The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington, in collaboration with the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad and the American Slovenian Education Foundation (ASEF), organized a Symposium on Artificial Intelligence that highlighted the exceptional contributions of Slovenian researchers who work in the United States.

The European Commission has approved an advance payment of 100 million euros from the EU Solidarity Fund, the maximum mobilised to date, following the application for support that Slovenia submitted to Brussels after the devastating floods that took place in the country in August 2023. The advance payment will be made in the next couple of days, said the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira during a conference call with Slovenia's Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek.

Next week, Slovenia is hosting the 23rd Meeting of the Member Parties to the Barcelona Convention, COP 23 – the Conference for the Mediterranean, in Portorož, under the auspices of the United Nations. Slovenia is taking over the two-year Presidency of the Convention, and the programme and objectives were presented at today's press conference by H.E. Minister Ms. Alenka Bratušek.

On 28 November 2023, a cultural event with a round table discussion on "The Power of Music, Poetry and Literature as Mediums for Intercultural Dialogue" and a concert by the Jazz Oud Quartet took place at the National Museum of Contemporary History housed in the Cekin Mansion to mark the Day of the Mediterranean. The participants were first addressed by the National Coordinator for the Mediterranean at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Nina Skočajić Juvan.

In cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT) and the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), we invite you to the CEF Digital Info Day for the third Call for proposals under the digital strand of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Programme. The CEF Digital Info Day will take place online on Thursday, 30th of November 2023, between 10:00 a.m. CET and 12:30 p.m. CET.

Minister of Interior Boštjan Poklukar has attended the International Conference on a Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling in Brussels. The goal of the conference convened by the European Commission is to strengthen the efforts to tackle the challenges posed by migrant smuggling.

At the sessions of government committees, the Government adopted the opinion about the proposed recommendation to stop illegal migration. In the applicable Development Programmes Plan 2023–2026, the Government incorporated several new projects and adopted the incentive to conclude an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of Ukraine on the donation of non-refundable funds of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to the Government of Ukraine for humanitarian aid in the field of de-mining.

The Resolution on Nuclear Safety was adopted in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia. The Resolution is a programming document representing the fundamental guidelines and long-term commitment of the Republic of Slovenia to nuclear and radiation safety. Its content observes the fundamental standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec, and the Minister of Defence of the Italian Republic, Guido Crosetto, signed an amendment to the Implementing Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Italian Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia on cooperation in the field of military aviation (hereinafter referred to as the Implementing Agreement), which defines the purchase of additional six Leonardo AW139M multirole helicopters, based on the Government-to-Government model.

The Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob, attended the ceremony to present the highest national prizes and awards for outstanding achievements in science, research and development.

Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, attended the meeting of foreign ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, co-chaired by Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan.

A joint closure event of three cross-border programmes, i.e. Slovenia-Austria, Slovenia-Croatia, and Slovenia-Hungary, was held in Ljubljana today to mark the closure of the 2014-2021 programming period. The keynote speaker at the event, the Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek, highlighted the successful performance of the programmes, drawing particular attention to their importance for cross-border regions.

Today, the European Commission provided a positive preliminary assessment of the second payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which Slovenia submitted to Brussels in mid-September. Slovenia could receive the payment in the amount of EUR 541 million around the New Year.

At the start of a four-day ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which saw the release of several hostages and prisoners, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon met with the highest political representatives in Israel and Palestine. She called for an end to violence, respect for international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians and urgent talks on a settlement that would bring lasting peace to the Middle East.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski visited Slovenia at the invitation of Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec, acting in the capacity of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. The purpose of the visit was to present to the Commissioner the agricultural damage in the aftermath of catastrophic floods that struckSlovenia in August of this year. The Commissioner visited the affected areas to see the on-the-ground situation.

Permanent Representative of Slovenia to NATO, Ambassador Dr Andrej Benedejčič, presented letters of credence to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today.

At its correspondence session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the proposed Healthcare Intervention Measures Act as per the urgent procedure, which will contribute to the enhanced accessibility and efficiency of our healthcare system.

State Secretary Marko Štucin met with the President of the Austrian Federal Council, Claudia Arpa. They discussed, among other things, the good cooperation between the two countries and reviewed the possibilities for further deepening bilateral relations.

Slovenia organised a training for Information Security Officers (CISO) in critical infrastructure and state administration. The activity took place in Podgorica from 20 to 22 November within the framework of the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C). The activity was organised and financially supported by the Slovenian Government Information Security Office (URSIV) and brought together 19 representatives from all six Western Balkan countries.

The second day of the Latin America and Caribbean Days began with a session focusing on business opportunities and scientific research presentations in forestry and irrigation. The two afternoon panels discussed digitalisation and artificial intelligence, and feminist foreign policy. The discussion on the latter topic was opened by Minister Tanja Fajon’s address.