with existing physics and which opens up an entirely new field. Their paper was published in the latest issue of Nature Materials.

At it’s session, the Government decided to put forward Janez Lenarčič, Ambassador to the EU, as candidate for the European Commissioner from Slovenia. He is an experienced candidate with long-standing top references in international and European matters, who meets all the criteria required.

The Government adopted at its session a strategy with regard to migrations, treating them in a multifaceted and comprehensive manner over the long term, putting emphasis on better understanding of all aspects of migrations and improving the measures for their management.

Statistics tell us about both quantity and quality. They also present us with an average, a mean, while building on the diversity of data. But behind all this are stories.

The 14th Bled Strategic Forum will be dedicated to discussing the role of (re)sources in shaping the global dynamics of peace and security, sustainable development and economic progress. The Forum will take place on 2 and 3 September 2019 in Bled, Slovenia, under the title ‘(Re)sources of (in)stability’.