News

In a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon recalled that today Slovenia and Moldova are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York. She advocated for a stronger role of the Security Council in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS), and stressed the need to prevent and combat retaliation against women who inform the Security Council about certain crises and armed conflicts.

The Guidelines for the Mainstreaming of Gender Equality in Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, endorsed by the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon in May 2023, are now also available in English. This has made the Guidelines accessible to all implementing NGO partners and institutions carrying out development cooperation projects in partner countries.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic today addressed the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East, convened at ministerial level by the Brazilian Presidency. The Open Debate focused on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's membership of the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs organised the first debate entitled "Made in Europe, Made in Slovenia" on the future of industry in the context of green transition. In her opening address, Minister Tanja Fajon recalled that, in addition to the benefits of the membership, EU Member States also share some challenges, such as climate change and the green transition.

Minister Tanja Fajon welcomed ministers and representatives from 14 Danube countries to a ministerial meeting at Brdo pri Kranju and opened the 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). Slovenia thus concluded its one-year EUSDR Presidency and handed it over to Austria. More than 350 participants from all over Europe attended the Forum.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The meeting focused on the situation in Israel and the region, as well as on the Russian aggression against Ukraine. This was followed by an EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, which was held together with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The 14th session of the Slovenian-Chinese Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation was chaired by Mr Slobodan Šešum, Director-General of the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy, and co-chaired by Mr Yu Yuantang, Director General of the Department of European Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The previous session was held in Beijing in 2018.

State Secretary Marko Štucin received the Austrian Governor of Styria, Christoph Drexler, in Ljubljana. They discussed cooperation between Slovenia and the Austrian province of Styria and called for its further development.

At the opening panel of the 10th Danube Participation Day hosted by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana, State Secretary Marko Štucin underlined the support for Ukraine and Moldova on their path towards the EU and pointed to the importance of civil society and the local community in this process.

As part of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (Third Committee) has been in session from 28 September 2023, with a primary focus on human rights issues.

As its year at the head of EUSALP comes to a close, Switzerland passed the baton today in Bad Ragaz (canton of St Gallen) to Slovenia, which will take charge of the European Union (EU) macroregional strategy in 2024. The Confederation and the cantons, which have jointly held the presidency in 2023, looked back on a successful year at the Annual Forum and General Assembly organized in conjunction with the Canton of St Gallen.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has decided to allocate an additional EUR 500,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for emergency humanitarian aid to the people in the Gaza Strip.

Slovenia will take part in the Peace Day Effort initiative, which aims to deliver concrete actions to show Israelis and Palestinians the support they will receive once they reach a peace agreement. As a supporter of the initiative, Slovenia will participate in all three Working Groups, which will focus on security, on the economy and the environment, and on the human dimension.

On 11 October 2023, the Republic of Austria notified the European Commission, the European Parliament and the member states of its decision to reintroduce border controls at the internal Schengen border with the Republic of Slovenia for the period from 12 November 2023 to 11 May 2024.

Cukrarna hosted a round table discussion entitled '153', which stands for the number of states that supported Slovenia in the vote for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York for the 2024–2025 term. The panellists agreed that this is an important foreign policy project where Slovenia must now show responsibility towards its partners.

At the International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in Zagreb, State Secretary Marko Štucin expressed continued support for Ukraine and announced an additional half a million euros in Slovenian assistance for mine action in 2023.

Minister Tanja Fajon participated in an informal videoconference of EU foreign ministers on the situation in Israel and in the region. She expressed her solidarity with Israel and sympathy for all civilian victims.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the 27th EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial meeting held in Muscat. During the gathering, Ministers and State Secretaries discussed the importance of and opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the EU and the strategically significant Gulf countries, as well as current foreign policy issues, with a specific focus on the situation in Israel and Gaza.

The Slovenian Government adopted a decision at today's correspondence session to make an additional humanitarian contribution of EUR 150,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA).