State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today participated in the 8th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum in Skopje, dedicated to EU enlargement. “The Western Balkans is part of Europe and the challenges of the region are also those of the European Union. It is therefore vital to involve the Western Balkan region in the debates on the future of Europe," said State Secretary Dovžan in his address.

From 12 to 13 October 2021, an international expert conference "Increasing the accessibility and competitiveness of European audiovisual and media content" will take place in Cankarjev dom congress center in Ljubljana as well as online. The participants will be addressed by dr. Vasko Simoniti, Slovenian Minister of Culture and President of the Council of the European Union for Culture and Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director of Media Policy at the European Commission.

At the meeting of the Competitiveness Council held on 29 September 2021, the ministers responsible for industry and the internal market discussed the impact of the “Fit for 55” package on the competitiveness of EU industry, and the importance of better regulation for the competitiveness of the European Union and the functioning of the single market.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated at the opening session of the Geneva Dialogue on responsible behaviour in cyberspace along with Livia Leu, State Secretary at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Gaurav Keerthi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. This edition of the virtual event centred around the security of digital products and its regulatory framework.

In its capacity as Chair of the Council of the European Union, Slovenia hosted an informal consultation of the non-proliferation and disarmament directors. This is an annual traditional meeting for EU member states to exchange views on current strategic issues and challenges of the global arms of mass destruction control regime. The meeting was chaired by the Slovenian Ambassador for Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Andrej Benedejčič.

A press conference to provide a COVID-19 update was attended by the Minister of Health, Janez Poklukar, and the head of the vaccination advisory group, Bojana Beović.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today paid a working visit to Klagenfurt to co-chair the 6th session of the Slovenia-Carinthia Joint Committee, together with Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser. The meeting set out the course for future cooperation between Slovenia and the Austrian state of Carinthia in a number of areas of common interest. Minister Logar also held a separate meeting with Governor Kaiser.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar met with representatives of the Slovenian minority in Carinthia prior to the Slovenia-Carinthia Committee session. The Minister assured Slovenia's ongoing support for the minority's efforts towards long-term and systemic solutions regarding the implementation of their rights.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan held talks with Sergei Cheryomin, Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Department for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations. The officials confirmed good relations between the two countries and wide-ranging cooperation in the economic, cultural, scientific, educational and other sectors.

In Ljubljana, Prime Minister Janša today met with Latvian President Egils Levits, who is on an official visit to Slovenia at the invitation of Slovenian President Borut Pahor.

The government finished its visit to the Zasavje Region with a public forum in which it discussed the challenges and opportunities in the region with representatives of business interests and local communities.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan met with a delegation of the European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA), headed by its Chairman Hans-Gert Pöttering.

In the frame the Government visit to the Zasavje region Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač visited the municipality Litija and Trbovlje. State Secretary at the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs visited municipality Zagorje ob Savi.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended the annual CEPA Forum organised by the Washington-based think-tank Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) as one of the keynote speakers. The event, entitled “Renewing the Transatlantic Alliance in a Contested World”, is being held in a virtual form.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan met with the Chair of the 10th NPT Review Conference, Ambassador Gustavo Rodolfo Zlauvinen. They discussed preparations for the high-level conference scheduled to be held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York at the beginning of next year.

A meeting of the Working Group for Urban Development, chaired by Deputy Director-General of the Spatial Planning, Construction and Housing Directorate at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning Aša Rogelj, took place in Ptuj as a part of the Slovenian Presidency.

European Blockchain Week 2021(EBCW 2021) was one of the soundest events in the framework of Slovenian Presidency of the Council of EU. Co-organized by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, in collaboration with Digital Innovation Hub Blockchain for Trusted Data Ecosystems, Digital Innovation Hub Slovenia, Slovenian Digial Centre, BTC City, together with European Commission, EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, INATBA - International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications, Blockchain Alliance Europe, Blockchain for Europe and many other partners, it achieved great success, backed by more than 100 panelists, more than 25 panels, workshops and roundtables and more than 1200 participants from 86 countries worldwide.

A Slovenian Government delegation visited the Zasavje region today. The Zasavje statistical region is Slovenia’s smallest in terms of surface area and comprises the municipalities of Hrastnik, Litija, Trbovlje and Zagorje ob Savi.

At the invitation of the Institute of the Regions of Europe (IRE), State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended the opening of the 17th Europe Summit held in Salzburg this year under the title ‘Europe and Peace’. He appeared at the opening panel titled ‘Democracy and Freedom in Europe after Corona’.

As part of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the town of Ptuj hosted a meeting of the national members of the Network of Territorial Cohesion Contact Points (NTCCP), chaired by Mr Tomaž Miklavčič from the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.