News

Address to the nation by Janez Janša, Slovenian Prime Minister

This morning, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Dr Jože Podgoršek, participated in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) High-level Conference, taking place in the form of an audio-video conference. The topics of the Conference included the preparation of a new strategy for fisheries and fish farming in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.

On 22 October 2020, the Government of Slovenia endorsed the 7th National Report under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and sent it to the International Atomic Energy Agency. With this Slovenia fulfilled one of the obligations under the Joint Convention on time.

Psychologist Eva Kovač spoke at the press conference about distress during this time of epidemic.

Dr Matjaž Vogrin, Medical Director of Maribor University Medical Centre, Dr Irena Grmek Košnik, epidemiologist from Kranj Regional Unit of the National Institute of Public Health, and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current COVID-19 situation.

At the initiative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, a copy of the Bible with full title, Biblia, tu ie, vse Svetu pismu, Stariga inu Noviga testamenta, which has thus far been kept at the castle in Brdo pri Kranju was handed over to the National and University Library for safekeeping.

Dr Daniel Grabar, Medical Director of Murska Sobota General Hospital, Robert Masten from the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the afternoon press conference on the current COVID-19 situation.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia decided to extend the validity of the ordinances on measures and restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the basis of the expert assessment of the Expert Group for the Containment and Management of the COVID-19 Epidemic. It also adopted information on negotiations with representative public sector unions about the reimbursement of transport costs to and from work.

The press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Dr Simona Kustec, Minister Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Dr Tina Bregant, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, and the Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin.

After an evening consultation of the core government team and the expert advisory group, Prime Minister Janez Janša communicated via Twitter that the number of people infected with COVID-19 will unfortunately still increase for some time according to projections. "The measures will thus be extended for a week," he forecast.

The International Law Week has traditionally been the highlight of the UN General Assembly Sixth Committee in New York, the primary focus of which is to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification.

Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate, Tomaž Pečjak, Deputy Director General of the Police, psychologist Barbara Čibej Žagar and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic.

After visiting Ljubljana University Medical Centre yesterday, Prime Minister Janša visited Golnik Hospital today where he met Director Aleš Rozman and viewed the hospital’s capacities.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer today took part in the OECD’s virtual annual Ministerial Council Meeting.

In the last month of their deployment, three members of the 15th Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) contingent in the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) continue to perform their duties. Their deployment was also marked by measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and the consequent hibernation period of the mission.

Janez Cigler Kralj, the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Nuška Čakš Jager, Deputy Head of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the National Institute of Public Health, Dr Mateja Logar from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses of Ljubljana University Medical Centre and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current situation of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Together with other EU leaders, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the video conference of the European Council. The topic of the discussion was the fight against coronavirus. The urgency of the situation in the Member States results in the need to enhance joint efforts.

Dr Bojana Beović, Head of the Expert Group at the Ministry of Health, was the first to speak at the morning press conference presenting the current COVID-19 situation. She emphasised that the number of severely ill persons requiring hospital treatment is the key data in the epidemic situation.

Msgr. Stanislav Zore OFM, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Ljubljana, Dr Aleš Rozman, Director of the University Clinic of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases Golnik, and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin attended the press conference on the current COVID-19 situation.

Today, Prime Minister Janša visited Ljubljana University Medical Centre, where he met General Manager Janez Poklukar with whom he visited the still unfinished section of Ljubljana University Medical Centre.

Today, the WHO Regional Office for Europe published the results of the vote by secret ballot of the new members of the WHO Executive Board for the period 2021–2024. In view of the current epidemiological situation, the elections took place in the form of a postal ballot. Slovenia was nominated with its candidate, Ms Vesna Kerstin Petrič.

The situation concerning COVID-19 was discussed at a press conference by Mateja Logar from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Matej Tušak from the Faculty of Sport and Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin.

The new issue of the News from Nuclear Slovenia is published.

The speakers at today's press conference on the current situation concerning the COVID-19 epidemic were Prof. Mojca Matičič from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, who is also a professional mentor to students at the government call centre, and government spokesperson Ambassador Jelko Kacin.

Today, 26 October 2020, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology published a public tender for the promotion of the re-establishment of Slovenia's air connectivity. The aim of the tender is to maintain existing international airlines, encourage the re-establishment of scheduled airlines that have already stopped flying to Slovenia due to the consequences of the pandemic, and encourage new airlines to fly in Slovenia.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Izola cycle route”. The project worth a little under EUR 1.9 million will be implemented by the Municipality Izola and will receive EUR 763,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

The Archives of the Republic of Slovenia will be closed to all visitors and users of archival records from 26 October 2020 until further notice. To obtain information or data from archival records, contact the archive in writing by regular mail or e-mail or during office hours by telephone.

The Archives of the Republic of Slovenia - the central and largest archival institution in Slovenia - is currently celebrating its 75th birthday. Namely, on October 31, 1945, the National Government of Slovenia issued a decree establishing the Central State Archives of Slovenia and Archival Council.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia issued the Ordinance on temporary partial restriction of the movement of people and the restriction or prohibition of public gatherings in order to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

On the social network Twitter, Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote that the Government is taking new measures due to the growing number of infected people. The restriction of movement to municipalities will thus be introduced on Tuesday, whereby the same exceptions will apply as in the spring. This restriction will initially be in place for a week for the whole of Slovenia and will be lifted gradually, starting with the regions that first limit the spread of the epidemic.

Nothing in the life of a person or a nation should be taken for granted. Especially events as glorious as birth and the successful defence of an independent country. The Sovereignty Day is a national holiday when we commemorate one of the crucial events in Slovenia’s process of gaining independence. In October 1991, the last soldier of the occupying Yugoslav People’s Army left Slovenia. Slovenia thus not only formally, but de facto became a sovereign country.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at a working meeting.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Co-financing of operating costs for companies in tourism and hospitality sector during the COVID-19 epidemic”. The project worth EUR 10 million will be implemented by the public agency SPIRIT and will receive over EUR 7.2 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

At its correspondence session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia issued the Ordinance of imposing and implementing measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic at border crossing points at the external border and inspection posts within national borders of the Republic of Slovenia and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Slovenia and Ukraine held virtual consultations on cybersecurity. The Slovenian delegation was led by State Secretary Tone Kajzer, and the Ukrainian side was headed by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vasyl Bodnar.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the coronavirus was attended by Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Janez Cigler Kralj, Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec, Acting Director-General of the Public Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health Vesna-Kerstin Petrič, and Government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

Early this morning, the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council reached agreement on the general approach to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform beyond 2020 legislative package. This is an important achievement as the agreement facilitates opening the negotiations with the European Parliament. On behalf of Slovenia, the meeting was attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Dr Jože Podgoršek, who earmarked the compromise as extremely important achievement within the EU for the entire agricultural sector. “It is most important that we, the ministers, have come to an agreement that facilitates the continuation of the demanding CAP reform process and its subsequent timely implementation. In negotiations, Slovenia succeeded in ensuring the essential elements for the development of agriculture in Slovenia, while simultaneously following the environmental protection guidelines. Particular attention has been on small farmers in terms of reducing the administrative burdens.” At the meeting that commenced on Monday, the ministers discussed certain other topics in agriculture and fisheries.

What is the future that we want? Are we on the right track to reach it? What must be done to overcome the differences?

At today's press conference Prime Minister Janez Janša presented an overall assessment of the situation after adoption of some additional measures for the containment of the coronavirus in the last days. "We believe that we are able to cope with the situation and this is mainly because we are now dealing with the virus as it is. Namely as a threat which is symmetrical and does not select by any other criteria than those applicable to the virus," the Prime Minister began his address.

Prime Minister Janez Janša held a videoconference today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Their discussions focused on the serious spread of the coronavirus.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar concluded his three-day visit to the Baltic countries in the Republic of Lithuania, where he met with his host, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius. The foreign ministers discussed opportunities for further strengthening cooperation between the two countries, both on the European and multilateral level. They also found time to touch on the challenges the EU is facing in coordinating measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Also high on the agenda were the latest developments in Belarus and in this context, Minister Logar met Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius.

The press conference on the current Covid-19 situation was attended by the Head of the intensive care unit at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Matjaž Jereb, and the government spokesman, Ambassador Jelko Kacin.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan took part in the Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), which was held as a virtual event based in Zagreb. He stressed the importance of good governance of macro-regional strategies and a more visible role of the European Commission.

The Government and the Ministers have adopted additional measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. Minister of Health Tomaž Gantar presented the work of the Ministry of Health, while Minister of Education Simona Kustec presented the Ordinance on temporary restrictions for sport activities.

Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Head of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre Dr Tatjana Lejko Zupanc and government spokesman Jelko Kacin spoke today at a press conference about the current situation regarding Covid-19.

In October 2020, during Germany’s Chairmanship, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) – on the basis of prolonged discussions and proposals put forth by experts on Roma issues – adopted a non-legally binding working definition of antigypsyism. The definition was prepared with the participation of Slovenian experts, members of the Slovenian delegation to IHRA, and the Roma community in Slovenia. The text of the working definition is provided below.

Head of the expert group for the containment and control of the COVID-19 epidemic at the Ministry of Health Bojana Beović said that around 1% of the population is infected, i.e. 20,000 people, which is more than the official number of 7,103 active cases.

The Government has issued an Ordinance on the temporary partial restriction of movement and the restriction or prohibition of public gatherings in order to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections, and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

On Sunday, 2637 coronavirus tests were conducted and 537 new cases were confirmed, which is a 20.4% positivity rate. A total of 289 patients with COVID-19 are currently in hospital, of whom 55 are in intensive care units. Two persons died. On Sunday, Slovenia reached a 14-day incidence of 339 cases per 100,000 population.

An epidemic has been declared throughout Slovenian territory as of today. At the correspondence session on 18 October 2020, the Government adopted the Order on the Declaration of a COVID-19 Epidemic based on the Communicable Diseases Act.