Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Agreement on the development of region: Tolmin-Modrej. The project worth EUR 3.4 million will be implemented by the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency under the Agreement on the development of the Goriška region and will receive EUR 2.1 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Agreement on the development of region: the Drava cycling connection in the area of the Municipality Radlje ob Dravi and the Municipality Pdvelka, section Vas-Brezno. The project worth EUR 3.9 million will be implemented by the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency under the Agreement on the development of the Koroška region and will receive a good EUR 1 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Zvone Černač, Minister competent for Development and the EU Cohesion Policy, attended the informal audio-video meeting of EU ministers responsible for cohesion policy at the invitation of the Portuguese Minister for Planning, Nelson de Souza.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Road in Zone Pobrežje (upgrading the economic-business zone). The project worth EUR 1.3 million will be implemented by the Urban Municipality of Maribor under the Agreement on the development of the Podravje region and will receive EUR 489 thousand of European Regional Development Fund support.

Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak had a meeting with European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius, the Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament, Pascal Canfin, and the Director-General for Transport, Energy, Environment and Education at the General Secretariat of the Council, Peter Javorčik. At the meeting, Minister Vizjak presented the programme and priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the area of the environment and climate.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended the informal meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European Affairs in Coimbra, Portugal. The ministers discussed the European Commission's renewed strategy for the outermost regions. As part of the meeting, an EU-wide Foresight Network has been established at the ministerial level, followed by the first “Ministers for the Future” meeting, which was centred on a debate on EU resilience and strategic autonomy.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today attended a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the Manoeuvre Structure of National Protection, entitled: Manoeuvre Structure of National Protection – the Beginning of the Creation of the Slovenian Army. The ceremony, held in the National Gallery in Ljubljana, opened with an introductory address by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, while the keynote speaker was Igor Bavčar, who served as the minister of the interior between 1990 and 1992.

Prime Minister Janez Janša had a videoconference talk today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They discussed the state of pandemic, which is slowing down in both countries, the vaccination process as well as future challenges. Of particular importance among the latter are combating the new mutations, facilitating the logistics of vaccine distribution and implementing vaccination in less developed countries when there is a plentiful supply of vaccines, a situation which is expected towards the end of this year.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Improving supply of safe drinking water in Urban Municipality Slovenj Gradec. The EUR 4.5 million environmental infrastructure project will be implemented by Urban Municipality Slovenj Gradec under the Agreement on the development of the Koroška region and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the Cohesion Fund standing at over EUR 2.5 million.

Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, joined by members of the delegation, attended the second meeting of the Schengen Forum through a videoconference. The aim of the meeting, convened by the European Commission, was to deepen the political and strategic debate ahead of the presentation of the strategy on the future of Schengen, which is expected to be put forward by the European Commission in early June.

Mateja Logar, head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health, and prof. dr. Borut Štrukelj from the Ljubljana Faculty of Pharmacy participated at press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Agreement on the development of region - Slovenian Infrastructure Agency: Ajdovščina-Lokavec. The EUR 2.4 million cycle project that will be implemented by the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency under the Agreement on the development of the Goriška region will be supported by the EU, with the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund standing at EUR 534,000.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Agreement on the development of region: Kokrica-Brdo. The EUR 362,000 cycle project will be implemented by Urban Municipality Kranj under the Agreement on the development of the Gorenjska region and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund standing at EUR 155,000.

Today in Luče, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the 2021 Kocbek Award ceremony. He was one of the two award recipients. Ivo Jakob, a member of the club who passed away last year and would have turned ninety this year, also received the award for climbers posthumously.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the Slovenian Army Day central ceremony, which took place at the Training Centre for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief in Ig. Slovenian Army Day is marked on 15 May. On this day in 1991, Slovenian conscripts started serving in the army only in Slovenia, at the two training centres of the then Territorial Defence. A total of 300 conscripts began their military service at the 710th Training Centre in Pekre, near Maribor, and the 510th Training Centre in Ig, near Ljubljana. Slovenian Army Day is a day for preserving the values of Slovenian military history, especially the values of efforts for independence.

"Slovenia is still a welfare state," said Romana Tomc, President of the Strategic Council, at the beginning of their 1st meeting. Everyone can feel the acts of a welfare state on their own skin, most often when they are in a difficult life situation. She stressed that it is therefore important that the system works because of, and for the people. This should be considered by all those who write new regulations and establish new institutions.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša was a keynote speaker at the unveiling of the memorial in Poljče, commemorating the events of over 30 years ago. In May 1991, members of the enlarged presidency and key ministers of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, commanders of the territorial defence and special police units, met in Poljče, and at the proposal of the Minister of Defence, approved the guidelines for Slovenia's defence in the event of YPA aggression. The guidelines were used as a strategic document in the war for Slovenia on 26 June 1991 during the YPA attack. In it, the Slovenian defence forces defended the homeland and defeated the aggressor, the Yugoslav Army. The event in Poljče was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Matej Tonin, MA, Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, Director General of the Police Dr. Anton Olaj, State Secretary Bojan Pograjc, MA, and key actors of that time.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the 1st meeting of the Strategic Council on Social Policy, of which the MEP Romana Tomc is President. At the meeting, the members of the Council spoke about the goals of the Council, gave an assessment of the current situation, and presented some substantive proposals. The Council meeting was also attended by the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Janez Cigler Kralj, who addressed the participants.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Programme Operator for the programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation has published a Call for proposals for co-financing of projects under the programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in today's Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 74/2021. Applicants with project proposals that contribute to increasing the production of energy from renewable energy sources, improving the management of sustainable mobility, implementing the principles of circular economy and improving the management of ecosystems under increasing pressure due to climate change are invited to apply for funding.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Programme Operator for the programme Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeship and Youth Entrepreneurship, has published a Call for proposals for co-financing of projects under the programme Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeship and Youth Entrepreneurship in today’s Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 74/2021. Applicants with project proposals that promote institutional cooperation at all levels of formal and informal education, contribute to improving the supportive environment for disadvantaged target groups and to improving work-life balance are invited to apply for funding.