Prime Minister Janez Janša: Europe must take part in peace negotiations and maintain its competitiveness

Prime Minister Janez Janša at an informal meeting of European leaders in Dublin. | Author Office of the Prime Minister

Upon his arrival at the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that the development of artificial intelligence represents a major turning point bringing numerous opportunities while also raising new questions. According to him, this will be the first in-depth discussion among European leaders to consider the benefits and risks of this technology and discuss how it should be regulated.

"Our position is that regulation must be reasonable, so that Europe does not lose its competitive advantages right from the outset or find itself in a position where it is unable to develop them at all," the Prime Minister emphasised.

An important part of the discussions will also focus on the situation in Ukraine and current diplomatic efforts to bring the war to an end. The Prime Minister observed that the talks held so far had not yet produced any significant breakthrough, but highlighted the extensive exchange of prisoners of war as an important tangible step forward.

He also stressed that the European Union must play an active role in the peace negotiations. "Europe is shouldering the vast majority of the burden of assistance to Ukraine, and without this assistance, the situation would be significantly worse," he said, adding that the European Union should have been at the negotiating table from the very beginning.

Regarding the future financing of assistance to Ukraine, the Prime Minister expressed understanding for Germany and other countries that bear the greatest financial and other burdens of providing support. Nevertheless, Slovenia does not support making the next seven-year EU budget conditional on Member States' participation in financing assistance to Ukraine.

As he explained, negotiations on the European Union's next Multiannual Financial Framework are already challenging in themselves, and introducing additional conditions could make it more difficult to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

"We do not support linking the two, but we do support continuing to help Ukraine. We also believe that all those providing assistance should take part in the negotiations, which should lead to peace and an end to the war as soon as possible," the Prime Minister stressed.

With regard to the appointment of the new President of the European Central Bank (ECB), the Prime Minister explained that Slovenia had not yet decided which candidate to support, but considered both candidates professionally competent.

The Prime Minister also responded to a question concerning the proposed amendments to the Decree on the National Security Council (NSC). He explained that no decision or resolution had so far been adopted that would alter the existing arrangements. As regards invitees and all other matters, the new decree governing the NSC will be exactly the same as the one in force during the previous term of office. "There will be no changes. Things will remain as they were during our last term of office," the Prime Minister emphasised.