Foreign Minister Anže Logar attended the extraordinary meeting of NATO foreign ministers. They discussed the situation in Ukraine.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan welcomed Natalia Markevych Pritsa, Deputy Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia. He expressed Slovenia’s solidarity with Ukraine.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs has attended the extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussles, convened by the French presidency. EU ministers of the interior met to discuss provision of humanitarian support to Ukraine, reception of refugees and the underlying aspects regarding the activation of the directive on temporary protection, management of the external borders, measures on visas and anticipation of hybrid threats.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has concluded that, in 2022, the Republic of Slovenia will make a humanitarian contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the amount of EUR 100,000 to assist the people of Ukraine. The contribution will be provided from the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. Slovenia has already provided Ukraine with material assistance totalling EUR 163,000.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar attended the extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. The Council discussed the EU’s response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, which undermines the European security order.

Slovenia condemns in the strongest terms the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducts regular coordination with EU member states and international partners. Slovenian citizens currently in Ukraine are advised to leave the country as quickly and safely as possible.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today tweeted that he had just finished a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

At the extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), the EU foreign affairs ministers took forward the debate they opened at the regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council a day before. The security situation in Eastern Europe was further exacerbated following the decision by Russian President Putin to recognise two self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on 21 February 2022.

Slovenia strongly condemns the decision by President Putin to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities. These hostile measures are a flagrant violation of international law and obligations contained in the Minsk agreements, and will not remain without consequences.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today had a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of NATO member states that took place by videconference. At the meeting, the allies held a consultation on the security situation in Ukraine and its neighbourhood ahead of the announced talks between the US and the Russian Federation on 10 January 2022 and between NATO and the Russian Federation at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) on 12 January 2022.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan met with Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, with whom he exchanged views on the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit and discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

On the Day of Remembrance for the Dead, the deputy ambassador in Kyiv Blaž Masle laid a memorial wreath on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Janez Janša on the memorial to the fallen Slovenian soldiers on the Eastern Front during the First World War at the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan visited Ukraine between 27 and 29 October 2021. He participated in the international conference titled “The Odesa Debate” and held several bilateral meetings on the margins of the conference. In the debate on the vision of peace and prosperity in Ukraine, he commended the progress already made, bringing Ukraine closer to European values and norms, underlining the importance of further strengthening economic and social resilience.

State Secretary Raščan addressed, via a video conference, the participants of the 4th international Ukraine Reform Conference that was held in Vilnius this year.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar today attended a video conference meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The ministers focused their discussion on the situation in Ethiopia and Ukraine and held an informal talk with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Today, at the invitation of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar is on a working visit in Kiev. In addition to his meeting with his host, Minister Kuleba, and in light of the preparations for Slovenia’s EU Council Presidency and the Eastern Partnership Summit, Minister Logar also met with Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov, and Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Yaşar Halit Çevik. During all these talks, the Minister expressed his full support for Ukraine’s reform endeavours on its path towards the European Union and NATO.

Slovenia and Ukraine held virtual consultations on cybersecurity. The Slovenian delegation was led by State Secretary Tone Kajzer, and the Ukrainian side was headed by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vasyl Bodnar.

State Secretary Simona Leskovar at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the Ukrainian delegation and representatives of the U-LEAD project. The delegation is visiting Slovenia as part of the high-level study visit on Slovenia’s regional development policy organised by the Centre for European Perspective. The Ukrainian delegation headed by First Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories of Ukraine Dmytro Zhyvytskyy is composed of representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development, the Verkhovna Rada and the Office of the President.

Today Kyiv hosted political consultations between Slovenia and Ukraine. State Secretary Simona Leskovar and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar discussed the importance and strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Slovenia and Ukraine, including the potential in economic terms, cooperation in international organisations such as the EU and NATO, and the current situation both in and around Ukraine and in the EU and south-eastern Europe.