Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “Arrangement of the small business zone – Phase 4”. The project worth EUR 600 thousand will be implemented by the municipality Markovci in the framework of the Agreement on the Development of the Podravje Region and will receive EUR 259 thousand of European Regional Development Fund support.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “Drinking water supply in the Dravinja River basin – lot 4 – the Ormož area”. The project worth EUR 8.4 million will be implemented by the municipality Ormož, municipality Središče ob Dravi and municipality Sveti Tomaž in the framework of the Agreement on the Development of the Podravje Region and will receive a good EUR 4 million of Cohesion Fund support.

Yesterday, Minister of Defence Matej Tonin, MSc, attended a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Ministers’ configuration. The main topic of the ministers' discussion was the current state of preparation of the Strategic Compass, with an emphasis on its first pillar - crisis management.

A press conference on the state of play on COVID-19 brought together Minister of Health Mr Janez Poklukar, Ms Deana Potza from Health Inspectorate and Mr Tomaž Pečjak, Deputy Director-General of the Police.

At the press conference led by the director of the Slovenian Government Communication Office, Uroš Urbanija, the decisions adopted by the government at its session yesterday were discussed by the Minister of Finance, Andrej Šircelj, and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Jože Podgoršek.

Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač today gave opening remarks at the event Slovenian Regional Days. This year's symposium marked the 50th anniversary of regional policy in Slovenia. Minister Černač underlined that the anniversary was an important milestone offering an opportunity to reflect on past lessons and achievements in the area of regional development.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Kamiński earlier today as part of the preparations for the Slovenian EU Council Presidency. They discussed the priorities of the forthcoming Presidency, in particular migration.

During the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of this year, a regular direct flight connection will be established between Ljubljana and Brussels

The Government has adopted a National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which sets out reforms and reform objectives, and the measures and investments linked thereto, for the period until 2026.

On Friday, 7 May, Prime Minister Janez Janša will attend the Porto Social Summit. The event is organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and includes a high-level conference with social partners and an informal meeting of the EU heads of state or government.

In two weeks' time, on 20 May, Slovenia and the rest of the world will celebrate World Bee Day for the fourth time. The UN General Assembly proclaimed World Bee Day on 20 December 2017 as the result of cooperation between the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association as the initiator, the Republic of Slovenia and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and as the result of the widespread European and wider international support of countries and organisations, including Apimondia (International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations).

Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with the Lithuanian Minister of the Interior, Agnë Bilotaitë, this morning in Vilnius, as part of preparations for Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council. In the afternoon, the Minister met with the Latvian Minister of the Interior, Sandis Ģirģens, in Riga.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan held a consultation via video conference with Carsten Grønbech-Jensen, the Danish State Secretary for European Affairs and the Arctic of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, ahead of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency.

The press conference on the current issues regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by the state secretary Jelko Kacin, the national coordinator for the logistics part of the mass vaccination against COVID-19.

Director-General for Multilateral Affairs and Development Cooperation Anita Pipan attended the audio-video conference of EU directors-general for development cooperation. There, the directors-general discussed the second set of Team Europe initiatives as well as sustainable funding.

Prime Minister Janez Janša meets Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with Minister of Defence Matej Tonin, Minister of Health Janez Poklukar and Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs at a working meeting.

The press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by Nuška Čakš Jager, the deputy head of the Communicable Diseases Centre of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), and Doroteja Štruc, the head of the healthcare programme and vaccination coordinator in the vaccination centre of the Celje Community Health Centre.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan held a video conference with Slovak State Secretary Ingrid Brocková, in which he presented the priority topics of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency concerning development cooperation. They also briefly discussed regional partnership and relations with key economic powers.

Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on an official visit.