News

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently undertaking one of the biggest repatriation efforts in the history of both the Ministry and the state. Since the evacuation of Slovenian citizens from the cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama in the beginning of February, the Ministry is constantly and intensively seeking for new ways and solutions to bring home Slovenian citizens.

At yesterday's regular session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the text of the act proposal on the intervention measures to stem and mitigate the consequences of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) communicable disease epidemic for citizens and the economy. The act proposal was presented at today's press conference by Prime Minister Janez Janša, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Aleksandra Pivec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Matej Tonin and Minister of Finance Andrej Šircelj.

At its 8th regular session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the text of the Act on the intervention measures to mitigate the consequences of the communicable disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) for citizens and the economy and submitted it to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption under an emergency procedure, in accordance with Article 143 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Ordinance on the temporary general prohibition of movement and public gathering in public places and areas in the Republic of Slovenia and the prohibition of movement outside the municipality of permanent or temporary residence, to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. The Ordinance will enter into force on 30 March 2020 at 00.00 and will remain in force until revoked.

At today's session, the Government adopted the proposal for an act on the intervention measures to mitigate the consequences of the communicable disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) for citizens and the economy, known as the #PKP1 #antiCorona legislative package. One of the measures adopted by the Government to contain and control the new coronavirus epidemic was the Ordinance on mandatory disinfection of multi-dwelling buildings. The Government also adopted amendments to the Ordinance on the temporary prohibition of offering and selling goods and services to consumers in the Republic of Slovenia, which dictates that purchases from 8.00 to 10.00 can only be made by vulnerable groups (e.g. persons with disabilities, pensioners, pregnant women). Pensioners can carry out their purchases only in this period.

A video conference of the European Council, called by European Council President Charles Michel, was held today. The heads of state and government and leaders of EU institutions discussed the situation and measures relating to the COVID-19 epidemic. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša also participated in the video conference.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Zvonko Černač today participated in a video conference of Cohesion Policy ministers. The ministers unanimously welcomed rapid response of the European Commission and the joint measures it put forward to help EU Member States tackle the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Slovenia called on the Commission to allow maximum flexibility in developing and implementing Cohesion Policy measures.

In 2020, Slovenia commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Slovenian-Paraguayan anthropologist, Dr Branislava Sušnik, whose life and achievements made an indelible mark on science and established links between Slovenia and the South American cultural area.

A special meeting of four presidents, including the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Janez Janša, President of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič, and the President of the National Council Alojz Kovšca, was held today. The four presidents discussed the operation of political institutions during the coronavirus crisis, their cooperation, and their joint efforts to achieve political unity in order to take concerted action. In their discussions, they focused especially on making various decisions that need to be effective, democratic, and protected by all democratic standards.

In a joint letter addressed to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, nine leaders of EU Member States, i.e. Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia, called for action to establish a joint European debt instrument with regard to the fight against the new coronavirus. They stressed that the emergency situation and the coronavirus crisis, which affected all Member States, require coordinated and unified action that is undertaken in the spirit of solidarity and with an intensity corresponding to the scope of the challenge.

Slovenia, on behalf of eight participating countries, submitted to the UNESCO Secretariat in Paris a multinational nomination of the "Lipizzan Horse Breeding Traditions" for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Government has issued the Ordinance on the conditions of entry into the Republic of Slovenia from the Republic of Austria to contain and manage communicable diseases, which will be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

On the 24th March 2020, the Republic of Slovenia successfully issued a new €850mn 3yr (Mar-23) benchmark along with a €250mn Mar-29 tap.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan participated in a videoconference of the EU General Affairs Council where ministers voiced their unanimous support for starting the EU accession negotiation process with North Macedonia and Albania.

The Republic of Slovenia, rated Baa1 (positive) / AA- (stable) / A (stable), has mandated Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs International Bank and HSBC to lead manage a new EUR 3-year benchmark due March 2023 and an increase of the outstanding 1.1875% notes due 14 March 2029 (ISIN: SI0002103842) in dematerialized registered form. This Regulation S transaction is expected to be launched in the near future, subject to market conditions.

At today's press conference, Prime Minister Janez Janša, Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Aleksandra Pivec, Minister of Finance Andrej Šircelj and Expert Advisory Group Coordinator Matej Lahovnik presented a package of measures to help the population and the economy, the so-called anti-corona package discussed at the Government’s evening session yesterday.

Croatia has widened the list of countries whose nationals must remain in 14-day self-isolation upon entering the country.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemics, as of 21 March 2020 at 17.00, Turkey has introduced the entry ban on all foreign travellers who are nationals of any of the 46 countries on the list or have visited those countries in the last 14 days.

Pursuant to a decree of 22 March 2020, entry into Austria by land from Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Slovenia and Hungary is allowed without restriction for transit passengers, that is for those returning home to Slovenia without stopping.

On Sunday, 22 March 2020, Prime Minister Janez Janša visited the Municipality of Grosuplje, where he met with Mayor Dr Peter Verlič, Director of Municipal Administration Dušan Hočevar, Commander of Municipal Civil Protection Headquarters of the Municipality of Grosuplje Tomaž Rigler, Director of Grosuplje Health Care Center Štefka Zaviršek and Head of Warden Service of 5G Joint Municipal Administration Mihael Prelc.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša took note of the situation in the Metlika Nursing Home, where several staff members and residents were infected with the new coronavirus some time ago. He thanked those responsible for their responsiveness and cooperation and assured that the Crisis Staff and the Government were doing everything they could to minimise the spread of the virus in Slovenia.

World Water Day, celebrated on 22 March each year, stresses the importance of water and the awareness that 2.2 billion people do not have access to drinking water. In the current context of the coronavirus epidemic, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning has informed public service providers that they should fully comply with all preventive health protocols in order to ensure the smooth running of the public drinking water supply service and the discharge and treatment of municipal wastewater. The National Institute of Public Health has declared that tap water is safe for consumption. Drinking water from the tap is also healthier and more environmentally friendly than water from a plastic bottle.

As reported, the Krško NPP continued to operate after the earthquake.

On Sunday, March 22, 2020, at 6.24 am, the national earthquake monitoring network recorded a magnitude 5.1 earthquake near Zagreb (Croatia), 115 km east of Ljubljana. The main earthquake was followed by several aftershocks. The strongest of them was at 7.01 am with a magnitude of 4.4.

It has been ten days since Slovenia declared an epidemic on 12 March under Article 7 of the Communicable Diseases Act due to an increase in the number of coronavirus infections. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia, led by Janez Janša, was appointed on 13 March, and ever since has been taking a number of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. After taking the most urgent steps to slow down and contain the coronavirus epidemic, the Government is stepping up the preparation of the first comprehensive legislative package to help the population and the economy.

Having carried out the most urgent steps to slow down and contain the coronavirus epidemic, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is stepping up the preparation of the first extensive legislation package to help the population and the economy.

Prime Minister Janez Janša paid a visit to the Šmarje pri Jelšah municipality this afternoon, where he met with the mayor of the municipality, Matija Čakš, and the members of the municipal civil protection headquarters.

To curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Germany has limited the number of open border crossing points with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark.

The Government has adopted the Ordinance on temporary measures in healthcare to contain and manage the COVID-19 epidemic

As of 12.00 on 20 March, Austria imposed a stricter regime on its border with Slovenia.

Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Anže Logar, held a video conference call with his counterparts from Austria, Croatia, Italy, and Hungary to coordinate the measures aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

On 19 March at 12.00, Austria introduced border controls with Germany, imposing the same measures as those already applied on the borders with Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The measures have been foreseen to apply until 7 April 2020.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has issued the Ordinance on the temporary prohibition of public gathering at public meetings and public events and other events in public places in the Republic of Slovenia, which is to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Dear citizens,
From the very beginning, ever since our declaring of independence and the war, Slovenia has never faced a more serious crisis.

2020 first entry deadline for all undergraduate and master programmes extended until 9 April 2020.

In order to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic, the Government adopted the proposal for the Act on the Intervention Measure of Deferred Payment of Borrowers’ Liabilities, which allows borrowers not able to settle their loan agreement liabilities due to the negative effects of the epidemic to defer repayment for 12 months.

At its meeting by correspondence, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia has issued the Ordinance on the conditions of entry into the Republic of Slovenia from the Italian Republic to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and the amendment to the Ordinance on the temporary prohibition of offering and selling goods and services to consumers in the Republic of Slovenia.

An extraordinary video conference of the European Council or, more precisely, of the EU heads of state and government, including Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Janša, was held today due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In today’s statement made after the National Security Council session, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced that in the coming days the Government will enhance the measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

In the light of adopting measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, a meeting of the National Security Council convened by Prime Minister Janez Janša was held today. The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, ministers and the representatives of opposition parties also attended the meeting.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anže Logar, hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjárto, in Ljubljana today. The visit was aimed at establishing personal links between the ministers of two neighbouring countries in an emergency situation, when all European and other countries all over the world are facing the coronavirus pandemic.

Bojana Beovič, the Head of the Expert Group that provides support to the Crisis Staff of the Republic of Slovenia for the containment and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, said that, according to the latest data, there were 253 confirmed coronavirus cases in Slovenia by 2 p.m. today.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has announced that this year's campaign EU Project, My Project, which was originally planned to take place between 9 and 16 May 2020, has been called off. The campaign has been rescheduled to 19–26 September 2020, but the date is yet to be officially confirmed.

In today’s telephone conversation with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Janez Janša discussed the European Union measures necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

At its meeting by correspondence today, the Government adopted the Proposal for the Act on temporary measures regarding judicial, administrative and other public law-related matters to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

The Government adopted the ordinance on a temporary ban on the sale of goods and services to consumers in the Republic of Slovenia, issued the Ordinance on the allocation of doctors without licences, and revoked the validity of the Order on prohibiting the sale of protective equipment.

In accordance with the agreement at the session of the Crisis Staff of the Republic of Slovenia for the containment and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted an Ordinance on temporary ban and restrictions on public transport of passengers in the Republic of Slovenia. The Ordinance temporarily bans public transport of passengers in the Republic of Slovenia for the purpose of containing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic. The Orinance enters into force on March 16, 2020 at 00.00.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša addressed the mayors of Slovenian municipalities, calling on them to become involved as quickly as possible in helping with the organisation of at-home childcare. In addition, he also informed the heads of healthcare and care institutions of this and asked them to provide the mayors with a list of urgent needs as soon as possible.

The crisis unit of the Republic of Slovenia to contain and manage the COVID-19 epidemic that was appointed yesterday met at its first session chaired by Prime Minister Janez Janša. The unit discussed the situation in the international environment, particularly in immediate neighbouring countries, and current developments in Slovenia. The members of the unit held a thorough discussion and agreed to implement several concrete measures to contain the epidemic. Furthermore, Jelko Kacin was appointed the official speaker of the crisis unit.

The expert team providing assistance to the crisis unit to contain and manage the COVID-19 epidemic proposed to change the diagnostics method that is based on the number of severely ill people. Prime Minister Janez Janša emphasised that this method would enable a more realistic adoption of measures and plans for the allocation of essential resources.