Thank you very much, your excellencies.
I would now like to give the floor to the Prime Minister of Slovenia.
Thank you. Dear Magdalena, dear Mateusz, dear Denys,
dear colleagues, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
I would also like to join all of you and stress once again
the importance and the timely organisation
of this pledging conference.
As the Russian illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine
protracts in time, we are witnessing
one of the worst humanitarian disasters.
At the same time, we are filled with admiration for the Ukrainians
who are showing immense courage
defending their homeland
and at the same time fighting for the universal values
of freedom and democracy.
President Zelensky, Prime Minister Shmyhal,
Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people
are a true inspiration for us all.
When we visited you in the middle of March
together with Mateusz and Petr,
we saw that Ukraine will never be defeated.
The main question when this war will come to an end
mostly lies in your courage and in our help.
This is the combination that will prevail.
I'm also proud that the European Union
has shown a high level of unity
in responding to the Russian aggression
as well as effectiveness in providing assistance.
We have stood up in this war, we will overcome it
and we will prevail.
We look forward to the day in the near future
when we can welcome Ukraine
as a full member of the European Union.
Slovenia especially commends Poland
and all other neighbouring countries of Ukraine
for their generous hospitality
and welcoming millions of Ukrainian refugees.
More than 60.000 Ukrainian refugees came to Slovenia too.
A big part of them found shelter in Slovenia.
Just a few days ago,
a group of orphans was relocated to our country to escape
from the dangers of war.
We have responded in line with our moral obligation.
Aside from material, technical and military donations,
we have donated several million euros
to different humanitarian allocations for Ukraine
and we are increasing it today for another million
to the UNICEF fund and additional in-kind assistance
for the Ukrainian people. We're also preparing a special law on Ukraine
that we will pass to the Slovenian parliament
to shorten the procedures to be able to deliver help on time.
We stand in solidarity with Ukraine. Slava Ukraini.