News

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon has begun an official visit to China. She is first stopping in Beijing and later in Shanghai. The four-day visit will focus on political dialogue, both bilateral and in the UN Security Council, strengthening economic cooperation and showcasing Slovenia's cultural diplomacy.

At today's meeting, the Government adopted a draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which implements three decisions of the Constitutional Court, raises the standard of demonstrating proof and shortens the time limit for obtaining information. It also issued a Decree on the method of determining the conditions and criteria for allocating investment incentives and conditions for strategic investment.

An exhibition dedicated to Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein and his astronomical observatory in Beijing opened on April 17, 2024, in Beijing, China. The exhibition is the result of many years of fruitful cooperation between the Archives Administration of China, the First Historical Archives of China, and the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
The exhibition was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Tanja Fajon.

The Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob, today hosted the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón. The two Prime Ministers discussed the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on the war in Gaza. They also touched on the issue of recognition of Palestine and agreed to hold a joint meeting of the two Governments.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today attended a panel discussion held by the Academy of Sciences for the Sustainable Development of Slovenia at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, where he also addressed the participants. The topic of the panel was the challenges and risks of sustainable development in Slovenia.

Last week, Ambassador Iztok Mirošič attened the 10th Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska. He also participated on the panel entitled What happens when the Arctic Doesn't Stay in the Arctic as a guest speaker.

State Secretary Marko Štucin, on behalf of Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, participated in an extraordinary videoconference meeting of EU foreign ministers on the current developments in the Middle East. The meeting was convened by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, following Iran's attack on Israel.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon is concluding her visit to Japan. On the second day, she met with Kazuchiko Iwata, Japan's Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as representatives of Japan's largest business federation Keidanren, namely the CEO of Hitachi Corporation Toshiaki Higashihara and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMBC, Japan's second largest bank.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today met with the Mayors of Črna na Koroškem, Ravne na Koroškem, Ljubno and Luče to discuss the progress of post-flood recovery.

In Japan, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa discussed bilateral relations and cooperation in the UN Security Council, particularly in view of the many conflicts that require decisive action by the international community. On the first day of her visit to Tokyo, Minister Fajon addressed the Japan-Slovenia Business Council and gave a lecture at Keio University.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic attended the International humanitarian conference for Sudan and neighbouring countries in Paris, organised by France, Germany and the European Union. Addressing representatives from some 60 countries, Ms Štiglic stressed the need to protect civilians and allow unimpeded humanitarian access.

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

Consular operations at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Tehran are temporarily limited to providing essential consular services in support of Slovenian citizens.

Prime Minister Robert Golob attended a consultation of leaders in Vienna to discuss the strategic priorities of the European Union for the next five-year period. The leaders of Cyprus, Denmark, Malta, Slovenia and Denmark attended the working dinner, alongside the hosts, European Council President Charles Michel and Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar accepted the invitation of the Lithuanian Minister of the Interior Agnë Bilotaitë and travelled to Lithuania for a two-day work visit.

The topic of the new podcast show is migration. Zorana Potič's guest is the executive director of the European Asylum Agency, Nina Gregori, who has been working in this field for her entire career.

Andrej Nared began his five-year term as the Director of the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia on April 5, 2024. He had served as the Acting Director of the Slovenian state archives since June 1, 2023.

Prime Minister Robert Golob expresses his unconditional support to the former President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, in his candidacy for the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade–Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues. That is why he has held in the past month numerous bilateral talks with EU leaders and senior EU representatives.

At today's session, the Government adopted, among other things, a report on the implementation of the Capital Market Development Strategy and amendments to the Decree on the measures of agri-environment-climate payments, organic farming, and payments to areas facing natural or other specific constraints laid down in the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia 2014–2020.

On Monday we officially opened the Bologna Children's Book Fair, where Slovenia is this year's Guest of Honour. As Guest of Honour, Slovenia has a unique opportunity to showcase its creative talents, publishers, authors and illustrators at one of the world's leading platforms for children's and youth literature.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today visited Sneberje to examine the progress made to restore the houses and the levee damaged by the August floods.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the Call for proposals for the implementation of integrated support services for innovative individuals and innovative start-ups 2024-2025 (Start-up consortium) and for the project Small scale incentives via vouchers. The call for proposals and the vouchers will make a total of 21.16 million euros available for start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs.

An exhibition on the technological inventions that help us fight forest fires opens at the Kosovel House in Sežana today. Visitors can learn how firefighting equipment has evolved, see a mock-up of a Slovenian satellite that detects and monitors fires, try firefighting with 3D glasses and find out when the Karst region will be green again. The exhibition will run until 21 April and admission is free.

ALT-EDIC seeks a Director who will lead the Alliance for Language Technologies EDIC (ALT-EDIC), a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (one of the first), aimed at developing a common European infrastructure in Language Technologies, focusing particularly on Large Language Models. It seeks to improve European competitiveness, increase the availability of European language data and uphold Europe’s linguistic diversity and cultural richness.

The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia will be closed on 1 and 2 May 2024, on the occasion of International Workers' Day.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon met with representatives of the Call for Palestine petition, Dr Rudi Rizman, the first signatory, as well as Aurelio Juri, Dr Spomenka Hribar, Dr Danijel Rebolj, Dr Primož Šterbenc and Dr Maja Breznik. They exchanged views on the war in Gaza and the situation in the Middle East and the wider region.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development hosted a panel discussion on the opportunities offered by EU cohesion policy in tackling RDI challenges and needs. This was the third event of this kind; the previous two put spotlight on opportunities for young and old people.

State Secretary Dr Blaž Germšek has attended the informal meeting of agriculture ministers in Genk. The discussion focused on how to increase the EU's self-sufficiency in protein crops, while considering all three aspects of sustainability.

Prime Minister Robert Golob attended the 34th plenary session of the National Children's Parliament, which once again focused on the mental health of children and young people.

Today marks a special day: World Health Day. So let's take this opportunity to reflect upon one of our most important values – health.

The 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously adopted two resolutions on the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and on the rights of minorities, which Slovenia had proposed/filed jointly with two groups of countries.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna, for consultations. They reviewed bilateral relations and talked about Slovenia's experience in preparing for the EU Council Presidency in 2021, as well as topical European issues such as EU enlargement, the Western Balkans, EU institutional reforms and EU-Türkiye relations, including the Cyprus issue and migration.

Prime Minister Robert Golob today met with the leading representatives of the Slovenian justice system. The meeting was also attended by Andreja Katič, the Minister of Justice, and representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Marko Štucin received Gabriel Hribar, President of the Unity List, the umbrella party of the Slovenian national minority in Austria, and Rudi Vouk, President of the Association of Slovenian Lawyers in Carinthia. They discussed the situation of the Slovenian minority in Austria and the petition on the inadequate implementation of minority rights.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in a two-day meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels, which focused on NATO’s 75th anniversary, preparations for the Washington Summit in July, support for Ukraine and strengthening cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. She underlined the importance of unity among allies on key strategic issues.

At today's session, the Government adopted a proposal for a new Lipica Stud Farm Act, setting the conditions for the Stud Farm's development and more efficient management, as well as the preservation of cultural heritage and its economic development. The Government also issued several Decrees concerning agriculture, which grant some of the requests from the recent protests. The Government decided to extend the mediation with the Fides trade union for one week.

On April 3 and 4, 2024, the 95th meeting of the Bureau of the Barcelona Convention was held in Ljubljana, which Slovenia hosted as the presiding country.

As part of the presentation of economic diplomacy, State Secretary Marko Štucin and representatives of the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy visited the Savinja region to present to local companies how economic diplomacy can help Slovenian companies to internationalise their business.

Today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, attended the GREMO Innovation Conference, where participants discussed the development of the Slovenian automotive and mobility industry in the light of the green and digital transformation.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met today with the Mayor of the Municipality of Maribor, Saša Arsenovič.

On Friday, 29 March 2024, the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development published the first amendment of the invitation to prepare agreements for the development of regions. The agreements will serve as the basis for co-financing projects under European Cohesion Policy objectives in 12 development regions. “The agreements for the development of regions are an important form of allocating EU funding in accordance with the bottom-up principle,” said Minister Dr Aleksander Jevšek.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Raising the level of bilingual education of the Hungarian national community in Slovenia and the Slovenian national community in Hungary.

Slovenia is concluding its third month in the Security Council. During the presidency of Japan, the month was marked by the adoption of a resolution on Gaza, showcasing the leading role of the 10 elected members in peace efforts. Japan organized open debates on the working methods of the UN Security Council and the role of women in conflict prevention.

Dear Citizens, dear Slovenians at home and abroad, I sincerely wish you happy Easter holidays.

Today, Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the Department of Haematology at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, where the most complex and immunocompromised patients receive treatment. The Department of Haematology is the only tertiary institution for haematology patients in Slovenia.

Ambassador Iztok Mirošič participated in the inaugural Western Balkan Salon Roundtable, a collaborative event series hosted by the Atlantic Council and the embassies of the Western Balkan nations in Washington on March 28, 2024.

On 29 March 2004, the Republic of Slovenia became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after successfully depositing its Instrument of Accession in Washington. By joining this important political-military alliance, Slovenia achieved one of the main foreign policy and defence-military objectives it set itself at the time of its independence in 1991. This historic milestone was celebrated yesterday with a high-level meeting, panel discussions and a national ceremony at the Brdo Congress Centre.

As the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the EU approaches, in a new episode of the podcast, we hosted agricultural economist Dr Emil Erjavec. During the negotiations for EU accession, he was a member of the core negotiating team for agriculture and fisheries, the "expert engine" of the negotiations for agriculture. He is a highly popular professor at the Biotechnical Faculty and above all, a great expert in agricultural policy.

The international exercise INEX-6, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA), was completed at the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA).

Wishing to resume social dialogue, Prime Minister Robert Golob invited the union representatives sitting on the Economic and Social Council to attend a working meeting.