News

Prime Minister Robert Golob was today a guest on CNN's Connect the World, where he spoke live with anchor Eleni Giokos. They discussed the recent NATO Summit, Slovenia’s NATO membership, Ukraine and Palestine.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in the UNRWA Pledging Conference at UN Headquarters. This annual event aims to encourage countries to make financial contributions to support UNRWA in carrying out its activities.

Language schools across Slovenia are bustling hubs these days. The language institute Didaktum (Jezikovni inštitut Didaktum) is running a Slovenian language programme at survival level in 40 locations across Slovenia. The programme has been available to eligible persons since the entry into force of the 2023 amendment to the Foreigners Act, on the basis of which a decree providing assistance for the integration of foreigners who are not citizens of the European Union was adopted.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Dr Damir Črnčec, and the National Armaments Director at the Ministry of Defence of the French Republic, General Gaël Diaz de Tuesta, have signed a Letter of Intent on the European joint procurement of Caesar artillery and Mistral air defence systems (hereinafter referred to as the "Letter of Intent").

The NATO Summit concluded in Washington yesterday with the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with the Indo-Pacific partners and the EU and the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Ukraine. Following the Summit, Prime Minister Golob gave his assessment of the Summit in a statement to the Slovenian media.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon attended the NATO Summit in Washington. She, along with Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob and Defence Minister Marjan Šarec, participated in the event marking the 75th anniversary of the Alliance and the North Atlantic Council meetings in Allied, Indo-Pacific and NATO-Ukraine Council formats.

Day two of the NATO Summit in Washington began with statements to the media from world leaders. Upon his arrival at the Summit, Prime Minister Robert Golob said that the leaders had yesterday reaffirmed their commitment to opening Ukraine’s path to NATO, and particularly to a stable financing of aid for Ukraine from NATO and other allies.

The city of Velenje hosted the fifth Annual political dialogue of the Initiative for coal regions in transition, which is organised by the European Commission. The target audience of the two-day international business conference was local, regional, and national representatives and just transition stakeholders from the EU and the Western Balkan region.

The Government has formulated the text of the proposal of the Act on temporary measures to improve personnel and working conditions and the capacities of providers of social assistance and long-term care services. The text of the proposal is in the third reading stage. The Government agreed to the proposed changes to the new legal amendments to the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Flood and Landslide Recovery of August 2023.

Today marks the 29th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica. In May this year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 11 July as the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide. On this day, we remember the victims, the missing, their families and all those who have been permanently scarred by the genocide.

Before temporarily taking over the Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister Robert Golob, on the margins of the NATO Summit, held an in-depth discussion with Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec on the Ministry's work and tasks to date, as well as plans for the future. The formal handover will take place when Minister Šarec's term of office ends due to incompatibility of office. After the talks, they made a statement to the Slovenian media.

A meeting of the heads of state and government of the NATO alliance is taking place in Washington, attended by the Prime Minister Robert Golob, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec. At 19:00 CET, the meeting of the North Atlantic Council will be held in an alliance format, one of the three meetings of this year's summit.

At today’s session, the Government discussed the initial starting points for the draft Act Amending the Foreigners Act.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar paid a two-day work visit to the Minister of the Interior of Montenegro Danilo Šaranović.

The NATO Summit in Washington began yesterday with a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Golob and Tina Gaber, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, and Minister of Defence, Marjan Šarec.

At committee meetings, the Government adopted, among other things, an opinion on the draft amendment to the Criminal Code and included several new projects in the current Development Programme Plan 2024–2027.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held political consultations in Lisbon with the Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, Inês Domingos. The two officials confirmed the positive and friendly bilateral relations between Slovenia and Portugal, exchanging views on further support for Ukraine, institutional reforms, EU enlargement and the situation in the Western Balkans.

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal the Implementing Regulation entering the name of Istrski med/Istarski med (PDO) into the Register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications, thus protecting Istrski med as a joint product of both Slovenia and Croatia. The application for the protection was prepared jointly by Slovenian beekeepers from the Koper Coastal Beekeepers' Society and Croatian beekeepers from Istria.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon visited the Triglav Slovenian House in Sao Paulo and met with members of the Association of Slovenians in Brazil. She also attended an event organised by the Slovenian-Brazilian and Slovenian-Argentine chambers of commerce. As a guest of the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI), she gave a lecture on the geostrategic situation in the world and Slovenia's foreign policy.

The Cross-border Biosphere Reserve of the Julian Alps was declared today at the 36th meeting of the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in Agadir, Morocco. This brings together two existing Biosphere Reserves – the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve on the Slovenian side and the Italian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve.

Minister Tanja Fajon began her official visit to Brazil, where she met with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. This is the second official visit at Foreign Minister level since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992. During their talks, Fajon and Vieira confirmed the excellent relations and cooperation between Slovenia and Brazil. The two countries signed an air transport agreement and a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation.

Today, at the Baron Andrej Čehovin Barracks in Postojna, the nine-day Adriatic Regional Security Cyber Cooperation Exercise 24 – ARSC2EX 24 successfully concluded.

The Government approved the texts of the draft act governing the measures to optimise certain procedures at administrative units and of the draft act amending the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023.

Prime Minister Golob hosted a consultation of parliamentary parties on changes to the electoral system and the introduction of a preference vote also for the election of deputies of the National Assembly. All the presidents of the parliamentary parties and the heads of the parliamentary groups were invited to the consultation.

The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the Council of Europe hosted a reception on 2 July to mark the National Day and the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of the European Convention on Human Rights for the Republic of Slovenia

The new biennial Economic Survey of Slovenia, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was presented today at Brdo pri Kranju. The Survey analyses key areas for Slovenia and makes recommendations for the further development and progress of our country.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister and the President of the Government Council for Slovenians in Neighbouring Countries, Robert Golob, the Government Council for Slovenians Abroad met today. The participants discussed the realities, achievements and key challenges faced by Slovenian communities around the world.

The Prime Minister, Robert Golob, and his delegation met today with the Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic, Luís Montenegro. This is the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries since the Portuguese elections in March this year.

As part of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, the Ministry is hosting an exhibition entitled Influential Slovenian Women without Make-up, curated by young photographer Jernej Jelen and opened today by Minister Tanja Fajon. To mark the day, a roundtable discussion brought together Slovenian and foreign women diplomats to present their lifestyles, their strengths and weaknesses, and the challenges they face.

The Government is continuing to prepare the budgets for 2025 and 2026. It has adopted a breakdown of budget expenditure by budget users. In the next two years, the focus will remain on measures to deal with the consequences of last year's floods and to strengthen economic growth and development.

An expert working group chaired by Dr Janez Vogrinc has adopted the final proposal for the National Education Programme for the period 2023–2033 and submitted it to Minister of Education Darjo Felda.

In June, when the Republic of Korea held the presidency of the Security Council, Slovenia completed the first quarter of its current term on the UN Security Council. The month was marked by the adoption of a resolution backing the proposal for a lasting peace in Gaza.

The 17th Dubrovnik Forum is drawing to a close with the participation of Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. This year's Forum, under the theme "Dire Straits and Safe Passages", focuses on the growing global economic and security challenges and provides a platform for much-needed dialogue and the search for solutions.

The social partners met again, after almost one year, at the session of the Economic and Social Council (ESC) with the aim of reviving the social dialogue and the constructive and continuous functioning of the ESC.

On Thursday, 27 June 2024, Prime Minister Robert Golob attended a European Council meeting at which the leaders of EU Member States reached an agreement on the appointments and nominations for heads of EU institutions.

After the Government took note of the Report on the Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) on Wednesday 26 June 2024, the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Recovery and Resilience today submitted to the European Commission a third request for payment of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The Slovenian Prime Minister, Robert Golob, together with the Minister of Finance, Klemen Boštjančič, and the Minister of Public Administration, Franc Props, met with the President of the Slovenian Trade Union of State Bodies, Frančišek Verk, and the President of the Trade Union of the Administrative Unit of Ljubljana, Dragan Stankovič.

The biennial Nuclear Safety Conference took place in Brussels on 24 and 25 June under the auspices of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG). This year's conference was chaired by Mr Igor Sirc, Director of the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration, and attended by more than 200 participants.

Dr Slobodan Šešum, Director General for Economic and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, attended the OECD High-Level Conference on South East Europe in Paris.

At the Intergovernmental Conference with Montenegro, participants discussed the state of play of the accession process and confirmed the steps Montenegro needs to take to close key chapters on the rule of law. The Conference recognises Montenegro's track record in this area and provides an impetus for further reforms with a focus on closing the negotiating chapters.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Retno L. P. Marsudi during her return visit to Slovenia. The ministers focused the discussions on the strengthening of bilateral relations, including the planned political consultations, and the current international issues with an emphasis on the Middle East and the cooperation between the EU and ASEAN.

The Government set the text of the proposed new amendments to the Local Elections Act, adopted the proposed new amendments to the Companies Act and set the text of the draft act amending the Disabled People's Organizations Act. The Government took note of the report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and began consideration of Mr Tomaž Vesel’s nomination as a Member of the European Commission.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar attended a two-day Ministerial Conference of the Salzburg Forum in Austria.

On 25 June 2024, the Council of Europe hosted the opening of the exhibition "75 women in the 75-year history of the Council of Europe". Among the 75 women are two Slovenian women, Petra Roter and Alenka Puhar.

State Secretary Marko Štucin attended the regular meeting of the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg, which focused on preparations for the June European Council meeting. Council members discussed draft conclusions and outstanding issues related to Ukraine, security and defence, competitiveness, external relations and the new institutional cycle.

Slovenia is making its mark beyond our planet.

State Secretary Marko Štucin attended the quadrilateral meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Slovenia, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. They exchanged views on current European and international issues.

At a farewell meeting, the Prime Minister, Robert Golob, received Natalie Kauther and Adrian Pollmann, the German ambassadorial couple who are finishing their term of office in Slovenia.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon took part in the regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The discussion focused on the worrying situation in the Middle East and Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Together with the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Western Balkans, they discussed common challenges in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and EU enlargement.

The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad is proud and pleased to present a musical greeting from Slovenians living abroad on the occasion of Slovenian Statehood Day.