State Secretary Stanislav Raščan attended the 29th consultations of the economic and social stakeholders of the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) via video conference.

On the margins of the European Council meeting today in Brussels, Prime Minister Janez Janša signed the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on the EU's legislative priorities for 2022. A resilient and reinvigorated EU will remain at the forefront of events in the year ahead.

Prime Minister Janez Janša is attending a European Council meeting in Brussels, where he and the other EU leaders will discuss the COVID-19 situation, including the emergence of new virus variants, coordination of measures, provision of vaccination and and external relations. They will also address external relations, including with Belarus and Ukraine, as well as the issue of crisis management and resilience, energy prices, security and defence, and the external aspects of migration.

State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs attended an evening discussion on Cohesion Policy. The on-line event was organised by the info point Europe Direct Novo mesto and the Development Centre Novo mesto. The State Secretary drew attention to the important role Cohesion Policy funds play in ensuring a balanced regional development and went on to present the priorities supported by the NextGenerationEU instrument and the entities eligible to the funding available under the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027.

The continually updated virtual exhibition "Pioneers of Slovenian Modern Architecture – Fabiani, Plečnik and Vurnik – Forms for a New Democracy" is being rounded off with an exhibition at the National Museum of Slovenia and a comprehensive monograph on the three great Slovenian architects produced by Bojana Čampa in Stane Jeršič.

Igor Jukič, Acting Director-General for Multilateral Affairs and Development Cooperation, attended the meeting of the EU directors-general for development cooperation on Team Europe initiatives, which was held as an audio-video conference.

The Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs and the Minister of Justice Marjan Dikaučič, current Chairs of the EU Home Affairs Council and EU Justice Council respectively, will attend the EU-US Justice and Home Affairs ministerial meeting in Washington on 16 December 2021.

Today, the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša is attending the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, four years on since the last summit in 2017. As Belarus is not attending this year’s summit, its regime having suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership (on 28 June 2021), there is an empty seat at the table.

Prof. Dr Borut Štrukelj from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana was one of the speakers at the press conference on COVID-19 held today.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša addressed the Transition with Ambition conference over video link. The event was organised by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SPIRIT Slovenia, Public Agency and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today chaired the final regular meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Brussels in the context of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council. Ministers of European affairs discussed draft conclusions for the December European Council and the coordination of the enlargement conclusions that have been unanimously confirmed, which is yet another achievement of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Acting as Minister for Development Cooperation, State Secretary Raščan addressed the participants of an important virtual event marking the launch of the Digital for Development (D4D) Hub in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a multi-stakeholder mechanism of the “Team Europe” initiative, the aim of which is to strengthen dialogue and partnership in digitalisation to promote a human-centric digital transformation.

State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs today gave closing remarks at the webinar marking the launch of the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2021. In her speech, State Secretary called for action.

As part of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, a video conference of the Management Board of Europol started today. The participants were addressed by the Slovenian Minister of the Interior and Chair of the Home Affairs Council, Aleš Hojs.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today attended the 28th regular session of the National Assembly, at which his response to the question raised by Deputy Matej T. Vatovec concerning corruption and the "mafia-style" running of the country was discussed. The Prime Minister presented his position on the issue.

Today, EU fisheries ministers held the last meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.They successfully concluded difficult negotiations on fishing quotas for next year. The Council meeting was chaired for the last time by the Slovenian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Jože Podgoršek.

Today’s press conference on COVID-19 was attended by the Minister of Health, Janez Poklukar, the National Coordinator of the Vaccination Programme at the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Dr Marta Grgič Vitek, and by the Head of the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology and the Head of the Laboratory for the Diagnosis of Viral Infections, Prof Dr Miroslav Petrovec.

At the 28th regular session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Prime Minister Janez Janša answered parliamentary questions from Andrej Rajh (SAB) on measures related to the energy crisis, Ivan Hršak (DeSUS) on measures for the older generation, Janja Sluga (non-affiliated deputies) on the energy crisis and the Government’s response to it, and Jožef Horvat on the implementation of the coalition agreement.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan, on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, led the thirteenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Serbia at ministerial level today in Brussels. "Bringing enlargement forward has been one of the main priorities of the Slovenian Presidency," the State Secretary stressed.

On the second day of the meeting, agriculture ministers focused on the resilience of the food system and on ensuring the strength of the food supply chain. Council conclusions on a new contingency plan for ensuring food supply and security in times of crisis were approved unanimously. Ministers also discussed unfair trading practices in the food supply chain and focused on the Commission's proposal to prevent deforestation. The Council, chaired for the last time by the Slovenian Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Jože Podgoršek, also took note of the preparation of the strategic plans for the common agricultural policy.