Today, Slovenian Minister of the Interior and the current holder of the Presidency of the EU Home Affairs Council Aleš Hojs held a conversation with the Polish Minister of the Interior Mariusz Kamiński about the current situation on the Poland-Belarus border, where, as the Polish Minister said a new illegal migration route is being established.

Ministry of the Interior held a virtual ministerial conference on the prevention and investigation of child sexual abuse in the framework of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, who is currently presiding the EU Home Affairs Council, chaired the ministerial conference.

Entry into the Republic of Slovenia is possible for non-essential travel in accordance with Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction, including amendments thereto. The information was updated on 10 January 2022.

The Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs chaired the first meeting in the context of international negotiations on the revision of Europol's mandate today in Brussels. Minister Hojs fulfilled this role as the current President of the EU Home Affairs Council on behalf of the Council of the EU.

Today, the Republic of Slovenia, as holder of the Presidency of the Home Affairs Council of the EU and the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice(eu-LISA) held the 8th Eu-LISA Annual Conference entitled Towards the Digital Schengen Area. The participants of the annual conference discussed the progress achieved and shortcomings in the implementation of modern technologies on the external EU borders.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Parliament co-organised the ninth meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol, which was held in Brussels. The meeting was devoted to an overview of Europol's activities in the present year and the presentation of Europol Draft Multiannual Programming Document 2022-2024. Cybercrime in the EU was also discussed, with a focus on online child abuse, financial crime and corruption.

18 October is European Anti-Trafficking Day and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness on trafficking in human beings.

In the field of anti-trafficking, Slovenia attaches great importance to international cooperation on the operational and the strategic levels, with special attention focused on the Western Balkans region. Over the years, the Slovenian Ministry of the Interior has been carrying out a number of regional activities, encouraging the countries in the region to align their legislation and standards with the acquis.

As the current holder of the presidency of the Council of the EU, the Republic of Slovenia and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats held an online workshop on instrumentalised migration as a hybrid threat, focusing on the case of Belarus. The workshop’s objective was to examine the phenomenon of instrumentalised migration as a hybrid threat, its impact on the security situation in the EU, and to highlight the aims of its key actors.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs is participating as a panelist in a high-level conference marking the 10th anniversary of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Key topics of discussion include the development of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) over the last decade and EASO’s role, the situation in the area of international protection in the EU, and the transformation of the Office into the EU Asylum Agency by the end of the year.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, participated in a high-level videoconference of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (EU-RAN) organised by the European Commission. The conference marked the 10th anniversary of the network and provided an opportunity for a discussion on ways of addressing radicalisation challenges.

During a working lunch in the framework of the EU Home Affairs Council meeting, EU ministers of the interior held an open discussion about the current situation regarding the implementation of interoperability (connectivity of information systems) in the member states, which should be concluded by 2023. So far, we have done a lot of work at EU level and in the member states on this major project for the interconnectivity of justice and home affairs information systems.

The meeting of the European Migration Network (EMN) took place in Ljubljana as part of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU on 5 and 6 October 2021. Participants discussed the EU's preparedness for future migration flows.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs attended a meeting of the interior ministers of the Visegrad Group, the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Slovenia in Budapest. The meeting focused on the current challenges in migration and topical issues concerning the management of Europe's borders.

The Interior Minister Aleš Hojs hosted the Interior Minister of the Czech Republic Jan Hamáček for a two-day official visit. The key focus of their talks was the current situation in security and migration and the progress regarding the priorities of Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

As part of Slovenia's Presidency of the Council of the EU, a meeting of senior EU-US officials from the field of justice and home affairs took place today in Ljubljana. The meeting was chaired by Jože Senica, Assistant Director General of the Police and Chair of the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation in the Field of Internal Security (COSI), and Dr Katja Rejec Longar, Director of the Office for International Cooperation and International Legal Assistance at the Ministry of Justice and Chair of the Coordinating Committee in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (CATS), representing the field of justice. The meeting served as a preparation for the ministerial meeting to be held later during the Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Minister of the Interior and President of the Home Affairs Council, Aleš Hojs, delivered a welcome address and opened a two-day meeting of the Management Board of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Portorož, which Slovenia is hosting as part of the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs has attended a high-level videoconference meeting on countering illicit firearms trafficking in South East (SE) Europe on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which focused on closer regional cooperation in prevention of illicit firearms trafficking.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs presented the Slovenian Presidency's priorities to members of the LIBE Committee. The priorities include the current migration situation.

An international conference on one of the thematic priorities of the Slovenian presidency – missing persons, in particular missing children – is taking place in Ljubljana today and tomorrow. The conference is held under the auspices of the Police Expert Network on Missing Persons, which was officially recognised by the Council’s Law Enforcement Working Party, and in cooperation with AMBER Alert Europe.

At today's extraordinary meeting in Brussels, EU home affairs ministers adopted a joint statement on the EU's response to the situation in Afghanistan and the potential implications for migration and security in the EU.