NEWS

Prime Minister Janez Janša: "The negotiations with Croatia are in the final stage"

"The negotiations with the Republic of Croatia will proceed. In order to ensure continuity of these negotiations, it was agreed with the Croatian Prime Minister to raise the discussions to a higher level," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša today commented the appointment of State-Secretary Tone Kajzer as the authorised representative for the coordination of discussions with the Republic of Croatia.

 

The Slovenian Prime Minister explained that the governments raised the discussions currently being in the final stage to a higher level. "The talks will no longer be held at the level of foreign ministers but at the level of authorised representatives of the Prime Ministers. They could, of course, be held at the level of ministers, but I decided for the State Secretary, as the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DESUS) has announced its withdrawal from the Coalition Government for next week," explained Prime Minister Janša stating that in the final stage, the Government wants to ensure continuity of negotiations.  He added that this is not about the withdrawal of authorisations from the minister, because each representative of the country, i.e. the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister or a minister who is to meet with the delegation of another country for substantive discussions, needs for each meeting separately an approval from the Government being in charge of these discussions. "At each meeting with the Croatian side and also with some other colleagues I was asked the question until when the Minister of Foreign Affairs would hold office, with regard to the fact that the current minister repeatedly announced that his party would withdraw from the Coalition on 22 February. And such statements are, of course, jeopardizing the relations between the two countries. Those who leave the ship can hardly be considered credible," Prime Minister Janša concluded his explanation.

 

Prime Minister Janša assured that despite the withdrawal of some parties from the Coalition the Government will  "proceed with its work and do everything it can at this time to bring Slovenia out of the crisis. We are not making speculations, there are others who are more skilled in speculating.  We do also not take the responsibility for the current situation.  Those who drilled a hole in this ship will need to resolve the situation." The Prime Minister assessed that "it is not only unserious but also absurd that parties with five deputies proclaim themselves to be the centre around which a new government would be created. Even if we add up all the deputies of these three smaller parties, this only amounts to around a half of the Slovenian Democratic Party or Positive Slovenia, the largest party in the Parliament.   This acting has been tragicomical from the very beginning and after one month  not only experts but also the general Slovenian public have become aware of it."

 

The Slovenian Prime Minister further commented the situation in the country stating that "we have a political system that enables several parties to enter the National Assembly. This requires a large coalition; in such a coalition, however, even the smallest party with the lowest number of deputies can break up the coalition but cannot establish another government. This is the systemic reason for political instability that Slovenia has been facing these days. Therefore, the electoral system needs to be urgently changed in terms of ensuring greater stability. Otherwise, after each early election the result will be the same."