My fellow Slovenians,

when we got our first two books in Slovenian in the mid-16th century, their author in all his visionary greatness could probably not imagine how important they would become for the Slovenian nation.

Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, chaired the eighth meeting of the Slovenian-Italian Ministerial Coordination Committee, together with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar has attended the eighth meeting of the Coordination Committee of Ministers between the Republic of Slovenia and the Italian Republic in Brdo pri Kranju. The Minister discussed the migration and security situation in the Western Balkans region with the Italian State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Nicola Molteni.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs expresses profound concern over the recent adoption of a law by the Israeli Knesset that severs the Israeli authorities' engagement with the UNRWA and hinders the Agency’s activities across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia will be closed on 1 November 2024 in observance of the Day of Remembrance for the Dead.

The new issue of the News from Nuclear Slovenia is published.

During her participation in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, State Secretary Melita Gabrič met with Palestinian Minister of Women's Affairs Mona Al-Khalili.

State Secretary Marko Štucin attended a conference at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, to mark the 20th anniversary of EU enlargement. The conference was organised on the initiative of the ambassadors from ten countries (including Slovenia) that joined the EU 20 years ago, in cooperation with the University of Coimbra.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development (MKRR) will launch public calls for proposals in 2024. The calls will be implemented by the ministry on its own as well as through the Slovenian Regional Development Fund (SRRS) and the Slovene Enterprise Fund (SPS) to offer both grants and repayable financial incentives to local communities and businesses in 2025.

The tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, hosted by Slovenia in Ljubljana and thus taking over the Presidency of the Convention Bureau, is coming to an end. The session was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Water Convention.

The National Assembly approved the law on the public sector pay system yesterday.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the ECoC GO!2025 project – Renovation of the Trg Evrope square.

State Secretary Dr Melita Gabrič participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York, where she advocated for the greater inclusion of women in peace processes, enhanced funding for women's organisations at the local level and reinforced accountability for severe violations of the rights of women and girls in conflict zones.

The tenth meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention in Ljubljana continues. Following yesterday's official opening and high-level discussion, today and tomorrow the Parties will focus on general topics, such as reviewing the implementation of the current work program and adopting a new one, decisions on the direction of the convention and elections to working bodies. We pay special attention to side events today.

At today's session, the Government took note of work being done ahead of the application to host a high-performance computer, i.e. an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer, in order to set up an AI Factory. It also adopted the 2023 report on the management of Slovenia's public debt and amendments to the national detailed site plan for the second track of the Divača–Koper railway line.

At today's third meeting of the Monitoring Committee of Slovenia’s Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, the members of the Monitoring Committee and European Commission representatives discussed the progress made in Slovenia’s Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027 implementation and the amendments of the programme that will allow the establishment of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP).

The main event of the meeting was the high-level discussion "Our Waters, Our Future: Transboundary Water Cooperation to Strengthen Climate Resilience", which was attended by high-level representatives of countries – ministers, state secretaries and other representatives of governmental and non-governmental international organizations. At the end, the participants also adopted the joint conclusions of the high segment of the session.

As we celebrate the entry into force of the Charter of the United Nations on United Nations (UN) Day, we pay tribute to the world's most important international organisation.

On United Nations Day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, emphasises: “I believe that, despite the challenging crises, the UN remains the most important international organisation for maintaining global peace. Member States must seize the opportunity and responsibility to strengthen it and restore its standing.”

Prime Minister Robert Golob concludes his working visit to US President Biden.