State Secretary mag. Marko Koprivc was a keynote speaker at the Connect2Slovenia International Business Meeting, which took place on Thursday, 14 September 2023, at Celjski sejmi d.d. as part of the International Trade Fair Celje (MOS). The event was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia in partnership with SPIRIT Slovenia, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport and Advantage Austria Slovenia.

Slovenia will have nine seats in the European Parliament in the 2024-2029 term, one more than so far, in line with the new distribution endorsed by the parliament on 13 September. All Slovenian MEPs are willing or at least considering running for re-election.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held political consultations with Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Jovita Neliupšienė in Vilnius. They reviewed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and exchanged views on current European and global issues, with a focus on the situation in the Western Balkans and Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs welcomes the adoption of the European Council's decision on the composition of the European Parliament for the parliamentary term 2024–2029, which gives Slovenia one additional seat, bringing the total number of seats to nine.

A total of EUR 50 million of overcommitments will be redirected to the Reconstruction Fund and a further EUR 20.5 million in cohesion funding will be reallocated to post-flood intervention measures in order to mobilise available resources from cohesion policy programmes and allow for full absorption of the funding made available to Slovenia in the 2014-2020 programming period.

The Government starts examining information on the preparation of the budgets of the Republic of Slovenia for 2024 and 2025. It gave its consent to the draft amendment of the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014–2020, took note of the Autumn Forecast of Economic Trends 2023 and the information on the baselines for the preliminary programme for the repair of direct damage resulting from the August floods.

The Government takes note of the Report on the Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) before submitting the second request for payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which includes information on meeting the milestones and goals for individual instalments. The Government also discussed the financial implementation of the Plan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today delivered the final State of the Union Address at the European Parliament in this mandate, assessing the political priorities achieved and providing an overview of the challenges ahead of next year's European elections.

State Secretary Marko Štucin took part in a discussion entitled "A strong and resilient EU in response to the challenges of the future", organised by the European Commission Representation in Slovenia on the occasion of this year's State of the Union address by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

Minister Tanja Fajon delivered the opening address at the 12th Economic Diplomacy Day, which took place in the framework of the traditional 55th International Trade Fair in Celje with the message: "When I meet with companies, I find that Slovenian companies offer solutions that contribute to solving the challenges of climate change, not only in Slovenia, but also worldwide."

On Tuesday, 12th September 2023, the Republic of Slovenia, rated A3 (stable) / AA- (stable) / A (stable), successfully entered the markets with a US$ 1bn 10-year 144A / Reg S bond. This landmark transaction represents the return of Slovenia to the US$ market for the first time since 2014. The success of the transaction, with over US$ 3.8bn of demand (including JLMs interest), is a strong testimony of the confidence institutional investors have in the Republic of Slovenia. Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe S.E. and J.P. Morgan jointly led the offering.

At its correspondence session, the Government gave its consent to the proposed amendments to the draft act amending the Mental Health Act.

At government committee sessions, the Government agreed with the proposed amendments to the Financial Operations, Insolvency Proceedings and Compulsory Dissolution Act and the proposed amendments to the Bloudek Awards Act. In the Development Programmes Plan 2023–2026, the Government added several new projects.

In Istanbul, Turkey, the last intensive preparations are underway for the 23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP23). Slovenia will host the 23rd meeting in December 2023 and take over the two-year presidency of the Barcelona Convention for the period 2024-2025.

State Secretary for Intergenerational Dialogue and Housing Policy Nataša Lužar received the representatives of the Association of Social Institutions of Slovenia.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister Robert Golob paid an official visit to Luxembourg. This is a follow-up to Prime Minister Bettel's visit to Slovenia in February this year, when the two countries pledged to work even more closely together, particularly in economic matters.

State Secretary for Intergenerational Dialogue and Housing Policy Nataša Lužar met with the representatives of the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Today, on 12 September 2023, the State Secretary for the Coordination of Measures and Activities for Post-Flood Reconstruction, Boštjan Šefic, visited the Municipality of Litija and met with Mayor Franci Rokavec. The purpose of the working visit was to discuss the challenges and needs facing the municipality and residents living in the affected area, as well as further relief measures.

In a telephone conversation, Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar once again drew the attention of his Croatian counterpart Dr Davor Božinović to the high number of illegal crossings of the Slovenian-Croatian border, in particular in the area of the municipality of Brežice.

At the invitation of the Latvian Minister of Justice and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Slovenia's Minister of Justice Dominika Švarc Pipan attended the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe in Riga. The aim of the discussion is to support the reforms of the Ukrainian justice system and the restoration of the international legal order by ensuring the full responsibility of the Russian Federation for its aggression against Ukraine.