News

In a telephone conversation, Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar once again drew the attention of his Croatian counterpart Dr Davor Božinović to the high number of illegal crossings of the Slovenian-Croatian border, in particular in the area of the municipality of Brežice.

At the invitation of the Latvian Minister of Justice and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Slovenia's Minister of Justice Dominika Švarc Pipan attended the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe in Riga. The aim of the discussion is to support the reforms of the Ukrainian justice system and the restoration of the international legal order by ensuring the full responsibility of the Russian Federation for its aggression against Ukraine.

Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han today visited Carinthia as part of his tour of the border regions that form Slovenia's economic hinterland. As part of the Slovenian Minority Business Coordination, the Minister aims to strengthen economic cooperation with the regions along Slovenia's border, as these regions account for 30% of trade with neighbouring countries.

Today, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon attended a commemorative ceremony in honour of the heroes of Basovizza, marking the 93rd anniversary of their death. She delivered a solemn address and laid a memorial wreath.

The traditional European Mobility Week campaign began last weekend as one of the most massive and influential initiatives in Slovenia and Europe at large.

In the context of maintaining regular dialogue and good cooperation, Prime Minister Robert Golob and President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar met for a working lunch.

Prime Minister Robert Golob wrote to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, about the importance of the EU's expansion to the Western Balkans and making the decision to start accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At today's meeting, the Government took note of information on the progress of activities to prepare an application for the EU Solidarity Fund, established the Government Office for Flood and Landslide Recovery and appointed the Director General of the Police.

The Republic of Slovenia, rated A3 (stable) / AA- (stable) / A (stable), has mandated Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and J.P. Morgan as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners to arrange a Global Investor Call today, September 7, at 2pm UKT / 3pm CET / 9am EST, as well as a series of 1-on-1 investor calls also commencing today. A US$-denominated 144A/Reg S 10-year benchmark issue may follow subject to market conditions.

One of four semesters of the new international postgraduate study programme examining the physiology and medicine of humans in space and extreme environments will be implemented in Slovenia as part of the SpaceMed Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters. The University of Caen Normandy (France), the Charité – University Medicine Berlin (Germany) and the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School (Slovenia) have joined forces in the programme.

Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the call centre for assistance to residents after the floods, which started its operation today.

Prime Minister Robert Golob received today the President of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandroković, who is on an official visit to Slovenia.

The State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia invites interested lawyers and law firms in Romania to submit tenders to represent the Republic of Slovenia before the courts and administrative authorities of Romania.

At a regular meeting of the Committee on the Economy, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved amendments to the General conditions governing the activities of the Slovenian Regional Development Fund.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government decided to set up a call centre for reconstruction after the 2023 floods on the telephone number 114. It also appointed Maja Tomanič Vidovič as Director of the Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship (hereinafter: the Slovene Enterprise Fund).

At the government committee sessions, the Government agreed, among other things, on an amendment to the draft Act amending the Bloudek Awards Act, revised the values of projects for the compensation of electricity and natural gas suppliers in the current Development Programmes Plan 2023–2026 (DPP 2023–2026), and adopted some amendments to the current DPP 2023–2026.

EU Ministers for Development Cooperation discussed sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda with Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Amina Mohammed. The next day's meeting focused on the triple transition – green, digital and social – and on the reform of the global financial architecture. Slovenia was represented by Director-General of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Edvin Skrt.

Today, a 3-day informal meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers, including Mrs Irena Šinko, the Slovenian Agriculture Minister, concluded in Cordoba/Spain. Focus of this meeting was on new technologies to stimulate transition to a more sustainable and productive model adapted to the challenges of climate change. In the margins of the meeting, Minister Šinko met with the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Janusz Wojciechowski, and presented to him the damages in agriculture in the aftermath of the catastrophic floods that affected Slovenia this August.

The Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič on the basis of the third paragraph of Article 40 of the Slovenian Sovereign Holding Act, issued a Decision on the appointment and tasks of the Expert Commission for the preparation of the candidate proposal for the member of the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) Supervisory Board.

At a correspondence session, the Government adopted a new version of the Guidelines for Innovative Public Procurement and issued an opinion on the petition of Vzajemna, d.v.z., Ljubljana, to initiate a procedure to review the constitutionality of the Decree on the setting of the maximum price of the supplementary health insurance premium, the Decree amending the Decree laying down the list of goods and services subject to price control measures, and the Price Control Act.

The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Tirana will be closed on 5 September 2023 on the occasion of Mother Teresa Canonisation Day.

Join evening Slovene language courses starting at UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies

The signing of the Working Agreement between the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Organisation on search co-operation will enable applicants to obtain quality information more quickly in patent grant procedures. Applicants for European and international patent applications will be able to obtain additional financial benefits for an invention that has been pre-examined by the European Patent Office.

Prime Minister Robert Golob received a delegation of ten members of the United States Congress, nine senators and one member of the House of Representatives.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) in Toledo, where the ministers addressed current foreign and security policy issues. They discussed Russia's aggression on Ukraine and the situation in the Sahel, focusing on Niger after the military coup.

“It is the enormous scale of the damage that requires us to tackle these floods and their consequences, not only with a new act, but with a completely renewed approach,” the Prime Minister explained in the National Assembly when discussing the draft act on intervention measures to address the consequences of floods and landslides.

On Tuesday, 29th of August, the Bled Strategic Forum hosted a panel titled Ukraine: the Power of Solidarity. The panellists included Dr Damir Črnčec, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Krsto Perović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, Andrii Taran, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia, Krzysztof Jan Olendzki, Ambassador of Poland to the Republic of Slovenia, and Holger Haibach from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for Croatia and Slovenia. The panel was moderated by Katja Geršak.

Presenting the draft revised state budget for this year in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Robert Golob stressed that the Government would give priority to helping the most affected people and business sectors before dealing with the rest.

The Government has approved an indicative list of areas for additional loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

At today's session, the Government adopted a decision on the use of additional loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. It also adopted several other decisions and resolutions.

Today, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Damir Črnčec, and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, Dr Krsto Perović, signed an Agreement between the Ministries of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia and Montenegro on cooperation in the field of military reconnaissance and aerial surveillance and monitoring based on the joint procurement of Belin unmanned aerial systems.

The 18th Bled Strategic Forum, which has hosted 32 discussions and brought together nearly 3000 participants, 188 speakers and around 100 representatives of Slovenian and foreign media, is coming to an end. It has once again proven not only to be a hub of ideas and a platform for the most pressing issues of modern society, but also a trademark that is becoming more and more established at the global level.

Meteorologist Branko Gregorčič and hydrologist Janez Polajnar from the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO), Neža Kodre, the director of the Slovenian Water Agency, Miloš Bavec, the director of the Geological Survey of Slovenia, and Srečko Šestan, the commander of the Civil Protection Service, participated in a press conference about the extraordinary meteorological and hydrological conditions in Slovenia, at which a weather and hydrological warning with updated data was also presented.

State Secretaries Samuel Žbogar and Marko Štucin held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 18th Bled Strategic Forum. State Secretary Štucin participated in the panel on the EU’s decision-making role.

The 18th Bled Strategic Forum, this year held under the slogan “Solidarity for Global Security”, was opened with speeches by Prime Minister Robert Golob, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon. In the context of the recent floods that hit Slovenia, the forum also has a humanitarian focus.

The expected extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions in Slovenia were presented at the press conference by meteorologist Branko Gregorčič and hydrologist Janez Polajnar, both from the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO), a representative of the Slovenian Water Agency, Rok Penec, and the Commander of the Civil Protection Service of the Republic of Slovenia, Srečko Šestan.

Minister Tanja Fajon opened the 18th Bled Strategic Forum, which this year is held under the title of "Solidarity for Global Security". The theme coincides with the most devastating natural disaster in Slovenia's recent history, which affected many people and destroyed a large number of homes. The guests were also addressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Minister Dr Jevšek and Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Dr Ignazio Cassis signed today in Ljubljana the Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Swiss Federal Council on the implementation of the second Swiss Contribution to reduce economic and social disparities in the European Union. Slovenia is eligible to 16 million Swiss Franks under the second Swiss Contribution.

In early August, parts of Slovenia were hit by widespread flooding, which also caused great damage to part of the economy. Most of the Slovenian economy is functioning completely normally after the floods, it is safe and open for business.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister, Robert Golob, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, arrived in Slovenia to attend the Bled Strategic Forum. Before that, he and the Prime Minister visited some of the areas affected by the natural disaster in Kamnik. President Michel pledged continued support for Slovenia.

State Secretary Boštjan Šefic, who is responsible for the coordination of measures and activities for post-flood reconstruction, met with the mayors of the flood-affected municipalities in the Upper Savinja Valley.

Construction works at the Domžale railway station have come to an end. The railways station now boasts a modernised platform and rail infrastructure, a new underpass for passengers, and a refurbished station building.

Prime Minister Robert Golob received the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Jagan Chapagain, and the IFRC Regional Director, Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has set out the text of the draft Act Determining Intervention Measures for Flood and Landslide Recovery of August 2023 and is sending it to the National Assembly for consideration under the urgent procedure. The adoption of the draft Act will allow for the taking of urgent and effective measures to deal with the consequences of floods and landslides.

On 23 and 24 August, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs hosts the 3rd Seminar for young diplomats from the Eastern Partnership countries, with participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

State Secretary mag. Marko Koprivc gave an address at the opening of a new interpretive circular trail in the Ljubljansko barje marshes. In his address, the State Secretary underlined the importance of greening people's living environments, which has a significant impact on the quality of life on the one hand, and on improving the state of biodiversity on the other, also taking into account, of course, climate change adaptation.

The 18th Bled Strategic Forum international conference will take place in Bled on 28 and 29 August 2023. This year's conference will be held under the title “Solidarity for Global Security” and will be the most globally inclusive and representative forum yet. In light of the recent catastrophic floods in Slovenia, this year's conference will also feature fundraising activities for flood relief.

At today's government session, Minister Dr Aleksander Jevšek reported about the progress of the ongoing activities concerning the preparation of the application for the EU Solidarity Fund and about other activities for a fast and efficient post-flood recovery.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, today held a meeting with representatives of the Slovenian banking and insurance systems.

Today, Prime Minister Robert Golob invited representatives of major humanitarian organisations to a working meeting. They discussed further measures aimed at helping people affected by the floods, including mutual cooperation and the distribution of material and financial aid and activities in the field.