News

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.