On Human Rights Day, State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan addressed the participants of a hybrid round table on the importance and promotion of women’s participation in peace and security through an EU and NATO external approach.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan conducted virtual political consultations with Reenat Sandhu, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India. The two high officials confirmed the good relations between the two countries, expressing a mutual interest in strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

On Friday, December 10, 2021, at 1 pm, after more than fifty years, Slovenia finally welcomed back thirteen Slovenian feature films (picture and tone negatives), which had been on February 15, 1968 deposited for storage at the Yugoslav Cinematheque in Belgrade by the production company Triglav Film. This deposit was based on the contract signed between the Yugoslav Cinematheque and the Republic Committee for Culture of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia.

The 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and its Protocols took place in Antalya, Turkey. The most important achievement of the meeting is the designation of the entire Mediterranean Sea as an emission control area for sulphur oxides. In addition to adopting the Medium-Term Strategy of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Mediterranean Action Plan for 2022–2027 and the Post-2020 Strategic Action Programme for the Conservation of Biological Diversity, the parties also designated new marine protected areas and adopted the Antalya Ministerial Declaration.

The work of the European Citizens' Panels is moving on to the next stage. On 10-12 December, some 200 European citizens from all Member States, of different ages and backgrounds, will meet for the third time, to draft their recommendations for the future of Europe in the fields of "European democracy /values, rights, rule of law, security".

11 December, the International Mountain Day, was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003 to highlight the importance of mountains for life, and the conservation and protection of biodiversity in terms of sustainable development of mountain areas.

EU ministers of the interior have unanimously concluded that Croatia has fulfilled the necessary conditions for the application of all parts of the Schengen acquis.

Minister dr. Jože Podgoršek assumed the presidency role at the Council for Agriculture and Fisheries at the French assembly for the rural areas yesterday, an interest grouping that unites representatives of local authorities, parliament members, academics and researchers. The central focus of the meeting was on the development of the rural areas for the further development of the common European agricultural policy. It was on this occasion that he gave Joël Giraud, minister of rural affairs, the beehive as the symbol of the Slovenian countryside.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has made voluntary contributions to the Council of Europe to support three important areas of their work.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša together with the ministers of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia signed the book of condolence in memory of the late Prof. Dr Lovro Šturm, former president of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia and minister of justice and of education and sports.

"Digital technologies offer huge opportunities for the improvement of service provision, participatory processes and cooperation with citizens. However, we need to ensure that these technologies are trustworthy, human-centred and focused on the fundamental rights and values of the EU," said the Slovenian Minister of Public Administration Boštjan Koritnik at the start of the informal meeting of EU State Chief Information Officers (EU CIO meeting). The meeting was attended by 54 participants from 30 countries, five Western Balkans.

Prime Minister Janez Janša and the Minister of Digital Transformation Mark Boris Andrijanič today met with the representatives of Google.

Slovenia will formally announce its candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2024–2025 term in New York today. The decision on the candidature put forth on the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was adopted by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia after having been considered by the Committee on Foreign Policy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

A photo exhibition entitled Personae is on display in the lobby of the Ministry of Culture. Mexican-American portrait photographer Carlos David explores the complex relationship between how we see ourselves and the way we present ourselves to others. The exhibition is on display until February 22, 2022.

During the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the 41st session of the Executive Body for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution took place in Geneva in a hybrid format from 6 to 8 December 2021. At a time when some of the capital cities across the world have once again decided to shut down all activities, this time because of excessive air pollution, the parties are adopting new provisions for cleaner air.

As part of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the international conference "Semantic Interoperability Community – SEMIC 2021", a key European event in the field of semantic interoperability, organised by the Ministry of Public Administration in collaboration with the European Commission, took place on Wednesday 8 December 2021. The title of the conference was "Human Centric Data Spaces – Powered by Interoperability".

Today, the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, attended the seventh ministerial meeting of the EU Internet Forum, organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the internet industry.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved over EUR 1.1 million from the European Regional Development Fund to support the project Restoration of the Rafutski Park and design of park entrances. The project is the latest in a series of similar EU-funded redevelopment projects that foster efficient use of space in urban areas. Over the past seven years, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has dedicated EUR 77.3 million in EU funding to investments that foster town revitalisation.

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia is responding to the report by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on the state of democracy in Slovenia.

At this year’s Amazon Academy event, Minister Mark Boris Andrijanič stressed the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for Europe’s success, since they create many jobs and bring great added value to the economy.