At the end of April 2022, the Slovenian Society Simon Gregorčič from Köping, Sweden, celebrated its 50th anniversary. Köping is an industrial city with around 18,000 inhabitants 150 km west of Stockholm, where most Slovenes came in the 1960s.

Such a cheerful dance mood was last Saturday at Slovenska Pristava in Harpersfield, where last year's 60th anniversary of the existence and opening of the new Lobe Hall was celebrated at this year's traditional Pristava Night!

Stay happy and proud, Slovenska Pristava!

Below is the message by Prime Minister Janez Janša for 1 May, International Labour Day and the feast day of St Joseph the Worker

During WW2, there were a number of air formations operating in the Slovenian airspace, especially those of the 15th US Air Force. Increase in Allied aircraft activity led to an increase in a number of planes that crashed or were shot down. When discussing the issue of wounded pilots and their rescue, less attention was given to the issue of the actual burials and subsequent reburials of the pilots who had died. Preserved among the records of the archival fond of the Federal Committee for the Organization of the Transfer of the Fallen Soldiers for Slovenia are tens of letters of inquiry, reports on graves of the deceased pilots, and letters on possible reburials. This month’s archivalia offers a look at the mysterious case of the search for the pilot Martin F. O'Callaghan.

Consul General of the Republic of Slovenia Alenka Jerak helped plant pollinator-friendly plants at the St. Vitus Slovenian School in Cleveland today.

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which puts the Ukrainian population at risk, the Slovenian government made a decision at today’s correspondence session to provide Ukraine with material assistance in the form of IP phones, computer equipment, gas generators, antennas and cables, and to do so via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

The International Labour Day is the right time to reflect on what is happening on Slovenian labour market.

In Sunday’s elections, the voters chose who they want in Deputy seats in the National Assembly for the next four years. The final results of the parliamentary elections are yet to be published.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan received the Special Representative for 16+1 Cooperation, Ambassador Huo Yuzhen.

At today’s session, the Government adopted the Stability Programme and the 2022 National Reform Programme. It extended the currently applicable Decree on excise duty on energy products and the validity of the Decree fixing the excise duty level for electricity.

Standing in front of the Paediatric Clinic in Ljubljana along with Miroslav Petrovec from the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and paediatrician and infectious disease specialist Tatjana Mrvič, the Minister of Health Janez Poklukar gave a statement regarding the severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children.

Foreign Minister Dr Anže Logar took part in the Raisina Dialogue 2022 conference held in New Delhi on 25–27 April, met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and held other bilateral talks.

On 26–27 April 2022, State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan took part in the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development in New York, which highlighted the need to deliver on the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on poverty eradication. He also attended the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Financing for Peacebuilding and held a number of bilateral meetings.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the state ceremony marking the Day of Uprising Against Occupation at Mala gora near Ribnica in the Dolenjska region. The Prime Minister took this opportunity to lay a wreath at the TIGR monument.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan took part, via audio-video conferencing, in the hybrid High-Level Roundtable on the Horn of Africa Drought. He announced Slovenia's contribution worth EUR 100,000 for emergency humanitarian aid to the affected people in the region, which will be channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP).

Today at 7 AM, around 3,000 polling stations for parliamentary elections opened across the country. Voters can cast their ballots until 7 PM.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan met with Minister of State for Security Policy at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Sztáray, in Budapest. They discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and the current situation in Ukraine.

Food waste is not just morally and ethically problematic. In the EU we discard as much as 20% of all food that has been produced to feed people, and waste food is also the third largest cause of greenhouse gases.

Slovenia has surpassed its set objectives at Expo and the first results are already apparent, as companies are concluding business deals and tourist agencies from the United Arab Emirates are inquiring about package tours in Slovenia.

Book Night, celebrated on 22 April, is a voluntary self-organised national and international project taking place for the seventh consecutive year in Slovenia, beyond its borders and around the world. Book Night marks World Book Day celebrated on 23 April and declared by UNESCO in 1996. The day of books was well-received in Slovenia. We celebrate books for an entire week.