WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00.445 --> 00:03.352
Hello and welcome. And now,
joining me on TVP World

2
00:03.472 --> 00:06.949
is Janez Janša,
the PM of Slovenia.

3
00:07.069 --> 00:10.541
Sir, thank you very much
for joining us today.

4
00:10.661 --> 00:14.233
Thank you for inviting me.
-Absolutely. At an event

5
00:14.860 --> 00:17.146
as important as it is today,

6
00:17.529 --> 00:22.822
what can you say about the
accomplishments of today's meeting?

7
00:23.645 --> 00:27.850
I think that over 6 billion euros
collected today

8
00:27.970 --> 00:31.080
is a huge achievement

9
00:31.824 --> 00:35.960
and Ukraine needs such help
as soon as possible.

10
00:36.314 --> 00:39.520
So when your PM
Mateusz Morawiecki

11
00:40.538 --> 00:44.863
concluded at the end
that it's not only the sum,

12
00:44.983 --> 00:49.783
but also the delivery as soon
as possible that is very important,

13
00:50.035 --> 00:55.000
this is it. So I think it was
a very successful event.

14
00:55.369 --> 01:00.840
I personally didn't expect
such a huge sum to be collected.

15
01:01.577 --> 01:03.948
Slovenia was
one of the first countries

16
01:04.068 --> 01:09.201
to stand united with Ukraine.
Can you give us kind of a gauge

17
01:09.321 --> 01:14.680
on exactly how much Slovenia
has done to aid Ukraine

18
01:14.948 --> 01:18.519
in these difficult times?
-I am afraid

19
01:18.639 --> 01:20.920
I'm not able
to collect everything

20
01:21.041 --> 01:25.560
because especially
during the first month,

21
01:27.554 --> 01:30.403
thousands of Slovenian people
gathered together,

22
01:30.523 --> 01:34.320
collected all kind of help,

23
01:35.581 --> 01:40.120
medicine, food, everything
they were able to collect

24
01:40.341 --> 01:44.280
and we had to organize
the logistics.

25
01:46.228 --> 01:51.737
Before we settled everything,
organized the Civil Protection

26
01:51.857 --> 01:55.760
which then took the responsibility
for the logistics,

27
01:56.193 --> 02:01.960
organized the routes
through Slovakia and Poland.

28
02:03.221 --> 02:06.320
So we still don't have
all the numbers,

29
02:06.744 --> 02:12.723
but all the money we reserved for
the humanitarian aid for this year,

30
02:13.359 --> 02:16.360
we have spent on Ukraine.

31
02:16.480 --> 02:20.306
We also helped
with technical assistance

32
02:20.426 --> 02:23.880
from different Slovenian companies.

33
02:25.578 --> 02:30.893
We helped with military aid,
whatever we were able to collect

34
02:31.013 --> 02:34.720
in our stocks,
military and police as well.

35
02:35.223 --> 02:38.440
Right.
-And we tried to help them morally,

36
02:38.560 --> 02:44.440
to support the EU perspective
for Ukraine,

37
02:44.560 --> 02:47.920
visiting them in the middle of March
together with your PM.

38
02:48.571 --> 02:52.787
This visit was very important

39
02:52.907 --> 02:56.402
because when we came
there first,

40
02:56.522 --> 03:00.280
we were convinced
that Ukraine will never be defeated.

41
03:00.868 --> 03:05.647
We saw this spirit
I personally experienced

42
03:05.767 --> 03:09.560
during the Slovenian war
for independence 30 years ago.

43
03:11.101 --> 03:15.573
Such spirit
can't be defeated,

44
03:15.693 --> 03:20.600
it doesn't matter
how big and strong the aggressor is.

45
03:21.259 --> 03:26.700
And most importantly, we opened
the path. When we travelled back

46
03:27.585 --> 03:30.800
from that visit, from Kyiv,

47
03:31.529 --> 03:36.173
I said that now we expect
the EU leaders to come.

48
03:36.980 --> 03:41.921
And then the President of
the European Parliament went there,

49
03:42.042 --> 03:45.307
the President of the European
Council, the European Commission,

50
03:45.630 --> 03:48.604
many of our colleagues
from the European Council,

51
03:48.724 --> 03:51.880
so Ukraine is not
abandoned anymore.

52
03:52.000 --> 03:54.172
When we came
as the first delegation,

53
03:54.292 --> 03:58.480
they said
they felt very lonely,

54
03:59.139 --> 04:02.320
so this is
what we helped to change.

55
04:02.971 --> 04:06.617
It is important to visit
those areas as you've done

56
04:06.737 --> 04:10.080
and you've seen
some of the atrocities first hand.

57
04:11.020 --> 04:14.931
Now, they're saying that
about 15% of the humanitarian needs

58
04:15.051 --> 04:20.680
are being met at this moment. That
just shows we have so far to go.

59
04:21.253 --> 04:24.536
Do you think there are going to be
more conferences in the future

60
04:24.656 --> 04:28.479
to continue to pour in aid?

61
04:28.599 --> 04:34.448
There have to be more conferences,
but also a better organization,

62
04:34.568 --> 04:40.246
a better coordination. This morning,
I spoke to the representatives

63
04:40.366 --> 04:43.160
of international
financial organizations,

64
04:43.280 --> 04:45.280
some multinational companies.

65
04:48.275 --> 04:51.314
We need to establish
one centre for such aid.

66
04:51.434 --> 04:53.419
Now,
the G7 is doing something,

67
04:53.539 --> 04:55.773
the European Commission
is doing something,

68
04:56.073 --> 04:57.620
banks are doing something.

69
05:00.036 --> 05:04.640
You know, some pledges are repeating
themselves on different events

70
05:04.932 --> 05:09.200
and the efficiency
is not as high as it should be.

71
05:09.749 --> 05:14.092
So I think that aside
from the official meetings

72
05:14.213 --> 05:16.860
on a conference podium,

73
05:17.581 --> 05:20.327
there are discussions
going on in the corridors

74
05:20.447 --> 05:23.490
how to make
the coordination better,

75
05:23.610 --> 05:27.720
because this is
an extraordinary situation

76
05:28.160 --> 05:31.877
and the ordinary tools
from peaceful times aren't working,

77
05:32.357 --> 05:35.673
so we have to act
according to the demands.

78
05:35.793 --> 05:39.493
Especially when we talk
about financial help,

79
05:40.894 --> 05:44.240
the coordination
from one centre is needed.

80
05:44.805 --> 05:48.080
Especially the European Commission,
the US,

81
05:49.035 --> 05:55.889
the IMF, the World Bank
have to agree on one office

82
05:56.009 --> 06:01.280
which is coordinating financial
help. -That is a very good point.

83
06:02.149 --> 06:04.579
There's also been talk
at this conference and others

84
06:04.699 --> 06:08.047
of all the frozen assets,
frozen Russian assets,

85
06:08.167 --> 06:13.040
whether that be from the Central
Bank or assets of oligarchs.

86
06:13.535 --> 06:19.367
Do you support giving all those
frozen assets to the reconstruction?

87
06:19.487 --> 06:25.160
I do. I fully support
what PM Morawiecki said

88
06:26.678 --> 06:30.324
during his conclusion.
This money

89
06:30.444 --> 06:34.440
has to help
to rebuild Ukraine.

90
06:35.192 --> 06:39.485
Because it is obvious
who is the aggressor

91
06:39.605 --> 06:46.960
and I think
that we have to start or to increase

92
06:47.080 --> 06:50.800
and the start
is already done.

93
06:51.099 --> 06:55.280
They are drawing
the legal framework

94
06:55.930 --> 06:59.280
for the EU
to make this possible.

95
07:01.469 --> 07:04.192
There are
some constitutional obstacles

96
07:04.312 --> 07:08.486
regarding private property
and so on, so we have to join forces

97
07:08.606 --> 07:13.203
to make this move legal

98
07:13.323 --> 07:19.936
as fast as possible. -Obviously,
it is going to take much more money

99
07:20.056 --> 07:24.794
to rebuild Ukraine than the
humanitarian aid needs right now.

100
07:24.914 --> 07:29.560
So I wish you the best of luck
in that endeavour

101
07:29.813 --> 07:35.840
and we are definitely in support
of that. Moving on to conclude here.

102
07:37.912 --> 07:41.240
Is your sense of this war
coming to an end

103
07:41.500 --> 07:46.360
more hopeful or do you think
we still have quite the ways to go?

104
07:47.448 --> 07:52.160
As I said during the conference,
I think that two things

105
07:52.725 --> 07:57.440
are crucial here.
The bravery,

106
07:58.759 --> 08:03.523
the courage of Ukrainians
and the amount of our help,

107
08:03.643 --> 08:08.360
especially military
as PM Shmyhal said.

108
08:08.871 --> 08:14.876
The military aid currently is ...
Everything is really needed,

109
08:14.996 --> 08:19.120
humanitarian aid,
helping the refugees, financing,

110
08:20.684 --> 08:25.320
technical assistance,
political and moral support,

111
08:25.877 --> 08:29.933
but there is one thing
which is making the war shorter

112
08:30.053 --> 08:35.408
and this are not only
so-called defensive weapons,

113
08:35.528 --> 08:41.709
but modern weapons.
Ukrainians need to establish

114
08:41.829 --> 08:46.430
the balance of power
on the battlefield

115
08:46.550 --> 08:49.100
because the Russian hardware
is still dominating,

116
08:49.860 --> 08:53.420
and it depends on our side,
on our help

117
08:54.657 --> 09:00.080
how close we are
to the end of this war.

118
09:00.262 --> 09:03.814
On the rebuilding,
one very important thing

119
09:03.934 --> 09:06.230
which was mentioned,
but not underlined

120
09:06.350 --> 09:08.600
as much as it needs to be,

121
09:08.892 --> 09:15.062
is what PM Shmyhal
and President Zelensky said

122
09:15.182 --> 09:19.615
that they are asking
for direct help,

123
09:19.735 --> 09:23.360
so for one country
from Europe or from the West

124
09:23.651 --> 09:28.520
to help one specific region
in Ukraine to be rebuilt.

125
09:28.640 --> 09:33.400
I think that this is
a very good formula

126
09:34.058 --> 09:38.840
because then there are no,
how to say,

127
09:40.014 --> 09:43.778
intermediary institutions,
bureaucracy

128
09:43.898 --> 09:47.739
and a problem
of coordination.

129
09:47.859 --> 09:51.440
On the other side, the people,
for instance in Slovenia,

130
09:51.724 --> 09:56.056
who are giving money for helping
Ukraine, they see concrete results

131
09:56.176 --> 10:02.347
in one city, in one village, in one
region. So I think this approach,

132
10:02.467 --> 10:09.080
we have to put
on a systemic level

133
10:09.567 --> 10:11.466
and with such approach,

134
10:11.586 --> 10:17.056
the rebuilding of Ukraine
won't take another decade,

135
10:17.176 --> 10:21.480
we can do it in a few years
after the war is over.

136
10:21.858 --> 10:25.240
Right,
if only we can get there.

137
10:25.532 --> 10:28.198
Prime Minister, thank you
very much for joining us.

138
10:28.318 --> 10:31.977
We are at the high level
international donor's conference

139
10:32.097 --> 10:34.216
here in Warsaw
and my guest here

140
10:34.337 --> 10:38.801
was the PM of Slovenia
Janez Janež.

141
10:39.497 --> 10:44.560
Janez Janša, excuse me.
Thank you very much. -Thank you.