On October 12th, 2023, His Excellency Mr. Jurij Rifelj presented his Letters of Credence to His Majesty the Japanese Emperor Naruhito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. With this, he assumed the duties of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia to Japan.
Ambassador Rifelj and His Majesty have confirmed excellent relations between Slovenia and Japan and discussed possibilites for further strengthening of the bilateral cooperation.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the call for proposals for developing core competencies in the period 2023-2029.

The event, held at the premises of the former sugar factory Cukrarna, focused on the presentation of and discussion about the opportunities, supported by European Cohesion Policy, to address the challenges and needs of older people. We all know that the number and the share of older people in the European Union is increasing year by year. People live longer and have a better quality of life. This makes adopting measures targeted at long-lived society a necessity.

Slovenia is the Guest of Honour of the Frankfurt International Book Fair under the slogan "Honeycomb of Words".

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has chosen the theme "Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave no one behind." for this year's World Food Day on 16 October.

On 11 October 2023, the Republic of Austria notified the European Commission, the European Parliament and the member states of its decision to reintroduce border controls at the internal Schengen border with the Republic of Slovenia for the period from 12 November 2023 to 11 May 2024.

Six Slovenian destinations have made it on the global list of »Green Destinations Top 100 Stories«, having convinced the Green Destinations organisation with their sustainable practices in tourism: Ljubljana, Šaleška dolina, Brežice, Jeruzalem, Miren Kras, and Kranj. This achievement strengthens Slovenia's visibility as some of the greenest and most sustainable destinations.

Plant Protection Products (PPPs) Legislative Section Session took place today in Brussels, within the framework of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee), including Member State voting on Commission legislative proposal for decision on extension of authorisation of active substance glyphosate

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Igor Papič met with representatives of various Japanese institutions and attended the STS Forum in Kyoto during his working visit in Japan. He was accompanied by Ambassador Mr Jurij Rifelj.

Cukrarna hosted a round table discussion entitled '153', which stands for the number of states that supported Slovenia in the vote for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York for the 2024–2025 term. The panellists agreed that this is an important foreign policy project where Slovenia must now show responsibility towards its partners.

Today, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob attended a ceremony marking the emergency completion of a water pipeline in Prevalje, visited the flood recovery works area along the Meža River in the Dobrije residential area in Ravne na Koroškem, and attended a celebratory meeting of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Črna na Koroškem.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the call for proposals to support Strategic Research and Innovation Partnerships (SRIP) for the period 2023-2026.

The Slovenian Regional Days under the title Green Transition at the Regional Level took place in Pivka this year. In her opening address, State Secretary Andreja Katič underlined the importance of such events saying that “the discussions on regional policy at such scientific and expert symposia, which bring new systemic and methodological solutions, provide a basis for decision-makers at different levels.”

At today's session, the Government took note of the draft budget plan of the general government sector for 2024 and the first progress report on the use of European Cohesion Policy funds in the 2014–2020 and 2021–2027 programming periods. It also adopted the Preliminary Programme for the repair of direct damage to property caused by the floods of 4 August 2023 in the field of national road and rail infrastructure.

A manifesto that spotlights the impact of digitalisation on reading skills and sets out the importance of higher-level reading was unveiled in Ljubljana on 10 October ahead of Slovenia's appearance as the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair next week.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob today met with the President of the Management Board of the Public Institute Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVS), Zvezdan Martić, who briefed the Prime Minister on the financial situation at RTVS.

Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) is following activities of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) regarding the detected leak.

Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek participated in the session on social innovation as part of this year's edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities that is taking place between 9 and 12 October in Brussels. According to Dr Jevšek, Slovenia successfully carried out several EU-funded social innovation projects it is very proud of.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob met today with the President of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation Martin Candidas. They assessed relations between the two countries as friendly and very positive.

At the International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in Zagreb, State Secretary Marko Štucin expressed continued support for Ukraine and announced an additional half a million euros in Slovenian assistance for mine action in 2023.