Good morning. -Morning. -How are you? -All right.
Sleepy? -Very, certainly more than you.
Go ahead. -Yesterday you suspended the discussion on migration ...
The discussion on migration actually concluded.
The Council did not come to any specific conclusions,
they were instead drafted by the President.
There were differences in reaching conclusions,
but not in the discussion.
More importantly, the discussion was very substantive and good.
We have made a leap forward in understanding
how the EU should tackle migration successfully.
The common conclusion was that once someone is already in Europe,
it is already too late
and finding common solutions unanimously is very difficult,
as how to apply solidarity is always an unknown.
However, we can find common solutions
while the refugee or migrant is outside the border
if we respond together and decisively.
Yesterday's debate was on how the EU and the Member States
should respond outside European borders
in order to manage migration flows easier and better.
Where did it go wrong then?
Conclusions were expected, but apparently there were none?
The conclusions have been summarised in the president's draft.
The snag we hit was in the understanding
whether the subject of migration, in internal affairs as well,
should be decided on by a unanimous or majority vote,
as was the case in the Home Affairs Ministers Council meeting.
Because certain countries were reliving past traumas in a way,
they tried to have the whole subject removed from the agenda.
This was of course impossible,
but we reached no common conclusions.
Have Poland's and Hungary's demands been met in the draft?
No, of course not. The draft covers external relations,
so, how the EU manages migration issues outside its borders.
An additional point notes that Hungary and Poland
generally do not agree with the way
the migration issue is being handled in the European Union.
Did your suggestion to Croatia
to send a Frontex unit to the Croatia-Bosnia border
receive any support from others?
Within the frame of these external relations the European Commission
adopted an action plan for the Western Balkans.
Certain measures have already been implemented
and agreements for the deployment of Frontex are being prepared
with all of the countries of the Western Balkans
Yesterday we proposed that these processes be accelerated
and that Frontex be used across the entire Western Balkans route,
which begins in Greece and extends to all other countries.
If we can implement Frontex as the institution
that will monitor illegal migration flows in this corridor,
there may no longer be any need
to conduct any special activities on individual borders.
Are China and the security of economic relations
still on today's agenda?
What direction do you expect the debate on this to go in?
Yes, it is still on the agenda.
China is a very important foreign trading partner to the EU.
We will once again try to find a common foreign trade policy
toward China as a major partner.
There will likely be many proposals
and some countries may try to go solo again,
but the conclusions are clear and we expect no interference,
but, as we have seen yesterday, let's wait.
Why is Slovenia advocating for China and these relations?
We believe that China is such a major economic power,
that we need to have an active dialogue with it.
Slovenia will strive for this dialogue to strengthen
at the bilateral and multilateral level
and for Europe to find its place within this dialogue
and behave as independently as possible.
If you will allow me a question on domestic policy,
a vote of no confidence has been filed against Minister Loredan.
What is your comment on this? -I have not read it yet.
We finished it yesterday at 2 a.m., I haven't been able to read it yet.
I will probably get it on the airplane,
I am currently focusing on this, so I would rather not comment.
Do you still support the Minister?
I get this question every other day.
I have not even talked to the Minister about this yet.
In truth, nothing has changed since I was first asked this.
Last question. Yesterday, before the summmit,
political parties had their own meeting.
The EPP issued an official statement
saying that the rule of law in Slovenia is disintegrating
and that the media is being taken over by politics
through absolute control over RTV.
I will dare to venture a comment.
Some political groups, especially the more conservative ones,
live in the past. This statement would have been fitting
15 months ago, but they missed the opportunity to make it. Thank you.
Based on yesterday's discussion, to what extent do you think
it is likely to reach an agreement on migration?
I don't think there is going to be another push for that.
Yesterday the conclusions were that the ...
The Council made no conclusions,
but the President of the Council, Mr. Charles Michel,
is going to issue his own statement,
meaning that during the discussions we were all on board
that we need to bring the management of the migration
out of the internal borders,
that we need to do more on the external dimension of it.
There was no dissent on that,
meaning that everyone agreed on that.
The real trouble began because two Member States
didn't want to have any conclusions at all.
That's why we decided not to push and try to find consensus
on something that individual Member States oppose in principle.
Still, the discussion was very lively
and there was a common agreement that the only way forward,
if we want to effectively manage migration flows,
we need to focus on the external dimensions.
So, there will most likely
be no reference to migration in the conclusions
and Charles Michel will make a separate statement? -Correct.
Okay. What was the specific request from Poland and Hungary?
There was no specific request. Hungary was totally adamant,
saying they will not vote for any conclusions at all,
they don't want to see any.
It was not about doing it this way or that,
they don't want migration mentioned at all.
So they weren't repressing ...
No, it seemed that way at the beginning of the discussion,
but as it developed, we reached a point where they wanted none.
Thank you. -You're welcome.