This year's fourth edition of Rural Inspiration Awards taking place under the slogan The Future is Youth is organised by the European Commission together with the European Network for Rural Development. The aim of the competition is to raise the visibility of the rural development policy and the contribution of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to the long-term vision for rural areas, and to promote the exchange of views and networking between interested stakeholders in rural areas. Slovenia submitted eight projects for the European selection.

The commemorations of the victims of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been held for the 77th consecutive year. Participants paid tribute to those who lost their lives as a result of the atomic bombing and supported the two cities' message for a world without nuclear weapons and a lasting peace.

We would like to inform you that we will hold a Consular day in Lemont, IL on Saturday, August 13 2022 from 10 am to 1 pm, at the Slovenian Catholic Center (14252 Main St., Lemont, IL 60439.

The Information Security Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, in cooperation with Microsoft, the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia and the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana, held a series of four events dedicated to different sectors of critical infrastructure in 2021 – water, energy, health and finances.

Today, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended a session of the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, which Slovenia joined this July. The Initiative aims to encourage a successful outcome of the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters. “I am proud that Slovenia joined the Stockholm Initiative led by two female foreign ministers, my German colleague Annalena Baerbock and my Swedish counterpart Ann Linde,” stressed minister Fajon.

Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended the opening session of the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In her speech, she highlighted the significant contribution the Treaty makes to world peace and safety, especially taking into account the complexity of the security environment marked by various challenges and threats. She advocated the further strengthening of the Treaty through the implementation of its three pillars – disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

In the 1930s, the Ljubljana Diocese chose the abandoned cemetery of St. Christopher, located in the Bežigrad district in Ljubljana, as a site where a new seminary was to be built, named after the Slovenian missionary Friderik Baraga. Architect Jože Plečnik was commissioned to draw the plans for the seminary, but he made only concept plans. Since these were not sufficient to start with the building, Anton Suhadolc was called in to make more more detailed plans. Despite Plečnik's disagreement with the new plans, we can still undeniably see his influence on the finished building.

The resolution passed at the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York declares the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment on a global level.

At its 10th regular session, the Government extended the mandate of Barbara Koželj Podlogar, the current Head of the Creativity Directorate, as Acting Director-General of the Directorate.

At its regular session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted a draft act on a lower rate of value added tax on certain types of energy products. By temporarily reducing the VAT rate from 22% to 9.5%, the Government is addressing the impact of energy price increases during the peak energy consumption period, i.e. the heating season. The Government also took note of the partial report on the fire intervention in the Goriška Karst region and instructed the Ministry of Defence to prepare, by the end of August, a legal solution to enable the payment of a special award to volunteers participating in the system of protection, rescue and assistance in the event of large-scale disaster interventions. The Government will also launch a procedure to assess the damage caused by the Karst fire and the possibility of acquiring financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 27 July 2022 in Kyiv between the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Information Security and the Administration of the State Service of Ukraine for Special Communications and Cyber Security Data Protection.

The latest DESI report, DESI 2022, shows that Slovenia has made progress again and is now ranked 11th, which is its highest ranking ever.

On 26 July, 2022 in New York, the Slovenian mission to the UN hosted a hybrid event entitled Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Threats: An Analysis of Appropriate Regulation, Good Practices, International Law and Norms, prepared by the Government Information Security Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Microsoft.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon paid a working visit to Ukraine, where she met with Ukranian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and Director of the Ukraine Investment Promotion Office Sergiy Tsivkach. During talks with her hosts, Minister Fajon stressed that Slovenia will continue to support and assist Ukraine, both in coping with the catastrophic consequences of the Russian aggression and in overcoming the obstacles on the path towards EU integration.

The European Commission declared three violations to have been successfully resolved by Slovenia – the failure to fulfil obligations from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in connection with the Rules on the Protection of Buildings Against Lightning, the non-notification of regulations in connection with the establishment of assessment methods for harmful effects of environmental noise, and the non-notification of regulations concerning common noise assessment methods for the purposes of adapting to scientific and technical progress.

On Sunday 24 July 2022, Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the area affected by the fire in the Karst region for the third time. He was briefed on the current situation and met the mayors of the affected municipalities.

Kim Komljanec worked as a playwright, scriptwriter and stage director, theatre director, pedagogue and lecturer until she took up her position as an advisor to the Minister of Culture. Until recently, she was the head of the unit for playwrights within the Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists, which she founded in 2019.

At its 9th regular session, the Government appointed Matevž Čelik Vidmar, former Director of the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), as State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture. He will take up his duties on 1 August 2022.

At the 9th regular session, the Government issued its Decree Determining the Prices of Natural Gas and adopted a further decision regarding risk preparedness in the event of disruptions in the supply of power and natural gas, taking note of the information concerning the problem of the supply of drinking water to the population of Slovenian Istria. It also discussed the general baselines for the preparation of budget documents for the following two years. These will allow the line ministries to draft the financial plans that will form the basis for future coordination and the Government’s priorities in the next two years.

Following yesterday's narrow veto vote by the National Council on the government's amendment to the RTV Slovenia Act, the National Assembly has again approved the proposed amendments. The amendment aims to remove politics from public service broadcasting and ensure its institutional and programme autonomy.