Matej Tonin

Brdo pri Kranju – The creation of a European rapid reaction force will be among the topics discussed at Thursday’s informal meeting of defence ministers in Brdo pri Kranju. Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin said the recent events in Afghanistan have been a lesson for the EU and called for a change of the mechanism of deployment.

Ljubljana/Brussels – Slovenia is ready to accept up to five members of the Afghan staff that collaborated with the EU to show solidarity with other EU member states, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said on Wednesday. For the time being, Slovenia will not offer taking in additional refugees from Afghanistan.

Istanbul – Defence Minister Matej Tonin attended the opening of the IDEF International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul on Tuesday, where he also met his counterparts from Turkey and Kosovo. According to a statement from the ministry, the main topics discussed were the situation in Afghanistan and the wildfires in Turkey.

Ljubljana – Out of a total of three Slovenian citizens who were still in Afghanistan on Monday, two have embarked on a Qatar-bound plane from Kabul last night, while the third one has remained in Afghanistan, shows unofficial information available to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. “Violence should be ended, the civilian population, in particular women and children, should be protected, and basic human rights standards should be upheld,” the ministry said on Twitter on Monday.

Ljubljana – New Slovenia – the Christian Democrats (NSi) remembered on Monday Andrej Bajuk, the party’s founder and first leader, who died aged 67 ten years to the day. NSi leader Matej Tonin recalled Bajuk’s dedication to the party and his homeland.

Maribor – A debate on future development of Slovenia and the EU as part of the Youth Strategic Forum in Maribor on Saturday heard Defence Minister and coalition New Slovenia (NSi) president Matej Tonin noting that it was right that young people were interested in the future, as it depended on them.

Ljubljana – Slovenia will enable those who have been vaccinated against Covid, have recovered from it or have been tested to have as few restrictions in public life as possible, while rapid tests will be no longer be free of charge from mid-August, PM Janez Janša said on Thursday as he urged vaccination together with the other coalition leaders.

Ajdovščina – Slovenian military pilots are to train on and test aircraft produced by the light aircraft maker Pipistrel under an agreement signed by the Defence Ministry and the Ajdovščina-based company. A special partnership has also been agreed on that includes efforts to obtain EU and NATO funds for development projects.

Brussels – Slovenia will not be able to reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP in defence spending by 2024, but it must do its homework and under the current government the spending trend has been reversed, Prime Minister Janez Janša said as he arrived for a summit of NATO leaders on Monday.