As part of the group of six like-minded countries, Slovenia has always worked towards eliminating the growing differences in the vaccination rate among EU Member States. The overall goal was to eliminate these differences to the greatest extent possible with the supply of 10 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to achieve a 70% vaccination rate of the adult population in all Member States by early summer. Member States had different interests and views regarding the distribution of these 10 million vaccine doses.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a funding decision for the Call for proposals for ESF-supported operations promoting social inclusion of vulnerable groups through cultural and creative industries in the period 2021-2023. The call for proposals will make a total of EUR 1.3 million available, of which over EUR 1 million will come from the European Social Fund.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project The Forge – Kranj Business Incubator. The nearly EUR 2.5 million project will be implemented by Urban Municipality Kranj and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund standing at EUR 1.5 million.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today held a telephone conversation with Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita. The ministers expressed a shared wish to strengthen bilateral relations and went on to exchange views on current regional issues.

Today's press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, the Director of the National Laboratory for Health, the Environment and Food, and Leon Cizelj from the Jožef Stefan Institute.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a funding decision for the Call for proposals to support tourism and recreation infrastructure in mountain areas. The call for proposals makes a total of EUR 5 million available, of which EUR 4.5 million will come from the European Regional Development Fund.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan took part in the virtual ministerial conference of the OECD and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The event was convened under the title: Designing a Roadmap for Recovery in MENA.

Hereafter we publish the EU statement on the World Health Organization COVID-19 origins study, which Slovenia fully supports. The statement was made public on 30 March 2021.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a funding decision for the project Energy efficient renovation of Ljubljana Intermediate Care Department. The EUR 3.3 million project will be implemented by the Ministry of Health and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the Cohesion Fund standing at EUR 1 million. This is already the second approval of EU funding for Ljubljana Intermediate Care Department in a month.

In 2019, Photo, Cinema and Video Club Mavrica in Radomlje celebrated its 50th anniversary. Members of the film section Mavrica captured on film numerous events that took place mostly in and around Domžale, Kamnik, Mengeš, Moravče and Lukovica, as well as in Ljubljana. In addition to films documenting various events, they also made feature and even experimental films. In 2016, 2018 and 2019, the club transferred to the Slovenian Film Archives 161 films, and excerpts from six of the transferred films are presented here as this month's archivalia.

Today, as part of preparation for Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs held a meeting by videoconference with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting the European Way of Life.

Today's conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease featured Ljubljana Archbishop Stanislav Zore, Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia Leon Novak, deputy head of the Infectious Disease Centre of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) Nuška Čakš Jager and Marta Grgič Vitek of the NIJZ, the national coordinator of the vaccination programme.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Anže Logar is hosting Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov on an official visit. Minister Logar expressed continued support for North Macedonia on its path towards European Union membership and outlined the key priorities of Slovenia’s EU Council Presidency.

Ten years ago, millions of Syrians took to the streets of Dara’a, Aleppo and Damascus, calling for democracy and respect of their fundamental rights and basic freedoms. The brutal response by the regime triggered over the span of a decade one of the most serious criminal enterprises and humanitarian crises since the Second World War resulting in more than 400 000 deaths and in countless violations of human rights.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project Road and utility infrastructure in the industrial-service zone Šentjernej Fairgrounds. The EUR 820,000 project will be implemented by the Municipality Šentjernej and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund standing at nearly EUR 440,000.

14 countries issued a joint statement expressing concerns regarding the recent WHO-convened study in China, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of working together toward the development and use of a swift, effective, transparent, science-based, and independent process for international evaluations of such outbreaks of unknown origin in the future. The signatories also underscore the need for a robust, comprehensive, and expert-led mechanism for expeditiously investigating outbreaks of unknown origin that is conducted with full and open collaboration among all stakeholders and in accordance with the principles of transparency, respect for privacy, and scientific and research integrity.

V skladu s sprejetimi sklepi in usmeritvami Vlade Republike Slovenije, bo v času od 1. do vključno 11. aprila 2021 na Upravni enoti Ljubljana izvajanje nalog omejeno zgolj na nujne zadeve.

Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek and European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, met today in the late afternoon by videoconference. The Minister has presented to the European Commissioner the Slovenian priorities in fisheries and forestry during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and State Secretary for EU Affairs of North Macedonia, Kalinka Gaber, today held a discussion expressing satisfaction with the excellent relations between the two countries.

A press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Mateja Ribič, State Secretary Ajda Cuderman, and the Director-General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Mitja Gorenšček.