United Kingdom

Thousands of EU citizens who left the UK temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic are set to lose their long-term right to stay in Britain under Home Office rules.

The government has granted settled status to 4.3 million European Union citizens since it voted to leave the EU.

Ljubljana – Musicians and event organisers are pushing for the gradual relaunch of public events and the revival of the events sector after several countries already took steps in this direction. They believe now is the time to save the summer season and the sector, and that their proposals should be included in the next stimulus package.

Ljubljana – New variants of coronavirus pose a dilemma whether to proceed with the planned colour-coded exit strategy or impose stricter lockdown for a short period of time, PM Janez Janša said in parliament on Monday, as he answered a coalition MP question whether the government was planning any new measures in connection with Covid-19.

Britons eager to travel amid promising vaccination efforts against the coronavirus are expected to visit one of their favorite destinations - Turkey. 

"Last year, Turkey's tourism sector saw a fall in tourist demand from the EU, but the UK remained out of this picture," Firuz Bağlıkaya, the head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), said Monday.

Only five years later, the whole world was struck by a coronavirus pandemic - and countries were desperately struggling to secure vaccines for their populations.

Unfortunately, the EU did not understand the vaccine race and opted for a "no urgency" attitude. The UK, on the other hand, put a venture capitalist specializing in biosciences in charge of its vaccine program.

Britain announced on Feb. 28 that it has given more than 20 million people at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, with the rapid rollout providing hope in a country with Europe's highest death toll.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it "a huge national achievement" while praising National Health Service staff and others involved for "tireless work".

The Biden administration said on Feb. 28 it remains open to talks with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal despite Tehran's rejection of an EU invitation to join a meeting with the U.S. and the other original participants in the agreement.

Brdo pri Kranju – Foreign Minister Anže Logar will host a meeting of Central 5 foreign ministers in Brdo pri Kranju on Monday. Logar and his counterparts from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia will talk about Slovenia’s EU Council presidency priorities and efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Ljubljana – The first case of the South African variant of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in Slovenia on Friday, Health Minister Janez Poklukar told the press. The person from the area of Maribor in the north-east of the country has recently returned from Africa and was vaccinated against the coronavirus before travelling there.

In a speech to a special meeting of the European Council, held on Thursday and Friday via videoconference, Romania's President said that the vaccination certificate should be used for medical purposes.