On behalf of the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, State Secretary mag. Dejan Židan participated for the first time in the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting, of which the agenda for the first day includes content in the field of sports.

At the opening of the MLA diplomatic conference, Minister of Justice dr Dominika Švarc Pipan emphasised that states and the international community are responsible for establishing interstate mechanisms for the investigation and prosecution of international crimes, and drew attention to the protection of children in these proceedings. During the conference, representatives of the Ministry of Justice are to actively participate in the negotiation process.

In the spring forecast published today, the European Commission has enhanced the economic growth forecast for Slovenia. This year, it is expected to reach 1.2 per cent, and 2.2 per cent in 2024. The enhanced forecast is an encouraging signal; we are also pleased that currently there is no fear of a recession in Europe.

On 10 May 2023, Slovenia became a member of the Instruct-ERIC European Research Infrastructure Consortium by the Instruct-ERIC Council decision, and thus joined the fourteen existing members together with Greece. The membership enables researchers from Slovenia to participate in the entire portfolio of services, including the technology catalogue, internships, training programmes, and research and development funding.

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 9 May, 2023, the EU Delegation to China celebrated Europe Day 2023 in its garden in Beijing.

Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar and his closest team hosted foreign ambassadors to Slovenia at the Ministry today.

Slovenia has made a significant contribution to the visibility of Slovenian beekeeping knowledge and to raising global awareness of the importance of bees by proclaiming World Bee Day.

The 9th session of the Small Countries Initiative, which has been operating under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2013, was held in Luxembourg on May 10-12. Slovenia has also participated in the Initiative since 2019. The subject of the meeting, which was attended by State Secretary Azra Herceg and a delegation from Slovenia, was the promotion of health and well-being.

On 10 and 11 May, State Secretary Samuel Žbogar visited Brasilia for political consultations with Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha, Secretary General of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.

State Secretary Marko Štucin held consultations with Secretary General of Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jonatan Vseviov and Undersecretary for Political Affairs Kyllike Sillaste-Elling in Tallinn. In addition to bilateral relations, the talks focused on current issues at the EU and international levels, including the war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Robert Golob hosted the President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Mohammed Ben Sulayem, at Vila Podrožnik.

The Government initiated activities to erect a monument to Slovenian independence, which will connect and unite, and with its symbolism convey the story of the future of a nation that has won its independence and freedom. It also confirmed an intervention bill with which the mining rights are extended for three years by means of an annex, and the wording of the amendments to the Higher Education Act.

Under the patronage of President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar, the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana has organised the 6th Biennial Academic Conference "Responsibility to Protect in Theory and Practice" in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the first conference of this kind in Slovenia.

A four-day international conference on cyber defence, organised jointly by the Ministry of Defence and NATO, concludes today, 11 May, at Ljubljana's Grand Plaza Hotel. It brings together 150 representatives from NATO Member States, European Union institutions and partner countries.

At the 4th meeting of the Strategic Council for the Prevention of Hate Speech, the members discussed the area of prevention. They concluded that hate speech is a complex phenomenon, the prevention of which should extend to various areas of social activity. It has to be acknowledged that hate speech is both a cause and a consequence of violence, and the answer to it is the establishment of tolerant and supportive communities.

The 6th meeting of the Strategic Council for Nutrition was held today, 10 May 2023, to discuss the Nutritional Guidelines for Educational Institutions.

At today’s forum, where 125 demands were presented by representatives of crafts and entrepreneurship, the Prime Minister gave assurances that the Government will take all measures on the basis of an ongoing dialogue. “This dialogue must be continuous, because only through dialogue can we arrive at better solutions,” stressed dr. Golob.

At today’s event on the Recovery and Resilience Plan – Implementation, New Circumstances and Amendments, which was hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the Recovery and Resilience Office, representatives of ministries presented the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the proposed amendments to interested stakeholders and the public. The event was also attended by the Minister of Finance Mr Klemen Boštjančič.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon held a series of meetings with representatives of UN regional groups and senior UN officials in New York from 8 to 10 May.