Prime Minister Janša: Discussions at the European Council are more substantive, but an agreement on the budget is still a long way off

Prime Minister Janez Janša | Author EUCO

According to the Prime Minister, national positions are still being formed, and he therefore doubts that a consensus can be reached by the end of the year, although such an outcome would be highly desirable in view of the French elections and the preparation of the budget.

Slovenia remains part of the Friends of Cohesion group, and the Prime Minister stressed that a compromise appears to be emerging regarding the new EU Competitiveness Fund, which should complement cohesion policy.

Slovenia joined a group of countries calling for a faster implementation of the new migration legislation. The Prime Minister stressed the need to ensure that the adopted rules are implemented, noting that more effective returns of persons who are not entitled to asylum would also have a deterrent effect. He was critical of Spain's decision to regularise the status of one million undocumented migrants, which, he said, had been met with near-unanimous opposition from other Member States.

On the margins of the summit, he held several brief bilateral meetings, including with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He announced that Slovenia would seek to host the leaders of all neighbouring countries at the Bled Strategic Forum in August, where they could discuss a number of outstanding issues.