Prime Minister answers parliamentary questions
SLOVENIA, September 29 - Relations with Israel and international law
Responding to questions about Slovenia’s relations with Israel and the situation in Gaza, the Prime Minister stressed that issues concerning international law must be assessed on the basis of legal definitions and the powers of international institutions. “Under international law, there is no genocide in Gaza,” he said, noting that other acts, such as crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions, are also defined in international law. He stated that no competent body had determined, under the existing international legal framework, that genocide was taking place in Gaza.
He also referred to Sudan, where the death toll is considerably higher: “In Nigeria, Islamist militias kill a member of the Christian community every few minutes. Taken together, the numbers worldwide are a thousand times higher, yet no one talks about this. Why is the discussion confined to Gaza and Palestine?”
Addressing criticism of changes to Slovenia’s foreign policy, the Prime Minister stressed that the current Government was simply normalising relations with Israel. He recalled that Slovenia had maintained diplomatic, economic and other relations with Israel for decades and rejected claims that the current policy represented a departure from previous practice.
Slovenia needs legislation to support development
In response to a parliamentary question about record petrol and diesel prices, the Prime Minister pointed primarily to conditions on global energy markets. He stressed that Slovenia does not produce oil and therefore cannot directly determine global energy prices. He said that the Government could use the measures available to it, although some action was also constrained by the rules of the European single market. “We will do everything within our power,” he stressed, announcing further measures to ease the impact of high energy prices.
Addressing criticism of rising living costs, the Prime Minister highlighted the development bill. He said it included measures to enable higher pensions and wages, as well as measures to reduce food and energy prices. “This bill contains measures that allow the Government to ease food prices by lowering VAT on food, and to do the same for energy,” he said. He also noted that, in his words, the opposition had collected signatures to prevent these measures from taking effect.
Motorway congestion and Slovenia’s decentralisation
Responding to a question about traffic congestion, the Prime Minister highlighted several causes, including the large number of roadworks taking place simultaneously and limited road capacity. He stressed that conditions would gradually improve.
He also highlighted the decentralisation of the state administration as one of the measures to reduce peak-hour traffic. At the opening of the headquarters of the first ministry based outside Ljubljana, he announced that further relocations of state institutions would follow. He said that Slovenia was overly centralised, with between 150,000 and 160,000 people commuting to Ljubljana for work every day.
Combating drug trafficking
The Prime Minister drew attention to the growing consequences of drug use and trafficking, as well as data on the availability of drugs among young people. He stressed that the consequences of drug trafficking affect families and the wider community.
He said that the state faced serious difficulties in prosecuting large-scale drug trafficking, with some proceedings ending in acquittals, releases or the dismissal of cases on procedural grounds.
The Prime Minister particularly highlighted the substantial financial flows associated with drug trafficking and expressed his expectation that the new institution being established to combat organised crime would treat this as one of its central priorities. He stressed the need for a decisive change in tackling this form of crime, which is among the most dangerous in Slovenia, for the benefit of us all, our future and our young people.
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