News

Following today’s informal consultations with the National Security Council (NSC), Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob has said that based on all the information that the government has about the incident in Poland, there is no need for any rise in the level of alert, as there has been no increase in the threat assessment level.

A trilateral Letter of Intent was signed in Podgorica between the ministries of foreign affairs of Slovenia, France and Montenegro on the establishment of a regional Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C; Centre de développement des Capacités Cyber des Balkans Occidentaux - 3CBO) at the Science and Technology Park of Montenegro, which is part of the University of Montenegro in Podgorica.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EUR 1.5 million for a call for proposals Developing new organisational forms of treating people who require short-term institutional care after an injury or illness. The total funding comes from the European Social Fund and React-EU.

State Secretary, Dr Branko Lobnikar, attended the two-day ministerial meeting of the member states of the Salzburg Forum in Bucharest.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved nearly EUR 650 thousand in EU funding for the project Integrated Territorial Investments Kranj cycling routes: Zlato polje – Kranj railway station.

In the face of the uncertain situation on the energy markets, the Slovenian Government is working with various stakeholders, including suppliers, to exchange information and find the best solutions to make it through this challenging period

The President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, Alojz Kovšca, paid an official visit to Japan from 6 to 11 November 2022, upon the invitation of the Speaker of the Senate of Japan, Hidehisa Otsuji. President of the National Council Alojz Kovšca was accompanied by the State Councillors, Bojan Kekec and Mitja Gorenšček.

Today’s EU Foreign Affairs Council in the defence configuration held in Brussels was attended by State Secretary for Defence Dr Damir Črnčec. The discussion focused on the EU's defence capabilities.

In the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Slovenian delegation headed by Minister of Infrastructure Bojan Kumer and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon concluded a deal on the supply of natural gas to Slovenia.

State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Uroš Vajgl, and Mag. Tina Sršen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, addressed the participants in the presentation of the results of the Slovenian Household Energy Efficiency Survey (REUS GOS 2022).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the regular EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell in Brussels. The discussions focused on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Great Lakes region in Africa and the Western Balkans.

Yesterday, Fitch affirmed Slovenia's credit rating at A with a stable outlook.

Even when living abroad, Slovenians do not forget their tradition, and must does have to turn into wine. Here are some images from tonight's Martinovanje in Cleveland!

At the correspondence meeting, the government adopted several decisions.

State Secretary Samuel Žbogar received a courtesy visit from the Special Representative of the People’s Republic of China for Cooperation between Central and Eastern Europe Countries and China, Ambassador Jiang Yu.

Today, the Minister of Culture, Dr Asta Vrečko, paid a regional visit to the Goriška and Obalno-Kraška regions. During her visit, she signed contracts with the Mayors of Ajdovščina, Komen and Divača on the co-financing of museum projects worth around EUR 4.5 million. These are projects included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

Today, on 11 November 2022, the first session of the government working group for Roma issues, which was appointed at the 20th regular session of the Government, took place.

Today, Dr Andrej Benedejčič, State Secretary for National and International Security in the Office of the Prime Minister, welcomed Pavel Franko, Director of the Office of the Security Council of the Slovak Republic.

Slovenia is hosting the largest women’s sports event since the country gained its independence. From 4 to 20 November, Celje and Ljubljana will be hosting matches of the European Women’s Handball Championship, together with North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon responded to the accusations made in the interpellation submitted by the Slovenian Democratic Party deputies upon the recall of Mr Tone Kajzer, Slovenia’s Ambassador to the USA. Minister Fajon won the confidence vote by 52 votes.

In today’s session, the Government adopted the initiative to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, and set out the text of the draft Accessibility of products and services to disabled persons Act. It also began a discussion concerning the Draft Act amending the Trade Act.

Today, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob hosted a consultation with the ministers and coalition deputies.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob hosted Milena Zupančič at a lunch and congratulated her on the Metod Badjura Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cinema, which she received at this year’s Festival of Slovenian Film.

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November. The aim of the conference is to re-energise the global ambition to scale up climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and to mobilise adequate financing for climate action.

Yesterday and today, Danijel Bešič Loredan, the Minister of Health, is on a working visit to Brussels, during which he met the representatives of the European institutions.

State Secretary Marko Štucin paid a bilateral visit to Budapest during which he met Minister of Justice of Hungary Dr Judit Varga, State Secretary for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Justice Dr János Bóka and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Levente Magyar.

Data from the latest European Patent Office survey highlights the gender gap in innovation, with women accounting for only 13.2% of European inventors listed in patent applications. At 17.4%, Slovenia ranks slightly above the European average.

At the sessions of both government committees, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the decision to increase the scope of funds available in the Slovenian Regional Development Fund, opened new budget items to mitigate the consequences of price increases, agreed to the amendments to the proposed Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act and integrated several projects in the applicable Plan of Development Programmes for the 2022–2025 Period.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob visited Iskraemeco, a global technological company in Kranj, which offers smart solutions in energy and water management.

Matjaž Han, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, received the delegation of the Republic of Korea led by the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Korea, Park Byeong-Seug. The meeting was intended to enhance economic cooperation between the countries and introduce the candidature of the Republic of Korea to organise World Expo 2030 in Busan.

On 11 October 2022, the Republic of Austria announced to the European Commission, the Parliament and the Member States that it would extend the border control at the internal Schengen border with Slovenia for the period from 12 November 2022 to 11 May 2023. The reasons cited include an increase in migration flows, including due to visa policies in the Western Balkans, and an increase in secondary migration due to the current situation at the EU's external border, as well as due to the activities of organised groups of smugglers.

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

State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in the Ministerial Meeting of the Central European Initiative hosted by the Bulgarian CEI Presidency in Sofia. The meeting focused on Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the broader consequences of the war, which is having a profound negative impact on all CEI Member States. The ministers and state secretaries expressed their continued support for Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met with Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Korea Park Byeong-seug. The meeting was devoted to discussions on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Korea.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met with representatives of the Slovenian national community in Austria as part of her regular contacts with Slovenians abroad. The discussion focused on outstanding issues concerning the situation of the Slovenian national community in Austria.

At today's correspondence meeting, the government amended the draft state budget for 2024, which provides additional funds for investments in road and sports infrastructure, while leaving total revenue and expenditure unchanged. It also adopted its position on the updating of the Energy Charter Treaty.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met with representatives of the Slovenian national community in Italy. The meeting, which was aimed at exchanging views on current issues concerning the situation of the Slovenian national community in Italy, is part of the Minister’s regular dialogue with Slovenians living abroad.

At the end of October, the Government Office for Digital Transformation started implementing three projects intended to raise the level of digital competences among the young and older generations. The projects implemented together with partner organisations focused on primary and secondary school students and older residents of rural areas of Slovenia.

According to preliminary data, the state budget recorded approximately EUR 10.3 billion in revenue in the first ten months of the year, which is EUR 1.3 billion or 14.2% more than in the same period last year. Expenditure decreased by EUR 779 million or 7.3% year-on-year to approximately EUR 10.6 billion, with the budget recording a total deficit of approximately EUR 283 million in the first ten months.

During his visit to Japan from 26 to 31 October 2022, Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič met with Secretary of State Takahiro Inoue, with whom he discussed further cooperation between the two countries on the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Slovenia and Japan.

Minister of Culture Asta Vrečko today paid a visit to the region of Kozjansko. As part of the visit, the minister and the mayors of the municipalities of Šmarje pri Jelšah, Podčetrtek and Kozje signed contracts on the co-funding of castle renovation projects worth more than EUR 3.6 million, which are included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

In Montevideo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met with Carolina Ache Batlle, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. During their talks, the two high officials expressed interest in strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

Nominations related to the traditions of Lipizzan horse breeding and beekeeping in Slovenia have received a positive assessment by the Evaluation Body of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage for inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A decision on inscription on the list will be made at the end of November.

We, Slovenians, are who we are because of our language. Without the Slovenian language, there would be no Slovenians. Without it, there would be no Slovenia. We celebrate Reformation Day to remind ourselves that the standard Slovenian language is the foundation of our statehood. And we owe this, above all, to Primož Trubar, the Protestant priest from Rašica, who founded our language with the first Slovenian book, the Catechism (Katekizem), and the Abecedarium (Abecednik), which was dedicated »to all young and ordinary people«.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic Santiago Cafiero in Buenos Aires. They discussed the strengthening and development of bilateral relations, cooperation in the framework of international organisations, topical global and regional issues and the strengthening of relations between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Due to the Reformation day the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia will be closed on 31 October.

Transgender persons are no longer to be exposed to involuntary disclosure of transgender identity in the local environment.

On October 21, 2022, the Office for Slovenes Abroad published a Public Tender for tender area B in 2023 - financial support for Slovenes around the world.

At today’s meeting by correspondence, the Government adopted the amended Decree on the salaries and other earnings of public employees working abroad and the amended Decree on salaries and other remuneration of service members of the Slovenian Armed Forces deployed abroad. The Government also adopted the opinion opposing the proposal for a consultative referendum on amending the Personal Income Tax Act.

European Commission endorsed today the Slovenian 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan (SN SKP 2023–2027). This is the key agricultural policy strategic document, on which basis in the next programming period Slovenia is going to provide for long-term food security, green breakthrough, sustainable development of Slovenian agriculture, forestry, food industry, and sustainable rural development.