''Slovenia has finally joined the countries in Europe and the world that have already made the status of heterosexual and same-sex couples equal'', said State Secretary Simon Maljevac after the National Assembly confirmed the amended Family Code following decisions made by Slovenia’s Constitutional Court.

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.

Today, we celebrate World Animal Day. It is intended to raise awareness among the general public about animals as sentient beings and the necessity of caring for them responsibly and in a way that does not cause them pain, suffering and fear.

The UN has published the latest global E-Government Survey. This is a regular and respected publication that the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) has prepared every two years since 2001. According to the E-Government Development Index (EGDI), Slovenia comes 21st out of 193 countries, and progress is evident in all components of the survey.

Development council of cohesion region Vzhodna Slovenija today met at the Rajhenburg Castle in Brestanica and approved Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027.

After 18 months of safe and stable non-stop operations, a scheduled overhaul will take place at Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NE Krško) from 1 October to 2 November.

As part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of Europe, a conference entitled 'No safe haven: Integrated prevention measures to end domestic, sexual and gender-based violence' was organised in Dublin between 29 and 30 September 2022. The conference was attended by Minister Luka Mesec who, in his message, highlighted as the central objective, "A Europe with zero tolerance for violence against women, whether taking place publicly, at work or within the family."

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.

In the first half of September, the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development (ARSKTRP) started paying aid to the agricultural and fisheries sectors, which are facing increasing costs of production and processing due to the rising prices of fuel, electricity and intermediate goods. By 30 September, almost EUR 22.2 million of aid was paid out from the anticipated EUR 22.3 million.

An international research group has succeeded in identifying the most distant globular star clusters ever discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Switzerland has retained its top spot among the world's most innovative countries, a position it has held for almost a decade. Slovenia has dropped one place in this year's ranking to 33rd out of 132 countries.

Today, Sanja Ajanović Hovnik, head of the Government negotiating team and the Minister of Public Administration, and the heads of negotiating teams of representative public sector unions, Branimir Štrukelj and Jakob Počivavšek, initialled the agreement after several negotiating sessions.

The EU Competitiveness Council met today in Brussels, attended by State Secretary Matevž Frangež on behalf of Matjaž Han, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology. The meeting took place in the light of the exacerbated energy crisis and the Member States displayed a great degree of unity in all key decisions. The ministers supported the proposal of the new crisis instrument to protect the internal market.

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 March 2022, the successor states of the former Social Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) signed the joint sale contract and in September 2022, the closing documents for the sale of the real estate of the former SFRY Mission to the United Nations. Slovenia will receive EUR 7.3 million from the sale of the property at 854 Fifth Avenue, New York, which is 14 per cent of the total purchase price.

At today's session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved the European Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027. This is a document that, together with the Partnership Agreement - signed in Ljubljana today by Minister Dr. Aleksander Jevšek and European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira - represents the basis for drawing down European funds within the financial perspective 2021-2027, which expires in 2029.

Minister for Development and European Cohesion Policy, dr. Alexander Jevšek, and European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, signed a partnership agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the European Commission in Ljubljana. With the approval and signing of the agreement, Slovenia has opened the way to EUR 3.26 billion of European funds in the future programme period.

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 initiative of the United Nations General Assembly, we are celebrating the third International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. On this day, we call for rational food management.

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.