Slovenia - Laurence Boone attending the Bled Strategic Forum (Bled, August 29-30, 2022)

Laurence Boone, Minister of State for Europe, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will be in Slovenia on August 29 and 30 for the Bled Strategic Forum.

This year’s forum for reflection and discussion, which brings together political and economic leaders, including many European ministers, along with members of civil society, will stress the EU’s geopolitical role. The minister of state will take part in the round table titled “How many Europes in Europe?” along with the Austrian, Icelandic, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish and Turkish foreign ministers. At this event, she will stress the need to continue on with the EU’s sovereignty agenda in order to successfully carry out the ecological and digital transitions, protect citizens and make adaptations to our social model. She will also talk about work related to the European Political Community project.

On the sidelines of the forum, Ms. Boone will meet with her Slovenian counterpart, as successive EU council presidencies – first Slovenian and then French – have considerably strengthened ties between our two countries. She will also have discussions with the Portuguese and North Macedonian foreign ministers, and with her Irish counterpart.

In addition, the minister of state will meet with Nika Kovač, a Slovenian feminist activist who directs the March 8 Institute, an NGO that combats economic and gender inequality. She will visit a regional Slovenian startup incubator and will have lunch with the French-Slovenian business community.