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Slovenia Weekly: Winter solstice

Uroš Medved / Shutterstock

The Slovenian Presidency has been the fourth Presidency of the Council of the EU to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we did our best to ensure that most of the meetings were held in-person, which contributed to the successful closure of dossiers that had been waiting for this opportunity for some time, Prime Minister Janša underlined at last night's presentation of the conclusions. Among other things, 21 trialogues have been concluded and 22 national recovery and resilience plans have been approved.

The pandemic will continue to shape the course of the presidencies, as the omicron is now spreading rapidly across Europe. It has already been detected in Slovenia, and the coming weeks will be marked by many calls for vaccination. And - if the meteorologists' forecasts are correct - by a winter fairy tale. 

  • PV Bruselj17125 (Prime Minister Janša attended a press conference with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen)

    Prime Minister Janez Janša presents the achievements of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in Brussels

    17. 12. 2021

    Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the European Council meeting in Brussels, where EU leaders discussed the current situation regarding COVID-19, crisis management and resilience, energy prices, security and defence, migration and certain issues related to the EU's external relations. After the European Council meeting, the Prime Minister attended the Euro Summit. In accordance with the conclusions of the June 2021 Euro Summit, the state of play of the Capital Markets Union was discussed.
  • PV1 3979 (David Sassoli, Janez Janša and Ursula von der Leyen.)

    Prime Minister Janša signs Joint Declaration on EU legislative priorities for 2022

    16. 12. 2021

    On the margins of the European Council meeting today in Brussels, Prime Minister Janez Janša signed the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on the EU's legislative priorities for 2022. A resilient and reinvigorated EU will remain at the forefront of events in the year ahead.
  • DS Dovzan na zadnjem GACU v casu EU2021SI (state secretary with a bell)

    European affairs ministers endorse conclusions of the Council on EU enlargement

    14. 12. 2021

    State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today chaired the final regular meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Brussels in the context of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council. Ministers of European affairs discussed draft conclusions for the December European Council and the coordination of the enlargement conclusions that have been unanimously confirmed, which is yet another achievement of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
  • 44da8dd6 d5cf 4254 9f44 dee54a896d71 (Minister Podgoršek and Commissioner Sinkevičius at today's press conference)

    Negotiations on fishing opportunities for 2022 successfully concluded at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council

    14. 12. 2021

    Today, EU fisheries ministers held the last meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.They successfully concluded difficult negotiations on fishing quotas for next year. The Council meeting was chaired for the last time by the Slovenian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Jože Podgoršek.
  • pozdrav pred prihodom (Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and France, standing on the stairss, greeting)

    Minister Dr Logar with French Foreign Minister Le Drian on the achievements of the Slovenian Presidency

    16. 12. 2021

    Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar met with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris today. The main purpose of his visit to France was to outline the achievements of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and to discuss future work on the key European dossiers during the upcoming French Presidency.
  • Štrukelj 1512 (Borut Štrukelj from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana)

    A booster shot is the best protection against Omicron

    15. 12. 2021

    Prof. Dr Borut Štrukelj from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana was one of the speakers at the press conference on COVID-19 held today.
  • NK covid1412 (Minister of Health Janez Poklukar)

    First cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus confirmed in Slovenia

    14. 12. 2021

    Today’s press conference on COVID-19 was attended by the Minister of Health, Janez Poklukar, the National Coordinator of the Vaccination Programme at the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Dr Marta Grgič Vitek, and by the Head of the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and the Head of the Laboratory for the Diagnosis of Viral Infections, Prof Dr Miroslav Petrovec.