Cerar said he would send the nomination to parliament on Wednesday, together with the nomination of MP Andreja Katič of the Social Democrats (SD) for the new defence minister.

According to Cerar, the nominee has "experience in all fields that are of decisive importance at this moment", which he believes will also be convincing for the MPs, who will vote on the candidacy.

The PM said that the candidate had experience with higher education, where she has been active for 20 years, but also internationally. She understands the importance of education, especially higher education, for the economy and other segments of the society, he added.

Cerar also believes that Makovec Brenčič understands the importance of science for Slovenia's development and the importance of internationalisation of science. The candidate is also closely connected to sports, he added.

Makovec Brenčič meanwhile said in her first statement for the press that the departments where she would take over were departments that created knowledge, which was a value and a foundation of development today and in the future.

According to her, knowledge is an extremely important value and it must be accessible to all as much as possible. "I think that this is something what we must believe in and strongly strive for."

Makovec Brenčič added that her priorities as minister would be to stabilise financing in all departments and ensure quality of education on the entire scale, from kindergartens to universities.

The candidates for education and defence ministers are expected to be heard before relevant parliamentary committees after Labour Day holidays. Unofficially, the extraordinary session of the National Assembly at which the MPs will vote on both nominees would be scheduled for 13 May.

Makovec Brenčič is set to replace Klavdija Markež, who resigned at the beginning of the month over plagiarism allegations. Makovec Brenčič, 45, is a full professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics at the international economy department.

Markež of the ruling Modern Centre Party (SMC) resigned on 1 April after only five days on the job following revelations that her master's thesis was plagiarised. She herself was a replacement, succeeding Stanka Setnikar Cankar from the original line-up of the Miro Cerar government, who stepped down in March due to a scandal involving high fees she made on the side as university professor and dean.