The NATO Summit in Washington began yesterday with a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Golob and Tina Gaber, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, and Minister of Defence, Marjan Šarec.

At committee meetings, the Government adopted, among other things, an opinion on the draft amendment to the Criminal Code and included several new projects in the current Development Programme Plan 2024–2027.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held political consultations in Lisbon with the Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, Inês Domingos. The two officials confirmed the positive and friendly bilateral relations between Slovenia and Portugal, exchanging views on further support for Ukraine, institutional reforms, EU enlargement and the situation in the Western Balkans.

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal the Implementing Regulation entering the name of Istrski med/Istarski med (PDO) into the Register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications, thus protecting Istrski med as a joint product of both Slovenia and Croatia. The application for the protection was prepared jointly by Slovenian beekeepers from the Koper Coastal Beekeepers' Society and Croatian beekeepers from Istria.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon visited the Triglav Slovenian House in Sao Paulo and met with members of the Association of Slovenians in Brazil. She also attended an event organised by the Slovenian-Brazilian and Slovenian-Argentine chambers of commerce. As a guest of the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI), she gave a lecture on the geostrategic situation in the world and Slovenia's foreign policy.

The Cross-border Biosphere Reserve of the Julian Alps was declared today at the 36th meeting of the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in Agadir, Morocco. This brings together two existing Biosphere Reserves – the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve on the Slovenian side and the Italian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve.

Minister Tanja Fajon began her official visit to Brazil, where she met with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. This is the second official visit at Foreign Minister level since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992. During their talks, Fajon and Vieira confirmed the excellent relations and cooperation between Slovenia and Brazil. The two countries signed an air transport agreement and a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation.

Today, at the Baron Andrej Čehovin Barracks in Postojna, the nine-day Adriatic Regional Security Cyber Cooperation Exercise 24 – ARSC2EX 24 successfully concluded.

The Government approved the texts of the draft act governing the measures to optimise certain procedures at administrative units and of the draft act amending the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023.

Prime Minister Golob hosted a consultation of parliamentary parties on changes to the electoral system and the introduction of a preference vote also for the election of deputies of the National Assembly. All the presidents of the parliamentary parties and the heads of the parliamentary groups were invited to the consultation.

The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the Council of Europe hosted a reception on 2 July to mark the National Day and the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of the European Convention on Human Rights for the Republic of Slovenia

The new biennial Economic Survey of Slovenia, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was presented today at Brdo pri Kranju. The Survey analyses key areas for Slovenia and makes recommendations for the further development and progress of our country.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister and the President of the Government Council for Slovenians in Neighbouring Countries, Robert Golob, the Government Council for Slovenians Abroad met today. The participants discussed the realities, achievements and key challenges faced by Slovenian communities around the world.

The Prime Minister, Robert Golob, and his delegation met today with the Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic, Luís Montenegro. This is the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries since the Portuguese elections in March this year.

As part of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, the Ministry is hosting an exhibition entitled Influential Slovenian Women without Make-up, curated by young photographer Jernej Jelen and opened today by Minister Tanja Fajon. To mark the day, a roundtable discussion brought together Slovenian and foreign women diplomats to present their lifestyles, their strengths and weaknesses, and the challenges they face.

The Government is continuing to prepare the budgets for 2025 and 2026. It has adopted a breakdown of budget expenditure by budget users. In the next two years, the focus will remain on measures to deal with the consequences of last year's floods and to strengthen economic growth and development.

An expert working group chaired by Dr Janez Vogrinc has adopted the final proposal for the National Education Programme for the period 2023–2033 and submitted it to Minister of Education Darjo Felda.

In June, when the Republic of Korea held the presidency of the Security Council, Slovenia completed the first quarter of its current term on the UN Security Council. The month was marked by the adoption of a resolution backing the proposal for a lasting peace in Gaza.

The 17th Dubrovnik Forum is drawing to a close with the participation of Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. This year's Forum, under the theme "Dire Straits and Safe Passages", focuses on the growing global economic and security challenges and provides a platform for much-needed dialogue and the search for solutions.

The social partners met again, after almost one year, at the session of the Economic and Social Council (ESC) with the aim of reviving the social dialogue and the constructive and continuous functioning of the ESC.