Today Prime Minister Janez Janša exchanged views on the situation in Belarus with Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in an informal working meeting.

The press conference on the current situation regarding Covid-19 featured Mateja Logar, the head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health, with government spokesperson Maja Bratuša first presenting the epidemiological situation in the country.

Minister for Development and the EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač continues his visits to Slovenian municipalities. Today he met with the Mayor of the Municipality of Šmartno pri Litiji, Rajko Meserko, and the Mayor of the Municipality of Litija, Franci Rokavec.

Prime Minister Janez Janša visited the Slovenj Gradec General Hospital today, where he inspected the renovated Covid-19 department areas, which he also formally opened. He also inspected the department for diagnostics and intervention radiology, where the functioning of the angiography imaging device was presented.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “COVID19 – IT support for making an appointment (to be vaccinated) at primary level”. The project worth EUR 1.5 million will be implemented by the Ministry of Health. Total project funding comes from the European Regional Development Fund. The project is another investment supported by React-EU under the Recovery and Resilience Facility – NextGenerationEU.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar held talks with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. He expressed solidarity, cooperation and support for the Belarusian opposition's peaceful endeavours to establish an inclusive political dialogue between the opposition and the authorities, paving the way for a renewed free and fair presidential election monitored by international electoral observers. Minister Logar went on to emphasise the importance of providing support to civil society in Belarus. He assured Ms Tsikhanouskaya that during Slovenia's EU Council Presidency, he would strive to keep Belarus high on the EU agenda.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Community infrastructure for the Industrial Zone Šentjur South – 3”. The project worth nearly EUR 3.9 million will be implemented by municipality Šentjur in the framework of the Agreement on the Development of the Savinjska Region and will receive over EUR 2.6 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Message by Prime Minister Janez Janša for 1 May, International Labour Day and the day celebrating St Joseph the Worker.

After the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the national Recovery and Resilience Plan on Wednesday, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy today submitted the Plan to the European Commission. ‘The submission of the Recovery and Resilience Plan marks the conclusion of a challenging and comprehensive task. We are in the final stages and I believe that in the next three months the Plan will be approved. After a year of crisis, it is time for action, time to conclude administrative procedures and to start as quickly as possible with activities for the use of funds that will significantly contribute to mitigating the negative economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic’, said Minister Černač.

Today, Director-General for EU Affairs Barbara Sušnik held bilateral consultations with Marika Linntam, Director-General for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. They discussed bilateral relations and the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency in the second half of this year as well as current EU issues.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar hosted his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on an official visit aimed at strengthening friendly relations and deepening political dialogue between the two countries. The visit also places great emphasis on the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2021.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Toshimitsu Motegi, who is on an official visit to Slovenia. The visit is aimed at strengthening friendly relations between the two countries and deepening political dialogue.

On 14 April 2021, Prime Minister Janez Janša and the competent ministers met to coordinate the content and financial structure of the Long-Term Care Act for the first time. "Because Slovenians deserve a dignified and safe life throughout their whole live," said the Prime Minister at the first meeting. Today, the second such meeting took place to discuss the content, solutions and financial structure of the Long-Term Care Act, thus bringing Slovenians one step closer to living a dignified and safe life, regardless of their age or financial situation.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Janez Cigler Kralj, the head of the vaccine advisory group Dr Bojana Beovič, Deana Potza of the Health Inspectorate and Deputy General Director of Police Tomaž Pečjak.

The press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by the minister without portfolio responsible for development and European cohesion policy Zvonko Černač, State Secretary at the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy Monika Kirbiš Rojs, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Simon Zajc and Director of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food Tjaša Žohar Čretnik.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša paid a working visit to Paris at the invitation of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. This visit will contribute significantly to the deepening of the dialogue with the French Republic at the highest political level.

The Government Communication Office (UKOM) is concerned about the situation in which the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has been placed by individual supervisors of STA and the director Bojan Veselinović. Despite calls for a new contract, with which legal financing of liabilities that STA must carry out in line with the Slovenian Press Agency Act would be ensured, Director Veselinović keeps rejecting the deal with the Government Communication Office as the representative of the founder and continues to send invoices to UKOM. Despite warnings that UKOM has no business relationship with STA as of 1 January 2021, Director Veselinović submitted the invoice for the alleged performance of public service in March to UKOM. Due to the above facts, UKOM rejected the March pay-out.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated in an informal video conference of the EU Foreign Affairs Council attended by EU development ministers. They discussed the future of the European financial architecture for development.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the unveiling of the memorial commemorating the 30th anniversary of the DEMOS coalition meeting at which the commitment to realise the plebiscite decision regarding the independent and sovereign Republic of Slovenia was confirmed and it was determined to accelerate the key steps in the process of Slovenian independence.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with Krum Garkov, the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) in Tallinn, Estonia, today, as part of the preparations for the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.