At the invitation of the Minister of Defence, Marjan Šarec, the Federal Minister of Defence of the Republic of Austria, Klaudia Tanner, and her delegation paid a one-day official visit to Slovenia. The two ministers advocated further strengthening of good cooperation between the two countries in the defence and military fields, and in the management of natural and other disasters.

The Republic of Türkiye requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 that struck on 6 February at 2:17 European time, followed by a number of aftershocks. A total of 10 provinces were affected, and according to media reports, the number of dead, injured and missing people is rising rapidly, with an estimated 5 million people living within a 5km radius of the earthquake's epicentre.

At the invitation of the Hungarian Minister of Defence, Kristóf Szalay Bobrovnický, Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec paid a two-day official visit to Budapest. The two ministers called for further strengthening of cooperation in the defence and military fields.

The purpose of the two-day visit is to strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, with an emphasis on establishing concrete forms of cooperation in the field of defence. In the light of the latter, the two ministers signed an Agreement on cooperation in the field of defence, which will serve as the basis for the preparation of a further programme.

Today, two wounded Ukrainians arrived in Slovenia, accompanied by an attendant. Both will receive full medical assistance and care. In the spirit of solidarity, Slovenia is joining 18 other EU member states in the care for the wounded and sick from the warzone. We are thereby expanding our political, humanitarian, material and military support for Ukraine to include medical aid.

Today, as part of his two-day visit to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec and his delegation visited members of the Slovenian Armed Forces in Kosovo, who are deployed in the international operation KFOR and the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team.

Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec attended the two-day ministerial meeting of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) Initiative in Krems, Austria.

Today, at the invitation of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec and a delegation visited Ukraine.

Between 18 and 20 November, Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec attended the International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada. He was a speaker on the panel on trends in the use of modern versus traditional weapons systems, entitled "Tanks or Tech? The 21st Century Battlefield".

Today’s EU Foreign Affairs Council in the defence configuration held in Brussels was attended by State Secretary for Defence Dr Damir Črnčec. The discussion focused on the EU's defence capabilities.

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of North Macedonia, Slavjanka Petrovska, is paying a two-day official visit to Slovenia at the invitation of the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec. Her visit is a continuation of the meetings at the highest political levels between the two friendly countries, and an opportunity to further strengthen the cooperation between Slovenia and the Republic of North Macedonia in the field of defence and military affairs.

Slovenian Press Agency journalist Luka Tetičkovič spoke to Slovenian Defence Minister Marjan Šarec about the defence budget, investments in the defence sector, the manning levels in the Slovenian Armed Forces, and the planned changes in the protection and disaster relief system. We are hereby providing a summary of the interview, published by the Slovenian Press Agency on Wednesday, 12 October.

Marjan Šarec, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, attended the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence in Brussels. The war in Ukraine, strengthening the deterrence and defence of the Alliance, investing in defence and incentives to increase stocks of military equipment and industrial capacities were at the forefront of the ministers’ discussions. On the margins of the meeting, Minister Šarec signed a declaration on strengthening bilateral cooperation with Christine Lambrecht, the German Federal Minister of Defence.

The European Defence Agency and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia are organising a two-day thematic workshop of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector at Grand Hotel Union in Ljubljana. The participants were welcomed by State Secretary for Defence, Dr Damir Črnčec.

Today, on Thursday, 6 October 2022, the ministers of defence, the interior, health and infrastructure signed an updated plan for activation and use of state aircraft for emergency tasks of protection, rescue and assistance.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, State Secretary for Economic Development and Technology, Matevž Frangež, and State Secretary for Defence, Rudi Medved, addressed the Business to Diplomacy (B2D) event entitled “Slovenia in Space” in the Noordung Centre. The purpose of the event was to help create new connections and opportunities for cooperation at the national and international level, to present the activities and achievements of the Slovenian space sector to representatives of foreign embassies and the Slovenian economic and defence attachés.

Heavy rainfall, which again hit Slovenia in recent days, caused additional damage to the already affected and waterlogged areas in south-eastern Slovenia. Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec and his colleagues visited the Municipality of Osilnica, which was among the most affected by the flash floods in mid-September. The Slovenian Armed Forces will again help to remedy the consequences of the rainfall, the swollen Kolpa River and torrent streams.

As per the Partnership Agreement with the European Commission and the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy in the 2021–2027 Period that was confirmed yesterday, Slovenia will earmark a proportion of funds for the activities implemented by the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief.

In the article, the Washington Post journalist Michael Birnbaum describes the actions of firefighters, members of the rescue forces and the Slovenian Armed Forces during the big fire in July that raged in the Goriska Karst.

At the invitation of the Montenegrin Minister of Defence, mag. Raško Konjević, Marjan Šarec, the Slovenian Minister of Defence, is paying an official visit to Montenegro on 20 and 21 September.