Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon visited the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where she gave a lecture on diplomacy in an increasingly complex world and met with the Rector of the College, Federica Mogherini, and two Slovenian students currently studying there.

Please be advised that the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Brussels and the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union Brussels are moving to a new location at Rue Joseph II 14, 1000 Brussels.

Minister Tanja Fajon, representing one of 34 countries, signed the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes. The Convention was adopted in Ljubljana in May 2023 after a decade of effort and hard work by Slovenian diplomats and international law experts.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon met Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib in Brussels to discuss the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the signing of the Ljubljana – The Hague Convention, feminist foreign policy, Slovenia's membership of the UN Security Council and other current European and foreign policy issues.

After more than a decade of efforts by Slovenia, Argentina, Belgium, Mongolia, the Netherlands and Senegal, an international diplomatic conference has opened in Ljubljana to adopt the text of a convention on international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of the most serious crimes. The Conference will run until 26 May. Upon adoption, the convention will be called the Ljubljana-Hague Convention.

On 28 March 2023, the President of the National Assembly, mag. Urška Klakočar Zupančič met with the President of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Belgium, Eliane Tillieux.

Acting Director-General for Multilateral Affairs and Development Cooperation Eva Tomič took part in the meeting of EU development directors-general in Brussels. The directors-general discussed the implementation of the Global Gateway strategy, global food supply and preparations for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).

Minister Irena Šinko attended a session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. As part of fisheries topics, they exchanged views on fishing opportunities for the coming year, including fish stocks shared with the United Kingdom, and the annual consultations between the EU and Norway in 2023. In agricultural topics, the discussion regarding the market situation in the light of war and the state of agricultural production and logistics in Ukraine was at the forefront. The EU Council also learned about the impact of the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive on agriculture and information about the growing population of wild animals in Europe. The discussion on food labelling and the call to the Commission to supplement the assessment of the proposal for the Regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products was also important. Minister Šinko also met with the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides. They discussed the Commission’s measures to reduce the use of plant protection products and food labelling.

State Secretary Marko Štucin attended the regular meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, chaired by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. The main topics of discussion included the Russian aggression against Ukraine, digital diplomacy, and the relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean.

On the first day of his working visit to Brussels, Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob met European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. Their talks focused on current European topics that will be on the agenda at the June European Council meeting.

At today’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Slovenia was represented by Deputy Permanent Representative in Brussels Tamara Weingerl Požar and Head of the Special Committee on Agriculture at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia in Brussels Simona Vrevc. Ministers focused in particular on the situation on agricultural markets in view of the war in Ukraine. The Council took note of the European Commission's communication on the state of implementation of the EU’s common fisheries policy and consultations for fishing opportunities for 2023.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša continues to attend the European Council meeting in Brussels. At the meeting, European leaders are discussing the situation in Ukraine, defence, energy and food security.

Today, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša is attending a special European Council meeting in Brussels. The European Council meeting will also take place tomorrow with discussions on Ukraine, defence, energy and food security.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan chaired today’s regular session of the General Affairs Council in Brussels. The discussion focused on the preparations for the December European Council meeting, the rule of law in five member states, with the cases considered in alphabetical order, and EU enlargement. Ministers and state secretaries for European affairs also took note of the state of EU-UK relations and the European Commission’s work programme for the next year.

Today, 18th November 2021, we are celebrating European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Slovenia is one of the initiating countries, which together with Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and San Marino prepared a statement to mark this day for the 7th year in a row. This year, the biggest number of countries have joint the statement – all 47 member states of the Council of Europe, the European Union and Tunisia.

On behalf of the Foreign Minister Anže Logar, State Secretary Stanislav Raščan today attended the regular meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. The meeting focused on EU-Western Balkans relations and the situation in the Sahel.

State Secretary Gašper Dovžan today attended the College of Europe conference in Bruges entitled “Discussing the Future of Europe – Perspectives and Contributions from the Western Balkans”.

The Minister for Digital Transformation, Mark Boris Andrijanič, paid a working visit to Brussels from 25 to 27 October, during which he also met with representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament. During his visit to Brussels, Minister Andrijanič presented the tasks of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Digital Transformation and exchanged views on the opportunities in digital transformation for the advancement of the economy and the reduction of the digital divide in society.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Parliament co-organised the ninth meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol, which was held in Brussels. The meeting was devoted to an overview of Europol's activities in the present year and the presentation of Europol Draft Multiannual Programming Document 2022-2024. Cybercrime in the EU was also discussed, with a focus on online child abuse, financial crime and corruption.

After the two-day meeting of the European Council in Brussels, Prime Minister Janez Janša took part in a press conference, where he spoke about several discussions held by European leaders on current topics over the past two days.