Below is the Christmas address of the Prime Minister Janez Janša.

The Ministry welcomes the deal on EU-UK future partnership, which was reached after extremely intensive negotiations led by the EU’s negotiator Michel Barnier and on the UK side, David Frost.

“When we remember our unity 30 years ago, we rejoice at the rebirth and countless opportunities brought forward every year,” said Prime Minister Janez Janša in his ceremonial address at the state celebration of the independence and unity day. This year’s ceremony was organised in the form of a television show, due to the epidemiological situation. The speaker was the prime minister and the ceremony also included a remarkable historical collage.

Below is a transcript of the address by Prime Minister Janez Janša at the state ceremony on Independence and Unity Day; due to the epidemiological situation, it was only broadcast on television.

Government of the Republic of Slovenia took note of the activities regarding the draft national Recovery and Resilience Plan which was approved on 8 October 2020 and instructed the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy to submit the said proposal to the Government for approval after the European Parliament adopts the EU Regulation establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility in February 2021.

30 years have passed since the plebiscite, on the basis of which Slovenians decided to separate from Yugoslavia and form the independent country of Slovenia. A large majority of voters chose independence.

Mass testing with rapid antigen tests has started in 13 locations in Slovenia this week. Mass testing began in all municipalities (Ljubljana, Celje, Maribor, Novo mesto, Nova Gorica, Murska Sobota, Slovenj Gradec, Koper, Kranj, Velenje and Ptuj) and in Lenart and Sevnica, the two hardest hit areas.

This is the first time since the European Region of Gastronomy title has been awarded that an entire country could participate as a region. Until now, only individual regions of countries have been awarded the title. Following the expert panel assessment in the summer over whether we deserve the title, Slovenia rightly received the European Region of Gastronomy title in autumn 2018.

The selection panel recommended Nova Gorica as the Slovenian city that will be named the European Capital of Culture 2025 (ECoC), together with the German city of Chemnitz. Nova Gorica prepared its candidacy for the ECoC 2025 in collaboration with cross-border Gorizia. The candidature slogan is Go! Borderless.

Spoštovane stranke, obveščamo vas, da v skladu s sklepom Vlade RS št. 01000-4/2020/4 z dne 17. 12. 2020, ENIC-NARIC center zapira svoja vrata med 25. 12. 2020 ter 3. 1. 2021.

On 20 May we celebrate World Bee Day. This date marks the birth, more than 270 years ago, of Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern beekeeping, an academy-trained painter and beekeper, and the first teacher of beekeping in imperial Vienna.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was attended by the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, the state secretary at the Ministry for Economic Development and Technology, Simon Zajc, the deputy head of the Centre for Infectious Diseases at the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ), Nuška Čakš Jager, and the government spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

The year 1991 was a turning point for Slovenia and Slovenians. In that year, Slovenia appeared on the world political map as an independent country. The year 2004 was an important milestone for Slovenia, as in that year it joined the European Union and NATO. On 1 January 2007, Slovenia became the first of the new Member States to adopt the EU's common currency. It was also the first new Member State to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, during the first half of 2008.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021.

Today, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food published an open competition for selection of an innovative, creative design and plan for a symbolic object – the ‘Zlata čebela’ / ‘Golden Honeybee’ award model. This open and anonymous competition is addressed to all the interested citizens of the Republic of Slovenia with the required skills in the realms of authorship, technical know-how and organisational competencies.

Prime Minister Janez Janša participated at the meeting of four presidents at the presidential palace today, which is traditionally organised by the President of the Republic, Borut Pahor. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Janez Janša, President of the Republic, Borut Pahor, President of the National Assembly, Igor Zorčič, and the President of the National Council, Alojz Kovšca.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by Marija Magajne from the Ministry of Health, Prof. Dr Borut Štrukelj, psychologist Dr Andreja Poljanec, and the government spokesperson Jelko Kacin.

Monasteries seem to be a remnant of some distant past, but there are quite a few that are still very much alive. Slovenia has 42 operating monasteries, 14 that have been closed down, and some monasteries that have fallen into ruin.