News

At the last debate before the presentation of the draft Strategic Compass, which will set the political guidelines for the development of European defence and security in the following decade, EU defence ministers discussed the building of a rapid response force, countering hybrid threats, critical capability development and deepening of strategic partnership with NATO by signing the third joint declaration.

From 18 to 21 October, Minister Anže Logar attended the European Parliament plenary session as Slovenia's high representative for the relations between the Council and the Parliament.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Wastewater collection and treatment in the Drava River basin – Municipality Dravograd. The project focuses on establishing public wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure in the Vič agglomeration.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Tim Cook, via videoconference.

The Government has issued the Decree on the implementation of the EU Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which sets out in more detail the implementation and financing of the Facility in Slovenia.

On 19 October, the European Commission published the Enlargement Package for the Western Balkan countries and Turkey, which provides an overview and assessment of the situation across key areas of the necessary reform progress.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the Tripartite Social Summit, which was held virtually. The summit focused on the topic of "Transforming Europe's recovery into long-term sustainable growth supporting more and better jobs".

The Prime Minister today addressed the participants of the 15th traditional Strategic Conference on Trade, which was organised virtually in collaboration with the School of Economics and Business of the University of Ljubljana.

At today's press conference the Director of the National Institute of Public Health, Milan Krek, and Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate provided the latest information on the COVID-19 situation in Slovenia.

As part of the Government’s visit to the Obalno–kraška region Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač met, together with the Prime Minister, with the mayors of the region and the representatives of the Sežana Business Incubator.

This year, the NATO MW COE organized the 3rd Mountain Warfare (MW) Congress dealing with the topic of (JOINED) PERSONNEL RECOVERY IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. The congress was held from 5th to 8th October 2021 and took place in Bled and its surrounding area. It was attended by over 90 participants representing 14 different countries, who were attending a variety of presentations delivered by an ensemble of speakers ranging from scientists and high-altitude experts in MEDEVAC and CASEVAC to military personnel recovery.

The Government delegation concluded its visit to the Obalno-kraška (Coastal-Karst) region with a public debate on the development of the Obalno-kraška region in Lipica, discussing the challenges and opportunities in the region with representatives of local communities and business.

The Minister of Digital Transformation, Mark Boris Andrijanič, was part of the Government delegation that visited the Obalno-kraška region today. He visited the Koper Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, the companies Obala mobilnost and Dinit Card Service, and the Sežana Business Incubator.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today attended the regular General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg as Chair. The debate focused on preparations for the October European Council, the state of the rule of law in the Union and the Conference on the Future of Europe. “Today, we discussed a number of issues that directly affect our citizens. As the country holding the Presidency, we are very pleased to have reached the conclusions on the Joint Cyber Unit. In doing so, we have taken an important step forward in ensuring greater cybersecurity and resilience for citizens," underlined State Secretary Dovžan.

Today, the Slovenian Government visited the Obalno-kraška (Coastal-Karst) region, which includes the municipalities of Ankaran, Divača, Hrpelje-Kozina, Izola, Komen, Koper, Piran and Sežana. The region's performance figures are good, especially with regard to the development indicators, which are above the Slovenian average. For other indicators, it stands out in terms of below-average youth unemployment and total unemployment, a high level of treated wastewater and a relatively low risk of natural disasters. The Obalno-kraška region is also the only one alongside Osrednjeslovenska (Central Slovenia), with an above-average GDP per capita and productivity.

State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs today met with the officials of the Municipality of Izola which acts as project partner of Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy in the strategic project EUSAIR Facility Point. She also visited Izolana, the House of the Sea, a product of cross-border cooperation between Slovenia and Croatia.

Under the Slovenian Presidency, a global conference is taking place today and tomorrow, which for the first time is discussing government governance in terms of innovation, drawing-up better legislation and improving the quality of the public sector. Slovenia, together with the OECD, presented for the first time the results of a survey on the ageing of the workforce and attracting and retaining talent.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan held a reception for Marjan Osvald, the newly elected Deputy Director General of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, and Tomaž Kokot, General Manager Ad Interim of Pošta Slovenije.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša participated in the "Government Beyond Recovery: Towards a Future-fit Public Sector" international conference, where he took part in the "Shaping Innovative and Inclusive Governments" panel discussion. Other participants who addressed the audience during this discussion included: OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, EIPA Director-General Marco Ongaro and Slovenian Olympic medallist Petra Majdič.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Jože Podgoršek attended the Farm to Fork international conference via video conference. The event, which is taking place on 14 and 15 October, is organised by the European Commission. The two-day conference will be devoted to the wider aspects of the strategy and sustainable food systems, which include all stakeholders in the food chain.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today attended the regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg headed by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In their discussions, the ministers focused on the Gulf, the Eastern Partnership and the situation in Ethiopia and Nicaragua.

At today's 26th session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Prime Minister Janez Janša answered parliamentary questions from deputies Bojana Muršič (SD), Luka Mesec (Levica), Alenka Bratušek (SAB) and Monika Gregorčič (SMC). The questions put to the Prime Minister addressed the increase in energy prices and other goods in Slovenia, tackling environmental challenges, the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, and methods of governance.

18 October is European Anti-Trafficking Day and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness on trafficking in human beings.

In the field of anti-trafficking, Slovenia attaches great importance to international cooperation on the operational and the strategic levels, with special attention focused on the Western Balkans region. Over the years, the Slovenian Ministry of the Interior has been carrying out a number of regional activities, encouraging the countries in the region to align their legislation and standards with the acquis.

Minister Jože Podgoršek met by video conference with the representatives of Slovenian and EU environmental NGOs, such as BirdLife Slovenia (DOPPS), the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development (Umanotera), BridLife international environmental organisation and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). The discussion centred on how to include environmental protection in the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans.

H. E. Sanja Štiglic, Slovenian Ambassador to the Netherlands, officially opened "The Future of Living" Exhibition of Contemporary Slovenian Design at Dutch Design Week 2021 in Eindhoven. The travelling exhibition ‘The Future of Living’ showcases Slovenian designs at 25 locations around the world, and Eindhoven has been chosen as one of its prominent stops. The exhibition, displayed at #DDW21 until 24 October, features 19 of the 90 selected products that have received the “Made in Slovenia" mark of design excellence in the last two years.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan welcomed a delegation of the Uzbekistani Anti-Corruption Agency, led by Akmal Burkhanov.

Due to filming, the archival reading room will be closed on Monday, October 18, between 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Wednesday, October 20, between 10 a.m. and noon. During these days, work in the reading room and the information room will be interrupted from time to time.
We kindly ask for your understanding.

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

As the current holder of the presidency of the Council of the EU, the Republic of Slovenia and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats held an online workshop on instrumentalised migration as a hybrid threat, focusing on the case of Belarus. The workshop’s objective was to examine the phenomenon of instrumentalised migration as a hybrid threat, its impact on the security situation in the EU, and to highlight the aims of its key actors.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan held two separate working meetings with Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, and Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships. Both discussions focused on the implementation of the Slovenian Presidency programme in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, as well as current challenges, including the Afghanistan crisis.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs is participating as a panelist in a high-level conference marking the 10th anniversary of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Key topics of discussion include the development of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) over the last decade and EASO’s role, the situation in the area of international protection in the EU, and the transformation of the Office into the EU Asylum Agency by the end of the year.

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia took note of the information on the issue of extraordinary growth in energy product prices on energy markets. In view of the current situation, Slovenia has called an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers for 26 October to find common solutions that will protect citizens against further price rises. The Government also issued a new regulation on the treatment of unaccompanied minors and adopted a decree on financial assistance to compensate for damage in beekeeping in 2021.

Today, Minister Dr Anže Logar addressed the students of the Diplomatic Academy with an introductory lecture. “Over the past year, Slovenian diplomacy has made major shifts in establishing Slovenia’s firm links with the environments sharing our values and interests,” he told the diplomats at home and abroad.

A two-day international expert conference has been held in Ljubljana on how to facilitate an equal relationship between players in the global market of audiovisual content providers. The development of new technologies and the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic have led to significant changes in the production and distribution or accessibility of audiovisual works.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funds for the project COVID19 – Provision of premises for Intermediate Care Department of University Medical Centre Maribor. The EUR 8.9 million project that will be implemented by the Ministry of Health will receive a substantial contribution from the European Regional Development Fund under the React-EU initiative, i.e. EUR 6.8 million. This year alone, Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy approved EUR 66 million to help strengthen Slovenia's health sector.

State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs yesterday attended the Podravje Region Development Conference which was held in Lenart v Slovenskih goricah. She talked about the funding opportunities offered by the EU Cohesion Policy 2021-2027 and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan addressed the High-Level Conference on Water and Gender Equality, which aimed at exchanging good practices, opinions and ideas on how to achieve gender equality in the context of water. The conference was organised by Slovenia, the current Chair of the Council of the European Union, together with the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme and the Women for Water Partnership organisation.

The High-Level Segment meeting as part of the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) concluded today with the adoption of the Kunming Declaration, by which the Parties to the Convention committed to adopt and implement an ambitious global biodiversity framework. The aim is to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and facilitate its recovery.

Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions via videoconference. The discussion focused on key current topics and issues faced during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has reached all the decisions regarding the appointment of European Delegated Prosecutors from Slovenia within its legal powers and the national part of the appointment procedure prescribed by law.

The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia Vasko Simoniti opened a conference "Increasing the accessibility and competitiveness of European audiovisual and media content", which took place in Cankarjev dom congress center in Ljubljana as well as online from 12 to 13 October 2021.

On the second day of the Luxembourg meeting, EU agriculture ministers focused on the Green Deal initiatives related to agriculture and forestry. They discussed the new EU Forest Strategy for 2030 and addressed the Fit for 55 legislative package.

EU fisheries ministers reached a political agreement in Luxembourg this morning on the total allowable catch for next year in the Baltic Sea. Already yesterday, the ministers exchanged opinions on consultations on fisheries with the United Kingdom and Norway for 2022.

The virtual meeting of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), which will take place between 11 and 15 October 2021, will be dedicated to preparations for negotiations on the 2030 and 2050 biodiversity targets, concluding with an in-person meeting next year. Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak is attending the high-level meeting.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today hosted Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bisera Turković on a working visit to Slovenia. Their discussion focused on bilateral cooperation in various areas, particularly the economy, and on Slovenia’s support for the European perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prime Minister Janša and his ministerial delegation today met with ten leading Slovenian automotive suppliers at the Hidria company in Spodnja Idrija. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers are facing major and necessary structural challenges. Restructuring against the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution seems crucial for Slovenia to retain a prominent place on the international automotive map.

In his video speech for the annual OSCE Mediterranean Conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar underlined his conviction that a more effective system to respond to future crises must be included in the post-pandemic recovery plans.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan met with Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner, Minister of Federal, European and International Affairs of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The main topic of the talks was the strengthening of cooperation in the light of Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan participated via video conference in a meeting of eminent representatives of the European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA) on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Posavje Regional Development Agency invited State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs to take part in an online conference Posavje Development Outlook 2021-2027. The State Secretary talked about the programming process and explained how ESI funds are programmed and planned for the upcoming 2021-2027 period. She also touched on possible complementarities with other funding sources.