News

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended the virtual ministerial meeting of the Regional Forum within the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) as the main platform for fostering dialogue and cooperation in the region. In his address, Minister Logar spoke in favour of further strengthening the relations and cooperation within the UfM to increase security and stability and promote overall development in the Mediterranean.

The press conference on the current Covid-19 situation was attended by the acting director of the Healthcare Directorate of the Ministry of Health, Marija Magajne, psychologist Peter Markič, and the government spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

Today, State Secretary Stanislav Raščan took part in a virtual meeting of Foreign Ministers of EU Member States and Southern Neighbourhood partner countries. Against the backdrop of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, the ministers exchanged views on the future of the EU-Southern Neighbourhood partnership.

The afternoon press conference on COVID-19 was attended by the General Manager of the Šmarje pri Jelšah Care Home Gordana Drimel and psychologist at France Bevk primary school in Tolmin Žarko Trušnovec.

On 20 November, Prime Minister Janez Janša ordered, based on the epidemic situation and counsel at EU level, the competent ministries to prepare everything necessary for mass voluntary coronavirus tests, and to establish a programme for registering candidates for voluntary vaccinations by 5 December at the latest.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by the head of the UKC Maribor emergency centre Dr Gregor Prosen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Mateja Ribič, deputy head of the Communicable Disease Centre of the National Institute of Public Health Nuška Čakš Jager, and the government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

At today's 49th extraordinary session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Janez Janša presented in detail the draft Act determining intervention measures to contain the consequences of the second wave of COVID-19, or the sixth anti-corona package for mitigating and eliminating the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the legislative package aimed at maintaining the condition of society, the state, and the economy, after the epidemic.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Network of social services and intergenerational cooperation”. The project worth EUR 855,000 will be implemented by the Municipality Brežice and the Municipality Krško and will receive EUR 280,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs participated in the online expert conference on areas that will receive EU 2021-2027 funding. She presented the preparations for European Cohesion Policy implementation in the period 2021-2027 and the use of the funding available under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The event, which was attended by over 1,200 participants, was hosted by Tiko Pro Event company on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.

The Minister of Finance, Andrej Šircelj, presented the Government's measures relating to the economic, social and health area, which are covered by the sixth anti-corona package.

The press conference today on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the head of the regional civil protection service in Koper for the DSO area, Gabrijela Valenčič, the head of the RS civil protection service, Srečko Šestan, and the government spokesperson, ambassador, Jelko Kacin.

On 24 November 2020, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar took part in the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum, which was organised by the Körber-Stiftung foundation in Berlin together with the German Foreign Ministry. The Forum was opened by the foreign ministers of the Trio Presidency of Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan addressed the participants of today’s webinar on circular economy and challenges emerging during the pandemic, and briefly outlined Slovenia’s experience and cooperation with Latin American countries in this area. The webinar titled Circular Economy in the COVID-19 Era: Challenges and Opportunities is one of the introductory activities of the Latin American and Caribbean Days (LAC Days), an international conference planned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for spring 2021.

The director of the Centre for the blind, visually impaired, and elderly in Škofja Loka, Silva Košnjek, assoc. prof. Robert Masten from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, and Jelko Kacin, the government spokesperson, participated at the afternoon press conference about the current COVID-19 status.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan addressed the participants of a virtual seminar on the life and work of Branislava Sušnik, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The event was part of the introductory activities organised as a prelude to the Latin America and Caribbean Days international conference with the central event planned to take place in spring 2021.

Dr Milivoj Piletič, Medical Director of Novo mesto General Hospital, and Government spokesperson Ambassador Jelko Kacin attended the today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Establishment of residential group care for adults with intellectual disabilities in the cohesion region Vzhodna Slovenija”. The project worth EUR 4.8 million will be implemented by the Training, Work and Care Centre Črna na Koroškem and will receive over EUR 3.8 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Janez Janša had a meeting with the management of Murska Sobota General Hospital, in which they focused on efforts to control the spread of the novel coronavirus in one of the most endangered regions. They also talked about successes that the public hears too little about, necessary investments, and the importance of mutual solidarity among teams that protect health and save lives.

On Saturday late afternoon and evening, Prime Minister Janez Janša visited University Medical Centre Maribor (UMCM) and the City Municipality of Maribor.

On this day 25 years ago, a peace agreement was reached in Dayton. It represents an important milestone in the European history, bringing peace and stability to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement was an important victory of diplomacy over war and brought an end to the conflict in the region and the dreadful atrocities suffered by the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Dayton Peace Agreement still guarantees sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Friday is nearly over, after spending the whole day coordinating COVID-19 measures and holding long conversations in between with Angela Merkel, currently presiding over the EU Council, and other EU heads of state in order to find compromise solutions for adopting the seven-year EU budget and the recovery fund. The situation calls for reason,” Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter.

At today's video conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar and his Brazilian counterpart, Ernesto Araújo, confirmed the traditionally good relations between their respective countries, expressing mutual interest in finding new ways to build on the existing foundations.

Based on the current state of the epidemic and the latest EU Council video conference, the competent ministries have been instructed today to prepare everything necessary by 5 December to launch the voluntary mass coronavirus testing campaign and set up a programme for registering individuals opting for voluntary vaccination,” Janez Janša announced on Twitter.

The spokesperson, Jelko Kacin, said at the press conference that 1546 infections were identified from 5673 tests yesterday, which is a 27.25% infection rate - 3 percentage points down from the day before. About a quarter fewer infections were detected in 1100 fewer tests compared to Wednesday.

Prime Minister Janša was a guest on the programme A Talk with the Prime Minister on Televizija Slovenija. The key topic of the interview was the Government's efforts to tackle the epidemic, including the adoption of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Prime Minister also touched on current political issues, on Slovenia's role in the European Union and the world, and on the relations in the coalition.

Today, 20 November 2020, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar symbolically handed a keyboard to Mr Matjaž Ugovšek, representative of the Slovenian Sustainability Society “Duh časa” (the Spirit of Time) a non-profit volunteer organisation which has been engaged in collecting used computer equipment since December 2011. The collected computer equipment is made ready for use and donated to individuals, families in need, and non-profit organisations.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended an informal video conference of the European Council on the current COVID-19 situation.

The spokesperson Jelko Kacin started the press conference with a review of today's epidemiological situation. Once again, the data is not encouraging, he said, upon expressing his concern regarding the development of the situation in the subsequent days.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today attended a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers. Two central themes dominated the discussions, multilateralism and the situation in Palestine. Regarding the former, they agreed that the Union has the political, economic and financial power to co-create an effective multilateral order, which provides the best framework for tackling modern global challenges.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with the Mayor of Ljubljana Municipality Zoran Janković, Jože Mermal and Bojan Albreht.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša received the Australian Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann, who is also a candidate for the Secretary-General of the OECD.

On Tuesday, 17 November 2020, Prime Minister Janez Janša appeared on the Nova24TV show Pogovor s predsednikom vlade (Interviewing the Prime Minister). In the first part of the show, the Prime Minister talked about the efforts to tackle the epidemic, and whether the Slovenian health system will hold on, the figures, and how the government prepared for the second wave. In the second part, he talked about the current political situation and post-crisis recovery.

The press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by Metoda Dodič Fikfak, Director of the Institute of Occupational, Traffic and Sports Medicine, members of the expert team preparing the Sixth Anti-Coronavirus Package (ACP6) Jure Knez from Dewesoft and Dušan Olaj, General Manager of Duol, and the government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

Prime Minister Janez Janša responded to today's reportings related to his letter to the European leaders.

Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on the programme A Talk with the Prime Minister on Planet TV. He spoke about how the Government is tackling the second wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic, about current political affairs and about the Government's plans for the future.

The director of the residential care home in Rakičan, Zoran Hoblaj, prof. dr. Mojca Juriševič, from the Department of Education Studies, Faculty of Education, Ljubljana, and the government spokesperson and ambassador, Jelko Kacin, participated at the afternoon press conference today on the current issues regarding COVID-19.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar joined his Swedish and Lithuanian counterparts to participate in a virtual ministerial panel on the future of transatlantic relations, held at the beginning of a two-day International Conference Road to Warsaw Security Forum. The foreign ministers discussed the future of relations between Europe and the United States of America and the role of transatlantic leadership in tackling security, economic and other global challenges.

Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek participated today in the 14th annual meeting of the Ministers for Agriculture from South East Europe (SEE) that took place in the form of an audio-visual conference. The meeting was organised by the Secretariat of the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG) in South East Europe (RRD SWG), and by the Republic of Serbia that had taken over the one-year presidency over this Working Group. The meeting was attended by the ministers and their deputies from the Western Balkans countries, by the high representatives of the European Commission, international organisations and observer countries, and by Slovenia among the latter ones.

The press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by dr. Nuška Čakš Jager from the National Institute of Public Health, prof. dr. Borut Štrukelj from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana, and the government spokesman, Jelko Kacin.

The Slovenian Parliament today discussed the draft amending the budget of the Republic of Slovenia for 2021 and the amended draft of the budget for 2022. The RS Government submitted the drafts to the Slovenian Parliament for discussion. The introductory clarification of both drafts was presented at the Slovenian Parliament session by Prime Minister Janez Janša.

State Secretary Dr. Stanislav Raščan addressed the participants of the US-led virtual Ministers’ Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) via a live video link.

On 17 November 2020, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended a video conference of ministers and state secretaries for European affairs to discuss topical issues.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Safety and technical upgrade of the Karavanke railway tunnel”. The project worth EUR 79.3 will be implemented by the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency and will receive EUR 49.2 of Cohesion Fund support.

At today’s correspondence session, the Government declared that the state of epidemic with regard to COVID-19 would be extended for another 30 days for the entire country.

Deana Potza from the health inspectorate opened the morning press conference about the current Covid-19 situation by saying that on the first day that the ordinance banning gatherings was in force, Friday, 13 November, only warnings were issued. There were at least 1,814 reports of breaches between 1 September and 8 November of this year, the highest number relating to the hospitality industry, followed by public spaces. She said that observation of the measures has been continually improving, as we head in the right direction as a society. This will help us get through the current challenging phase of the epidemic as quickly as possible, while allowing the health sector to operate at capacity.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša took questions from deputies in the National Assembly. Marjan Šarec from the List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ) raised a question related to current developments in the country, Franc Trček from the Social Democrats (SD) a question associated with the fight against the epidemic, Luka Mesec from the Left with regard to the measures to control the epidemic and Janja Sluga from the Modern Centre Party (SMC) a question regarding the regulation of comprehensive use of cannabis.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer attended a virtual ministerial conference to promote the freedom of religion or belief, which was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland as a follow-up to the meetings of senior representatives of countries, international organisations, civil society, and religious leaders. The event was intended to discuss the state of religious freedom around the globe.

Government spokesman Jelko Kacin started the press conference with an overview of the current epidemiological situation. Yesterday, 1,792 tests were conducted and 501 infections (27.9%) were confirmed, with most new infections recorded in Kočevje (44), followed by Ljubljana (39). On Saturday, 920 cases (25. 82%) were confirmed with 3,563 tests performed. On Sunday, 34 people died.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Collection and treatment in the Drava River basin – Urban Municipality of Maribor”. The project worth EUR 11 million will be implemented by the Urban Municipality of Maribor and will receive nearly EUR 4.3 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek participated today in an informal videoconference of EU Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries. On the Agenda, the Ministers had agricultural as well as forestry issues. In focus was the discussion on the state of play in agricultural markets due to Covid-19 pandemic, on food loss and waste, African Swine Fever (ASF), on the common position on the EU Forest Strategy, and on preparations for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021, one of the greatest international events to take place during Slovenia’s 2021 EU Council Presidency.