Bilateral meeting with Her Excellency Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenia

Ljublijana – On Tuesday, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with H.E. Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenia, during his official visit to the country.

The President noted that they had already met three times at different fora, including during the President’s recent visit to FAO headquarters.  She informed the Director-General that in June 2023, Slovenia was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the term 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025 and will preside over the UNSC in September 2024 during the regular session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA79).

The President informed that during its UNSC membership, Slovenia will focus on four thematic priorities: conflict prevention; protection of populations in armed conflict; women, peace, and security; and climate, peace, and security, as well as strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among UN Members.

The Director-General congratulated Slovenia on such an important achievement. He confirmed FAO’s readiness to provide technical support to inform UNSC deliberations, noting Slovenia’s focus on climate and security, water management and food security, which were in line with FAO’s mandate. The Director-General emphasized that the right to food was a basic human right and that FAO would support Members with all its technical and professional expertise in this regard.

The pair agree to continue their collaboration to strengthen the good relations between FAO and Slovenia, including through joint projects such as World Bee Day.

During his two-day visit to Slovenia, the Director-General also met with H.E. Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs. The Deputy Prime Minister briefed the Director-General on Slovenia’s strong commitment to food security agenda and how the country had increased its contribution to humanitarian aid over the past year. Both discussed the importance of designing humanitarian projects in a sustainable way for maximum impact.

The Director-General also met with H.E. Mateja Čalušić, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food. The Director-General congratulated the Minister on her recent appointment and expressed hope that under her leadership FAO-Slovenia collaboration would continue to strengthen even further.