News

State Secretary Marko Štucin received the Austrian Governor of Styria, Christoph Drexler, in Ljubljana. They discussed cooperation between Slovenia and the Austrian province of Styria and called for its further development.

At the opening panel of the 10th Danube Participation Day hosted by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana, State Secretary Marko Štucin underlined the support for Ukraine and Moldova on their path towards the EU and pointed to the importance of civil society and the local community in this process.

The Minister of Infrastructure, mag. Alenka Bratušek, and mag. Simona Felser, Acting Director of the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency, were the first signatories to sign the Pledge on Responsible Road Traffic Behaviour today. The pursuit of road safety and Vision Zero is a responsibility shared among individual citizens, society as a whole, and the state.

Slovenian companies directly or indirectly affected either by the crisis brought on through Russia's aggression against Ukraine or the energy crisis are offered new loans with favourable interest rates from SID Bank for investment and day-to-day business purposes.

On Friday, October 20, 2023, the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia received a visit from Dr. Helmut Wohnout, Director General of the Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) in Vienna.

Prime Minister Robert Golob and his ministers visited the Savinjska region today, where they met with mayors, business owners and representatives, and others driving development in the region.

On 20 October 2023, Fitch Ratings affirmed Slovenia’s rating at ‘A’, with a stable outlook.

Today, the Minister of the Interior, Boštjan Poklukar, signed the Order determining the border crossing points with the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Hungary at which border crossings are allowed during the period of the temporary reintroduction of border controls.

At the correspondence session, the Government included the possibility of part-time work for workers who are victims of domestic violence in the proposed new amendments to the Employment Relationships Act (ZDR-1).

The Slovenian government has issued an ordinance temporarily reintroducing controls at the internal borders with Croatia and Hungary as of Saturday, 21 October 2023, until 30 October 2023.

At today's meeting, the Government approved amendments to the Employment Relationships Act, issued the Decree on determining the price of electricity, and issued the Ordinance temporarily reintroducing border controls along the borders between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia.

As part of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (Third Committee) has been in session from 28 September 2023, with a primary focus on human rights issues.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

As its year at the head of EUSALP comes to a close, Switzerland passed the baton today in Bad Ragaz (canton of St Gallen) to Slovenia, which will take charge of the European Union (EU) macroregional strategy in 2024. The Confederation and the cantons, which have jointly held the presidency in 2023, looked back on a successful year at the Annual Forum and General Assembly organized in conjunction with the Canton of St Gallen.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia agreed the text of the application form for financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund for recovery measures in the wake of the devastating floods that hit the country in early August. The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development that coordinated the preparation process will submit the application on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia to Brussels, presumably tomorrow.

On Tuesday, 17 October 2023, representatives of the Information Security Task Force from Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration visited the Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team. The discussion revolved around cooperation and plans for future collaboration.

Boštjan Poklukar spoke on the phone last night with the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob attended by videoconference an extraordinary European Council meeting on the current developments in the Middle East.

Today, the Council of the European Union comprising finance ministers approved the amendment to Slovenia's Recovery and Resilience Plan. The revised plan, which now includes a REPowerEU chapter, is worth EUR 1.61 billion in grants and EUR 1.07 billion in loans. This brings the total value of EU funding for the Recovery and Resilience Plan to EUR 2.68 billion.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has decided to allocate an additional EUR 500,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for emergency humanitarian aid to the people in the Gaza Strip.

Slovenia will take part in the Peace Day Effort initiative, which aims to deliver concrete actions to show Israelis and Palestinians the support they will receive once they reach a peace agreement. As a supporter of the initiative, Slovenia will participate in all three Working Groups, which will focus on security, on the economy and the environment, and on the human dimension.

On October 12th, 2023, His Excellency Mr. Jurij Rifelj presented his Letters of Credence to His Majesty the Japanese Emperor Naruhito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. With this, he assumed the duties of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia to Japan.
Ambassador Rifelj and His Majesty have confirmed excellent relations between Slovenia and Japan and discussed possibilites for further strengthening of the bilateral cooperation.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the call for proposals for developing core competencies in the period 2023-2029.

The event, held at the premises of the former sugar factory Cukrarna, focused on the presentation of and discussion about the opportunities, supported by European Cohesion Policy, to address the challenges and needs of older people. We all know that the number and the share of older people in the European Union is increasing year by year. People live longer and have a better quality of life. This makes adopting measures targeted at long-lived society a necessity.

Slovenia is the Guest of Honour of the Frankfurt International Book Fair under the slogan "Honeycomb of Words".

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has chosen the theme "Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave no one behind." for this year's World Food Day on 16 October.

On 11 October 2023, the Republic of Austria notified the European Commission, the European Parliament and the member states of its decision to reintroduce border controls at the internal Schengen border with the Republic of Slovenia for the period from 12 November 2023 to 11 May 2024.

Plant Protection Products (PPPs) Legislative Section Session took place today in Brussels, within the framework of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee), including Member State voting on Commission legislative proposal for decision on extension of authorisation of active substance glyphosate

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Igor Papič met with representatives of various Japanese institutions and attended the STS Forum in Kyoto during his working visit in Japan. He was accompanied by Ambassador Mr Jurij Rifelj.

Cukrarna hosted a round table discussion entitled '153', which stands for the number of states that supported Slovenia in the vote for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York for the 2024–2025 term. The panellists agreed that this is an important foreign policy project where Slovenia must now show responsibility towards its partners.

Today, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob attended a ceremony marking the emergency completion of a water pipeline in Prevalje, visited the flood recovery works area along the Meža River in the Dobrije residential area in Ravne na Koroškem, and attended a celebratory meeting of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Črna na Koroškem.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the call for proposals to support Strategic Research and Innovation Partnerships (SRIP) for the period 2023-2026.

The Slovenian Regional Days under the title Green Transition at the Regional Level took place in Pivka this year. In her opening address, State Secretary Andreja Katič underlined the importance of such events saying that “the discussions on regional policy at such scientific and expert symposia, which bring new systemic and methodological solutions, provide a basis for decision-makers at different levels.”

At today's session, the Government took note of the draft budget plan of the general government sector for 2024 and the first progress report on the use of European Cohesion Policy funds in the 2014–2020 and 2021–2027 programming periods. It also adopted the Preliminary Programme for the repair of direct damage to property caused by the floods of 4 August 2023 in the field of national road and rail infrastructure.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob today met with the President of the Management Board of the Public Institute Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVS), Zvezdan Martić, who briefed the Prime Minister on the financial situation at RTVS.

Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) is following activities of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) regarding the detected leak.

Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek participated in the session on social innovation as part of this year's edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities that is taking place between 9 and 12 October in Brussels. According to Dr Jevšek, Slovenia successfully carried out several EU-funded social innovation projects it is very proud of.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob met today with the President of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation Martin Candidas. They assessed relations between the two countries as friendly and very positive.

At the International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in Zagreb, State Secretary Marko Štucin expressed continued support for Ukraine and announced an additional half a million euros in Slovenian assistance for mine action in 2023.

At a press conference, the Director of the Slovenian Protection and Rescue Administration, Leon Behin, presented the progress of the reimbursement of intervention costs to local communities and to protection and rescue personnel incurred during the August floods and landslides during the period of the activated National Plan, i.e. between 4 and 31 August.

Minister Tanja Fajon participated in an informal videoconference of EU foreign ministers on the situation in Israel and in the region. She expressed her solidarity with Israel and sympathy for all civilian victims.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the 27th EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial meeting held in Muscat. During the gathering, Ministers and State Secretaries discussed the importance of and opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the EU and the strategically significant Gulf countries, as well as current foreign policy issues, with a specific focus on the situation in Israel and Gaza.

The Slovenian Government adopted a decision at today's correspondence session to make an additional humanitarian contribution of EUR 150,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA).

Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek participated in the workshop on Cohesion Policy and 2025 European Capital of Culture (GO! 2025) that was held in the context of the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels. In 2025, the title will be held by the neighbouring cities of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy.

State Secretary Marko Štucin holds political consultations with Martin Eyjólfsson, Permanent Secretary of State of Iceland at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Reykjavik. During their talks, they reviewed bilateral cooperation between Slovenia and Iceland and expressed interest in strengthening multilateral cooperation, especially in the field of human rights and gender equality.

State Secretary for European Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office Igor Mally received the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius.

On Thursday, 10 October 2023, Danijel Levičar, State Secretary for the National Nuclear Programme at the Office of the Prime Minister, participated in a round table discussion on the future of nuclear energy in the Posavje region. According to State Secretary Levičar, people in Krško are in favour of the project of the second block of the nuclear power plant.

Every year on 10 October, World Mental Health Day is celebrated to raise awareness about the importance of mental health. This year’s day is under the slogan "Mental health is a universal human right" and is an opportunity to improve knowledge, strengthen empowerment and encourage action. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has declared 2023 the Slovenian Year of Mental Health.

Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) is following activities of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) regarding the detected leak.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met today with the representatives of 14 business organisations and associations. The discussions focused on joint efforts to ensure the well-being of the residents of Slovenia following the floods. The participants at the meeting agreed on the urgent need for continued dialogue between the business sector and the Government, especially in these challenging times of recovery and reconstruction.

At today's meeting of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, presented deputies with the budget documents for the next two years

The third meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam took place today in Brdo pri Kranju. The meeting was co-chaired by Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade, and was organised as a follow-up to Minister Fajon's visit to Vietnam this past May.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held consultations in Oslo with State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eivind Vad Petersson. Alongside bilateral relations, the talks also focused on current European and international issues.

Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations is recruiting highly motivated persons for the role of Experts for a period until January 31 2026 – indicatively from November 2023 to January 2026.

State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in the ministerial meeting of the Berlin Process participating countries hosted by the Albanian Chairmanship in Tirana. On the margins of the meeting, he met Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Megi Fino.

Minister Tanja Fajon met today in Pretoria with Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. This is the first visit by a Slovenian Foreign Minister to South Africa and represents an important step in strengthening bilateral relations, which is of great value in the context of Slovenia's upcoming non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob attended the 3rd European Political Community Summit held in Granada in Spain.

Minister Tanja Fajon has begun her first official visit to South Africa as Deputy Prime Minister and Slovenian Foreign Minister. The main objective of the visit is to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the economic and scientific fields, as well as to improve cooperation within the UN, in the context of Slovenia's non-permanent membership of the Security Council.

It has been two months since the catastrophic floods that took place on 4 August. Floods and landslides affected 183 of Slovenia's 212 municipalities, with 104 municipalities severely impacted. The total area affected is estimated at 17,203 square kilometres. To date, the Slovenian Government has provided EUR 515.9 million to help people, municipalities and the economy.

On Thursday, 5 October 2023, Danijel Levičar, State Secretary for the National Nuclear Programme at the Office of the Prime Minister, participated in a round table discussion on the future of nuclear energy in Slovenia, organised by the editorial board of Jederska.si.

Today, Prime Minister Robert Golob notified the Slovenian National Assembly that he had received a letter of resignation from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, Uroš Brežan, proposing that the Minister of Infrastructure, Alenka Bratušek, temporarily take over his function.

The Slovenian Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy, Bojan Kumer, attended a working meeting in Budapest on 4 October 2023, following an invitation received from the Hungarian Minister of the Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó. The main reason for the visit was the signing of a political memorandum of understanding on the gas supply between the two countries.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has taken note of the assessment of direct damage following the natural disaster that struck Slovenia on 4 August 2023. The assessment covers all aspects of the natural disaster, from the replacement of buildings, the rehabilitation of watercourses, the restoration of infrastructure, the protection and restoration of cultural heritage sites, and waste disposal and management.

At today's session, the Government was briefed on the Estimate of Direct Flood Damage, it finalised the draft Resolution on the 2023–2030 National Road Safety Programme and adopted the 2023–2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme.

The 11th Slovenian Development Days are in full swing. The event traditionally takes place in the first week of October to present to the Slovenian public the contribution of Slovenia and its partners to sustainable development, global solidarity and world peace.

Today, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob sent a proposal to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for the appointment of Prof. Dr Valentina Prevolnik Rupel to the post of minister of health.

At the government committee meetings, the Government adopted its opinion on several legislative proposals and provided funds to deal with the aftermath of this summer's storms and floods.

The Slovenian-Italian application to the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) Secretariat for the establishment of the Julian Alps Transboundary Biosphere Reserve was officially submitted yesterday in Paris. The application proposes a merger of the existing national biosphere reserves – the Slovenian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve and the Italian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve.

The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport paid €31.77 million in advance payments to compensate for damage to the economy caused by August’s floods and landslides. Advances were made to all eligible businesses that submitted a damage assessment to the Ministry by 1 September, requesting an advance payment of 10% of the estimated damage.

Today, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon participated in the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv, in the presence of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also took part in the meeting.

The 17th session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Monitoring the Treaty between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the Regulation of the Status and Other Legal Relations regarding Investment, Exploitation and Decommissioning of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) took place today.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), visited the Jožef Stefan Institute, met with representatives of Slovenian collective management organisations and the winners of this year's Innovation Day, as well as with startup companies at the Technology Park in Ljubljana.

Prime Minister Robert Golob took part in the 10th summit of the heads of the EUMED-9 member states, which was held in Valletta, the capital of Malta.

The European Commission today welcomed the proposal to amend the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan. The amendment to the plan also needs to be approved by the Council of the European Union. The renewed plan, which now also includes a REPowerEU chapter, will be worth EUR 1.61 billion in EU grants and EUR 1.07 billion in loans.

Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek attended the informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy that was held in Murcia under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Minister Jevšek called for a strong, resilient, and flexible Cohesion Policy that should be the main long-term investment policy of the European Union (EU).

Minister Tanja Fajon addressed deputies at a public hearing at the National Assembly on the subject of increased use of qualified majority voting in EU foreign and security policy. She stressed: "I am not an advocate of changing the EU Treaties, but I would like to see a reasoned debate on the wider use of the instruments at our disposal to make decision-making more effective and to protect our national interests."

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar spoke by telephone with Nenad Nešić, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On September 15, 2023, newly appointed Slovenian Ambassador to the United States of America Iztok Mirošič attended a ceremony at the White House, in which he formally presented his Letter of Credence from the Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar to U.S. President Joseph R. Biden. He also conveyed greetings from the Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels.

Slovenia retained its 33rd place among 132 countries in this year's ranking. Switzerland retained the top spot among the world's most innovative countries, a position it has held for more than a decade.

The 11th Slovenian Development Days will take place in Ljubljana from 2 to 6 October. The Slovenian public will be able to learn more about how Slovenia is responding to the numerous global crises and humanitarian needs in the world and how, together with its partners, it is contributing to global solidarity, sustainable development and peace in the world.

The Government has approved the budget package for 2024 and 2025. The priority for the next two years is to finance measures to deal with the consequences of this year's floods. The draft budgetary amendment for 2024 foresees €14 billion in revenue and €16.2 billion in expenditure, and for 2025 €14.56 billion in revenue and €15.82 billion in expenditure.

On 27 September 2023, the third conference of the honorary consuls of the Republic of Slovenia began in Nova Gorica and will last until 29 September 2023. It is an important event for promoting Slovenia and its economy abroad.

On Wednesday, 27 September 2023, the second public consultation on drafting the amendments to the Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act took place at the premises of the Rajhenburg Castle in Brestanica. The consultation focused on border and other problem areas, the programme of development incentives to ensure balanced regional growth, as well as the definition and financing of these areas.

At today's session, the Government took note of information on the progress of the implementation of the Preliminary Programme for the repair of direct damage to property caused by the floods of 4 August 2023, the progress of activities to prepare the application to the EU Solidarity Fund, and the activities related to the determination and payment of intervention costs.

Prime Minister Robert Golob and his ministers today visited Koroška, the region worst affected by the August floods, where they met with mayors, business representatives, entrepreneurs and others.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Central5 (C5) group, which comprises Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The focus was on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the situation in the Western Balkans and the fight against irregular migration.

The 3rd Consultation of Honorary Consuls of Slovenia, which will take place until Friday 29 September 2023, has started in Nova Gorica. This is an important event for the promotion of Slovenia and its economy abroad. Of the 143 Slovenian honorary consuls from all over the world, 77 are participating.

This year, Slovenian police have dealt with more than 40,000 persons who crossed the border illegally. "That is why this morning the Slovenian police have stepped up their activities on some of the most critical parts of the border, in particular with Croatia," Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said in a press statement.

In the morning, the Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek visited Radlje ob Dravi and met with the Mayor of Radlje ob Dravi Municipality Alan Bukovnik and the Director of the Regional Development Agency for Koroška Karmen Sonjak. They discussed the post-flood recovery measures and the funding opportunities under Slovenia's Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027.

As part of a study visit to the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA), the Ministry of Digital Transformation's representatives presented the process of designing, adopting, and monitoring the Digital Slovenia 2030 Strategy and the Digital Public Services Strategy 2030.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), met with the President of the Republic of Slovenia, the President of the National Assembly, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and the Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sport. They discussed the importance of intellectual property as a catalyst for development for society as a whole.

Today the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Reconstruction met for its first meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in a reinforced meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council at the invitation of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani. She also delivered a statement at the 67th regular session of the IAEA General Conference, with Slovenia concluding its mandate.

''Studio of Circular Economy is a project that plays an important role in tackling the challenges of circular use of resources and in raising awareness of the potentials of circular economy in the local environment,'' stressed State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development mag. Marko Koprivc at a press conference held in Rogaška Slatina to present the project.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar is hosting the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, Oliver Spasovski, today and tomorrow. Today's bilateral meeting was devoted to discussions on topical issues in the field of home affairs, in particular migration management, and to further strengthening bilateral cooperation.

With electrification and de-fossilisation trends predicting a doubling of electricity use by 2050, the Nuclear Power Plant 2 (NPP2) project is a national investment of strategic importance in a low-carbon electricity source in the Republic of Slovenia.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Filip Tosevski, for consultations. The counterparts were pleased with the intensive political dialogue and excellent relations between the two countries. They exchanged views on topical regional, European and international issues.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), is visiting Slovenia. He and Minister Han discussed the preparation of Slovenia's first national intellectual property (IP) strategy. This will help to improve understanding and respect for intellectual property rights and, as a result, improve the environment for innovation and a competitive economy.

Tomorrow marks 23 years since the Slovenian anthem was heard at the Olympic Games for the first time. This was a very important event in Slovenian history, which is why this date was chosen as the day to celebrate Slovenian sports. To mark this year’s Day of Slovenian Sport, the Bank of Slovenia has issued a new collector coin.