We are publishing the response to the petition of foreign academics, who express their concern over the state of autonomy of Slovenian academia.

On 18 November 2020, Slovenia, Israel and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) organized a virtual event “Water and Cyber security - Protection of critical water-related infrastructure”, with 22 panelists and 150 participants.

As part of Slovenian delegation, the Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek visited the Republic of Italy and the Vatican City State on Thursday and Friday. The visit to Rome included the Minister’s activities and meetings with the leading representatives of the World Food Programme of the United Nations (UN) and of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies of the Republic of Italy. On Friday, the Minister Dr Podgoršek heard Holy Mass for the Fatherland, attended the Audience with the Holy Father, and met with the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson. On conclusion of visit of the Slovenian delegation, a ceremony of lighting candles on a pine tree presented by Slovenia took place in the St. Peter’s Square.

Following the conclusion of the European Council meeting, Prime Minister Janez Janša today addressed the following items in detail in a press statement: on coordination concerning COVID-19, climate changes, fight against terrorism, EU-US relations, Turkey and the Southern Neighbourhood

A Slovenian Christmas tree, a spruce from the Kočevsko forests, has been lit up in all its beauty today in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. The tree is decorated with handmade ethnographic ornaments. The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Anže Logar, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The press conference about the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Hugon Možina, head of the emergency internal medicine service at UKC Ljubljana, Deana Potza, from the health inspectorate, and Tomaž Pečjak, deputy director-general of the police.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Anže Logar visited the Holy See, where he had the honour of attending an audience with Pope Francis together with members of the Slovenian delegation. On the 30th anniversary of the Plebiscite on Sovereignty and Independence, Slovenia gifted a Christmas tree to stand in St Peter’s Square. By erecting the tree in the Vatican, Slovenia once again expresses gratitude to the Holy See for its unwavering support during the process of gaining independence.

Dear Ms Mijatović, May I begin by thanking you for your concern and the attention you have been devoting to the current situation regarding the Slovenian Press Agency (SPA). Just as you, I also want the current difficulties regarding the financing of the Slovenian Press Agency to be resolved as soon as possible to the benefit of the employees as well as the Agency itself.

In scope of the HIA project, funded by the European Comission and coordinated by TECOS with the help of SRIP FoF and Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, we are launching the second call for expression of interest, where we invite interested companies with relevant Industry 4.0 references to apply. This is the second of the overall three open calls within this project.

Today’s press conference on the current situation of the Covid-19 epidemic was attended by Anica Hribar, director of the Brežice general hospital, and psychologist Žarko Trušnovec.

Prime Minister Janez Janša will be participating at the European Council meeting in Brussels today. The EU leaders will discuss further harmonisation on Covid-19, climate change, the fight against terrorism, and EU relations with the USA, Turkey, and the southern neighbourhood.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša addressed, via video message, the attendees of the Global Slovenian Business: Cooperation and Development event, uniting Slovenian businessmen around the world, which has been organised by the Slovenian Global Business Network.

On the margins of his visit to Rome, Foreign Minister Anže Logar met David M. Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). Minister Logar congratulated him on receiving the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to WFP for its efforts to combat hunger, its contribution to improving the conditions for peace in conflict zones, and for efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

The press conference on the current Covid-19 situation was attended by the state secretary at the Ministry of Health, Marija Magajne, the state secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Mateja Ribič, and the government spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

Below is the interview with Prime Minister Janez Janša for the Hungarian weekly Mandiner. The interview focused on the Slovenian domestic policies, Covid-19 epidemic, Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council, on cultural Marxism, and on Hungary.

Slovenia, a green boutique destination offering five-star experiences, can pride itself on a multitude of flattering titles, including the most beautiful, the safest and the most hipster country. Five Slovenian municipalities have more beds for tourists than they have for local people, and every year records are broken in terms of visits to the country on the sunny side of the Alps, which is also one of the cleanest countries in the world. A question that is often asked around here is how long Slovenia will be able to fly the green flag and, on that basis, top sustainability lists.

Today, we mark International Human Rights Day. It is very different from previous years. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives without precedent. In fact, it goes far beyond a public health emergency. It is an economic and social crisis, as well as a human rights crisis.

The press conference on the current situation with the COVID-19 disease was attended by Borut Štrukelj, full professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ljubljana, Dušan Deisinger, medical director of the Izola General Hospital, Eva Grilc, epidemiologist from the NIPH, and the government spokesperson Jelko Kacin.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan took part in a virtual ministerial roundtable on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, which was held on the margins of the World Press Freedom Conference 2020 co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and UNESCO. The meeting focused on the strengthening of support for countries to increase the safety of journalists and media workers, particularly in fighting impunity for crimes committed against them. At the close of the meeting, a ministerial commitment was adopted.

As part of his two-day official visit to Israel, Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In their joint statement to the press, the two prime ministers highlighted the good, friendly relations between the countries since Slovenia gained independence thirty years ago and the importance of innovation for the future competitive advantage of both Slovenia and Israel.