News

On a working visit to Paris, foreign minister Miro Cerar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian signed a new action plan for strategic partnership between their two countries for the 2019 to 2022 period.

Slovenians from neighbouring countries and from around the world embarked on the traditional visit to the homeland on Wednesday for the start of the Welcome Home event. The main part of the event will take place on Saturday in Radovljica, but the meeting opened on Wednesday with football matches in Brdo pri Kranju.

At today’s session the government adopted an itemisation of budget expenditure by individual budget spending unit. In line with the approved fiscal framework, the ceiling on state budget expenditure was set at EUR 10.45 billion for 2020 and EUR 10.46 billion for 2021. The government is drafting the budget with welfare and stability in mind, but will also take account of the fiscal rule.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Dr. Iztok Purič gave opening remarks at today’s conference Systemic Design for Circular Policy-making, an interregional dissemination event organised by the Retrace project partner from Slovenia, Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy. The event marked the closing stage of the project which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Interreg Europe Programme.

Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar is paying an official one-day visit to Paris today, where he will meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría, with whom he will discuss the challenges of modern-day societies, which are driven by digital transformation, climate change, artificial intelligence, education, ageing of the population and the impact on the labour market.

Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian signed the new French–Slovenian Strategic Partnership Action Plan for 2019–2022 in Paris today. Minister Cerar is paying a working visit to France at the invitation of his French counterpart.

State Secretary Simona Leskovar participated in a ministerial meeting of the Ukraine Reform Conference, hosted by the Canadian and Ukrainian governments. She commended the progress achieved by Ukraine and called for further efforts in implementing necessary reforms, desired and indeed demanded by the Ukrainian people, and assured Slovenia’s support to this end.

At the opening ceremony of the new production line of Renault’s model BJA (the fifth generation of the Clio), Prime Minister Marjan Šarec honoured the official start of serial production of the aforementioned vehicle at Revoz in Novo Mesto with an address. The Slovenian Government has provided Revoz with a financial incentive amounting to EUR 6 million for the implementation of this project.

Slovenia is in 16th place among the 28 EU member states in the EU's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), being above the average only in digital public services (14th). Slovenia performs particularly well in the access to open data and eHealth services, where it ranks sixth.

Austria, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden attach the utmost importance to the preservation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), signed by Iran and unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council, as a key instrument for the non-proliferation regime and a major contribution to stability in the region.

Two years after the entry into force of the arbitral award, the Slovenian government’s position remains unchanged. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Arbitration Agreement, the award of the Arbitral Tribunal (29 June 2017) is binding on both countries and constitutes a definitive settlement of the border dispute.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec is on an official visit to the Vatican today. This morning he had a private audience with Pope Francis. He also had a meeting with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec was today on an official visit to the Vatican, where this morning he had a private audience with Pope Francis and a meeting with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Minister Dr Cerar today met with Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sweden, who is paying an official visit to Slovenia between the 25 and the 27 of June at the invitation of Dejan Židan, the President of the Slovenian National Assembly. In their talks, the two high officials reaffirmed the excellent bilateral relations and expressed their mutual determination to further strengthen cooperation in various fields of common interest, both within the EU and other international forums.

European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc has symbolically presented to Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek a check of EUR 109 million in EU funds Slovenia secured for a rail expansion between the port of Koper and the inland hub Divača.

Dobran Božič, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, concluded his three-day visit to Israel today, accompanied by a Slovenian business delegation of seventeen representatives from thirteen hi-tech start-up companies.

The prime minister is in Brussels for the ordinary meeting of the European Council. In the afternoon of the first day of the meeting the leaders discussed the adoption of the EU’s strategic agenda for 2019-2024, where the main focus was on climate change, the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, and EU enlargement. The first day of the meeting ended with a working dinner, where there were discussions of nominations for the top positions in EU institutions for the next institutional cycle.

Bled today hosted the 15th plenary session of the Intergovernmental Slovenian-Russian Commission on Trade and Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation, headed by Slovenian Foreign Minister Dr Miroslav Cerar and Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov.

The Jožef Stefan Institute and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning have issued the second Climate Mirror for Slovenia.

State Secretary Dobran Božič today hosted Thomas Antoine, Secretary-General of the Benelux Union. The Secretary-General’s visit falls into the framework of enhanced cooperation between Slovenia and Benelux, which was kicked off in 2017 at prime minister level and was consolidated by the summit of the four prime ministers in Ljubljana in February 2018. Secretary-General Antoine was also received for a courtesy call by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Miroslav Cerar.

The second event of the “Young Women Ambassadors” project organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place today in Ljubljana. Female students gained insight into the work of the police and the Ministry of the Interior, with a special focus on border protection measures, migration control and international cooperation. They also became acquainted with the educational system in Slovenia and the opportunities available to them in their future education and careers.

Minister Cerar is participating in the ministerial meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) being held in Trieste. Uniting 17 countries, the CEI is the oldest and largest intergovernmental forum for regional cooperation and consultation, furthering political, economic and cultural ties between Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECHR) today convened an oral hearing on the admissibility of the inter-state application filed by Slovenia against Croatia relating to the Ljubljanska Banka (LB) claims towards Croatian companies. This was the first opportunity for Slovenia to present its arguments and evidence concerning violations committed to the detriment of LB in 48 proceedings before Croatian courts.

The best practices of Slovenian industry were presented on Wednesday at the Industry of the Future conference at the Conference Centre in Brdo pri Kranju.

On 7 June, eight supercomputer centres in the European Union were selected to host the EuroHPC supercomputer infrastructure, including one in Slovenia.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECHR) on Wednesday convened an oral hearing on the admissibility of the inter-state application filed by Slovenia against Croatia relating to the Ljubljanska Banka (LB) claims towards Croatian companies.

A delegation from Ukraine is on a study visit to Slovenia, visiting the Ministry of Public Administration today and tomorrow.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar and the President of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Regional Government, Massimiliano Fedriga, opened the new premises of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Slovenia in Trieste. Just before the evening reception marking Republic Day in Italy, the Minister held separate meetings with the Slovenian minority and FVG President Fedriga.

We, the Foreign Ministers of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, Hungary, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic reiterate our continued support for the Western Balkans on their European path. The EU enlargement process has a positive transformative power in the Western Balkans and is an investment in peace and stability in Europe. It is essential to ensure the overall progress of the region. The EU needs to fulfil its unambiguous commitment to the Western Balkans European integration. There is no “plan B”.

David Brozina, Director-General for EU Affairs, and Slovenian Ambassador to Greece Anita Pipan attended the official opening of the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Thessaloniki. This is the first Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Greece, with jurisdiction over the entire north of Greece. Thessaloniki, the second largest Greek city and a major port, is the economic centre of this rapidly developing region.

Slovenian prime minister Marjan Šarec took part in the high-level segment of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on the occasion of the ILC’s centenary.

Political consultations between the foreign ministries of Slovenia and Switzerland at the level of directors general for European affairs took place today at Brdo pri Kranju. David Brozina and Pietro Piffaretti devoted special attention to bilateral cooperation, economic and regional cooperation, EU issues, with special focus on EU–Switzerland relations, and topical international issues.

In 1972 the United Nations General Assembly declared 5 June to be World Environment Day, the aim being to raise awareness of the environment and of specific environmental issues. Slovenia is one of the most biodiverse countries in Europe.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, Mr Leon Behin, attended the meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE Council), which was held on Friday, 7 June 2019, in Luxembourg. At the meeting, the State Secretary debated the main actions Europe should take immediately to maintain its global competitiveness in the data economy, and the core tasks of digitising the European economy. The Council focused on the policy debate concerning the future of a highly digitised Europe beyond 2020.

The first day of the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum, held under the aegis of the Prime Minister at Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, focused on connectivity along four key dimensions of the initiative: energy, transport, digitisation, and innovation. At the presidential panel, chaired by Slovenian President Borut Pahor, presidents of participating countries discussed geopolitical and transition challenges in the area of the EU spanning the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas.

Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar today met Ivan Brajović, President of the Parliament of Montenegro, who is paying an official visit to Slovenia. The constructive talks focused on bilateral relations, enhanced cooperation within NATO, EU enlargement, and Montenegro's progress on its path towards the EU, as well as regional cooperation and the situation in the region.

Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec gave the welcoming address at the Ljubljana Fairgrounds to the second Three Seas Initiative (3SI) business forum, which is being held alongside the two-day summit of the initiative. The forum, which will be attended by around 600 participants from more than 40 countries, was organised jointly by the Slovenian government, the Centre for European Perspective and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.

On Wednesday, 5 June 2019, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Leon Behin, discussed in the company of senior officials, businessmen and other distinguished guests at The Three Seas Initiative held at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. The panel was hosted by the renowned guest and expert Jan - Jacques Sahel, vice president of ICANN. The participants discussed the digital transformation of society and information security.

The National Electoral Commission has released full results of the 26 May European parliamentary election in Slovenia, having added the vote from abroad.

Director-General of the Public Sector Directorate at the Ministry of Public Administration Peter Pogačar is attending a two-day informal meeting of EUPAN Directors-General in Bucharest.

Although it was recently discovered within the scientific project Slowolf that in Slovenia there hasn't been a case of wolf attacking humans for the last 100 years, the report written by the deputy representative of the Ribnica District Department of National Security paints a different story. Namely, in winter 1945 two members of OZNA had a rather unpleasant experience with wolves in the wooded hinterland of Ribnica.