Slovenia Weekly: The doors are open

As part of its programme of regional visits, the Government visited the Osrednjeslovenska region this week. Members of the Government called at the majority of the region’s 25 municipalities, with the exception of the Municipality of Ljubljana, which is scheduled for a visit on 5 March. In the coming days, the Government will put forward a proposal for an extraordinary adjustment of pensions. Announcing the proposal during the regional visit, the Prime Minister said he believed the additional funds would help pensioners better manage the rising cost of living.

Today, Prime Minister Robert Golob is in Paris on a working visit – his third during the current term of office – at the invitation of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. As was the case during President Macron’s visit to Slovenia last October, discussions are focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic sphere, and on coordination in preparation for the spring European Council.

In response to the European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice – For Safe and Accessible Abortion, the European Commission has stated that Member States may make use of existing EU instruments, in particular the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), to support access to legally available abortion services, and that there is no need to establish a new financial mechanism. The initiative, coordinated by the 8 March Institute, was endorsed by the Commission in September last year after receiving more than 1.1 million signatures from EU citizens. The doors are now open. The next step in the My Voice, My Choice campaign is to encourage Member States to join the mechanism.