Matej Tonin

Ljubljana – Slovenians marked the Day of Remembrance of the Death, or All Saints’ Day, on Monday by visiting graves to pay respects to the dead. Senior Slovenian officials meanwhile laid wreaths at memorials to the victims of wars and war-related violence.

Ljubljana – Media have reported that Prime Minister Janez Janša and Defence Minister Matej Tonin on Friday received threats by mail, with live ammunition being enclosed in the letters. The threats sent to the politicians’ home addresses were later confirmed by the prime minister’s office and Tonin himself.

Ljubljana – The newspaper Delo writes that Prime Minister Janez Janša, with his tweets targeting the European Parliament’s delegation on a fact-finding mission to Slovenia, damaged Slovenia’s reputation and the credibility of its EU presidency, which it says is politically dead.

Ljubljana – The centre-left opposition condemned on Friday PM Janez Janša’s response to the visit of a fact-finding mission of the European Parliament, in particular his tweets. These were labelled as harmful and detrimental to Slovenia’s international image. Matej Tonin, the head of the junior coalition New Slovenia (NSi), urged Janša to apologise.

Podgorica – Defence Minister Matej Tonin was on a working visit to Montenegro on Friday to meet his counterpart Olivera Injac in Podgorica and attend the To Be Secure international security forum in Budva, the Defence Ministry said in a press release.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Defence Committee approved the draft resolution on the general long-term programme for the development and equipping of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) until 2035. The resolution is strongly opposed by the Left party, which plans to propose a consultative referendum.

Prague – Defence Minister Matej Tonin, who is concluding a two-day visit to the Czech Republic on Saturday, meet his Czech counterpart Lubomir Metnar on the sidelines of NATO Days on Friday to discuss cooperation in international operations and bilateral cooperation in defence, including in mountain warfare.

Žužemberk – The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) held its annual informal gathering in Žužemberk on Sunday, with its president Matej Tonin saying that the key achievements of the government were the key achievements of the NSi ministers. He noted that it was not possible to build a stable government without cooperation in the centre and without the NSi.

Ljubljana – Defence Minister Matej Tonin received in Ljubljana on Friday his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho to talk about enhancing cooperation in defence and military matters and in other fields, assessing the bilateral defence and military relations as exceptionally good.

Bled – The need to draw lucid lessons from Afghanistan was emphasised at a Bled Strategic Forum panel on European defence on Thursday, but the panellists said these lessons should draw not just on the last few weeks in Afghanistan, they should be informed by the broader geopolitical situation.