LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (VINnews) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar inaugurated Israel’s first embassy in Slovenia on Wednesday, joining Slovenian Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer at a ceremony in the capital.

Sa’ar said the new mission is Israel’s fifth embassy opened in about 18 months and pledged to keep expanding the country’s diplomatic network. He described Slovenia as part of a wider circle of friends in Europe and said Jerusalem intends to deepen cooperation with those partners.

Until now, Israel handled relations with Slovenia through a nonresident ambassador based elsewhere in Europe. The countries established diplomatic ties in 1992, shortly after Slovenia’s independence. Slovenia opened an embassy in Israel in 1994.

The embassy opening follows a sharp change in Ljubljana’s approach toward Israel. After Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s government took office this year, Slovenia reversed several measures adopted by the previous center-left administration, including an entry ban on Israeli officials and restrictions on settlement goods and defense-related trade. Jansa has also signaled interest in moving Slovenia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Israel announced plans for a resident embassy in June, after Jansa’s coalition was approved. Ruth Cohen-Dar, who had served as nonresident ambassador to Slovenia, was later named the first resident ambassador.

Sa’ar’s visit also included talks aimed at expanding political, economic and cultural cooperation. Reuters reported that student groups, a left-wing opposition party and pro-Palestinian organizations planned protests against the embassy opening. A June poll by the Slovenian daily Delo found a majority of respondents opposed closer ties with Israel.

The new mission in Ljubljana follows recent Israeli embassy openings in Moldova, Zambia, Estonia and Fiji.