2019 is drawing to a close. Since the end of the year is a good opportunity to look back at what has been accomplished and what lies ahead for Slovenia, we have compiled a list of the key achievements in the recent period and the priorities going ahead.

One of the most influential global media giants, National Geographic, published a list on its website of the top six new cycling and hiking trails that they recommend for 2020.

Slovenian athletes are excellent ambassadors and promotors of the country and the national brand “I feel Slovenia”.

After being formally appointed by the National Assembly as the new minister responsible for development, strategic projects and cohesion on Thursday, Dr Angelika Mlinar today took over at the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (GODC).

Ministry of public administration has been proud to be part of the (European Security Certification Framework) EU-SEC project for the last three years. The main aim of EU-SEC is to improve trust in cloud services by creating a framework under which existing certification and assurance approaches can co-exist. The framework serves basic requirements of the EU Cybersecurity Act and adds an additional layer of trust, assurance and transparency by including continuous auditing-based certifications. It is targeted at cloud stakeholders wishing to improve the business value, efficiency and effectiveness of their approach to cloud security approach to cloud security and privacy compliance. This includes auditors, cloud service providers, regulators, standard owners and cloud users.

2019 is drawing to a close. Since the end of the year is a good opportunity to look back at what has been accomplished and what lies ahead for Slovenia, we have compiled a list of the key achievements in the recent period and the priorities going ahead.

Today, Friday 19 December 2019, marks two years since the UN General Assembly, following an initiative launched by Slovenia, declared 20 May to be World Bee Day.

In collaboration with the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, the National Assembly organised an event to commemorate the second anniversary of the historical proclamation of World Bee Day. 20 December will mark two years since the UN General Assembly, on the initiative of Slovenia, unanimously adopted the resolution designating 20 May as World Bee Day. The purpose of the event was to highlight all key beekeeping achievements that can also be attributed to the proclamation of World Bee Day. The attendees were received by their host, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Dejan Židan. The event, attended by State Secretary Dr Jože Podgoršek on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, began with the painting of beehive panels in the company of the pupils of the France Bevk Primary School in Ljubljana.

On behalf of the Slovenian Government, Foreign Minister Dr Miro Cerar attended the CEI Summit in Rome gathering prime ministers of the Central European Initiative Member States. In his remarks, he underscored the CEI’s role in the history of European integration processes and opening up of EU prospects for new members

At today’s session, the government approved the wording of the bill for the Act amending the Waters Act and proposed that the bill be considered under the fast-track procedure.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the 24th session of the Inter-Ministerial Commission on Human Rights, with the participation of Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina. The main item of the agenda was the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in Slovenia, which was held last month in the UN Human Rights Council.

Last week the online edition of Canadian newspaper The Vancouver Sun, which has more than 1.3 million monthly unique visitors, published an article entitled “Five reasons to visit tiny, perfect Slovenia”.

About 250,000 persons born abroad are living in Slovenia, 38% of whom immigrated in the last ten years

The Minister of Public Administration Rudi Medved attended the fifth meeting of the Slovenian and Serbian Governments held on 17 December 2019. The visit of the Slovenian Government is a continuation of regular and intensive high-level political dialogue and a continuation of the practice of joint meetings between the two governments. Today's meeting in Novi Sad, which is the fifth such meeting, showed that relations between the two countries have been strengthening in all areas.

"Slovenia wants to be an active partner in Serbia's path to the European Union. For Slovenia, Serbia is an extremely important economic partner in the region. We want to help it tackle the greatest challenges of rural development by offering our knowledge and examples of good practices," said the Prime Minister of the of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec, at today's press conference following the meeting of the Governments of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia in Novi Sad.

The last meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council under Finnish Presidency, which was attended by State Secretary Dr Jože Podgoršek, focused on fishing, agricultural and forestry issues. The ministers adopted the Regulation fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, reviewed the progress made in negotiations on the reform of the common agricultural policy and exchanged views on the importance of forests and forestry for a sustainable future. As part of preparations for the Presidency of the Council of the EU, the State Secretary met with the German and Portuguese ministers of agriculture.

Let the upcoming year 2020 be sealed with happiness, success and health.

“Slovenia wants to be an active partner in Serbia’s European journey. Serbia is an exceptionally important economic partner for us in the region. By sharing our knowledge and examples of good practice, we also want to help Serbia face its most significant rural development challenges”, said Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Miro Cerar is taking part in the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting under the title Asia and Europe: Together for Effective Multilateralism. During the debate on enhancing the multilateral system and consolidating ASEM partnership on global challenges, he outlined Slovenia’s outlook on multilateralism and its efforts relating to climate change, sustainable development and gender equality.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Miro Cerar held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Madrid on 15–16 December 2019. He met separately with the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Foreign Minister of Singapore Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.