Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with President of the European Council, Charles Michel, via videoconference. Their discussion mostly focused on the harmonisation of priorities and events of the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU. Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, will also be among the guests of honor at the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s statehood.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended a regular two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels this week. On the opening day, foreign ministers discussed the respective situations in Afghanistan and the Southern Neighbourhood, along with the NATO 2030 process. On the following day, the officials exchanged views on Russia, regional security and arms control with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned His Excellency Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Wang Shunqing for talks.

Eva Grilc, an epidemiologist from the NIPH, and Jože Ramovš, an anthropologist, social worker, scientific advisor and associate professor, the initiator of the establishment of the Anton Trstenjak Institute, participated in a press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19.

The 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which concluded today in Geneva, saw the adoption of resolutions on the human rights situation in Belarus, Syria, Iran, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Within a group of countries, Slovenia also presented a resolution on human rights and the environment, which is a continuation of efforts to address the link between human rights and the environment. To this end, it continues to support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on this topic. The resolution, which places particular emphasis on the biodiversity conservation, was adopted unanimously by the Council.

Following the opening address by Prime Minister Janez Janša and the parliamentary debate, the National Assembly has confirmed at its plenary session the Government's proposal for the Declaration on the Activities of the Republic of Slovenia in the Institutions of the European Union for the Period 2021–2024.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša contacted Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for further harmonisation of views ahead of a meeting of European Council leaders who will, inter alia, discuss the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply of vaccines. Kurz, Babiš and Janša agreed that contracts for the supply of vaccines must be fulfilled and that corrective mechanisms should be put in place where the European Commission does not guarantee supplies in accordance with such contracts. Slovenia ordered 3.1 million doses of vaccines for the first half of 2021, which covers the needs of its population.

EU Ministers responsible for agriculture and fisheries met yesterday and today at the EU Council meeting held in Brussels. The main items on the agenda were agriculture and fisheries. Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek attended the meeting on behalf of Slovenia. The Minister also met with Italian and French agricultural ministers in the framework of the meeting.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended a video conference meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European affairs, focusing on the preparations for a video conference of the European Council members at the end of the week. The officials exchanged views on a joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding vaccine supply, the efforts to jointly and gradually remove restrictions as soon as the situation allows, the digital green pass, and global vaccine supply.

On Tuesday, 23 March 2021, the Minister of Public Administration Boštjan Koritnik attended the World Summit on the Information Society 2021 (WSIS Forum), hosted by: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Software Developer (UNDP).

Maja Ravnikar, director of the National Institute of Biology (NIB), and Robert Carotta, coordinator for hospital beds at the Ministry of Health, took part in a press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease.

At today’s 67th extraordinary session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Janez Janša spoke about the proposal for a Declaration on the Orientations for the Republic of Slovenia’s functioning in the European Union institutions for the period 2021–2024.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “DRR Cycling routes in the municipality Ivančna Gorica”. The project, implemented in the framework of the Agreement for the Development of the Osrednjeslovenska Development Region, is worth a little over EUR 2 million and will receive over EUR 1 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

At today’s 67th extraordinary session of the National Assembly replied to oral questions put to him by Franc Jurša (DeSUS), Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti (SNS), Tina Heferle (LMŠ) and Janja Sluga (SMC) on long-term care, harmonisation of pensions, vaccines, prosecutors and future government work.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar today attended a regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. In an informal video conference with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the ministers addressed issues related to the protection and promotion of human rights and focused on the Southern Neighbourhood and EU-Turkey relations.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “Jesenice Business Zone expansion – reconstructing transport infrastructure”. The project worth approximately EUR 1,1 million will be implemented by the Municipality Jesenice and will receive over EUR 610,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

Dr Borut Štrukelj from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana and President of Headmasters' Association Gregor Pečan participated at today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the Covid-19 disease.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs marks this year’s World Water Day with the theme “Valuing Water” by launching a series of videos from different stakeholders about what water means to them. State Secretary Stanislav Raščan contributed an article on water for “EurActiv”. The Members of the Green Group, established on Slovenia’s initiative, have issued a joint statement. On 18 March, a high-level meeting on the “Implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda” was convened by the President of the United Nations General Assembly, which was also attended by President Borut Pahor.

This year, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination focuses on young people in the fight against racism. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance, and hate speech are unfortunately still present all around the world. In the last year, in particular, young people have demonstrated that they play an important role in combatting these harmful practices, for example by showing support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement, within which they have been actively pointing out the injustices based on race or colour.

Today, before the European Council meeting, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a videoconference with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.