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At its regular weekly meeting, the Government adopted a number of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. This was announced at the press conference by the Government spokesman, Ambassador Jelko Kacin, epidemiologist Mateja Logar from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions at the University Medical Center Ljubljana, and Deputy Director General of the Police Tomaž Pečjak.

At Monday's session, the Government, in its extended composition, decided on several actions to contain the spread of coronavirus infections in the country. At the press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19, the session's conclusions were presented by the Head of the Communicable Disease Centre at the National Institute of Public Health, Mario Fafangel, the Director of the University Clinic of Pulmonary and Allergic Diseases Golnik, Aleš Rozman, and the government spokesman, Ambassador Jelko Kacin.

"The situation in the Balkans is drastically deteriorating", said official spokesman Jelko Kacin at the start of the government press conference, adding that the situation had worsened, especially in countries which, like some Western countries in the past, decided to hold elections (Serbia, Croatia), which will also be held soon in Northern Macedonia.

On Saturday and Sunday, Prime Minister Janez Janša responded on Twitter to the increasing number of confirmed new cases of infection with the new coronavirus during the last two and a half months.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar hosted Gent Cakaj, Acting Foreign Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, who was in Slovenia on a working visit. The ministers expressed satisfaction with the excellent relations between the two countries and were in full agreement that the current situation calls for solidarity in tackling the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister Dr Logar pledged his full support for Albania’s EU integration.

On Friday, July 3, 2020, a ceremony was held at Camp Villaggio Italia in Pec/Peja, Kosovo, marking the handover and takeover of tasks and areas of operations between the 40th and 41st KFOR contingents of the Slovenian Armed Forces.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Janez Janša, today met with the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Heiko Maas, who at the beginning of Germany’s EU Council Presidency paid his first visit to Slovenia.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia decided to include Belgium and the Netherlands in the list of epidemiologically safe counties or administrative units of countries (green list) as from 4 July 2020. It also decided to remove Czechia, Croatia and France from the green list, which means that these countries are now on the yellow list.

The Presidents of the coalition parties, Janez Janša, Zdravko Počivalšek, Matej Tonin and Aleksandra Pivec, and the President of the Slovenian National Party, Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti, and the deputies of the two national communities, Ferenc Horváth and Felice Žiža, today signed an agreement between the political parties and the deputies of the national communities in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on cooperation in the adoption of laws and other acts and documents in the period 2020–2022.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) focused on four main aspects in compiling a comprehensive review of digital administration in Slovenia: coordination and management, digital skills, development and provision of services, and data management. In its key findings, the OECD emphasizes that Slovenia is making good progress in the development of a digital public administration, but it needs to improve coordination, vision and analytical approach, and needs stronger leverage to guide digital transformation. For agility and quick adaptation, the comparative advantage of Slovenia is its small size and general enthusiasm for digitalization.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with President of the European Council Charles Michel via videoconference. They discussed the European Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework for the next seven-year period and the proposed recovery instrument.

The number of infected people in Slovenia has been increasing again in recent weeks, and the source of infections is no longer only imported cases, but also secondary infections and cases of unknown origin, said Bojana Beović, the head of the Government Advisory Group. The number has been increasing exponentially since end of May.

Based on the agreement between the Slovenian and Croatian national institutes and the talks between both prime ministers, Janez Janša and Andrej Plenković, Slovenia will not remove Croatia from the green list of epidemiologically safe countries for now. Croatia plans to implement several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing nightclubs and cancelling similar events.

From 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2021, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be held successively by Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. For several months, the trio has worked in the spirit of constructive and friendly cooperation to shape the 18-month programme. In June 2020, the final Presidency programme was presented and approved at the General Affairs Council.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar attended a video conference of Foreign Ministers and State Secretaries from the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) participating states, where he outlined Slovenia’s views on the further development of institutional ties within the 3SI and closer cooperation process in the wider region of Central and Eastern Europe.

If you saw numerous groups wandering and exploring Cleveland and its neighboring cities on Father’s Day weekend, wearing Slovenian clothing, with Slovenian flags, posters and other props, we hope you weren’t alarmed! It was not an invasion of Slovenian tourists in Cleveland, but a competition and a project, named "Discover Slovenia in Cleveland.”

At its last night’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia finalised the text of the proposed Act on the intervention measures to prepare for the second wave of COVID-19 (ACP4) to be submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for discussion and adoption under an emergency procedure. The proposed act replaces the proposed amendment to ACP3 adopted by the Government last week.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Construction of public municipal infrastructure for the business zone Ravne 2019-2022”. The project worth a little over EUR 1.1 million will receive just under EUR 600,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs took part in a videoconference with Cohesion Ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4), Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the representative of Croatia and the EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira. Participants reaffirmed the importance of Cohesion Policy in addressing the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of Foreign Minister Dr Anže Logar, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tone Kajzer, attended a video conference with Foreign Ministers of South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) participants.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer attended the international Sudan Partnership Conference.

Message by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Janez Janša on Statehood Day

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a number of events to commemorate tomorrow’s Statehood Day.

In today’s video conference at the Ministry of Defence, a day before Slovenian Statehood Day, Prime Minister Janez Janša addressed the members of the Slovenian Armed Forces on missions abroad. In addition to the Prime Minister, the video-conference was attended by the Minister of Defence, Matej Tonin, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, Robert Glavaš.

Yesterday, the three-day Annual Security Review Conference of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) started, at which the participants will assess the activities undertaken in the last year and review the state of security and implementation of the assumed commitments in the OSCE area. The Slovenian side is represented by Ambassador-at-Large Dr Andrej Benedejčič, Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister for arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation.

At its session today, the Slovenian government decided to take Luxembourg and Montenegro off the list of epidemiologically safe countries or administrative units (i.e., the green list) as of 25 June 2020. In addition, the government decided to add Portugal and Albania to the list of countries with a deteriorated epidemiological situation (i.e., the red list) as of 25 June 2020.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, has issued a funding decision for the project Cycling connections between Radovljica and hinterland settlements. This EUR 2.5 million project which will be implemented by the Municipality of Radovljica will receive a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund totalling EUR 1.1 million.

Today, Dr Marko Rakovec, Acting Director General of the Directorate for International Law and Protection of Interests at the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Slovenia, and Sigrid Berka, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the Republic of Slovenia, signed the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Federal Government of the Republic of Austria on new border documents for border sectors I to VII on the common border, prepared by the Permanent Slovenian-Austrian Border Commission.

Below is the press release following the videoconference of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.

Thirteen newly confirmed infections in Slovenia are more the result of less intensive testing over the weekend than the possible emergence of a new wave of the epidemic, said government spokesperson Jelko Kacin and head of the Communicable Disease Centre at the National Institute of Public Health Mario Fafangel at today's press conference. The government spokesperson added that no significant worsening of the situation was expected, but that the existing measures should continue to be followed: cough etiquette, hand washing and wearing masks indoors when it is not possible to maintain a 1.5-metre physical distance.

Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on A Talk with the Prime Minister broadcast on Nova24TV, where he talked about a potential second wave of the epidemic, international events, including the presidency of the Council of the EU, the upcoming Slovenian Statehood Day and other topical issues the viewers asked about.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar met with the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio. Today’s was the second meeting the pair have held in the last two weeks. He also met with the Italian Minister for European Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola.

Ljubljana, 22 June 2020 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, has issued a funding decision for the project Ensuring flood protection in the Drava river basin - Ptujska Drava river. The EUR 15 million flood protection project will receive a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund amounting to over EUR 11.4 million. The project will be carried out by the Slovenian Water Agency.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Drainage and treatment of wastewater in the Upper Sava River basin – Municipality of Jesenice”. The project worth EUR 2.4 million will be implemented by the Municipality Jesenice and will receive EUR 829,000 of Cohesion Fund support.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar hosted the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg. Today’s was the first bilateral meeting between the ministers, while they already met in person on 16 June in Vienna at the multilateral meeting of foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, which was hosted by Austria. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they held frequent telephone conversations, sometimes even several times per day, if necessary.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša received the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps in Slovenia, the Apostolic Nuncio to Slovenia, Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich. In their talks, they affirmed the importance of relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See, also in the light of two upcoming commemorations – the thirtieth anniversary of the Holy See’s recognition of Slovenia (2022) and the twentieth anniversary of the Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See on Legal Issues (2021).

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Economic and business zone Zagorje”. The project worth a little under EUR 990,000 will be implemented by the Municipality Zagorje ob Savi and will receive EUR 608,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar and Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek chaired the Internationalisation Council session.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Dravinja River basin – municipality Slovenska Bistrica”. The project worth over EUR 13 million will be implemented by the municipality Slovenska Bistrica and will receive EUR 5.9 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended an informal video-conference meeting of the European Council. At the meeting, the heads of government were briefed on the progress of the negotiations on future relations between the EU and the United Kingdom. The main topic of discussion was the new proposal for the multiannual financial framework and recovery instrument prepared by the European Commission. At the meeting the participants held a first exchange of views.

"Despite the increased number of coronavirus infections in recent days, we cannot yet talk about the second wave of the epidemic, but we are preparing for it," said Minister Gantar yesterday, emphasising Slovenia's commitment to controlling the epidemic.

Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a video conference of the leaders of the EU Member States and six Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia).

Today's press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the Minister of Health, Tomaž Gantar, the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, the Director of the National Institute of Public Health, Milan Krek, and the Government's spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

On the basis of the Intervention Act on removing barriers for the implementation of important investments to restart the economy after the COVID-19 epidemic, the Government has determined the list of important investments (the Intervention Act) that can be further expanded.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Zvonko Černač met today with mayors from the Posavje region. They discussed progress in the implementation of 2014-2020 projects and preparation of the programming period beyond 2020.

In today's virtual meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar underlined the positive bilateral cooperation between the two countries and Slovenia’s interest in strengthening the economic ties. The two ministers commended the cooperation in multilateral structures.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the “Call for proposals to co-finance vocational training of educational staff in short-cycle higher education and educators in non-formal education programmes for adults in the period 2020-2022”. The call for proposals is worth EUR 1,248,000 and will be implemented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. European Social Fund contribution amounts to EUR 1 million.

Prime Minister Janez Janša has warned of the imminence of a possible second wave of the coronavirus epidemic.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a dynamic demonstration of the Leap 2020 military exercise at the Ivan Cankar barracks. After the exercise, he addressed the participants.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan participated in an informal video conference of ministers for European affairs, focused on preparations for the forthcoming video conference of the EU Heads of State and on the recovery package.