In Rome, State Secretary Štucin met with Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Edmondo Cirielli to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between Slovenia and Italy. He also participated in a meeting of the Friends of the Western Balkans and presented a joint Slovenian-German initiative to improve the efficiency of decision-making in the enlargement process.

In Brussels, Minister Fajon took part in an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers hosted by Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib under the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council. The meeting was chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and focused on the EU's relations with Africa and Türkiye, as well as on further assistance to Ukraine and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Ambassador Dr Andrej Benedejčič, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to NATO, took part in the visit of the North Atlantic Council to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1-2 February 2024. Led by Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, Allied Ambassadors and Invitee Sweden met with members of the Presidency, the Chairwoman and members of the Council of Ministers, the Foreign and Defence Ministers as well as members of the Collegium of House of Peoples and the House of Representatives of BiH. The programme included discussions with international community actors and civil society.

As part of the scheduled visits to regional chambers of commerce and industry, State Secretary Marko Štucin joined the plenary part of the visit of the economic diplomacy delegation of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to the Zasavje region. During the visit organised by the Zasavje Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he met with representatives of the region’s companies and the heads of the Zasavje Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Minister Tanja Fajon attended the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum and the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Brussels. In her remarks, she underlined Slovenia's commitment to strengthening EU cooperation with Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian countries, given their great economic and geostrategic importance.

On 2 January 2024, the flag of Slovenia was officially raised in front of the Security Council Chamber together with other four new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council (Algeria, Guyana, Republic of Korea and Sierra Leone). During the ceremony the Representative of Slovenia to the UN Security Council Ambassador Samuel Žbogar stated: "The work of Slovenia in the Council will be guided by the UN Charter, international law, and our foreign policy of peace. We pledge to act in good will and transparency. We trust in the multilateral system with the UN at its core as the only way to find solutions to the most serious crisis." Slovenia will base its activities on four thematic priorities: prevention of conflicts, protection of populations in armed conflicts, women, peace and security and climate, peace and security.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Non-formal education and training.

Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in the United States hosted a presentation and degustation of Slovenian wines on January 31st 2024. Representatives of Klet Krško and Ptujska klet were personally present at the event, organized by Marq Wine Group and was part of the Wines of Slovenia promotion tour in Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington D.C..

On January 26, Ambassador Iztok Mirošič had the honor of presenting the Letter of Credence from Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar to the esteemed First Vice President Brunner in Costa Rica. Subsequently, Ambassador Mirošič participated in substantive discussions with President Chaves and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Worship, André Tinoco.

Today, Prime Minister Robert Golob attended a special European Council meeting in Brussels. The EU leaders were unanimous in their position on the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027, in particular as it relates to the envisaged financial support for Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon met Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib in Brussels to discuss the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the signing of the Ljubljana – The Hague Convention, feminist foreign policy, Slovenia's membership of the UN Security Council and other current European and foreign policy issues.

Slovenia celebrated the official launch of its Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) with an opening event in Postojna, attended by around 100 national and international representatives. The event presented the programme of the Slovenian Presidency and the main upcoming activities of EUSALP in 2024.

Twenty years ago, the European Union consisted of 15 member states. In 2004, ten more countries were expected to join them. The enlargement posed a significant challenge in terms of ensuring the continued effectiveness and legitimacy of EU institutions. For example, only two of the candidate countries had a population larger than the average of the existing member states, which would mean that the political power of smaller countries would disproportionately increase after the enlargement.

On Tuesday, February 6th, the Archive, the reading room will be closed due to a cultural event.

The family of the famous diplomat Sigmund Herberstein is first recorded in Styria at the end of the 13th century. From the beginning of the 15th century, one of the family’s feudal estates was also the seigniory of Lupoglav. In 1525, however, the family decided to exchange their estates in Istria and in the Karst for the Neuberg Castle and two villages near Hrastovec. In February 1524, Sigmund wrote an interesting letter to his Estates's colleagues, informing them about this exchange of his family’s estates and stressing that the Herbersteins had no intention of continuing to pay taxes into the treasury of the Carniolan Estates.

Today, the UN Security Council convened an open briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The meeting followed the 26 January order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of South Africa against Israel, indicating provisional measures. Slovenia voiced its clear and strong support to the ICJ’s work and underlined that UNRWA is playing an indispensable role in the midst of the current crisis.

The Embassy of Slovenia in the Hague is looking for an experienced driver for a full time position of Embassy Driver/Caretaker.

Interested in joining our team? Apply by March 15.

A political agreement was reached between the EU Council and the European Parliament on Tuesday, 30 January 2024, regarding the European Commission's proposals for greater transparency in the labelling of the origin of honey blends.

At today's session, the Government adopted a proposal for amendments to the Promotion of Digital Inclusion Act, which determine who is eligible to access computer equipment in more detail. It also approved the call for applications for enrolment in undergraduate and integrated master study programmes in the 2024/2025 academic year.

Slovenia's energy self-sufficiency and the long-term use of nuclear energy warrant the broadest possible national and political consensus.