Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp and other Nazi and Fascist concentration camps and persecution and execution sites. Slovenia joins in the Holocaust remembrance, commemoration of war victims and honouring of those who helped the victims of persecution survive. During the war, a great number of Slovenes, Slovene Jews and Roma of both genders were forcibly taken to concentration camps, with many never to return.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has announced he is stepping down in a bid to push for a snap election, saying he could not achieve what he set out to do with the current minority coalition.

Just before new year, Slovenia was given an excellent opportunity for cooperation: to partner with the American NBA Dallas Mavericks where Luka Dončić currently plays. The effects of this partnership will be multi-layered and visible in several fields: tourism, economy, mobility. Six partners saw this great opportunity for a better recognition of Slovenia in the American market: the Sport Media Focus Agency, the Government Communication Office (UKOM), the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO), AmCham Slovenia, SPIRIT Slovenia, and Ljubljana Tourism. It has quite often been proven that we achieve greater success and recognition if we collaborate.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec was a attending the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos at the invitation of its founder and Executive Chairman, prof. Klaus Schwab, on 21 and 22 January 2020.

The Government adopted a nomination of the buildings and urban development works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The Government entrusted the Ministry of Culture with the implementation of activities and coordination of procedures for the preparation and submission of the Nomination File, which is the responsibility of the Republic of Slovenia as a signatory of the Convention Concerning Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The Government instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present the Nomination File for the inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage Lists to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris by 31 January 2020 at the latest.

Today, a business event was held as part of the series of events for “Business-to-Diplomacy” (B2D) organised by the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the French Embassy and Renault-Revoz at the seat of Renault-Revoz d.d., Novo Mesto.

On the second day of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum taking place in Davos until 24 January, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec took part in a panel debate entitled Unlocking Public Sector Artificial Intelligence.

During the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec attended a working lunch where a discussion on 'Generating Growth for Central and Eastern Europe' took place. The main emphases included the economic situations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The discussion partners spoke about issues concerning necessary measures by governmental decision-makers and businesspeople directed at promoting sustainable development and the ability to adjust economies to new driving forces of growth that must be closely linked with the transition to a low-carbon society.

Minister without portfolio responsible for development, strategic projects and cohesion Dr Angelika Mlinar has concluded her two-day visit to Brussels. Today was the first time the Minister met with European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira. Commissioner informed the Minister that the European Commission (EC) is withdrawing its warning of potential suspension of payments of European Cohesion Policy funding which is made from the EU budget into Slovenian budget. The EC announced its warning last July due to the e-MA IT-related problems. The Minister was happy to announce that “the European Commission acknowledged Slovenia’s progress in further developing the e-MA information system which is the result of the hard work of my staff and the staff of other ministries. The information system works and enables smooth implementation of European Cohesion Policy in Slovenia. We will continue to create the best user experience.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Miro Cerar, and the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, co-chaired the session of the Economic Internationalisation Council today. The Council acts as a link in the partnership between ministries and business representatives, contributing significantly to the shaping of policies for economic internationalisation and concerted efforts in third markets.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec is attending the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos at the invitation of its founder and Executive Chairman, prof. Klaus Schwab, on 21 and 22 January 2020.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund, has issued a grant decision for the project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Dravinja basin – Municipality Rače-Fram”. The project is worth a little under EUR 5 million and will receive European Regional Development Fund support in the amount of almost EUR 1.4 million.

The situation in the Sahel, Libya and climate diplomacy were among the topics on the agenda today at the January Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, attended by Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar.

Based on the Association Agreement between Slovenia and the European Space Agency (ESA), which enables employment of Slovenian citizens in the ESA, three Slovenian experts will be seconded to the ESA centre in Noordwijk in the Netherlands for up to one year.

A larger group of Slovenians from Venezuela who applied for repatriation have already arrived in Slovenia, told State Secretary Olga Belec at the press conference held at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad. The repatriation is still open and the Office is accepting new applications. So far, repatriation has been approved to 29 persons of which 21 are already in Slovenia. All those who arrived in Slovenia are feeling well and relieved to live in peace and freedom.

The Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar met with the Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson on 17 January 2020 during her visit to Slovenia. “The Commissioner has taken over a key portfolio, one that comes with great expectations from Member States and citizens. Security, asylum and migration are among the greatest challenges the EU has faced in recent years,” said Poklukar when stating the importance of the meeting.

Tamburitzas in an opera? Some people may find this unusual or say that it cannot be done, but composer Gregor Zagorc and his excellent team have managed to prove them wrong, surprising the audience with a beautiful opera. Ambrož and Katarina, a saga of forbidden love, is the world's first opera written for a tamburitza orchestra.

Slovenia and Portugal announced at the January meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council their joint initiative for marking the exact geographical origin of honey.

Just before the new year, Slovenia entered into a partnership with the American NBA club Dallas Mavericks, where one of the players is our outstanding basketball player Luka Dončić.

As part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week held on 11–18 January, Minister Cerar took part in the Future Sustainability Summit today. At the panel titled “Technology vs. Policies: What will unlock climate action?” the Minister underlined the importance of a steadfast fight against climate change, which requires a broader economic and social transformation.