On the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting, I spoke with Spanish Foreign Minister and future High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. I was interested in his assessment of the situation in Catalonia – and Spain! Not his assessment of the convictions, but of the next steps, both for proponents of Catalonia’s independence and the Spanish state authorities.

A delegation of six experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be visiting the Ministry of Public Administration from 14 to 18 October 2019 to carry out the first comprehensive review of digital government in Slovenia. State Secretary Leon Behin addressed the delegation today.

The Dutch non-profit organisation Green Destinations has released its Sustainable Top 100 list for this year. This year’s list includes 31 destinations in Slovenia, in other words all of the destinations that were awarded gold or silver medals under the Slovenia Green tourism scheme, according to the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO).

Minister Dr Miro Cerar attended the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg focusing on the situation in Syria, Turkey’s activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Afghanistan and Ukraine. During a working lunch, heads of Member States’ diplomacies were joined by their Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko.

Today’s International Day of the Girl Child celebrates the achievements by, with and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action twenty-five years ago and the passage of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. This spirit will mark a year of activities under the theme GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.

As part of the bilateral technical assistance offered to Montenegro, Slovenian representatives are visiting Montenegro from 9 to 11 October 2019 to present the eUprava (e-Government) portal, the building blocks of data exchange and other solutions for users developed by the Ministry of Public Administration.

On 10 October, Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar attended the fourth edition of the Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean. The Regional Forum is the annual meeting of foreign ministers from the northern and southern Mediterranean countries, co-chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, and Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Josep Borrell.

Slovenian prime minister Marjan Šarec is paying a return visit to Skopje today at the invitation of North Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev. The Slovenian PM’s visit to North Macedonia represents a continuation of the regular intensive political dialogue between the two countries.

Slovenia is deeply concerned about the Turkish military operation in north-east Syria. The operation could threaten the stability of the wider region and the progress achieved in the fight against Da'esh and other terrorist organizations, as well as undermines the political process to find a solution to the Syrian crisis. It also threatens the lives of the population and further exacerbates the humanitarian situation in the country, which could provoke further displacements.

On Thursday, 10 October 2019, the Ministry of Public Administration received representatives of the Civil Affairs Institute (Instytut Spraw Obywatelskich), a Polish non-governmental organisation.

On today’s World and European Day against the Death Penalty, Slovenia, a vocal opponent of this kind of punishment, calls for it to be abolished worldwide, and applauds Europe (with the exception of Belarus) as first continent to have done so.

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, Slovenian Industry Day was held at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. At the two-day event, which was attended by representatives of 25 Slovenian firms, the Slovenian government is promoting the cooperation of Slovenian companies with CERN.

On his working visit to North Macedonia in Gevgelia, prime minister Marjan Šarec and North Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev reviewed the conditions on the North Macedonian-Greek border with respect to the challenges of illegal migration on the so-called Balkan route, and visited a migrant transit centre on the country’s south-eastern border. On the occasion, he met with six members of the Slovenian police who are participating in the joint surveillance of border crossings on Macedonian territory as part of joint measures for managing the increased flow of migrants.

On Wednesday, Slovenian foreign minister Miro Cerar in his role as keynote speaker inaugurated the Slovenian-Austrian year of neighbourhood dialogue 2019-2020 at the Festival Hall in Ljubljana.

Minister Dr Miro Cerar hosted Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Stef Blok on an official visit to Slovenia today. The two ministers confirmed the excellent bilateral relations between their countries, which have been developed in both politics and business, noting with pleasure their similar views on numerous current European and global topics. Slovenian racing cyclist Primož Roglič, who is part of the Dutch team Jumbo–Visma, is yet another example of Slovenian–Dutch partnership, inspiring cycling fans both here and in the Netherlands.

Slovenia received prestigious Emerging Nation in Eno-Gastronomy award 2019 and CNN published a list of the most beautiful lesser-known European destinations, and it included Lake Bohinj.

Children’s Week began on Monday in Slovenia, under the auspices of the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association.

The prime minister Marjan Šarec hosted a visit by the Belgian prime minister and newly elected President of the European Council Charles Michel. The visit by this senior European politician is part of his preparations prior to assuming the role of President of the European Council, having previously paid visits to Berlin and Rome. Mr Michel was elected to the post on 2 July and will start work on 1 December.

Acting Director-General for EU Affairs, Ambassador Barbara Sušnik, took part in bilateral consultations in Norway today. She and her counterpart, Director General of the Department for European Affairs Niels Engelschiøn, exchanged views on topical bilateral, European and international issues.

State Secretary Dobran Božič addressed participants in the Slovenian–Jordanian Business Forum held at the Grand Hotel Union today. The Forum seeks to present opportunities for cooperation in various business areas and for networking between Slovenian and Jordanian companies. The ten-strong business delegation of the Jordan Europe Business Association is composed of representatives of companies engaged in defence, security, aviation, electrical appliances, the food industry, smart energy solutions, construction materials and equipment, the cosmetics industry and spa tourism.