Slovenia's tourist destinations attracted more than six million visitors last year, who spent more than 16 million nights at the country's accommodation facilities in what is a new record. The capital Ljubljana saw the most substantial growth.

Ljubljana, 26 January 2024 – The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has issued 37 funding decisions marking the start of the implementation of community-led local development (CLLD) in the framework of 37 Local Action Groups (LAG). A total of 40.1 million euros in ERDF funding was approved for the implementation of CLLD.

Today, two days before World Holocaust Remembrance Day, the military facility Kadetnica in Maribor hosted the opening of a guest exhibition entitled A Tale of Two Transports, the Jews of Medjimurje and Prekmurje during the Holocaust, prepared by Boris Hajdinjak, Director of the Centre of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor.

At today's session, the Government adopted a decision on drafting a national spatial plan for reducing flood risks in the Lower Savinja Valley, with a view to comprehensively reducing flood risks in urban areas. It also approved the Agreement on the Amendments to the Strike Agreement with the Higher Education Trade Union.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended an informal meeting of the Council of Ministers of the European Union for Home Affairs in Antwerp and Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia was among the first national parliaments of the European Union (EU) to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The law for its ratification was adopted on January 29, 2008, at the beginning of Slovenia's first presidency of the Council of the EU and concurrently the European Council. The presidency itself was one of the reasons for the expedited process, as it aimed to demonstrate Slovenia's commitment to the European integration project.

EU Med Ministers and State Secretaries met today in Brussels on the initiative of the Greek Minister of Agriculture. The group consists of Mediterranean countries that are EU member states: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Slovenia was represented by State Secretary Eva Knez.

The Government adopted the opinion on the draft recommendation to address the worrying situation in residential care homes and approved an amendment to the Act Regulating the Implementation of the Budgets of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Siol.net portal has published an article entitled "The forgotten lesson of 1991, when Slovenians drove out the occupier" in the Active Citizenship thematic section, which provides readers with in-depth information on specific topics. Within the article, Dr. Damir Črnčec, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, addresses questions regarding the current state of the Slovenian Armed Forces and their preparedness for a potential escalation of armed conflict in Europe.

The Ministry of Finance will issue bonds for citizens on 1 February with a maturity of three years, an issue volume of €250 million and an interest rate of 3.4 %.

For the first time since Slovenia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon participated in the ministerial meeting of the UNSC in New York on the situation in the Middle East. In her address, she called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and in the region, outlining the reasons why it is so important.

The discussion at the first Agriculture and Fisheries Council under the Belgian Presidency has revolved around the future of agriculture in Europe and the international trade in agricultural products, and the establishment of an EU-wide forest monitoring framework.

The Prime Minister, Robert Golob, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, hosted their traditional New Year's reception for the Diplomatic Corps. On this occasion, he highlighted Slovenia's main domestic and foreign policy achievements over the past year.

Minister Tanja Fajon attended the regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, where the discussions were again devoted to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. During the debate on the Middle East, the EU foreign ministers were joined by several ministers from the region, with whom they agreed to step up their cooperation in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ambassador Dr Andrej Benedejčič, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to NATO, hosted a reception at NATO Headquarters for members of NATO Civil Society Advisory Panel for Women, Peace and Security, as well as Allies and partner countries.

In the first episode of the GOVSI podcast, host Boštjan Lajovic hosts Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and Marjan Šarc, Minister of Defence.

At today’s session, the Government appointed Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič the head of the umbrella negotiating group for negotiations and coordination with the representative trade unions of the public sector. It also appointed the heads and members of negotiating group for negotiations by individual wage tiers.

Prime Minister Robert Golob, Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko and Minister of the Economy, Matjaž Han, met today with representatives of Delo, Dnevnik and Večer newspaper publishing houses. They continued the discussion on the situation of printed media in Slovenia.

Speaking to a wide range of interlocutors at the 54th World Economic Forum in Davos, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon stressed the urgency of an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the protection of civilians, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and an early agreement on a peace plan for a two-state solution, the recognition of the state of Palestine and the provision of security for Israel.

Prime Minister Robert Golob and line ministers today met with representatives of business organisations and associations. The need for a continuous dialogue was already agreed upon at the Economic Summit at the end of last year. This is the only way to draft solutions that would enable businesses to be competitive while preserving the current level of prosperity.