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.

At today's meeting, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Robert Golob and the President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar exchanged views on current international and political developments.

Prime Minister Robert Golob attended the premiere of the play “The Miser” by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name Molière, at the Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana.

Minister Dr Aleksander Jevšek attended a meeting of chairpersons and lead partners of Local Action Groups (LAGs), which took place in Gorica pri Slivnica. In his address, he expressed his satisfaction that all Slovenian municipalities are involved in Local Action Groups, a rare trend in Europe. The Minister also underlined that bottom-up mechanisms are the most effective approach to addressing people’s concrete problems and are gaining importance.

At the Government committees’ sessions, the Government adopted the opinion on the proposal for a review of the constitutionality and legality of the Decree on setting prices for certain petroleum products and a position on the proposed EU regulation on establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.

A trilateral meeting of the Ministers of the Interior of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, Davor Bozinović, Matteo Piantedosi and Boštjan Poklukar, took place in Buzet, Croatia. The ministers discussed current developments on the Western Balkan migration route, the strengthening of cooperation with the Western Balkan region and the temporary reintroduction of internal border controls.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held political consultations with Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Türkiye in Ankara. The officials welcomed the extensive political dialogue and exchanged views on current foreign policy issues.