News

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Cycling routes Gornja Radgona, Phase I”. The project implemented by municipality Gornja Radgona under the Agreement on the Development of the Pomurje Region is worth EUR 308 thousand with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at EUR 96 thousand.

EU Ministers responsible for agriculture met today by videoconference. Agriculture was the main item on the agenda. The key discussion revolved around some questions that remain open in tripartite negotiations on the legislative package for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, namely the elements of green architecture. They have also discussed the international trade in agricultural products and the situation on agricultural markets in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. States Secretaries Aleš Irgolič and Anton Harej attended the meeting on the part of Slovenia.

EU Ministers responsible for agriculture met today by videoconference. Agriculture was the main item on the agenda. The key discussion revolved around some questions that remain open in tripartite negotiations on the legislative package for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, namely the elements of green architecture. They have also discussed the international trade in agricultural products and the situation on agricultural markets in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. States Secretaries Aleš Irgolič and Anton Harej attended the meeting on the part of Slovenia.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the “Call for proposals to co-finance the construction of new small-scale solar facilities (JR VE OVE 2021)”. The total amount available under the call for proposals is EUR 10 million with the Cohesion Fund contribution standing at EUR 5 million.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Anže Logar is hosting Ann Linde, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on an official visit. The ministers reviewed bilateral relations and cooperation, the key priorities of the upcoming Slovenian EU Council Presidency, and the main challenges of the Swedish OSCE Chairmanship.

Today, ten years have passed since the conclusion of the Memorandum on bilingual topographical signs, the official language and measures for cooperation with the Slovenian-speaking national community, which was signed on 26 April 2011 by representatives of the Austrian Federal Government, the Provincial Government of Carinthia and three organisations of Carinthian Slovenians in Klagenfurt.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Equipment of Dobje Industrial Zone”. The project implemented by the municipality Dobje under the Agreement on the Development of the Savinjska Region is worth EUR 573 thousand with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at EUR 202 thousand.

At the 1st Session of the Strategic Council for Digitalisation (hereinafter SCD), members discussed the council’s aims, and the timeline and organisation of work. Numerous content suggestions and solutions were also presented.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the first meeting of the Strategic Council for Digitalisation. At the meeting, the members of the Strategic Council for Digitalisation spoke about the goals of the Council, the timeline and the organisation of the work. They also presented some content-related proposals.

The Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Andrej Vizjak, attended the informal videoconference of the EU environment ministers under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU. The ministers discussed the challenges related to water management in the light of adaptation to climate change. The meeting focused on exchanging good practices and experience in tackling the challenges of water scarcity and droughts, and on improving water management at all levels.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “DRR – regional cycling connection Kamnik-Mengeš-Trzin-Ljubljana”. The project implemented by the municipality Kamnik under the Agreement on the Development of the Osrednjeslovenska Region is worth EUR 3.8 million with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at a little under EUR 2.5 million.

Third-country nationals should exercise the utmost caution in all dealings with companies that claim to offer assistance in obtaining Slovenian citizenship or Slovenian passports. Many websites and e-mail scams attempt to mislead individuals into believing the companies are offering to expedite citizenship or passport applications or are acting on behalf of the Slovenian authorities.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar met with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, who visited Slovenia as part of preparations for the EU Council Presidency. They focused on the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency in the second half of this year.

Andrej Šter, Head of the Consular Sector at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate took part in a press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Cycling connection between settlements and neighbouring municipalities along the state road R2-438/1307 from the settlement Črnci to the settlement Vratja vas – Phase 1 and continuity”. The project implemented under the Agreement on the Development of the Pomurje Region is worth EUR 700 thousand with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at EUR 241 thousand.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “DRR: Establishing cycling connections in municipality Kočevje”. The project implemented by the municipality Kočevje under the Agreement on the Development of the Jugovzhodna Slovenija Region is worth EUR 4 million with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at a good EUR 2.5 million.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Establishing cycling connections and pavements along the reconstruction of the Ptujska cesta road in Miklavž na Dravskem polju”. The project implemented by the municipality Miklavž na Dravskem polju under the Agreement on the Development of the Podravje Region is worth EUR 1.5 million with European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at EUR 492 thousand.

Prime Minister Janez Janša is today on a working visit to Poland. The purpose of the visit is to enhance political and economic cooperation between the countries and exchange views and positions on topical European affairs and foreign policy issues, whereby the discussions will focus on bilateral cooperation and the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “Hydraulic improvements in the municipality Sevnica - DRR”. The project worth EUR 4.2 million will be implemented in the framework of the Agreement on the Development of the Posavje Region and will receive EUR 2.2 million of Cohesion Fund support.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “DRR – cycling connection between Železniki and Selca”. The project implemented by municipality Železniki under the Agreement on the Development of the Gorenjska Region is worth EUR 1.6 million with the European Regional Development Fund contribution standing at a little over EUR 1 million.

Reading room of the Archives is again opened for visitors. Prior to visit you are kindly asked to contact the reading room service to book an appointment. Admittance without an appointment is currently not possible.

The Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, met with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, in Ljubljana earlier today. The meeting focused on Slovenia’s preparations for the Council Presidency in the second semester of 2021.The Minister outlined to the Commissioner the priorities in the area of home affairs. These are integrated migration management, the strengthening of the Schengen area leading to improved security in the EU and Slovenia, and the Western Balkans being a regional priority.

Today's press conference on the current situation regarding the Covid-19 epidemic featured Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, Economic Development and Technology State Secretary Simon Zajc, head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health Mateja Logar and director of the National Institute for Public Health Milan Krek.

Mr Jernej Vrtovec, Minister of Infrastructure, attended today’s virtual meeting of EU energy ministers, in the course of which, among other things, a political discussion was held on the "Renovation Wave for Europe" strategy, focusing mainly on the opportunities offered by renovating buildings in the period of recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic.

In today's Official Journal, the European Commission published the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/656 of 21 April 2021 entering a name in the register of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (Slovenska potica), thereby protecting Slovenska potica as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG). The protection under the traditional speciality guaranteed does not limit the production of Slovenska potica to a specific area. It can be produced anywhere, provided that the producer holds a certificate of compliance of the production with the specification of Slovenska potica.

The publication entitled “75 Years of United Nations” is a short and interesting read providing an overview of the wide and profound range of activities undertaken by the United Nations (UN) through time.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project “Improving the level of species and habitat types preservation in the Nature Park Pivka Intermittent Lakes PIVKA.KRAS.PRESIHA”. The project worth over EUR 3 million will receive almost EUR 2.4 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar addressed the members of the Board of Advisors of the ITF Enhancing Human Security organisation, giving an assurance that the Republic of Slovenia will continue providing financial and diplomatic support to the organisation.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with Dr Peter Gregorčič and Mr Miha Skubic from the civil initiative Enriching Education and Mr Marko Balažic from the civil initiative United Parents.

At today’s session, the Government permitted the implementation of hospitality activities such as preparing food and beverages and serving same on terraces and in the summer gardens of hospitality establishments and the provision of accommodation services at accommodation facilities of up to 30 rooms in nine statistical regions, as envisaged for the orange phase of easing of measures.

The press conference on the current situation regarding Covid-19 was attended by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Dr Simona Kustec, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Franc Vindišar, and Director of the National Examinations Centre, Darko Zupanc.

According to the vice-rector of the University of Maribor, Zoran Ren, the Vega supercomputer, which was officially launched at the Institute of Information Sciences in Maribor on Tuesday, places Slovenia in stride with the world's superpowers in terms of computing power, thus enabling Slovenian and European scientists to make extraordinary discoveries.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Footbridge Lent-Tabor”. The project worth a little under EUR 4.5 million will be implemented by the Urban Municipality of Maribor and will receive EUR 2.6 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

This week, the well-known American television network CNN published on its website an article entitled The Mini Venices around Europe, describing two Slovenian cities, Piran and Koper, as being among the most atmospheric towns that were once part of the Venetian Republic.

At the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Republic of Poland, Mr Grzegorz Puda, Minister Jože Podgoršek (in the first part) and State Secretary Aleš Irgolič (in the second part) have attended the meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Visegrad Group extended to Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (V4+4), which was held by videoconference. The Ministers have discussed the challenges and opportunities for agricultural holdings in light of the Farm to Fork Strategy and exchanged experience in the preparation of strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar hosted Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio at a trilateral meeting on 21 April 2021 in Brdo pri Kranju. The ministers assessed the progress of the trilateral cooperation to date and took note of the specific proposals to enhance cooperation in the North Adriatic.

Today in Maribor, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the inauguration ceremony of the Vega supercomputer, the largest supercomputer in Slovenia and the first EuroHPC supercomputer delivered.

Slovenia has been elected as a member of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) for the 2022–2025 period on 20 April 2021 in New York.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan took part in a video conference of European Affairs ministers and state secretaries. In the framework of the annual Rule of Law Dialogue, the morning session of the General Affairs Council (GAC) focused on the country-specific discussions on the rule of law situation across five EU Member States (Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain and France), based on the European Commission’s first annual report published in September 2020.

On 20 April 2021, the EuroHPC world-class supercomputer Vega is officially inaugurated with a high-level ceremony in Maribor, Slovenia. Vega is the first EU supercomputer to be delivered, jointly financed with EU funds.

The press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the state secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ), Cveto Uršič, and the director of the Trbovlje General Hospital, Dr Romana Martinčič.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved funding for the project “Business Zone south of the railway Phase II”. The project worth over EUR 660,000 will be implemented by the Municipality of Žalec in the framework of the Agreement on the Development of the Savinjska region and will receive EUR 414,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today in Ljubljana, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with Msgr Stanislav Zore, Archbishop of Ljubljana, Metropolitan and President of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference, and other members of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference.

Prior to the upcoming Slovenian EU Council Presidency, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan held videoconference consultations with Miguel Berger, State Secretary at the German Federal Foreign Office, who is responsible for political sectors and European policy, relations with the United States, the Russian Federation, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of adopting the Military Service Act, where he was also the keynote speaker.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar today attended a video conference meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The ministers focused their discussion on the situation in Ethiopia and Ukraine and held an informal talk with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

A joint letter of Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva has been published in today’s edition of the Delo newspaper, in which they discuss the objectives of their countries’ EU Council Presidencies. The entire letter is available below.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar addressed the participants at the beginning of the third Latin American and Caribbean Days international conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the auspices of the Bled Strategic Forum.

Today, State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated in the virtual XII EU-LAC Reflection Forum organised by the European Union - Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Foundation in cooperation with the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the LAC Days 2021 international conference.

A press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19 was held by the head of the advisory group at the Ministry of Health Mateja Logar.