Early this morning, the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council reached agreement on the general approach to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform beyond 2020 legislative package. This is an important achievement as the agreement facilitates opening the negotiations with the European Parliament. On behalf of Slovenia, the meeting was attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Dr Jože Podgoršek, who earmarked the compromise as extremely important achievement within the EU for the entire agricultural sector. “It is most important that we, the ministers, have come to an agreement that facilitates the continuation of the demanding CAP reform process and its subsequent timely implementation. In negotiations, Slovenia succeeded in ensuring the essential elements for the development of agriculture in Slovenia, while simultaneously following the environmental protection guidelines. Particular attention has been on small farmers in terms of reducing the administrative burdens.” At the meeting that commenced on Monday, the ministers discussed certain other topics in agriculture and fisheries.

What is the future that we want? Are we on the right track to reach it? What must be done to overcome the differences?

At today's press conference Prime Minister Janez Janša presented an overall assessment of the situation after adoption of some additional measures for the containment of the coronavirus in the last days. "We believe that we are able to cope with the situation and this is mainly because we are now dealing with the virus as it is. Namely as a threat which is symmetrical and does not select by any other criteria than those applicable to the virus," the Prime Minister began his address.

Prime Minister Janez Janša held a videoconference today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Their discussions focused on the serious spread of the coronavirus.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar concluded his three-day visit to the Baltic countries in the Republic of Lithuania, where he met with his host, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius. The foreign ministers discussed opportunities for further strengthening cooperation between the two countries, both on the European and multilateral level. They also found time to touch on the challenges the EU is facing in coordinating measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Also high on the agenda were the latest developments in Belarus and in this context, Minister Logar met Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius.

The press conference on the current Covid-19 situation was attended by the Head of the intensive care unit at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Matjaž Jereb, and the government spokesman, Ambassador Jelko Kacin.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan took part in the Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), which was held as a virtual event based in Zagreb. He stressed the importance of good governance of macro-regional strategies and a more visible role of the European Commission.

Slovenians take pride in the fact that not many other countries have such a high proportion of volunteer firefighters, charitable foundations or charitable donations. The coronavirus epidemic has severely affected volunteering, but it has also stimulated the development of new programmes.

The Government and the Ministers have adopted additional measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. Minister of Health Tomaž Gantar presented the work of the Ministry of Health, while Minister of Education Simona Kustec presented the Ordinance on temporary restrictions for sport activities.

Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek, Head of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre Dr Tatjana Lejko Zupanc and government spokesman Jelko Kacin spoke today at a press conference about the current situation regarding Covid-19.

The promotional film for the Walk of Peace project idea, presented by the Walks of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation in collaboration with its partners, has been chosen the best EU Interreg project of the year among 150 applications.

In October 2020, during Germany’s Chairmanship, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) – on the basis of prolonged discussions and proposals put forth by experts on Roma issues – adopted a non-legally binding working definition of antigypsyism. The definition was prepared with the participation of Slovenian experts, members of the Slovenian delegation to IHRA, and the Roma community in Slovenia. The text of the working definition is provided below.

Head of the expert group for the containment and control of the COVID-19 epidemic at the Ministry of Health Bojana Beović said that around 1% of the population is infected, i.e. 20,000 people, which is more than the official number of 7,103 active cases.

The Government has issued an Ordinance on the temporary partial restriction of movement and the restriction or prohibition of public gatherings in order to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections, and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

On Sunday, 2637 coronavirus tests were conducted and 537 new cases were confirmed, which is a 20.4% positivity rate. A total of 289 patients with COVID-19 are currently in hospital, of whom 55 are in intensive care units. Two persons died. On Sunday, Slovenia reached a 14-day incidence of 339 cases per 100,000 population.

An epidemic has been declared throughout Slovenian territory as of today. At the correspondence session on 18 October 2020, the Government adopted the Order on the Declaration of a COVID-19 Epidemic based on the Communicable Diseases Act.

On Monday, the Minister of the Economy, Zdravko Počivalšek, signed amendments to the association agreement between Slovenia and the European Space Agency (ESA). This is an important step for our country towards becoming a full member of this international organisation and the Minister expects such cooperation to strengthen even further.

Prime Minister Janez Janša posted on Twitter that an epidemic has been declared for the whole of Slovenia for 30 days, as of Monday. He posted this message on Sunday evening when a section of the Government, together with the advisory group of the Ministry of Health, discussed the current situation.

Address of the Prime Minister Janez Janša to the people of Slovenia.

Today, Foreign Minister Anže Logar held meetings in Trieste and Gorizia with representatives of the Slovenian minority in Italy. This was his first official visit to the Slovenian minority in Italy, after he briefly met with Slovenians in Italy at the ceremony on the return of the National Hall into Slovenian hands on 13 July.