News

State secretary Blaž Košorok today participated in a video conference of transport ministers of the Trio Presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, which was hosted by the Portuguese Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Pedro Nuno Santos, who currently chairs the meetings of EU transport ministers. The meeting of the transport ministers of the Trio Presidency takes place ahead of an informal video conference of EU transport ministers to be held on Tuesday, 30 March. The Trio Presidency has taken stock of the work of the Portuguese Presidency so far and the developments on individual dossiers considered.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša took part in a video conference of the members of the European Council.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, French President Emmanuel Macron, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovič and Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîțu have written a letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen about the role of nuclear energy in the EU climate and energy policy.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan today hosted the Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Greg Hands, on his two-day official visit to Slovenia.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen via a video conference.

Today’s press on the current situation with the COVID-19 disease was attended by Janez Poklukar, the Minister of Health, Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, Director of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food, Deana Potza from the Health Inspectorate, and Tomaž Pečjak, Deputy Director General of the Police.

Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek addressed this morning via videoconference the participants of the online conference on the development potential in agriculture entitled "AgriTech – Discover the potential of Slovenia and Japan in agriculture". The event was organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Tokyo, SPIRIT Slovenia Public Agency, and Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Dr Metka Gorišek, met with the Polish Ambassador to Slovenia, H.E. Dr Krzysztof Olendzki.

Prime Minister Janez Janša addressed a letter to President Borut Pahor proposing that a meeting with all leaders of parliamentary parties as well as with heads of deputy groups, Ministry of Health and advisory group is convened as soon as possible.

Slovenia's Chairmanship of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII), in cooperation with the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce and AII Permanent Secretariat, organised a round table on “Equal opportunities in public administration, academia, and business”. The starting point for the organisation of the round table was the second study on equal opportunities in Slovenian diplomacy, which was recently concluded and conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with Icelandic colleagues.

Slovenian government has adopted the Report on the Implementation of EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 for the Investment in Growth and Jobs Goal for the Period January 2014-End of December 2020 and submitted it to the National Assembly.

At today's session, the Government adopted the Ordinance amending the Ordinance on the temporary partial restriction of movement of people and on the prohibition of gathering of people to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which stipulates that the movement of people is again restricted to within the region in the Obalno-kraška region, the Goriška region and the Koroška region. Movement is now restricted at night from 22:00 to 5:00. By way of the amendment, a negative RAT test is no longer listed among the general exceptions for entry into Slovenia. The Government also supplemented the national COVID-19 vaccination strategy.

Prime Minister Janez Janša today met with President of the European Council, Charles Michel, via videoconference. Their discussion mostly focused on the harmonisation of priorities and events of the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU. Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, will also be among the guests of honor at the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s statehood.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar attended a regular two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels this week. On the opening day, foreign ministers discussed the respective situations in Afghanistan and the Southern Neighbourhood, along with the NATO 2030 process. On the following day, the officials exchanged views on Russia, regional security and arms control with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned His Excellency Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Wang Shunqing for talks.

Eva Grilc, an epidemiologist from the NIPH, and Jože Ramovš, an anthropologist, social worker, scientific advisor and associate professor, the initiator of the establishment of the Anton Trstenjak Institute, participated in a press conference on the current situation regarding COVID-19.

The 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which concluded today in Geneva, saw the adoption of resolutions on the human rights situation in Belarus, Syria, Iran, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Within a group of countries, Slovenia also presented a resolution on human rights and the environment, which is a continuation of efforts to address the link between human rights and the environment. To this end, it continues to support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on this topic. The resolution, which places particular emphasis on the biodiversity conservation, was adopted unanimously by the Council.

Following the opening address by Prime Minister Janez Janša and the parliamentary debate, the National Assembly has confirmed at its plenary session the Government's proposal for the Declaration on the Activities of the Republic of Slovenia in the Institutions of the European Union for the Period 2021–2024.

Today, Prime Minister Janez Janša contacted Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for further harmonisation of views ahead of a meeting of European Council leaders who will, inter alia, discuss the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply of vaccines. Kurz, Babiš and Janša agreed that contracts for the supply of vaccines must be fulfilled and that corrective mechanisms should be put in place where the European Commission does not guarantee supplies in accordance with such contracts. Slovenia ordered 3.1 million doses of vaccines for the first half of 2021, which covers the needs of its population.

EU Ministers responsible for agriculture and fisheries met yesterday and today at the EU Council meeting held in Brussels. The main items on the agenda were agriculture and fisheries. Minister Dr Jože Podgoršek attended the meeting on behalf of Slovenia. The Minister also met with Italian and French agricultural ministers in the framework of the meeting.