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Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, has issued a funding decision for the project Cycling connections between Radovljica and hinterland settlements. This EUR 2.5 million project which will be implemented by the Municipality of Radovljica will receive a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund totalling EUR 1.1 million.

Today, Dr Marko Rakovec, Acting Director General of the Directorate for International Law and Protection of Interests at the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Slovenia, and Sigrid Berka, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the Republic of Slovenia, signed the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Federal Government of the Republic of Austria on new border documents for border sectors I to VII on the common border, prepared by the Permanent Slovenian-Austrian Border Commission.

Below is the press release following the videoconference of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.

Thirteen newly confirmed infections in Slovenia are more the result of less intensive testing over the weekend than the possible emergence of a new wave of the epidemic, said government spokesperson Jelko Kacin and head of the Communicable Disease Centre at the National Institute of Public Health Mario Fafangel at today's press conference. The government spokesperson added that no significant worsening of the situation was expected, but that the existing measures should continue to be followed: cough etiquette, hand washing and wearing masks indoors when it is not possible to maintain a 1.5-metre physical distance.

Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on A Talk with the Prime Minister broadcast on Nova24TV, where he talked about a potential second wave of the epidemic, international events, including the presidency of the Council of the EU, the upcoming Slovenian Statehood Day and other topical issues the viewers asked about.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar met with the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio. Today’s was the second meeting the pair have held in the last two weeks. He also met with the Italian Minister for European Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola.

Ljubljana, 22 June 2020 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, has issued a funding decision for the project Ensuring flood protection in the Drava river basin - Ptujska Drava river. The EUR 15 million flood protection project will receive a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund amounting to over EUR 11.4 million. The project will be carried out by the Slovenian Water Agency.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Drainage and treatment of wastewater in the Upper Sava River basin – Municipality of Jesenice”. The project worth EUR 2.4 million will be implemented by the Municipality Jesenice and will receive EUR 829,000 of Cohesion Fund support.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar hosted the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg. Today’s was the first bilateral meeting between the ministers, while they already met in person on 16 June in Vienna at the multilateral meeting of foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, which was hosted by Austria. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they held frequent telephone conversations, sometimes even several times per day, if necessary.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša received the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps in Slovenia, the Apostolic Nuncio to Slovenia, Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich. In their talks, they affirmed the importance of relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See, also in the light of two upcoming commemorations – the thirtieth anniversary of the Holy See’s recognition of Slovenia (2022) and the twentieth anniversary of the Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See on Legal Issues (2021).

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Economic and business zone Zagorje”. The project worth a little under EUR 990,000 will be implemented by the Municipality Zagorje ob Savi and will receive EUR 608,000 of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar and Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek chaired the Internationalisation Council session.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Dravinja River basin – municipality Slovenska Bistrica”. The project worth over EUR 13 million will be implemented by the municipality Slovenska Bistrica and will receive EUR 5.9 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Today Prime Minister Janez Janša attended an informal video-conference meeting of the European Council. At the meeting, the heads of government were briefed on the progress of the negotiations on future relations between the EU and the United Kingdom. The main topic of discussion was the new proposal for the multiannual financial framework and recovery instrument prepared by the European Commission. At the meeting the participants held a first exchange of views.

"Despite the increased number of coronavirus infections in recent days, we cannot yet talk about the second wave of the epidemic, but we are preparing for it," said Minister Gantar yesterday, emphasising Slovenia's commitment to controlling the epidemic.

Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a video conference of the leaders of the EU Member States and six Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia).

Today's press conference on the current COVID-19 situation was attended by the Minister of Health, Tomaž Gantar, the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, the Director of the National Institute of Public Health, Milan Krek, and the Government's spokesperson, Jelko Kacin.

On the basis of the Intervention Act on removing barriers for the implementation of important investments to restart the economy after the COVID-19 epidemic, the Government has determined the list of important investments (the Intervention Act) that can be further expanded.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Zvonko Černač met today with mayors from the Posavje region. They discussed progress in the implementation of 2014-2020 projects and preparation of the programming period beyond 2020.

In today's virtual meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar underlined the positive bilateral cooperation between the two countries and Slovenia’s interest in strengthening the economic ties. The two ministers commended the cooperation in multilateral structures.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the “Call for proposals to co-finance vocational training of educational staff in short-cycle higher education and educators in non-formal education programmes for adults in the period 2020-2022”. The call for proposals is worth EUR 1,248,000 and will be implemented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. European Social Fund contribution amounts to EUR 1 million.

Prime Minister Janez Janša has warned of the imminence of a possible second wave of the coronavirus epidemic.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended a dynamic demonstration of the Leap 2020 military exercise at the Ivan Cankar barracks. After the exercise, he addressed the participants.

Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan participated in an informal video conference of ministers for European affairs, focused on preparations for the forthcoming video conference of the EU Heads of State and on the recovery package.

On the occasion of the political endorsement of the next the 18-month programme of the Council, prepared by the future German, Portuguese and Slovenian Presidencies and the High Representative, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Council, the Trio partners declared:

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša met with the ambassadors of the Visegrad Four, which is currently chaired by the Czech Republic. At the meeting, they exchanged views on key challenges facing EU Member States and the most important regional issues.

Minister for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion Projects Zvonko Černač and State Secretary Monika Kirbiš Rojs attended an informal videoconference of EU Cohesion Ministers for a policy debate on the role of Cohesion Policy in the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

GPAI is an international and multistakeholder initiative to support and guide the responsible use and development of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation and economic growth.

At today’s 18th regular session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Janez Janša answered parliamentary questions raised by Predrag Baković (SD), Nataša Sukič (Levica), Maša Kociper (SAB) and Janja Sluga (SMC).

Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on the programme A Talk with the Prime Minister broadcast on Nova24TV, where he talked about a number of current affairs and answered questions from viewers.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Jesenice business zone – construction of urban infrastructure, phase 2”. The project worth EUR 1,150,000 will be implemented by the municipality Jesenice and will receive EUR 628,504 of European Regional Development Fund support.

As of 15 June, crossing the Slovene-Italian border outside the checkpoints will be allowed, but only for Slovenian and Italian citizens, while for the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the ordinance will start to apply as of today.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and Acting Secretary-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Jožef Drofenik, took part in today’s informal online meeting of EU state secretaries and secretaries-general.

The President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor awarded the government call centre for information on the coronavirus the Apple of Inspiration Award for its significant contribution to life as normal as possible in the difficult times of dealing with the epidemic of the new virus. The president's recognition of the importance of the call centre's selfless and professional work was welcomed by all participants who helped callers with reliable and up-to-date answers. The call centre is concluding its work today.

At today's session, the Government issued the Ordinance on the manner of conducting public passenger transport in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, the Ordinance repealing the Ordinance on the provisional conditions on carrying out sports activities and the Ordinance amending the Ordinance on the temporary restriction of the gathering of people in public spaces and areas in the Republic of Slovenia.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the project “Energy-saving renovation of the Ljubljana – Moste – Polje Home for the elderly”. The project worth a little under EUR 2 million will receive EUR 482,000 of Cohesion Fund support.

In an audio-video conference with the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Teresa Ribeiro, and the German State Secretary, Martin Jäger, State Secretary Tone Kajzer discussed the priorities of the Trio Presidency. They were in full agreement that the Trio’s work will be strongly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic in the coming 18 months. The pandemic has revealed the importance of development cooperation in overcoming social and economic challenges in partner countries.

Persons who are permanent residents of Slovenia and are over the age of 18 will receive EUR 200 in vouchers and those under the age of 18 will receive EUR 50. Vouchers can be used in Slovenia to purchase accommodation with breakfast or only accommodation.

Persons who are permanent residents of Slovenia and are over the age of 18 will receive EUR 200 in vouchers and those under the age of 18 will receive EUR 50. Vouchers can be used in Slovenia to purchase accommodation with breakfast or only accommodation.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, today attended a meeting of the ambassadors of the EU Member States, the Western Balkan countries and Turkey, held at the European Union House in Ljubljana. As the event was organised within the framework of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a brief introduction was delivered by the host, Boris Grigić, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of Slovenia; Prime Minister Janez Janša was the keynote speaker.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a financial support decision for the programme “COVID19 – Additional assistive ICT technology for education process”. The programme, which falls in the framework of Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, will receive EUR 4 million of European Regional Development Fund support.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Janez Janša was a guest on the programme A Talk with the Prime Minister on Nova24TV, in which he talked about the current topics of last week and answered questions from citizens.

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov held an online meeting during which they commended the excellent bilateral relations.

State Secretary Tone Kajzer participated in an informal video conference of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in the format of development ministers. The Team Europe Global Response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of play in negotiations for a new EU-ACP partnership (post-Cotonou) agreement, and the future financial architecture for sustainable development were the main items discussed.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia amended the Ordinance on imposing and implementing measures for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 at border crossings at the external border and at checkpoints at the internal borders of the Republic of Slovenia. The Ordinance was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia and has been in force since 8 June 2020.

On 8 June, World Oceans Day, members of the Green Group issued a joint statement underlining the importance of measures for addressing climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and for preserving the sustainability of oceans worldwide. The Green Group – Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Iceland, Singapore, Slovenia, and the United Arab Emirates – is an informal association of small countries that, on Slovenia’s initiative, have been promoting issues related to the environment and sustainable development in foreign policy since 2009.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, today attended a commemoration at the pit under Macesnova gorica in Kočevski Rog. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the reconciliation ceremony, Prime Minister Janez Janša and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, laid a wreath.

Ambassador Dr Andrej Benedejčič is taking part in the tenth session of the informal Structured Dialogue working group on the current and future challenges and risks to security in the OSCE area. This year’s dialogue between capitals has moved online to deal with the implications of the Covid-19 crisis on politico-military commitments of the OSCE participating States. Various strands are being examined, including military participation in efforts to curb the pandemic, armament control measures, and the emergence of new security threats and challenges in Europe.

Prior to a meeting with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio scheduled for 6 June in Ljubljana, Foreign Minister Dr Anže Logar met with the representatives of the Slovenian national community in Italy. The Minister Responsible for Slovenians Abroad, Helena Jaklitsch, also participated in the meeting.