News

On the margins of the official opening of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025, Minister of Culture Asta Vrečko hosted a working meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the Western Balkans at Villa Vipolže in Goriška Brda. The meeting was also attended by the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, and the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef.

The Ministry welcomes the European Commission’s Enlargement Package, which provides assessments of the progress made by the countries of the Western Balkans, the Eastern trio and Turkey on their path towards the EU. The package contains a comprehensive analysis of each country's reform efforts and plays a key role in monitoring and promoting the countries' progress and strengthening their European perspective.

State Secretary Marko Štucin attended a regular meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels. European affairs ministers focused on preparations for the October European Council and the horizontal dimension of the Commission's 2024 Rule of Law Report, which for the first time includes Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia.

In Rome, State Secretary Štucin met with Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Edmondo Cirielli to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between Slovenia and Italy. He also participated in a meeting of the Friends of the Western Balkans and presented a joint Slovenian-German initiative to improve the efficiency of decision-making in the enlargement process.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon is visiting Skopje, where she and Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia for European Affairs Bojan Maricik signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation between Slovenia and North Macedonia for the 2023-2024 period.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar is hosting the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, Oliver Spasovski, today and tomorrow. Today's bilateral meeting was devoted to discussions on topical issues in the field of home affairs, in particular migration management, and to further strengthening bilateral cooperation.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Filip Tosevski, for consultations. The counterparts were pleased with the intensive political dialogue and excellent relations between the two countries. They exchanged views on topical regional, European and international issues.

On the margins of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Minister Tanja Fajon hosted the first meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Successor States of the former SFRY. Slovenia initiated the meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Agreement on Succession Issues, with a view to promoting talks on resolving the outstanding succession issues.

State Secretary Marko Štucin hosted Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia Bojan Maricikj. They discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and Slovenia's continued support for North Macedonia's European integration path.

Prime Minister Robert Golob hosted the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski on an official visit.

State Secretary Marko Štucin met with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Fatmire Isaki. They were pleased to note the intensive political dialogue and the very good relations between the two countries.

From 18 to 20 January 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the 53rd World Economic Forum in Davos, a meeting point for leaders, civil society representatives and top-performing business people.

The Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han, accompanied by Slovenian business representatives, is on a working visit to North Macedonia today and tomorrow. The minister, who met the Macedonian Minister of Economy, Kreshnik Bekteshi, called for the further strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon paid an official visit to Skopje and met with Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani. They discussed the excellent bilateral relations between their two countries and Slovenia's continued support for North Macedonia's European path.

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of North Macedonia, Slavjanka Petrovska, is paying a two-day official visit to Slovenia at the invitation of the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec. Her visit is a continuation of the meetings at the highest political levels between the two friendly countries, and an opportunity to further strengthen the cooperation between Slovenia and the Republic of North Macedonia in the field of defence and military affairs.

The visit focused on the discussions relating to Slovenia’s assistance and cooperation within North Macedonia’s accession process to the EU in the field of judicial reforms.

Political Director and Director-General for Common Foreign and Security Policy Jernej Müller met with Director-General of the Directorate for Bilateral Relations with European Countries Belevski and Director-General for EU Sejfula in the framework of political consultations between Slovenia and North Macedonia.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today participated in the 8th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum in Skopje, dedicated to EU enlargement. “The Western Balkans is part of Europe and the challenges of the region are also those of the European Union. It is therefore vital to involve the Western Balkan region in the debates on the future of Europe," said State Secretary Dovžan in his address.

Two weeks after deploying two firefighting teams to North Macedonia who successfully helped put out large wildfires, Slovenia today conveyed firefighting equipment to the area: firefighting backpacks, chainsaws, and fire beaters. State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Stanislav Raščan attended the dispatch at the Roje National Logistics Centre.

During today's video conference call, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov assessed the development of bilateral relations as very positive. Against the backdrop of the recent Slovenian EU Council Presidency take-over, the pair discussed the European perspective of North Macedonia.