News

The 17th Bled Strategic Forum, the main multilateral event organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reached its conclusion today. The Forum brought together 2,000 participants, more than 160 panellists and speakers from around the world, four heads of State and government, 15 foreign ministers, the President of the European Commission and other high-level representatives of European and international institutions, as well as representatives of business, academia and civil society.

On the margins of the 17th Bled Strategic Forum, which takes place on 29 and 30 August 2022, Prime Minister Robert Golob hosted a working lunch with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who is also the keynote speaker of this year's Forum.

The 17th Bled Strategic Forum, entitled "The Rule of Power or the Power of Rules?", opened today with addresses by its host, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The discussions at this year's Forum will centre on the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the crisis of multilateralism, climate change and the green agenda, and digitisation and the fight against disinformation.

State Secretary Samuel Žbogar met with US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Michele Sison and Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar responsible for the Western Balkans.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, on the margins of the Bled Strategic Forum. This was their first bilateral meeting.

Today, Minister of the Interior mag. Tatjana Bobnar met with her Croatian counterpart, Dr Davor Božinović, in Brežice.

Slovenia attended the 5th session of the intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, where the participating countries made remarkable progress in most chapters of the prospective agreement.

Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Slovenia and Türkiye.

Slovenia will host the Volleyball Men’s World Championship between 26 August and 7 September. This is the public and prestigious volley competition in the world.

At the 60th AGRA International Agricultural and Food Fair in Gornja Radgona, the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs co-organised a business event in cooperation with Pomurski sejem d. o. o. and the Regional Development Agency for Podravje – Maribor.

Sinfo, a promotional magazine in English, published by the Government Communication Office, brings news on culture, sports, science, the economy and tourism. The latest Sinfo issue presents the key priorities of the government, and inter alia, highlights the Men's Volleyball World Championship.

At the invitation of Austrian Federal Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the European Forum Alpbach, which is taking place in Tyrol under the title New Europe.

On 22 and 23 August 2022, Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration, in cooperation with international partners, hosted a summer cybersecurity event entitled “US^3 Nuclear Cyber Best Practices Exchange”.

The focus of this year's Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), which will be held between 29 and 30 August under the title 'The rule of power or the power of rules', will be the discussions about the repercussions of Russian aggression against Ukraine and the crisis of multilateralism. Parallel to the main event, the Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) will also take place from 26 to 29 August in Ljubljana and Bled.

“It takes a village to raise a child. Similarly, it takes a village to support a person in a humanitarian crisis.” is the slogan of this year’s World Humanitarian Day, which is being observed today. Given the scale of humanitarian crises around the world, World Humanitarian Day aims to raise awareness about the importance of collective efforts to help people affected by humanitarian crises.

At its today's meeting, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Proposed Act Governing Aid to Businesses Hit by High Increases in Electricity and Natural Gas Prices. They discussed the proposed Act Governing Temporary Measures to Remedy the Consequences of Price Increases for the Most Vulnerable Groups of the Population and approved the measures covered by the Act, which, however, will be finally adopted at tomorrow's correspondence meeting. The Government today also agreed the Proposed Amendment to the Protection against Natural and Other Disasters Act.

Below is the message by Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob on the Day of the Unification of Prekmurje Slovenes with the Mother Nation.

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia in New York is looking for an administrative assistant for a period of 1 year (with a possible extension), beginning in October 2022.

Accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Irena Šinko and the Minister of Public Administration Sanja Ajanović Hovnik, Prime Minister Robert Golob has paid a second working visit in Slovenia. Ahead of the Day of the Reunification of Prekmurje Slovenians with the Homeland, he visited Pomurje – the region of growth and opportunities. The region is distinguished by its strategic position at the crossroads of European road links, access to geothermal energy, investment potential and a rich natural and cultural heritage.

Slovenia is participating in the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Prime Minister Rober Golob visited the Slovenian National Theatre (SNG) Drama Ljubljana in the company of the Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko. They discussed the building renovation project and the activities needed to implement it with the theatre's director, Vesna Jurca Tadel.

As per Directive (EU) 2015/1535, Slovenia (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food) submitted for notification to the European Commission a draft of the Rules on the Quality of Vinegar and Diluted Acetic Acid on 2 December 2020. The new draft rules were prepared due to a minor amendment referring to the vinegar standardisation. The purpose of notification (public discussion) of the technical legislation being drafted is to prevent trade obstacles in the EU territory.

In its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which was endorsed by the Council of the EU at the end of July 2021, the Republic of Slovenia specified EUR 705 million in loans for recovery and resilience-building measures in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the purpose of implementing these investments, the European Union and the Republic of Slovenia concluded a loan agreement at the beginning of June 2022, setting out the terms and conditions for the implementation of these funds. The signed agreement is the basis for the disbursement of refundable funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

At its meeting by correspondence on 11 August 2022, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia decided that Dragan Barbutovski is to be dismissed from the position of Acting Director of the Government Communication Office as of 16 August 2022 and Petra Bezjak Cirman appointed as Acting Director of the Government Communication Office as of 17 August 2022.

Prime Minister Robert Golob continues his discussions with the civil society. In order to enhance an intergenerational solidarity based on social integration between generations and the exchange of different types of support, he met with the representatives of the youth and the elderly for the first time.

For the first time, Slovenia will co-host the Volleyball Men’s World Championship, which is to take place between 26 August and 11 September. On the occasion of this unique opportunity to increase Slovenia’s global visibility as a green destination for top sporting events, the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) and the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) are preparing numerous promotional and accompanying activities.

This year's fourth edition of Rural Inspiration Awards taking place under the slogan The Future is Youth is organised by the European Commission together with the European Network for Rural Development. The aim of the competition is to raise the visibility of the rural development policy and the contribution of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to the long-term vision for rural areas, and to promote the exchange of views and networking between interested stakeholders in rural areas. Slovenia submitted eight projects for the European selection.

The commemorations of the victims of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been held for the 77th consecutive year. Participants paid tribute to those who lost their lives as a result of the atomic bombing and supported the two cities' message for a world without nuclear weapons and a lasting peace.

We would like to inform you that we will hold a Consular day in Lemont, IL on Saturday, August 13 2022 from 10 am to 1 pm, at the Slovenian Catholic Center (14252 Main St., Lemont, IL 60439.

The Information Security Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, in cooperation with Microsoft, the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia and the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana, held a series of four events dedicated to different sectors of critical infrastructure in 2021 – water, energy, health and finances.

Today, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended a session of the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, which Slovenia joined this July. The Initiative aims to encourage a successful outcome of the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters. “I am proud that Slovenia joined the Stockholm Initiative led by two female foreign ministers, my German colleague Annalena Baerbock and my Swedish counterpart Ann Linde,” stressed minister Fajon.

Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended the opening session of the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In her speech, she highlighted the significant contribution the Treaty makes to world peace and safety, especially taking into account the complexity of the security environment marked by various challenges and threats. She advocated the further strengthening of the Treaty through the implementation of its three pillars – disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

The resolution passed at the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York declares the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment on a global level.

At its 10th regular session, the Government extended the mandate of Barbara Koželj Podlogar, the current Head of the Creativity Directorate, as Acting Director-General of the Directorate.

At its regular session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted a draft act on a lower rate of value added tax on certain types of energy products. By temporarily reducing the VAT rate from 22% to 9.5%, the Government is addressing the impact of energy price increases during the peak energy consumption period, i.e. the heating season. The Government also took note of the partial report on the fire intervention in the Goriška Karst region and instructed the Ministry of Defence to prepare, by the end of August, a legal solution to enable the payment of a special award to volunteers participating in the system of protection, rescue and assistance in the event of large-scale disaster interventions. The Government will also launch a procedure to assess the damage caused by the Karst fire and the possibility of acquiring financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 27 July 2022 in Kyiv between the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Information Security and the Administration of the State Service of Ukraine for Special Communications and Cyber Security Data Protection.

The latest DESI report, DESI 2022, shows that Slovenia has made progress again and is now ranked 11th, which is its highest ranking ever.

On 26 July, 2022 in New York, the Slovenian mission to the UN hosted a hybrid event entitled Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Threats: An Analysis of Appropriate Regulation, Good Practices, International Law and Norms, prepared by the Government Information Security Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Microsoft.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon paid a working visit to Ukraine, where she met with Ukranian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and Director of the Ukraine Investment Promotion Office Sergiy Tsivkach. During talks with her hosts, Minister Fajon stressed that Slovenia will continue to support and assist Ukraine, both in coping with the catastrophic consequences of the Russian aggression and in overcoming the obstacles on the path towards EU integration.

The European Commission declared three violations to have been successfully resolved by Slovenia – the failure to fulfil obligations from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in connection with the Rules on the Protection of Buildings Against Lightning, the non-notification of regulations in connection with the establishment of assessment methods for harmful effects of environmental noise, and the non-notification of regulations concerning common noise assessment methods for the purposes of adapting to scientific and technical progress.

On Sunday 24 July 2022, Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the area affected by the fire in the Karst region for the third time. He was briefed on the current situation and met the mayors of the affected municipalities.

Kim Komljanec worked as a playwright, scriptwriter and stage director, theatre director, pedagogue and lecturer until she took up her position as an advisor to the Minister of Culture. Until recently, she was the head of the unit for playwrights within the Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists, which she founded in 2019.

At its 9th regular session, the Government appointed Matevž Čelik Vidmar, former Director of the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), as State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture. He will take up his duties on 1 August 2022.

At the 9th regular session, the Government issued its Decree Determining the Prices of Natural Gas and adopted a further decision regarding risk preparedness in the event of disruptions in the supply of power and natural gas, taking note of the information concerning the problem of the supply of drinking water to the population of Slovenian Istria. It also discussed the general baselines for the preparation of budget documents for the following two years. These will allow the line ministries to draft the financial plans that will form the basis for future coordination and the Government’s priorities in the next two years.

Following yesterday's narrow veto vote by the National Council on the government's amendment to the RTV Slovenia Act, the National Assembly has again approved the proposed amendments. The amendment aims to remove politics from public service broadcasting and ensure its institutional and programme autonomy.

Prime Minister Robert Golob visited a fire site in the Goriška Karst region and the Regional Civil Protection Headquarters to check on the situation faced by local residents, firefighters, civil protection service members and others battling the large-scale fire.

To strengthen cooperation and provide comprehensive solutions to deal with inflation and ensure Slovenia's energy security, Prime Minister Robert Golob invited the presidents and leaders of the parliamentary groups, economists and representatives of energy companies to a special meeting.

On 20 July 2022, Ambassador Suhadolnik participated at the Book Donation Ceremony at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Minister Irena Šinko attended the meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council. The attendees exchanged opinions on the new draft Regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products presented by the European Commission. Moreover, they discussed the agricultural market situation in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the initiative to update the EU legislation on animal transport, and confirmed the Council’s decisions with regard to the new EU strategy for the sustainable development of aquaculture. The Ministers familiarised themselves with the situation of the EU member states in preparations for the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy and strategic plans.

Prime Minister dr Robert Golob visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia and met with the President of the Constitutional Court, Prof dr Matej Accetto.