Robert Golob

Andrej Plenkovic meeting the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky/ Photo: Croatian govt

Upon his arrival, Plenkovic spoke with his Ukrainian colleague Denis Smihal, who called his visit a "strong message of support and solidarity".

"Let me first of all congratulate you on the heroism and immense resistance you have shown," Plenkovic said.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on 31 March, his first to the war-torn country. Talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal focused on Slovenia's potential participation in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and the country's progress towards EU and NATO membership.

Tilen Božič, a state secretary at the Finance Ministry in charge of tax policy, has tendered his resignation in the wake of Prime Minister Robert Golob's criticism of the job the ministry's team has been doing in selling the planned tax reform to the public.

Slovenia and Croatia agreed to sign a solidarity agreement on gas supply and enhance cooperation in response to a surge in illegal migration as the countries' prime ministers met in Slovenia on 28 March. The countries are also in favour of building a second unit at the jointly owned nuclear power plant.

The leader of Slovenia's largest opposition party, Janez Janša, revisited Kyiv on 27 March, a year after he visited the Ukrainian capital in his capacity as prime minister, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. Slovenia's current Prime Minister Robert Golob is to visit Kyiv soon.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob underlined his choice of Bosnia-Herzegovina for his first official visit abroad by announcing in Sarajevo on 13 March that Slovenia wanted to be Bosnia's strongest ally. Golob pledged extensive technical support in Bosnia's EU membership efforts, speaking of a historic opportunity in the face of a changed attitude to enlargement.

Lek, the Ljubljana-based pharmaceutical company which is part of the Swiss generics group Sandoz, will build a US$400 million high-tech production centre for biosimilars in Lendava, in north-eastern Slovenia. The investment is to create around 300 new jobs.

The government has withdrawn a bill aimed at enacting Prime Minister Robert Golob's much criticised promise for judges and prosecutors to receive a monthly bonus of €600 gross.

The aspiration for Slovenia to take on a more prominent role on the global stage, also in view of its bid for the UN Security Council, and a shift of focus back to the core Europe headlined discussions at the annual meeting of Slovenian diplomats at Brdo pri Kranju.

The government is planning to introduce a separate pay tier for the judiciary as part of a reform of the public sector pay system. Until the reform is implemented, judiciary officials will receive a monthly bonus of €600 gross on top of their pay.