A ribbon cutting ceremony was held today in Pragersko to mark the official opening of the renovated railway hub and railway station. The event featured remarks by Mayor of Slovenska Bistrica Dr Ivan Žagar, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek, and State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure mag. Andrej Rajh.

The reading room and information room of the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia will be open from 8 AM until 12 PM on Thursday, December 14, 2023.
We also inform you that the reading room has a new email address, namely: citalnica.ars@gov.si.

Slovenia has made the biggest progress among 39 EU and OECD countries in reducing the number of children living below the poverty line over the past decade, according to a report published the UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti

At its meeting on the 6th of December in Botswana, the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention adopted a decision to enter “Midwifery: knowledge, skills and practices” on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The nomination was proposed by Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Slovenia and Togo.

The temporary reintroduction of controls at the internal borders with Croatia and Hungary has been extended for 12 days, until 21 December 2023. Afterwards, the measure is due to be prolonged for another six months.

"When it comes to the environment, there are no borders. There is only one environment, and that is the environment of our planet. We must take action and we must act globally. You will be proud of what Slovenia is going to stand for in the next two years," Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob told the delegates gathered at the 23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention – COP 23, as Slovenia takes over the Presidency.

At today's session, the Government has adopted the Energy Act Proposal and reallocated EUR 5 million for co-funding radio and television programmes at RTV Slovenija for the Italian and Hungarian ethnic communities. In addition, it has approved the National Commodity Reserves Act Proposal and extended the controls at internal borders.

“When it comes to the environment, there are no borders. There is only one environment, and it is the environment of our planet. We must take action and act globally. You will be proud of what Slovenia will advocate in the next two years,” said Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob to the delegates gathered at the 23rd Meeting of the Member Parties to the Barcelona Convention, COP 23, as Slovenia is taking over the Presidency.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Marko Štucin is attending the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He took part in the General Debate and held several bilateral meetings in the margins of the session. Slovenia was elected to the Bureau of the ICC Assembly of States Parties for the 2024–2026 term.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon participated in an audio-video conference on the humanitarian activities carried out so far in Gaza, hosted by the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. Today's conference is a follow-up on the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population in Gaza held in Paris on 9 November.

On the second day of the meeting of 21 contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention, which is currently ongoing in Portorož, the Delegates focused on marine spatial planning, ballast water management and inert waste disposal. Today, the countries also completed the final content harmonization of the Portorož Declaration, which will be adopted at tomorrow's ministerial meeting. The countries also support the idea of establishing a new regional climate change centre.

State Secretaries at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Damir Črnčec and at the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany Benedikt Zimmer signed today in Berlin a Programme Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia and the Federal Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany on the participation of the Republic of Slovenia in the procurement of IRIS-T SLM systems in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on the Joint Procurement of Air Defence Systems within the framework of the European Sky Defence Initiative.

The Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS) today paid the first EUR 4.5 million in advance payments to homeowners for the reconstruction of homes damaged by floods and landslides on 4 August 2023. To date, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning has advanced EUR 218.5 million for emergency rehabilitation to all municipalities that have submitted applications.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, today held a meeting with representatives of business associations and organisations.

Nominated by Slovenia, Beti Hohler was elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court at the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute.

On the occasion of the visit of the Slovenian Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Igor Papič, to Rome, the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia organised an event entitled "Science and Innovations, Slovenia - Italy" at the headquarters of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Rome.

Prime Minister Robert Golob met today with the representatives of newspaper publishing houses Delo, Dnevnik and Večer.

The Prime Minister, Robert Golob, today met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms Annalena Baerbock, who is on a working visit to Slovenia. They discussed in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina's further steps towards EU membership and the situation in the Middle East.

Around 400 representatives of Mediterranean countries have gathered in Portorož, at the 23rd meeting of member parties of the Barcelona Convention – Conference for Mediterranean Countries (COP 23 – Contracting parties) and over half of them are high-ranking representatives of 21 Mediterranean countries. The opening speech was given by State Secretary Maša Kociper, who welcomed the gathered delegates on behalf of Slovenia, as the new country of presidency over the Convention.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon hosts a visit by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The Ministers discussed the Slovenian-German strategic partnership, the importance of EU enlargement and reforms, and current foreign policy issues, in particular the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. They also agreed on the areas in which the two countries will further strengthen cooperation.