The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs illuminated the facade of the Santa Cruz Palace with the colors of the Slovenian flag to commemorate the start of Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU Council.
“The facade of our headquarters in the Palace of Santa Cruz was lit up yesterday in the colors of the flag of Slovenia on the occasion of today’s start of the EU Council Presidency, to which we wish much success”, the Ministry said on its Twitter account. “With the start of the Slovenian presidency of the EU Council and in the year when Slovenia celebrates its 30th anniversary, the official headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain shone in the colors of the Slovenian flag”, the Slovenian Embassy in Madrid said via Facebook.
For her part, Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya posted a message via her Twitter account to convey her “congratulations to Portugal for its great Presidency of the European Union”. “Many results in difficult times”, she added. “Muito obrigada. Good luck to the Slovenian Presidency”, she concluded.
As reported by the Slovenian Government, the new rotating Presidency of the EU Council will be governed by the motto Together. Resilient. Europe and its agenda will pay special attention to four areas: recovery, resilience and strategic autonomy of the EU; reflection on the Future of Europe; the European way of life, the rule of law and European values; and enhancing security and stability in the countries of the European neighborhood.
“The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU will strive to actively contribute to strengthening the EU’s resilience in the face of health, economic, energy, climate and cyber crises”, it continued. “Working together, supporting each other and acting in solidarity for the good of each and every European citizen will be key to strengthening the EU’s resilience”, it added.
“The Slovenian Presidency is focused on facilitating the EU’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating the green and digital transition to create jobs and strengthen the EU’s resilience”, the Ljubljana government said. “Ethical use and development of artificial intelligence in different sectors are also on the agenda of this mandate,” it continued. Apart from that, “health is a key priority and, therefore, the aim is to reflect on the lessons learned from the pandemic, ensure the availability of medical products and improve living and working conditions for all citizens”, it concluded. Until December 31, the members of the current Trio Presidency (Germany, Portugal and Slovenia) will continue to cooperate to achieve the objectives set out in their 18-month joint program.
