Director-General for Multilateral Affairs and Development Cooperation Anita Pipan attended the audio-video conference of EU directors-general for development cooperation. There, the directors-general discussed the second set of Team Europe initiatives as well as sustainable funding.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan held a video conference with Slovak State Secretary Ingrid Brocková, in which he presented the priority topics of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency concerning development cooperation. They also briefly discussed regional partnership and relations with key economic powers.

Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on an official visit.

Director-General for EU Affairs Barbara Sušnik held bilateral consultations via video conference with David Cvach, Director for European Affairs at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar held talks with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. He expressed solidarity, cooperation and support for the Belarusian opposition's peaceful endeavours to establish an inclusive political dialogue between the opposition and the authorities, paving the way for a renewed free and fair presidential election monitored by international electoral observers. Minister Logar went on to emphasise the importance of providing support to civil society in Belarus. He assured Ms Tsikhanouskaya that during Slovenia's EU Council Presidency, he would strive to keep Belarus high on the EU agenda.

Today, Director-General for EU Affairs Barbara Sušnik held bilateral consultations with Marika Linntam, Director-General for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. They discussed bilateral relations and the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency in the second half of this year as well as current EU issues.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar hosted his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on an official visit aimed at strengthening friendly relations and deepening political dialogue between the two countries. The visit also places great emphasis on the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2021.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated in an informal video conference of the EU Foreign Affairs Council attended by EU development ministers. They discussed the future of the European financial architecture for development.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.