Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with President of the European Council Charles Michel for a working dinner in Brussels.

Today, the State Secretary Peter Geršak attended the meeting of the ministers of the D9+ countries in Luxembourg. In his speech he highlighted the need to reduce the digital gap between the EU Member States.

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.

A regular meeting of Directors-General for territorial cohesion, chaired by Georgi Bangiev, Director-General of the Spatial Planning, Construction and Housing Directorate at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, took place yesterday as a part of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. At the meeting, the Directors-General were acquainted with the activities connected with communication and implementation of the Territorial Agenda 2030 adopted in December 2020.

At today's session, the Government adopted amendments to the Ordinance on the method of meeting the recovered/vaccinated/tested rule to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which set out the frequency of screening with the rapid antigen self-test or rapid antigen tests every 48 hours, bi-weekly self-testing for all primary and secondary school pupils and students, and the obligation to wear masks despite the fulfilled recovered/vaccinated rule for health, education and social care activities, and in activities and services where there is interpersonal contact.

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 Minister for Digital Transformation, Mark Boris Andrijanič, paid a working visit to Brussels from 25 to 27 October, during which he also met with representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament. During his visit to Brussels, Minister Andrijanič presented the tasks of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Digital Transformation and exchanged views on the opportunities in digital transformation for the advancement of the economy and the reduction of the digital divide in society.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar participated in the second AU-EU ministerial meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting was of particular importance as it set the stage for the 6th AU-EU Summit scheduled to be held in 2022. “Slovenia as the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU fully supports our common aspiration for a stronger partnership between the African Union and the European Union. A partnership with a shared long-term vision and with strong day-to-day cooperation,” Minister Logar said in his address.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated as one of the key speakers via video conference at the plenary session of the 8th Symposium “China and countries of Central and Eastern Europe”. The focus of the hybrid seminar was to discuss how to steer the 16+1 initiative through a turbulent period of change and adaptation.

State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs attended the Smart Country Convention 2021. In the panel “Successful Digital Transformation of the Civil Society and the Public Sector: Stories from Female Leaders” she presented the priorities of Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of digitalisation, best practices and how female leaders view the process of digitalisation.

The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Tehran has handed over six urban beehives to the school for Afghan girls, children of refugees in Karaj, Iran, which will be used by the fostered children for educational purposes and practical training. The purpose of the project, which began in 2019, is to familiarize the most vulnerable parts of the Iranian society, especially street children and children of Afghan refugees, with the opportunities offered by beekeeping and the production of honey and honey-based products.

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.

Op-Ed by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Anže Logar, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Heiko Maas, Minister of State and for Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic Dr Augusto Santos Silva and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Today, the Prime Minister Janez Janša took part in a national Sovereignty Day ceremony, which took place in the sports hall of the Koper Primary School. The keynote speaker at the ceremony was the Minister of Defence Matej Tonin.

Today, Prime Minister Janša attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition "The peculiar thing about dreams is they sometimes come true" in the Park of Military History in Pivka. On this occasion, the Prime Minister addressed the participants. The Prime Minister opened his address saying that that today we are celebrating a final act in the Slovene epic of independence, when Slovenes became masters on their own land.

...Brothers! Our spring is rising from the ground,
Clear as a gale, strong as a wave:
It has descended on our homes,
Dispelled the darkness, brought out the sun,
The sun – the day of King Matjaž.
(Rudolf Maister Vojanov, Onward)

On Tuesday, 19 October, the Office of the Military Representative to the European Union organized an informal meeting of the EU Military Committee (EUMC) where topics ranking among the military-related priority contents of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council were presented and discussed.

The United Nations was established on this day 76 years ago. The theme for this year’s General Assembly is Building Resilience through Hope – post-pandemic recovery, rebuilding sustainability, responding to the needs of the planet, respecting the rights of people, and revitalisation of the United Nations.

On Saturday 23 October, the second Conference Plenary meeting took place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to discuss citizens’ contributions.

After the two-day meeting of the European Council in Brussels, Prime Minister Janez Janša took part in a press conference, where he spoke about several discussions held by European leaders on current topics over the past two days.