News

Today the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Reconstruction met for its first meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in a reinforced meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council at the invitation of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani. She also delivered a statement at the 67th regular session of the IAEA General Conference, with Slovenia concluding its mandate.

''Studio of Circular Economy is a project that plays an important role in tackling the challenges of circular use of resources and in raising awareness of the potentials of circular economy in the local environment,'' stressed State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development mag. Marko Koprivc at a press conference held in Rogaška Slatina to present the project.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar is hosting the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, Oliver Spasovski, today and tomorrow. Today's bilateral meeting was devoted to discussions on topical issues in the field of home affairs, in particular migration management, and to further strengthening bilateral cooperation.

With electrification and de-fossilisation trends predicting a doubling of electricity use by 2050, the Nuclear Power Plant 2 (NPP2) project is a national investment of strategic importance in a low-carbon electricity source in the Republic of Slovenia.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Filip Tosevski, for consultations. The counterparts were pleased with the intensive political dialogue and excellent relations between the two countries. They exchanged views on topical regional, European and international issues.

Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), is visiting Slovenia. He and Minister Han discussed the preparation of Slovenia's first national intellectual property (IP) strategy. This will help to improve understanding and respect for intellectual property rights and, as a result, improve the environment for innovation and a competitive economy.

Tomorrow marks 23 years since the Slovenian anthem was heard at the Olympic Games for the first time. This was a very important event in Slovenian history, which is why this date was chosen as the day to celebrate Slovenian sports. To mark this year’s Day of Slovenian Sport, the Bank of Slovenia has issued a new collector coin.

On the margins of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Minister Tanja Fajon hosted the first meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Successor States of the former SFRY. Slovenia initiated the meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Agreement on Succession Issues, with a view to promoting talks on resolving the outstanding succession issues.

On the margins of the general debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, attended the preparatory ministerial meeting for the Summit of the Future, which was opened by the President of the 78th UNGA, Dennis Francis, and the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

At its meeting today, the Government adopted the preliminary programmes for the repair of direct damage to property caused by the flooding on 4 August 2023, by the storm with flooding between 12 and 13 July 2023 and by the storm with flooding between 17 July and 3 August 2023.

The 8th Mediterranean Coast and Macro-Regional Strategies Week takes place in Izola under the motto "Stronger cooperation for a better future". This year's Week is marked by Slovenia's ongoing Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region, which Slovenia will chair in 2024.

Ambassador Drofenik was pleased to host a discussion on the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention and the future of international criminal justice at the Slovenian residence last night, in the margins of the Ukraine v. Russia Genocide Convention case before the International Court of Justice.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar spoke by telephone with the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Nešić, to exchange information on migration and border management. They agreed on a visit by Minister Nešić to Slovenia in early November.

Slovenia is participating in the oral hearing as an intervening State in the proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the case of Ukraine v. Russian Federation, which runs from 18 to 27 September 2023. Ukraine has lodged a complaint against the Russian Federation for alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted Leo Docherty, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Europe at the UK Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Development, for a return visit to Slovenia. Their talks were aimed at deepening bilateral relations and exchanging views on some topical European and international issues.

Interreg Cooperation Day, which took place in Umag, Croatia, showcased cross-border cooperation projects in the field of rescue and sustainable mobility, which are implemented in the framework of the Interreg Programme Slovenia-Croatia. The event was attended by both Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy, namely the Slovenian Minster Dr Aleksander Jevšek and the Croatian Minister Šime Erlić.

On the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, Minister Tanja Fajon held a series of bilateral talks, including with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Foreign Minister of Ecuador Gustavo Manrique Miranda, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Enrique Manalo.

On 18 September 2023, a three-day training conference kicked off in Podgorica as part of the international project Her CyberTracks designed by International Communication Union (ITU) and Germany (GIZ) incollaboration with the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) and the University of Montenegro. The project is aiming to bridge the digital gender gap.

This year’s Mediterranean Coast and Macro-regional Strategies Week was held in Izola, Slovenia, under the slogan ‘Stronger cooperation for better future’. The event, which has become recognised as one of the central events where the representatives of all four European macro-regional strategies meet and share their experiences, was attended by State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development, mag. Marko Koprivc.

State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in the EU General Affairs Council in Brussels. By discussing an annotated draft agenda, Council members started preparations for the European Council meeting in October. In this context, they exchanged views on Ukraine, the proposed revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021–2027, economic issues and the external dimension of migration.

From 18 to 19 September 2023, the Slovenian EUSDR Presidency organised the Joint meeting of the National Coordinators and Priority Area Coordinators of the EU Strategy for the Danube region (EUSDR) in Portorož, which was the last meeting of core governance structure of EUSDR under Slovenian Presidency.

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec, and the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Italy, Guido Crosetto, have signed an amendment to the Implementing Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Italy and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia on cooperation in the field of military aviation (hereinafter: the Implementing Agreement), signed on 17 November 2021, which defines the purchase of a second C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft, based on the Government-to-Government model.

On the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon hosted the first meeting of foreign ministers representing the Incoming 5 members of the UN Security Council.

At today’s Agriculture and Fisheries (Agri-Fish) Council meeting, the EU Ministers were familiarised with the damages suffered by the Slovenian agriculture, forestry and aquaculture in the aftermath of the recent floods and landslides. Ms Irena Šinko, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, told in presentation that immediately after the extreme weather events the Ministry commenced collecting data on the damages inflicted, and preparing emergency aid measures. “In agriculture, damages have been recorded on land, facilities, machinery, deficiencies in stock of feed and seed materials, and difficulties in raw milk delivery.”

This year's Frankfurt Book Fair will be of special importance for Slovenia as its guest of honour. Slovenia is only the third Slavic country to feature as the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where it will appear under the motto "A Honeycomb of Words". Various exhibitions related to Slovenia and its literature and culture are also part of the rich cross-border programme. Three exhibitions were opened in the period between 14 and 17 September.

Message from Prime Minister Robert Golob on the occasion of the Day of the Return of Primorska to the Motherland

Prime Minister Robert Golob attended a charity football match played by former football stars at Stožice Stadium on the initiative of UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. The funds raised will be donated to those affected by the floods.

After the Government took note of the Report on the Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Recovery and Resilience submitted today to the European Commission a second request for payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob met today with the Qatari Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanim, and the Mufti of the Islamic Community in Slovenia, Nevzet Porić.

The Government decided that intervention expenditure in the amount of EUR 94.9 million be reimbursed to 138 municipalities and up to EUR 11.4 million to protection and rescue forces. Intervention expenditure of up to EUR 2.5 million will be reimbursed to firefighting units. The Government earmarked EUR 31.7 million for the preliminary programme of eliminating the consequences of damage in the economy and EUR 47 million for measures on water infrastructure.

The Celje International Trade Fair MOS hosted a public debate on the future of regional development which was attended by Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek and State Secretary Andreja Katič. The discussion, attended also by the members of the Chamber of Craft and Small Businesses of Slovenia, focused on the Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act amendment proposals.

State Secretary mag. Marko Koprivc was a keynote speaker at the Connect2Slovenia International Business Meeting, which took place on Thursday, 14 September 2023, at Celjski sejmi d.d. as part of the International Trade Fair Celje (MOS). The event was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia in partnership with SPIRIT Slovenia, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport and Advantage Austria Slovenia.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held political consultations with Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Jovita Neliupšienė in Vilnius. They reviewed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and exchanged views on current European and global issues, with a focus on the situation in the Western Balkans and Ukraine.

Twelve representatives of the Slovenian Government's public relations services, led by the Director of the Government Communication Office, Petra Bezjak Cirman, attended a two-day training course in London organised by the UK Government Communication Service (GCS).

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs welcomes the adoption of the European Council's decision on the composition of the European Parliament for the parliamentary term 2024–2029, which gives Slovenia one additional seat, bringing the total number of seats to nine.

A total of EUR 50 million of overcommitments will be redirected to the Reconstruction Fund and a further EUR 20.5 million in cohesion funding will be reallocated to post-flood intervention measures in order to mobilise available resources from cohesion policy programmes and allow for full absorption of the funding made available to Slovenia in the 2014-2020 programming period.

The Government starts examining information on the preparation of the budgets of the Republic of Slovenia for 2024 and 2025. It gave its consent to the draft amendment of the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014–2020, took note of the Autumn Forecast of Economic Trends 2023 and the information on the baselines for the preliminary programme for the repair of direct damage resulting from the August floods.

The Government takes note of the Report on the Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) before submitting the second request for payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which includes information on meeting the milestones and goals for individual instalments. The Government also discussed the financial implementation of the Plan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today delivered the final State of the Union Address at the European Parliament in this mandate, assessing the political priorities achieved and providing an overview of the challenges ahead of next year's European elections.

State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in a discussion entitled "A strong and resilient EU in response to the challenges of the future", organised by the European Commission Representation in Slovenia on the occasion of this year's State of the Union address by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

Minister Tanja Fajon delivered the opening address at the 12th Economic Diplomacy Day, which took place in the framework of the traditional 55th International Trade Fair in Celje with the message: "When I meet with companies, I find that Slovenian companies offer solutions that contribute to solving the challenges of climate change, not only in Slovenia, but also worldwide."

On Tuesday, 12th September 2023, the Republic of Slovenia, rated A3 (stable) / AA- (stable) / A (stable), successfully entered the markets with a US$ 1bn 10-year 144A / Reg S bond. This landmark transaction represents the return of Slovenia to the US$ market for the first time since 2014. The success of the transaction, with over US$ 3.8bn of demand (including JLMs interest), is a strong testimony of the confidence institutional investors have in the Republic of Slovenia. Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe S.E. and J.P. Morgan jointly led the offering.

At its correspondence session, the Government gave its consent to the proposed amendments to the draft act amending the Mental Health Act.

At government committee sessions, the Government agreed with the proposed amendments to the Financial Operations, Insolvency Proceedings and Compulsory Dissolution Act and the proposed amendments to the Bloudek Awards Act. In the Development Programmes Plan 2023–2026, the Government added several new projects.

In Istanbul, Turkey, the last intensive preparations are underway for the 23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP23). Slovenia will host the 23rd meeting in December 2023 and take over the two-year presidency of the Barcelona Convention for the period 2024-2025.

State Secretary for Intergenerational Dialogue and Housing Policy Nataša Lužar received the representatives of the Association of Social Institutions of Slovenia.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister Robert Golob paid an official visit to Luxembourg. This is a follow-up to Prime Minister Bettel's visit to Slovenia in February this year, when the two countries pledged to work even more closely together, particularly in economic matters.

State Secretary for Intergenerational Dialogue and Housing Policy Nataša Lužar met with the representatives of the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Today, on 12 September 2023, the State Secretary for the Coordination of Measures and Activities for Post-Flood Reconstruction, Boštjan Šefic, visited the Municipality of Litija and met with Mayor Franci Rokavec. The purpose of the working visit was to discuss the challenges and needs facing the municipality and residents living in the affected area, as well as further relief measures.