Today, Minister Jože Podgoršek held a meeting by video conference with the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides. They discussed Slovenia's priorities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today attended a regular meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European affairs. The focus was mostly placed on preparations for a special European Council meeting, which will bring together the EU heads of state on 25 May 2021. Special attention was also devoted to climate policy discussions, the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, and EU-Russian Federation and EU-UK relations.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan held a series of meetings prior to tomorrow’s General Affairs Council (GAC). He met with Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourova, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, Secretary-General of the Council Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, and some senior officials in the Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today met with President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, Secretary-General Klaus Welle, and Leader of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament Manfred Weber.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar today attended a regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. Ministers discussed the situation in the Western Balkans and transatlantic relations. They also held an informal video conference with the US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry.

Europe Day is celebrated every year on 9 May. The date marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration of 1950, in which the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented a central idea to set up transnational economic cooperation in Europe. The core motive of this proposal was to create the conditions for lasting peace and enhanced cooperation in Europe. His ideas set into motion the process of European integration and a year later, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was created, the predecessor of the European Economic Community and the European Union.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Kamiński earlier today as part of the preparations for the Slovenian EU Council Presidency. They discussed the priorities of the forthcoming Presidency, in particular migration.

In two weeks' time, on 20 May, Slovenia and the rest of the world will celebrate World Bee Day for the fourth time. The UN General Assembly proclaimed World Bee Day on 20 December 2017 as the result of cooperation between the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association as the initiator, the Republic of Slovenia and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and as the result of the widespread European and wider international support of countries and organisations, including Apimondia (International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations).

Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with the Lithuanian Minister of the Interior, Agnë Bilotaitë, this morning in Vilnius, as part of preparations for Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council. In the afternoon, the Minister met with the Latvian Minister of the Interior, Sandis Ģirģens, in Riga.

Director-General for EU Affairs Barbara Sušnik held bilateral consultations via video conference with David Cvach, Director for European Affairs at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with Krum Garkov, the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) in Tallinn, Estonia, today, as part of the preparations for the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

EU Ministers responsible for agriculture met today by videoconference. Agriculture was the main item on the agenda. The key discussion revolved around some questions that remain open in tripartite negotiations on the legislative package for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, namely the elements of green architecture. They have also discussed the international trade in agricultural products and the situation on agricultural markets in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. States Secretaries Aleš Irgolič and Anton Harej attended the meeting on the part of Slovenia.

The Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Andrej Vizjak, attended the informal videoconference of the EU environment ministers under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU. The ministers discussed the challenges related to water management in the light of adaptation to climate change. The meeting focused on exchanging good practices and experience in tackling the challenges of water scarcity and droughts, and on improving water management at all levels.

Third-country nationals should exercise the utmost caution in all dealings with companies that claim to offer assistance in obtaining Slovenian citizenship or Slovenian passports. Many websites and e-mail scams attempt to mislead individuals into believing the companies are offering to expedite citizenship or passport applications or are acting on behalf of the Slovenian authorities.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar met with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, who visited Slovenia as part of preparations for the EU Council Presidency. They focused on the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency in the second half of this year.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, in Ljubljana earlier today. The meeting focused on Slovenia’s preparations for the Council Presidency in the second semester of 2021.The Minister outlined to the Commissioner the priorities in the area of home affairs. These are integrated migration management, the strengthening of the Schengen area leading to improved security in the EU and Slovenia, and the Western Balkans being a regional priority.

In today's Official Journal, the European Commission published the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/656 of 21 April 2021 entering a name in the register of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (Slovenska potica), thereby protecting Slovenska potica as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG). The protection under the traditional speciality guaranteed does not limit the production of Slovenska potica to a specific area. It can be produced anywhere, provided that the producer holds a certificate of compliance of the production with the specification of Slovenska potica.

At the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Republic of Poland, Mr Grzegorz Puda, Minister Jože Podgoršek (in the first part) and State Secretary Aleš Irgolič (in the second part) have attended the meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Visegrad Group extended to Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (V4+4), which was held by videoconference. The Ministers have discussed the challenges and opportunities for agricultural holdings in light of the Farm to Fork Strategy and exchanged experience in the preparation of strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy.

Prior to the upcoming Slovenian EU Council Presidency, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan held videoconference consultations with Miguel Berger, State Secretary at the German Federal Foreign Office, who is responsible for political sectors and European policy, relations with the United States, the Russian Federation, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar today attended a video conference meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The ministers focused their discussion on the situation in Ethiopia and Ukraine and held an informal talk with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.