On the margins of the EU General Affairs Council, State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in the EU-Montenegro Intergovernmental Conference, where participants took stock of the overall accession process and provided political steer for future work. The Conference is a recognition of the results achieved by Montenegro and an encouragement to continue reforms, with special focus on the rule of law.

At the EU General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU set out the priorities for the Council's work in the first half of 2024, with a focus on the topics addressed by the General Affairs Council. The six-month period will be marked by the end of the mandates of the current European Commission and European Parliament, and by the European elections.

Prime Minister Robert Golob received today at Brdo pri Kranju representatives of organisations that provided relief to those affected by the floods in August last year.

On 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, Slovenia remembers the Jewish, Roma and other victims of the Holocaust, including many from Slovenia.

Slovenia welcomes today's order delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of South Africa against Israel, indicating provisional measures, including that Israel must take effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and prevent genocide in Gaza.

Ljubljana, 26 January 2024 – The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has issued 37 funding decisions marking the start of the implementation of community-led local development (CLLD) in the framework of 37 Local Action Groups (LAG). A total of 40.1 million euros in ERDF funding was approved for the implementation of CLLD.

Today, two days before World Holocaust Remembrance Day, the military facility Kadetnica in Maribor hosted the opening of a guest exhibition entitled A Tale of Two Transports, the Jews of Medjimurje and Prekmurje during the Holocaust, prepared by Boris Hajdinjak, Director of the Centre of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor.

At today's session, the Government adopted a decision on drafting a national spatial plan for reducing flood risks in the Lower Savinja Valley, with a view to comprehensively reducing flood risks in urban areas. It also approved the Agreement on the Amendments to the Strike Agreement with the Higher Education Trade Union.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended an informal meeting of the Council of Ministers of the European Union for Home Affairs in Antwerp and Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.

EU Med Ministers and State Secretaries met today in Brussels on the initiative of the Greek Minister of Agriculture. The group consists of Mediterranean countries that are EU member states: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Slovenia was represented by State Secretary Eva Knez.

The Government adopted the opinion on the draft recommendation to address the worrying situation in residential care homes and approved an amendment to the Act Regulating the Implementation of the Budgets of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Siol.net portal has published an article entitled "The forgotten lesson of 1991, when Slovenians drove out the occupier" in the Active Citizenship thematic section, which provides readers with in-depth information on specific topics. Within the article, Dr. Damir Črnčec, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, addresses questions regarding the current state of the Slovenian Armed Forces and their preparedness for a potential escalation of armed conflict in Europe.

The Ministry of Finance will issue bonds for citizens on 1 February with a maturity of three years, an issue volume of €250 million and an interest rate of 3.4 %.

For the first time since Slovenia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon participated in the ministerial meeting of the UNSC in New York on the situation in the Middle East. In her address, she called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and in the region, outlining the reasons why it is so important.

The discussion at the first Agriculture and Fisheries Council under the Belgian Presidency has revolved around the future of agriculture in Europe and the international trade in agricultural products, and the establishment of an EU-wide forest monitoring framework.

The Prime Minister, Robert Golob, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, hosted their traditional New Year's reception for the Diplomatic Corps. On this occasion, he highlighted Slovenia's main domestic and foreign policy achievements over the past year.

Minister Tanja Fajon attended the regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, where the discussions were again devoted to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. During the debate on the Middle East, the EU foreign ministers were joined by several ministers from the region, with whom they agreed to step up their cooperation in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ambassador Dr Andrej Benedejčič, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to NATO, hosted a reception at NATO Headquarters for members of NATO Civil Society Advisory Panel for Women, Peace and Security, as well as Allies and partner countries.

In the first episode of the GOVSI podcast, host Boštjan Lajovic hosts Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and Marjan Šarc, Minister of Defence.

At today’s session, the Government appointed Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič the head of the umbrella negotiating group for negotiations and coordination with the representative trade unions of the public sector. It also appointed the heads and members of negotiating group for negotiations by individual wage tiers.