Today, the final event of the development cooperation project “School and Peer Mediation in Bosnia and Herzegovina” took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Carried out in 2019–2020, the project involved primary schools from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Brčko District, and the Republika Srpska.

Ahead of the December Home Affairs Ministers Council, today the Ministers of Trio Presidency, German minister Horst Seehofer, Portuguese minister Eduardo Cabrito and their Slovenian counterpart, minister Aleš Hojs, exchanged views on the new Migration and Asylum Pact.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar took part in the second day of the regular meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which was held via teleconference. Today’s meeting was mostly focused on exchanging views with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the foreign ministers of Finland, Sweden, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, in particular, on the impact of China’s rise in the global community.

The press conference on the current situation with the COVID-19 disease was attended by the Deputy Head of the Communicable Disease Centre of the National Institute of Public Health Nuška Čakš Jager, DEOS manager Irena Vincek, the representative of the Ministry of the Interior Borut Jakopin, and the government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

The confirmed age of the Old Vine, which grows in Maribor, is over 400 years and it is entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest noble vine in the world. It still bears grapes from which a very special wine is made.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar took part in the regular two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance, organised via video-conference. The meeting primarily focused on the reflection process for strengthening the political dimension of the Alliance and on the NATO 2030 Expert Group’s Report.

At the invitation of the German Presidency, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today attended a virtual informal meeting of ministers for European affairs. The members of the EU General Affairs Council discussed issues relating to the future of Europe and exchanged views on the possibilities of stepping up coordinated action against the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers of the Western Balkans countries also joined the discussion.

Today’s press conference on the current situation regarding the COVID-19 disease was attended by Janez Tomažič from the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre (UKC), Polonca Mali from the Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia, and the government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

The World Expo hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates will commence at the beginning of October 2021 and last until 31 March 2022. Among the 192 participating countries, Slovenia will be featured with its national pavilion under the slogan, Slovenia. Green Smart Experience., as a sustainable, modern, creative and future-oriented country.

The beginnings of mass motorization in Slovenia go back to the 1960s and coincide with the construction of new road sections and the planning of the first few kilometres of motorways. As a result, this increase in traffic, along with some other causes, led to an increased number of road traffic fatalities. One of the major issues at that time was the use of high beam headlights, which dazzled drivers in the preceding vehicles and other traffic participants alike. To prevent such behaviour, a campaign was launched, the purpose of which was to put a stop to such dangerous behaviour and to raise awareness among the drivers that they were not alone on the road and that for safety’s reasons they needed to switch off their full beam headlights. The emphasis here was particularly on the night driving.

The press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by Vesna Vodišek Razboršek, director of the Šentjur retirement home (DSO), and psychologist, Andreja Poljanec.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia took note of the Report of the Permanent Coordination Group for Restrictive Measures on Hezbollah’s Activities and Mode of Operation, reaching the decision to treat Hezbollah as a criminal and terrorist organisation that poses a threat to peace and security.

Today, Slovenia's leading conference on innovation “Innovation Day” took place in a virtual format under the title “Symptoms of Creativity”. This year’s event was organised for the first time in partnership with the Creativeforum.si platform launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It brought together over a thousand participants from more than 50 countries, for a lively discussion on the pivotal role of creativity as an international societal driving force and the potential of cooperation between traditional industries and creative sectors. “Supporting creativity and innovation is one of the pillars of Slovenia’s foreign policy, and creativity will be one of Slovenia’s cross-sectoral priorities during its presidency of the Council of the EU”, stated State Secretary Stanislav Raščan in his opening speech.

The Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Icelandic foreign ministry, conducted a study entitled “Empowered diplomacy: bridging the gender gap” on equal opportunities of women and men in diplomacy. Its findings suggest that since 2009, the situation regarding the gender gap in higher positions in Slovenian diplomacy has largely improved. The aim of the project was to obtain up-to-date and transparent insights into gender equality and equal opportunities in diplomacy, and to subsequently identify and design the necessary measures for further improvement.

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 at UKC Ljubljana, Matjaž Jereb, and the government spokesman, Jelko Kacin.

Today, Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs attended the first ever Schengen Forum meeting through a videoconference link. The meeting, at which the European Commission gathered EU home affairs ministers and MEPs, marked the launch of regular discussions on the future of the Schengen area.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Meža River basin – Municipality Mežica”. The project worth EUR 529,000 will be implemented by the Municipality Mežica and will receive EUR 272,000 of Cohesion Fund support.

Today’s epidemiological situation: a relatively large number of tests were carried out yesterday (as many as 6,587). One thousand six-hundred and nine cases were confirmed, which means that the proportion of positive tests was 24.4%. Hospital care required 22 more COVID-19 patients (namely 1,324) in comparison to Wednesday. Two-hundred-six patients needed intensive care, which is nine less than the day before. Ninety-eight patients were discharged from hospitals in total. Yesterday we also had a lot of deaths in Slovenia: 48 people died in hospitals, nursing homes and care homes.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar today held a video conference with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Cooperation of Iceland, Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson. Minister Logar stressed the positive and friendly bilateral relations and expressed Slovenia’s interest in further deepening economic cooperation with Iceland.

This year, following the decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and in agreement with the Holy See, a Slovenian Christmas tree, a spruce from the Kočevje forests, will be erected in St Peter's Square in the Vatican City. It will be decorated with handmade Slovenian ethnographic ornaments. A Slovenian Christmas tree being put up in the Vatican, as well as the accompanying promotional events that will take place, is an excellent way to promote Slovenia, especially in the light of Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2021. The project is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. The opening ceremony will take place in the Vatican City on 11 December 2020.