The Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Andrej Vizjak, addressed the participants of the two-day informal online meeting of the Climate Change Working Group. The purpose of the event was to present the work programme of the Working Group on International Environmental Issues in the area of climate change in the second half of 2021. Important items on the agenda included climate change adaptation, strengthening climate finance and finalising the Paris Rulebook.

The press conference was attended by the Director of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Milan Krek, and the head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health, Mateja Logar. Ms Maja Bratuša presented the current epidemiological situation as well as the latest Government decisions.

State Secretary Raščan addressed, via a video conference, the participants of the 4th international Ukraine Reform Conference that was held in Vilnius this year.

In his capacity as High Representative representing the Council of the European Union in relations with the European Parliament, Foreign Minister Anže Logar attended the Plenary Session of the European Parliament, which took place in Strasbourg from 5 to 8 July 2021.

Today, the Ministry of Public Administration organised a conference of senior officials from the Member States of the European Union and the candidate countries of the Western Balkans entitled ‘The European Union as a community of people’. It is the first in a series of events organised by the Ministry under the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Boštjan Koritnik, Minister of Public Administration, initially addressed the participants.

Today, Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs took part in online colloquium on EU's achievements and challenges in combating terrorism twenty years after the terrorist attacks in the United States, which united top counter-terrorism experts, who discussed and analysed the most serious challenges we are currently facing in fight against terrorism.

Jože Senica, Assistant Director-General of the Police and Slovenia’s national COSI delegate, hosted an informal meeting of COSI (Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation) in Portorož on 7 and 8 July 2021.

As current holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Slovenia hosted an informal meeting of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) on 7 and 8 July 2021 in Portorož. The main topics of the meeting chaired by Matej Torkar, the Internal Affairs Adviser at the Permanent Representation to the European Union Brussels and national delegate to SCIFA, were a proposal on the asylum procedures regulation and the role of EU agencies in the management of external EU borders, and assistance they are able to provide to EU Member States in this field.

In his role of high representative in relations with the European Parliament, Minister Logar presented the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency during the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee held in July 2021. “The European Union’s resilience, economic recovery and the Conference on the Future of Europe will be the focus of our Presidency. Only the constructive cooperation of all stakeholders can lead to progress in these areas,” stressed Minister Logar.

Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the Holy Mass in St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Ljubljana today marking the end of armed conflicts and the victory in the war for Slovenia.

Today, the Lighthouse Park in Izola saw the opening of the “My Reading Room” art installation, through which Slovenia participates in the Europe Readr project. “Europe Readr invites us to read the European Union in all its diversity and interconnectedness. It is also an invitation to encourage reading as a way to improve our understanding of who we are, where we come from and where we are headed, while facing various social changes,” underlined Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan presented the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU at a virtual event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union. The Brussels-based business association traditionally organises such events when an EU member state assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

During today's video conference call, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov assessed the development of bilateral relations as very positive. Against the backdrop of the recent Slovenian EU Council Presidency take-over, the pair discussed the European perspective of North Macedonia.

Acting Director-General Igor Jukič held consultations with the French Director-General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education and International Development, Michel Miraillet, via video conference.

Prime Minister Janša met today in Brdo pri Kranju with mayors of Slovenian municipalities. During the working consultation, they discussed measures to control the spread of COVID-19 in the coming months and public finance and development issues with the ministers.

Representatives of Member States of European union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission (EC),the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Executive of ESA met at the European Space Traffic Management Conference »Fostering a European approach on Space Traffic Management« on July 7, 2021.

Today, State Secretary Uroš Lampret was the keynote speaker at the webinar titled The Strategic Compass and the Western Balkans: Towards a tailor-made and strategic approach to partnerships?

Today in the European Parliament, Prime Minister Janez Janša presented the six-month programme and the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2021. This traditional presentation of priorities is held at the beginning of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The presentation took place at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg after which the Slovenian Prime Minister attended a press conference together with President of the European Parliament David Sassoli and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz held a video conference meeting. They assessed bilateral relations and exchanged views on the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Kosovo from the perspective of the second Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, stressing the importance of maintaining a credible European perspective for the Western Balkan countries, thereby further contributing to the stabilisation of the region.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today held talks via a video conference with Serbian Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović. They gave a positive assessment of the development of bilateral relations, focusing on further EU enlargement, which is one of the key priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency.