WEBVTT

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Good morning.

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Maybe I just start with
the first question. Do you know more

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about Slovenia sending soldiers
to Slovakia or other countries?

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How many of them
will we send?

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Slovenia will send
a unit of 200 soldiers

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to a battalion in Slovakia.

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We already made the decision.

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We will cooperate
with other NATO countries

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and we will send a diplomatic
mission to Ukraine. The procedures

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will be ended today or tomorrow.
This is not a military mission

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as you wrongly reported.
It is a diplomatic mission

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under a charge d'affaires
that will try

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to negotiate for peace,
help those who stayed in Kyiv

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and try to end war
through diplomatic channels.

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But this isn't an EU mission?
-No, the EU mission

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is something else.
We are still discussing it

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and we will discuss it today. We are
sending a charge d'affaires

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in the name of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.

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A lot of NATO members think

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that there is a big possibility
of an attack with chemical weapons.

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NATO is worried about it.
Will Slovenia send

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protective equipment
because we are strong in this area?

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Slovenia has some capabilities
for defence

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against chemical
and biological weapons, but I think

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that such threat

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exists when Russian aggressor
forces attack chemical plants

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and it can come to leaks.
But the use

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of chemical and biological weapons
is highly unlikely

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because they would shoot themselves
in the foot. -The Secretary General

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appealed yesterday for the increase
of defence spending.

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Slovenia is among
the worst countries in this aspect.

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Will you increase
the defence budget?

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Slovenia has been among the worst
countries. We passed the law

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some time ago in our term

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to boost investments
in the military.

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We will not be
among the worst anymore,

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but we will need to try harder
and we will talk about it today.

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Prime Minister,
you went to Kyiv by train.

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Can you tell us a little bit about
that and what did you learn there

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that you are going
o address today?

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Many things. Actually, we went
to Kyiv to show our support

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for them.
I think that there are four things

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Ukraine needs the most.
One is hope

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and that they are not abandoned.
The second thing are modern weapons,

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the third thing is money
to survive in this situation

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where the economy is disturbed and
the fourth thing is humanitarian aid

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and we have been talking
about all these issues

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very concretely
and we have some important messages

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for our colleagues today
at the NATO and EU summit.

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Are you concerned about a chemical
weapons attack? -We are concerned

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when we see that Russian aggression
forces are shelling chemical plants

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and similar facilities.

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This could trigger
a large-scale disaster.

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But I don't believe
that the Russian military

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will use chemical
or biological weapons

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purposefully
for tactical achievements,

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because this would be very unwise
and a shot in their own knee.

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Prime Minister,
what about the partner countries,

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like Georgia,
because Secretary General mentioned

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that there will also be discussions
about these countries.

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Of course, everything we are doing
to strengthen Ukraine,

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to help Ukraine defend itself,

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is also helping
Moldova and Georgia.

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Speaking about a political response
to these challenges,

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I think that advanced negotiations
regarding EU membership

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are also very helpful.
And we support it strongly.

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You support it?
-We support it strongly. -Thank you.

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You just mentioned
shelling chemical plants.

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Is there evidence
that Russia is doing that?

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There was one case
where it was publicly known.

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We still don't know
if this was done on purpose.

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Or if it was collateral damage.

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But of course, in every country,
Ukraine is not an exception,

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we have such industrial facilities
inside of the cities

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which are under attack.

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This can cause a catastrophe,

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which is not intentionally caused
by using chemical weapons

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from the military directly,
but by attacking objects

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or cities or towns
where such facilities are located.

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Stoltenberg mentioned yesterday

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that if there is
a nuclear attack in Ukraine...

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It could be,
because when such disasters happen,

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then the administrative borders
are not the limits.

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This is why
we have to be very careful

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when we are speaking
about ratlines.

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Remember what happened in Syria.

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We have to be very clear
when we define the situation

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where we will consider some acts as
a direct attack on the NATO countries.

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What about Bosnia?
On the Bosnian territory NATO...

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Certain defence forces in Bosnia have
already been preventively strengthened

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following a timely proposal
made by Mr. Borell.

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At the moment,
political tensions exist.

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We regret that the negotiations on the
new election act collapsed yesterday.

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An agreement should be reached.

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Currently, we must stop the
Russian aggression on Ukraine,

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because this is very important
for Bosnia as well.

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If the war in Ukraine continues,

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the consequences of this conflict
will be felt everywhere,

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especially in that part of the Western
Balkans where issues remain unsolved.

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Thank you.