News

Prime Minister Robert Golob is attending the two-day October European Council meeting in Brussels. Ahead of the regular meeting of the leaders of the Group of 27 countries, he stressed that the current situation in the Middle East will mark the first day of the meeting.

Speaking at a press conference, Branko Gregorčič of the Slovenian Environment Agency has said that the weather conditions would worsen in the second half of the night and on Friday morning. Heavy rain is expected, and the south-westerly wind will intensify.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York. She advocated for a stronger role of the Security Council in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS), and stressed the need to prevent and combat retaliation against women who inform the Security Council about certain crises and armed conflicts.

At 78th session, the Government considered the Bill on Reconstruction, Development and Provision of Financial Resources and the Draft Amendment to the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023. The proposed solutions from both laws were presented by the Minister of Infrastructure Alenka Bratušek and the Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič.

On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, the fourth public consultation on drafting the amendments to the Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act took place at the Sodni Stolp Tower in Maribor. The consultation focused on monitoring regional development, indicators and criteria, and the development risk index.

The Guidelines for the Mainstreaming of Gender Equality in Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, endorsed by the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon in May 2023, are now also available in English. This has made the Guidelines accessible to all implementing NGO partners and institutions carrying out development cooperation projects in partner countries.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Digitalisation of Notarial Services.

Prime Minister Robert Golob marks Sovereignty Day with these words: It has been 32 years since we became a sovereign country and were given the exclusive authority to take control of our own territory.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic today addressed the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East, convened at ministerial level by the Brazilian Presidency. The Open Debate focused on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's membership of the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs organised the first debate entitled "Made in Europe, Made in Slovenia" on the future of industry in the context of green transition. In her opening address, Minister Tanja Fajon recalled that, in addition to the benefits of the membership, EU Member States also share some challenges, such as climate change and the green transition.

Prime Minister Robert Golob and Minister of Finance and Public Administration Klemen Boštjančič met today, on 24 October 2023, with the representatives of the Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia, the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia and the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia. They discussed the lump sum funding per capita for 2024 and 2025.

Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed ministers and representatives from 14 Danube countries to a ministerial meeting at Brdo pri Kranju and opened the 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). Slovenia thus concluded its one-year EUSDR Presidency and handed it over to Austria. More than 350 participants from all over Europe attended the Forum.

The main event under Slovenia’s one-year Presidency of the Forum of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) took place at Brdo pri Kranju. The opening ceremony was addressed by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek and European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform Elisa Ferreira.

The State Secretary for European Affairs in the Office of the Slovenian Prime Minister, Igor Mally, attended the meeting of the Ambassadors of the EU Member States in Slovenia (EU HoMs) on Tuesday, 24 October 2023, at the invitation of the Ambassador of Spain, H.E. Juan Arístegui Laborde, in his capacity as Chairman of the meeting.

European telecommunications and digitalisation ministers gathered in León, Spain. In light of the unprecedented challenges we face as a result of the rapid development of modern technologies, the foundations for new global standards are being laid.

On Monday, October 30th, the Archive, the reading room and the information room will be closed due to a collective leave day.

At the correspondence session, the Government adopted amendments to the Decree determining the amount of excise duty on energy products and electricity.

Based on a decree issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia, Andriy Taran, awarded the State Secretary for National and International Security, Andrej Benedejčič, the Order of Prince Jaroslav the Wise.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The meeting focused on the situation in Israel and the region, as well as on the Russian aggression against Ukraine. This was followed by an EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, which was held together with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today participated in a public consultation of experts, politicians, civil society and the general public on changes to the electoral system.

The 14th session of the Slovenian-Chinese Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation was chaired by Mr Slobodan Šešum, Director-General of the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy, and co-chaired by Mr Yu Yuantang, Director General of the Department of European Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The previous session was held in Beijing in 2018.

We have all followed the mass shootings that occur in the United States. The two massacres that took place a few months ago in Belgrade, close to us, remind us of the evils that arise when it becomes too easy to access weapons

Slovenian Regional Development Fund has published two calls on its website (BIZI liquidity floods and BIZI liquidity energy). The two financial products target micro enterprises and SMEs and are designed to support flood recovery projects in the aftermath of the devastating floods in early August 2023 and/or projects aiming to reduce energy consumption amid energy crisis and price increases.

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.