News

Today’s daily press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Neda Hudopisk, Head of the National Institute of Public Health Ravne na Koroškem unit, Aleš Rozman Director of the Golnik University Clinic for Lung Diseases and Allergy and Borut Štrukelj, full professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana.

On the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as part of the preparations for Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU, State Secretary Dovžan today held a virtual meeting with Slovenian members of the European Economic and Social Committee. In his introductory address, he outlined the envisaged priority tasks of the Slovenian presidency in the second half of this year.

This afternoon, Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek held a remote meeting with Mr Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. They primarily discussed topics to be in the forefront during Slovenia’s EU Council Presidency in the field of agriculture and forestry. The interlocutors discussed the difficult situation in the pig meat sector, also within the context of Slovenia’s call for action launched at the January videoconference of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers. The Minister informed the Commissioner of the progress made in preparing the National Strategic Plan.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by Matej Lahovnik, coordinator of the expert advisory group, which is preparing the package of anti-corona relief, director of DSO Vojnik Breda Božnik, and psychologist Eva Kovač.

A press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 virus was held by state secretary at the Ministry of Health Marija Magajne and Director of the National Institute of Public Health Milan Krek.

Prime Minister Janez Janša nominated the missionary Pedro Opeka and his humanitarian organisation, Akamasoa, which operates on the outskirts of Antananarivo in Madagascar, for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

Prime Minister Janez Janša published a message on his Facebook page regarding the number of enrolment places in public schools and faculties financed by taxpayers’ money. It is one of the most important strategic decisions in every country.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today spoke with his Hungarian, Slovakian, and Israeli colleagues on the phone.

“The Slovenian Government had already adopted a roadmap to ease or tighten measures at the beginning of December, given that we were already in the second wave of infections, and this plan was revised at the beginning of January according to the situation that developed.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan hosted Karoline Edtstadler, Austrian Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution at the Federal Chancellery. Slovenia and Austria share similar views on EU issues and are partners in regional initiatives. Minister Edtstadler was also received by Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar.

A working level meeting for senior officials of the Slovenian, Croatian, and Italian foreign ministries took place today. It focused on cooperation on economic development, connectivity, and comprehensive protection of the northern Adriatic region prior to the declaration of the exclusive economic zones by both Croatia and Italy.

The new Executive Director of the European Labour Authority (ELA), Cosmin Boiangiu, paid a visit to Slovenia on 29 January 2021 as part of his tour of EU Member States. He was received by State Secretary Gašper Dovžan when he paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to the promotion of the European Labour Authority, the visit is also aimed at establishing sound foundations for cooperation and at enhancing relations with the competent labour authorities in Slovenia, with which the ELA would like to cooperate more closely in the future. The Executive Director also met with the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs.

Prime Minister Janez Janša participated at the January session of the Managers’ Association of Slovenia. The broad event represents a symbolic start to the new economic year, which is why it is full of optimism, new ideas, drive, and expectations. Prime Minister Janez Janša spoke with the executive director of the Association on aiding the economy with anti-corona packages, on the national recovery and resilience plan, and on other topics which are significant for the Slovenian economy.

Today the Slovenian Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, and his delegation attended an informal video conference of the EU Home Affairs Ministers. The Portuguese Presidency included three discussion topics on the conference agenda: the next steps in the EU migration and asylum policy, the current state and future of the Schengen area, and the future of Europol.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has extended the reopening of kindergartens and schools for students of the first three grades of primary school in the following red regions: the Gorenjska, Koroška, Osrednjeslovenska, Podravska, Pomurska and Savinjska regions. In these regions, from Tuesday, 2 February 2021, childcare for pre-school children and classes for students of the first three grades of primary school will continue to take place on school premises, said Minister Simona Kustec, presenting the Government's decision.

Today’s press conference on the current situation with regard to COVID-19 was attended by Bojana Beović, head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health, Deana Potza of the Health Inspectorate, and Deputy Director General of the Police Tomaž Pečjak.

As a response to the article posted by the New York Times on 27th of January, titled ''A populist leader kicks off a culture war in museums'', we are posting the full correspondence between the Ministry of Culture and the New York Times reporter, Mr. Alex Marshall.

Today, the EU Ministers competent for agriculture, and fisheries met on the first EU Council meeting this year under the Portuguese Presidency, which took place in the audio-visual form. On behalf of Slovenia, the meeting was attended by the Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek. In the introduction, Portugal presented the work programme in agriculture and fisheries in the following half year.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar addressed the participants of the 5th Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), which this year is being held under the slogan “Strengthening the resilience of the Adriatic and Ionian Region through cooperation”. At the virtual forum taking place during Slovenia's presidency of EUSAIR, the Minister underlined that Europe’s green and digital recovery can only be achieved through effective cooperation and coordination on both the regional and global scale.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Collection and treatment in the Savinja River basin – the municipalities of Braslovče, Polzela and Žalec”. The project worth over EUR 2.1 million will be implemented by the municipalities of Braslovče, Polzela and Žalec and will receive nearly EUR 759,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

On Wednesday, 27th January 2021, the Republic of Slovenia successfully entered the markets with a 60-year (Mar-81) benchmark issuance of EUR 500 mio. This landmark transaction constitutes the longest ever bond issue from the Republic of Slovenia on Debt Capital Markets. The success of the transaction, with more than EUR4.3bn of demand, is a strong testimony of the confidence institutional investors have into the Republic of Slovenia.

With its credit rating by S&P (AA-), Fitch (A), Moody’s (A3), and DBRS (AH) and the placement of a new 60-year Eurobond issue and the related extension of the reference market yield curve, the Republic of Slovenia has consolidated its position among the more advanced euro-area countries.

Minister Jože Podgoršek today attended the 13th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference at the Global Forum For Food And Agriculture (GFFA). The GFFA, which began on Monday and concluded with today’s ministerial conference, features a series of political and professional events, discussions and meetings that take place every year on the fringes of the Green Week fair. The ministerial conference welcomed almost 100 agriculture ministers and their deputies from around the world along with the highest representatives of all major international institutions and international NGOs. The forum was hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture with the central topic of "How to Feed the World in Times of Pandemics and Climate Change?"

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Nuška Čakš Jager, Deputy Head of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the National Institute of Public Health, and Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, Director of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day has been marked by the international community for 16 years now, and in Slovenia since 2008.

State Secretary Raščan participated in the virtual Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. This financial instrument of the Peacebuilding Commission was created by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council in 2005 to support peace efforts in post-conflict countries. Thus far, the Peacebuilding Fund has supported peacebuilding programmes in more than 40 countries around the world, including the Western Balkans.

The Republic of Slovenia, rated A3 (stable) / AA-(stable) / A (stable), has mandated BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and HSBC to lead manage a new 60-year SLOREP benchmark due March 2081. The transaction will be Regulation S in dematerialized registered form. The deal is expected to be launched in the near future, subject to market conditions. Relevant stabilization regulations apply.

Attending today’s press conference on the latest situation regarding COVID-19 were the Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec, Gregor Pečan, president of the Association of Head Teachers and psychologist Andreja Poljanec.

Today, Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs participated in a video conference meeting of Ministers for Home Affairs of the Germany-Portugal-Slovenia Trio Presidency, hosted by his Portuguese counterpart Eduardo Cabrita, currently presiding over the Justice and Home Affairs Council.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs attended a virtual meeting of the EU Internet Forum, convened by the European Commission.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by State Secretary at the Ministry of Health Alenka Forte, Director of the National Education Institute Vinko Logaj, clinical psychologist Mateja Hudoklin, Director of the Counselling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Parents, and Maja Drobnič Radobuljac, Head of the Intensive Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at the Ljubljana University Psychiatric Clinic.

After attending the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Foreign Minister Anže Logar met with his host Sophie Wilmès, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Federal Cultural Institutions, for a bilateral visit to the Kingdom of Belgium. The ministers welcomed the development of Slovenian-Belgian relations and confirmed their mutual interest in further consolidating them at the bilateral, European, and multilateral levels.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended the regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC). The discussion focused on three key topics – challenges and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, the security situation in Asia, climate and energy diplomacy, and possibilities for cooperation between the EU and the UK in common foreign and security policy.

Prime Minister Janez Janša spoke about the UK coronavirus variant in Slovenia at today’s press conference, and the related measures which need to be adopted.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Municipal infrastructure of the Sevnica Business Zone”. The project worth EUR 1.4 million will be implemented by the Municipality Sevnica and will receive EUR 831,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar was on a working visit to Croatia and made his first stop in the town of Petrinja, which was hit by a devastating earthquake on 29 December last year. Together with his host, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Goran Grlić Radman, he went to see for himself the current situation on the ground and took note of the activities to help those affected by the earthquake. Minister Logar also paid a visit to one of the families living in mobile homes donated by the Republic of Slovenia.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding Covid-19 will be attended by Director-General of the Public Health Directorate Vesna Kerstin Petrič and Anton Gradišek of the Jožef Stefan Institute.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a video conference of the members of the European Council. European heads of state exchanged best practices related to the measures adopted to contain the coronavirus, and discussed prospects for the coming weeks.

Slovenian Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Sabina R. Stadler handed over today a high-tech disinfection system, to the World Health Organization in Geneva. The device will be used at the WHO Geneva headquarters, where it will provide additional protection to its employees and visitors.

This afternoon’s press conference on the latest situation with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic was attended by Janez Cigler Kralj, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Deana Potza of the Health Inspectorate and Tomaž Pečjak, Deputy Director General of the Police.

The press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec, Minister of Infrastructure Jernej Vrtovec and State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Simon Zajc.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar took part in a virtual high-level Arria-formula meeting of the United Nations Security Council on media freedom in Belarus, held under the auspices of the Estonian presidency of the UN Security Council. Among the keynote speakers was Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Belarusian opposition leader and human rights activist.

Prime Minister Janez Janša stressed in today's statement to the media following the 50th regular session of the government that, on the basis of prior consultation with the management of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) and the Government Advisory Group, some decisions were made stemming from the current epidemiological situation and the plan for relaxation of measures.

State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs attended the video conference Trends in Sustainable Financing, hosted by the Centre for Energy Efficient Solutions and the Representation of the European Commission. She presented the process of developing Slovenia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and the planned measures in the field of green and sustainable development.

The year 2021 is an anniversary for Slovenia and for Slovenes at home and abroad who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the declaration and defence of the independent Republic of Slovenia.

Today’s press conference on the current situation with regard to COVID-19 was attended by Director of the Maribor Unit of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) Zoran Simonovič and Marta Grgič Vitek, National Vaccination Programme Coordinator at the NIJZ.

Prime Minister Janez Janša and Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Janez Cigler Kralj, held a press conference today in Brdo pri Kranju to provide an update on vaccination against COVID-19 and present the eighth Anti-Corona Package to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic.

Prime Minister Janez Janša and Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Minister Janez Cigler Kralj held a press conference today in Brdo pri Kranju to provide an update on vaccination against COVID-19 and present the eighth coronavirus relief package designed to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic.

Minister Andrej Šircelj today attended an informal video conference of economics and finance ministers (the ECOFIN Council). The meeting started with the presentation of the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency Programme. In the continuation, ministers discussed the state of play and implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the 2021 European Semester, and the Action Plan for Non-Performing Loans.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan took part in an informal video conference of the General Affairs Council. The ministers responsible for European affairs discussed the preparations for the virtual meeting of the European Council to be held on 21 January, exchanged views and information on the current epidemiological situation in the EU and the vaccine roll-out, and took stock of the vaccination process.