Under the financing agreement for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Slovenia has today received an advance payment of 13% of the grants allocated under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, amounting to €231 million. The first funding under the RRP will be provided for the areas of sustainable mobility, digital transformation and healthcare.

The press conference on COVID 19 updates was attended by the Minister of Health, Janez Poklukar, the Minister of Public Administration, Boštjan Koritnik, and the Director of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Milan Krek.

Minister of the Interior and President of the Home Affairs Council, Aleš Hojs, delivered a welcome address and opened a two-day meeting of the Management Board of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Portorož, which Slovenia is hosting as part of the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended the European Parliament Plenary Session from 13 to 16 September 2021 as the high representative of the Council of the EU in relations with the Parliament during the Slovenian Presidency. On behalf of the Council of the European Union, he assured commitment to protecting European democracies, respecting the rule of law in the EU, and making progress in the legislative process for the Fit for 55 package.

Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia and the Egmont Institute organized an expert seminar entitled "A Strategic Compass for Military Interventions" in Brussels as part of the Strategic Compass drafting process, which is intensively taking place during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The opening speech was delivered by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Uroš Lampret.

An informal meeting of EU hunting directors-general took place in Postojna on 14 and 15 September. Director-General of the Forestry and Hunting Directorate Robert Režonja attended the meeting on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, while the European Commission was represented by Žilvinas Ilevičius from the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Anton Harej attended the opening of the meeting.

Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač gave opening remarks at the 9th Conference on the Evaluation of EU Cohesion Policy which was organised in Porto, Portugal. Minister Černač joined the conference via an online platform at the invitation of the European Commission in his capacity as current chair of the council consisting of EU ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy.

As part of the European Cooperation Day, Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy presented the impacts of projects implemented in the framework of the Interreg Slovenia-Croatia Cooperation Programme 2014-2020.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Anže Logar met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić in Strasbourg. He presented priorities of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU – topics that are also at the heart of Council of Europe's activities. During the meeting, they discussed accession of EU to the European Convention of Human Rights that was envisaged in the Lisbon treaty. They also reviewed other current political and strategic directions of the Council of Europe, the oldest pan-European international organization especially in the light of Covid-19. At the same time, the meeting was excellent opportunity to assess cooperation between Council of Europe and Slovenia.

Accompanied by a delegation, Ambassador Jožef Drofenik, Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the authorised representative of the Republic of Slovenia for succession issues, attended the 20th meeting of the Joint Committee for the Distribution of Diplomatic and Consular Properties of the Former SFRY, in compliance with Annex B to the Agreement on Succession Issues, convened in Sarajevo on 13 and 14 September. At the meeting, the immovable property of the former SFRY in Rome was allocated to Slovenia.

At a press conference following a joint meeting of the governments of Slovenia and Hungary and the signing of intergovernmental agreements, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, and the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjárto, presented specific cooperation projects and the positions of Slovenia and Hungary.

Prime Minister Janša and his ministerial delegation met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his ministerial team in Celje today.

Before the joint meeting of the Governments of the Republic of Slovenia and Hungary, the Prime Minister Janez Janša today attended a ceremony marking the opening of the 53rd International Trade Fair in Celje and addressed the participants.

Yesterday, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia visited the Savinjska region to learn about the projects and challenges of the region, and to discuss challenges and opportunities with the main actors of development in the region.

At today’s session in Abuja, Nigeria, the International Co-ordinating Council of the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (UNESCO MAB-ICC) designated the Mura-Drava-Danube Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (TBR MDD) as the world’s first 5-country biosphere reserve. Stretching across Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia, the reserve covers a total area of 930,000 hectares extending along 700km of the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, which makes it the largest riverine biosphere reserve in Europe.

An informal meeting of directors-general and attachés for fisheries of EU member states was held yesterday in Portorož. Director-General of the Food and Fisheries Directorate Ana Le Marechal Kolar attended the meeting on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Director-General of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Charlina Vitcheva participated in the informal meeting on behalf of the European Commission.

Published below is the address of Prime Minister Janša to mark the occasion of the Day of Restoration of the Primorska Region to the Motherland, celebrated today.

As part of the Government visit to the Savinjska region, Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač visited the municipalities Podčetrtek, Nazarje and Žalec. State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs also attended the visit to the Savinjska region and visited the municipalities Rogaška Slatina and Zreče.

The Minister of Digital Transformation, Mark Boris Andrijanič, was part of the Government delegation that visited the Savinjska region today.

Under the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Ministry of Public Administration and the European Commission are organising a high-level conference on artificial intelligence as a hybrid event on 14 and 15 September 2021 at Brdo pri Kranju. Via an online platform, all interested stakeholders worldwide striving to better understand how to live with AI and how to manage it in the future can participate in the conference.