The Prime Minister today addressed the participants of the 15th traditional Strategic Conference on Trade, which was organised virtually in collaboration with the School of Economics and Business of the University of Ljubljana.

At today's press conference the Director of the National Institute of Public Health, Milan Krek, and Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate provided the latest information on the COVID-19 situation in Slovenia.

As part of the Government’s visit to the Obalno–kraška region Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač met, together with the Prime Minister, with the mayors of the region and the representatives of the Sežana Business Incubator.

This year, the NATO MW COE organized the 3rd Mountain Warfare (MW) Congress dealing with the topic of (JOINED) PERSONNEL RECOVERY IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. The congress was held from 5th to 8th October 2021 and took place in Bled and its surrounding area. It was attended by over 90 participants representing 14 different countries, who were attending a variety of presentations delivered by an ensemble of speakers ranging from scientists and high-altitude experts in MEDEVAC and CASEVAC to military personnel recovery.

The Government delegation concluded its visit to the Obalno-kraška (Coastal-Karst) region with a public debate on the development of the Obalno-kraška region in Lipica, discussing the challenges and opportunities in the region with representatives of local communities and business.

The Minister of Digital Transformation, Mark Boris Andrijanič, was part of the Government delegation that visited the Obalno-kraška region today. He visited the Koper Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, the companies Obala mobilnost and Dinit Card Service, and the Sežana Business Incubator.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today attended the regular General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg as Chair. The debate focused on preparations for the October European Council, the state of the rule of law in the Union and the Conference on the Future of Europe. “Today, we discussed a number of issues that directly affect our citizens. As the country holding the Presidency, we are very pleased to have reached the conclusions on the Joint Cyber Unit. In doing so, we have taken an important step forward in ensuring greater cybersecurity and resilience for citizens," underlined State Secretary Dovžan.

Today, the Slovenian Government visited the Obalno-kraška (Coastal-Karst) region, which includes the municipalities of Ankaran, Divača, Hrpelje-Kozina, Izola, Komen, Koper, Piran and Sežana. The region's performance figures are good, especially with regard to the development indicators, which are above the Slovenian average. For other indicators, it stands out in terms of below-average youth unemployment and total unemployment, a high level of treated wastewater and a relatively low risk of natural disasters. The Obalno-kraška region is also the only one alongside Osrednjeslovenska (Central Slovenia), with an above-average GDP per capita and productivity.

State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs today met with the officials of the Municipality of Izola which acts as project partner of Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy in the strategic project EUSAIR Facility Point. She also visited Izolana, the House of the Sea, a product of cross-border cooperation between Slovenia and Croatia.

Under the Slovenian Presidency, a global conference is taking place today and tomorrow, which for the first time is discussing government governance in terms of innovation, drawing-up better legislation and improving the quality of the public sector. Slovenia, together with the OECD, presented for the first time the results of a survey on the ageing of the workforce and attracting and retaining talent.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan held a reception for Marjan Osvald, the newly elected Deputy Director General of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, and Tomaž Kokot, General Manager Ad Interim of Pošta Slovenije.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša participated in the "Government Beyond Recovery: Towards a Future-fit Public Sector" international conference, where he took part in the "Shaping Innovative and Inclusive Governments" panel discussion. Other participants who addressed the audience during this discussion included: OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, EIPA Director-General Marco Ongaro and Slovenian Olympic medallist Petra Majdič.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Jože Podgoršek attended the Farm to Fork international conference via video conference. The event, which is taking place on 14 and 15 October, is organised by the European Commission. The two-day conference will be devoted to the wider aspects of the strategy and sustainable food systems, which include all stakeholders in the food chain.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today attended the regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg headed by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In their discussions, the ministers focused on the Gulf, the Eastern Partnership and the situation in Ethiopia and Nicaragua.

At today's 26th session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Prime Minister Janez Janša answered parliamentary questions from deputies Bojana Muršič (SD), Luka Mesec (Levica), Alenka Bratušek (SAB) and Monika Gregorčič (SMC). The questions put to the Prime Minister addressed the increase in energy prices and other goods in Slovenia, tackling environmental challenges, the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, and methods of governance.

18 October is European Anti-Trafficking Day and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness on trafficking in human beings.

In the field of anti-trafficking, Slovenia attaches great importance to international cooperation on the operational and the strategic levels, with special attention focused on the Western Balkans region. Over the years, the Slovenian Ministry of the Interior has been carrying out a number of regional activities, encouraging the countries in the region to align their legislation and standards with the acquis.

Minister Jože Podgoršek met by video conference with the representatives of Slovenian and EU environmental NGOs, such as BirdLife Slovenia (DOPPS), the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development (Umanotera), BridLife international environmental organisation and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). The discussion centred on how to include environmental protection in the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans.

H. E. Sanja Štiglic, Slovenian Ambassador to the Netherlands, officially opened "The Future of Living" Exhibition of Contemporary Slovenian Design at Dutch Design Week 2021 in Eindhoven. The travelling exhibition ‘The Future of Living’ showcases Slovenian designs at 25 locations around the world, and Eindhoven has been chosen as one of its prominent stops. The exhibition, displayed at #DDW21 until 24 October, features 19 of the 90 selected products that have received the “Made in Slovenia" mark of design excellence in the last two years.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan welcomed a delegation of the Uzbekistani Anti-Corruption Agency, led by Akmal Burkhanov.