In Washingtonu about demining and international cooperation

At the invitation of the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI), a leading U.S. organisation in the field of humanitarian mine action and mine victim assistance, Dr Aleš Musar, spouse of the President of the Republic of Slovenia and a member of the ITF Board of Trustees, attended a gala dinner in Washington on 28 October 2026, accompanied by Amb. Tomaž Lovrenčič, Director of the Slovenian non-profit organisation ITF. The event honoured this year's recipients of MLI awards for excellence in mine action.

In a discussion held at MLI headquarters ahead of the ceremony, Dr Musar emphasised that MLI and the Slovenian ITF have been successfully cooperating for more than a decade on operational mine action activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Azerbaijan, and that they also have joint plans for activities elsewhere, particularly in Lebanon and Ukraine. He specifically highlighted the outstanding achievements of the mine detection dog training programme, which he had recently had the opportunity to observe in action in minefields in Agdam, Azerbaijan.

MLI Executive Director Elise Becker Burdette and Chairman of the MLI Board of Directors, retired General Robert M. Dyess, Jr., expressed their satisfaction that, through their joint activities, MLI and ITF are able to contribute not only to successful and safe mine clearance, for example through the use of specially trained mine detection dogs and awareness-raising campaigns on the dangers posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war, but also to mobilising international donors. In doing so, both organisations can build on their achievements to date and their standing within the international community.

During the next stage of his visit to Washington, Dr Musar met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Fleet White at the U.S. Department of State on 29 October 2026. The United States is the world's largest donor to mine action and, by a considerable margin, also the largest donor to the Slovenian ITF, which is currently implementing twelve projects across the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and South-Eastern Europe.

Accompanied at the meeting by Slovenia's Ambassador to the United States, Iztok Mirošič, and ITF Director Amb. Tomaž Lovrenčič, Dr Musar thanked Assistant Secretary of State White for the exceptional assistance and financial support provided by the United States to ITF. This support enables the organisation to implement critically important mine clearance and surplus ammunition destruction projects in numerous countries around the world. Cooperation between the U.S. Department of State and ITF is one of the most successful examples of cooperation between the two countries internationally, for which Slovenia is deeply grateful. As a member of the ITF Board of Trustees, Dr Musar is also personally committed to mobilising international donors, including those from the Gulf countries, while maintaining the leading role of the United States in supporting ITF's activities.

Assistant Secretary of State White praised ITF's excellent work in more than ten countries worldwide, describing it as one of the finest examples of successful cooperation between the United States and Slovenia. In addition to ITF's operational work in mine clearance and surplus ammunition destruction, the United States also values the organisation's systematic and successful efforts to mobilise other international donors. This represents an excellent practical example of burden-sharing between the United States and other international partners. ITF has been highly successful in this regard, and the United States hopes that the organisation will continue its work in the years ahead. He thanked Dr Musar for his contribution to mobilising international donors and reiterated his conviction that the United States and Slovenia can continue working together through ITF and contribute to strengthening global stability.

Dr Musar also met with Charity Wallace, the U.S. Special Envoy for First Lady Melania Trump's initiative, Fostering the Future Together. Following the inaugural summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, held at the White House in March 2026 and attended by Dr Musar, the initiative is continuing through regional meetings. The first European meeting will be hosted in November 2026 by Poland's First Lady, Marta Nawrocka. The two interlocutors also discussed the humanitarian engagement of First Ladies and Gentlemen, including their activities in Ukraine, and opportunities to present these initiatives internationally, for example at the Munich Security Conference.

At the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington, the spouse of the President of Slovenia also held a follow-up meeting with representatives of the Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum institution in the United States, with a view to promoting cooperation between the Smithsonian and Slovenia's national museum institutions. The meeting with Aviva Rosenthal, Director of Global Affairs, and Derek Ross, Director of Capital Projects, took place at the Smithsonian Castle, where a multi-year renovation project of this oldest part of the institution is now getting underway.