A working level meeting for senior officials of the Slovenian, Croatian, and Italian foreign ministries took place today. It focused on cooperation on economic development, connectivity, and comprehensive protection of the northern Adriatic region prior to the declaration of the exclusive economic zones by both Croatia and Italy.

The new Executive Director of the European Labour Authority (ELA), Cosmin Boiangiu, paid a visit to Slovenia on 29 January 2021 as part of his tour of EU Member States. He was received by State Secretary Gašper Dovžan when he paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to the promotion of the European Labour Authority, the visit is also aimed at establishing sound foundations for cooperation and at enhancing relations with the competent labour authorities in Slovenia, with which the ELA would like to cooperate more closely in the future. The Executive Director also met with the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs.

Slovenia has marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday with a series of events, including the laying of wreaths, exhibitions and the traditional reading of the names of Slovenian Holocaust victims.

Prime Minister Janez Janša participated at the January session of the Managers’ Association of Slovenia. The broad event represents a symbolic start to the new economic year, which is why it is full of optimism, new ideas, drive, and expectations. Prime Minister Janez Janša spoke with the executive director of the Association on aiding the economy with anti-corona packages, on the national recovery and resilience plan, and on other topics which are significant for the Slovenian economy.

Today the Slovenian Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, and his delegation attended an informal video conference of the EU Home Affairs Ministers. The Portuguese Presidency included three discussion topics on the conference agenda: the next steps in the EU migration and asylum policy, the current state and future of the Schengen area, and the future of Europol.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has extended the reopening of kindergartens and schools for students of the first three grades of primary school in the following red regions: the Gorenjska, Koroška, Osrednjeslovenska, Podravska, Pomurska and Savinjska regions. In these regions, from Tuesday, 2 February 2021, childcare for pre-school children and classes for students of the first three grades of primary school will continue to take place on school premises, said Minister Simona Kustec, presenting the Government's decision.

Today’s press conference on the current situation with regard to COVID-19 was attended by Bojana Beović, head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health, Deana Potza of the Health Inspectorate, and Deputy Director General of the Police Tomaž Pečjak.

As a response to the article posted by the New York Times on 27th of January, titled ''A populist leader kicks off a culture war in museums'', we are posting the full correspondence between the Ministry of Culture and the New York Times reporter, Mr. Alex Marshall.

Today, the EU Ministers competent for agriculture, and fisheries met on the first EU Council meeting this year under the Portuguese Presidency, which took place in the audio-visual form. On behalf of Slovenia, the meeting was attended by the Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek. In the introduction, Portugal presented the work programme in agriculture and fisheries in the following half year.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar addressed the participants of the 5th Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), which this year is being held under the slogan “Strengthening the resilience of the Adriatic and Ionian Region through cooperation”. At the virtual forum taking place during Slovenia's presidency of EUSAIR, the Minister underlined that Europe’s green and digital recovery can only be achieved through effective cooperation and coordination on both the regional and global scale.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Collection and treatment in the Savinja River basin – the municipalities of Braslovče, Polzela and Žalec”. The project worth over EUR 2.1 million will be implemented by the municipalities of Braslovče, Polzela and Žalec and will receive nearly EUR 759,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

On Wednesday, 27th January 2021, the Republic of Slovenia successfully entered the markets with a 60-year (Mar-81) benchmark issuance of EUR 500 mio. This landmark transaction constitutes the longest ever bond issue from the Republic of Slovenia on Debt Capital Markets. The success of the transaction, with more than EUR4.3bn of demand, is a strong testimony of the confidence institutional investors have into the Republic of Slovenia.

With its credit rating by S&P (AA-), Fitch (A), Moody’s (A3), and DBRS (AH) and the placement of a new 60-year Eurobond issue and the related extension of the reference market yield curve, the Republic of Slovenia has consolidated its position among the more advanced euro-area countries.

Slovenia, which in 2021 is the proud holder of the title of European Region of Gastronomy, has been repeatedly included in important lists of world media charts; this time, the renowned Forbes magazine highlighted it as a popular and "hot" wine destination, and Yahoo Finance listed it among eco-friendly countries.

The Expo venue, which covers 440 hectares, is getting its final look, as are 83 national pavilions, including the Slovenian one.

Minister Jože Podgoršek today attended the 13th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference at the Global Forum For Food And Agriculture (GFFA). The GFFA, which began on Monday and concluded with today’s ministerial conference, features a series of political and professional events, discussions and meetings that take place every year on the fringes of the Green Week fair. The ministerial conference welcomed almost 100 agriculture ministers and their deputies from around the world along with the highest representatives of all major international institutions and international NGOs. The forum was hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture with the central topic of "How to Feed the World in Times of Pandemics and Climate Change?"

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Nuška Čakš Jager, Deputy Head of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the National Institute of Public Health, and Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, Director of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day has been marked by the international community for 16 years now, and in Slovenia since 2008.

The developments in Yugoslavia on Sunday, 27 January, were primarily marked by the consequences of the decisions reached at the Friday and Saturday sessions of the Presidency of the SFRY. This at least temporarily removed the threat of an armed conflict starting in Yugoslavia. In addition, Kiro Gligorov became the first democratically elected president of Macedonia on that day. In the international arena, public attention around the globe continued to be focused primarily on the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

State Secretary Raščan participated in the virtual Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. This financial instrument of the Peacebuilding Commission was created by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council in 2005 to support peace efforts in post-conflict countries. Thus far, the Peacebuilding Fund has supported peacebuilding programmes in more than 40 countries around the world, including the Western Balkans.