This morning he first met with the European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton. In the afternoon, the Minister also met with the Slovenian Commissioner Janez Lenarčič and some Slovenian members of the European Parliament.

The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the exchange of information between Slovenian representatives in the European institutions and the Minister, both on current issues, Slovenia's preparations for the presidency of the EU Council and also in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister Koritnik and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Lenarčič spoke about the importance of digitalisation in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and other natural disasters, and the importance of strengthening the cyber resilience of critical infrastructure and the digital single market in the event of cyber-attacks.

The interlocutors agreed that the situation surrounding the Covid-19 virus pandemic showed how important digital tools, services and the use of information and communication technologies are, and how important it is to ensure European digital sovereignty. The Minister welcomed the efforts and vision of the European Commission in the digital field and highlighted the advantages that new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can bring in the field of civilian crisis response.

With the growing importance of digitalisation, there is also a growing need to strengthen cyber security. Slovenia sees the strengthening of resilience and response to cyber-attacks and the integration of the cyber aspect into the broader aspect of crisis response as one of the key priorities of the Presidency, so it will strive to improve information exchange and operational response at EU level.

The Minister also met with MEPs Ljudmila Novak and Romano Tomc and MP Franc Bogovič at the premises of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union. They exchanged views on the management of the Covid-19 virus pandemic in Slovenia and at the EU level, the Minister also presented the conclusions of meetings with the Commissioners, the expected priorities of the Slovenian Presidency, and the areas of digitalisation, 5G technology, smart cities and villages and cyber security.