On the first day of the summit in Brussels, EU Member State leaders reached an agreement on defining relations with Turkey and sanctions against the Belarus regime. At the press conference, the president of the European Council Charles Michel announced that the leaders agreed on a “double strategy,” “a two-tier approach” which opens a possibility for dialogue, but at the same time firmly protects European values and solidarity.

Today and tomorrow, Prime Minister Janez Janša is attending an extraordinary European Council meeting in Brussels. On the agenda for this meeting is a discussion on the single market, industrial policy and digital transformation, as well as external relations, especially with Turkey and China. The summit will also provide an opportunity to review the situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Assembly today received the Prime Minister's proposal for the dismissal of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Aleksandra Pivec.

In the European Commission's report on Rule of Law, Slovenia ranks among the most developed members of the OECD countries in terms of transparency, as it has introduced several measures to prevent corruption in the field of public procurement.

On September 30, 2020 the »2019 Annual Report on Radiation and Nuclear Safety in the Republic of Slovenia« was presented to the Slovenian National Assembly. That was the last stage of its consideration. The report was approved by the Government of Slovenia in July and discussed in the National Council (the upper chamber of the Slovenian Parliament) in September of the same year.

The first "Yugoslav" Himalayan expedition (I. JAHO) was the longest Slovenian expedition. It lasted from March to August 1960 because the team travelled to their destination and back by ship. The expedition included seven Slovenian climbers and managed to reach the summits of Baraltoli (5720 m), Trisul II (6690 m) and Trisul III (6270 m). Preserved by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, among its records of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, are documents and photos from the expedition. This month's archivalia presents the journey of the expedition and provides a glimpse into the everyday life of the climbers.

The International Day of Older Persons, 1 October, has been highlighting the challenges of the elderly for the past 30 years. This year, it brings to the fore the problems faced by the elderly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease affects elderly citizens the most, and the pandemic also puts them at greater risk of poverty.

The Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin provided the latest information on the COVID-19 situation in Slovenia.

Slovenia welcomes the activities of the European Commission related to the launch of the rule of law mechanism as a prevention tool aimed at strengthening the common understanding of the fundamental values and promoting the culture of the rule of law thereby consolidating the application of this principle throughout the EU as a whole.

During the REHA meeting in Portorož on September 29, 2020, the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia received an award for its good practice and policy in employing people with disabilities in 2019. The Archives also received the title Disability-Friendly Employer.

In the afternoon, Prime Minister Janez Janša met Slovenian President Borut Pahor, President of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič and President of the National Council Alojz Kovšca.

Members of the Monitoring Committee (MC) of the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the European Cohesion Policy in the Period 2014-2020 (OP 2014-2020) met for the 7th regular meeting in Brdo pri Kranju. Most of them participated in the meeting via video conferencing. The meeting was opened by Zvone Černač, minister for Development and Cohesion Policy who updated the participants on the progress concerning the preparation of the national recovery and resilience plan and the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy programmes.

This morning, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the AmCham Business Breakfast, which was held in Union Hall at Grand Hotel Union in Ljubljana.

At the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar paid an official visit to the Portuguese Republic today. Slovenia and Portugal maintain close and friendly ties and are partner EU Member States as well as NATO allies. In 2021, the countries will be holding successive presidencies of the Council of the EU for the second time, for which intensive preparations are already under way.

Today, on 29 September, State Secretary Tone Kajzer participated in an informal video conference of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in the format of development ministers, focusing on relations with Africa, the state of play of EU-ACP Post-Cotonou negotiations and the situation in Belarus.

Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on A Talk with the Prime Minister broadcast on Nova24TV. He talked about the epidemiological situation in the country and the measures taken to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the fifth anti-corona legislative package, the Government's international activities, the EU funding secured by Slovenia, the Demographic Fund and current political topics.

Minister without portfolio, responsible for Strategic Projects and Cohesion Zvone Černač has participated in a high-level videoconference on Implementation and strategic orientations of future Cohesion Policy instruments. The videoconference was held under the auspices of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Today, Slovenia and the rest of the world celebrate the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, which was designated by the UN General Assembly with the support of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO stresses increasing levels of hunger, recalls the consequences of food waste for the environment and calls for action on all levels.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, spoke about two ordinances adopted by the Government over the weekend. The Government spokesperson, Jelko Kacin, presented the epidemiological data.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan received the State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales. During their discussions, the State Secretary underlined Slovenia’s commitment to counter-terrorism within the scope of the European Union, with particular focus on the challenges posed by the misuse of new technologies.