Hello. -Hello. -Will you first answer Slovenian questions?
What does the agreement the leaders reached yesterday mean for Slovenia?
I am pleased that we reached an agreement
on the sixth package of sanctions yesterday.
This package was more demanding than the previous five.
Because this includes a part of the energy package.
Not all Member States are in the same situation.
The most difficult thing was to find a solution for those countries
that do not have access to offshore oil tankers.
Fortunately, Slovenia has this access.
We looked for solutions for others.
Of course, this part of the energy problem,
as far as sanctions are concerned,
is still the easier part of the problem,
the hardest part is yet to come. That's gas.
Good luck to those who will find a solution for squaring the circle.
As for the situation in Ukraine,
sanctions, of course, are not the key issue.
The key issue is the situation in Donbas,
where the Russian army is advancing. It's a dry season.
Russia has superiority in the air, in armour and heavy weapons.
If the European Union and the West
don't want to see new millions of refugees from Ukraine in a month,
we must now focus on military aid to Ukraine.
What will change for Slovenia after yesterday's agreement?
As far as oil supply for Slovenia is concerned,
those commercial companies that supply oil to Slovenia,
already ensure that it is not supplied from Russian sources.
If this is true, there should be no complications
nor significant direct effects on energy prices.
Today you will also talk about rising energy prices. What do you expect?
Can you predict anything for the coming months
if the crisis in Ukraine were to deepen?
The topic we started yesterday is probably even more important
than how much Russian oil Europe will buy.
It’s not just about quantities, at the moment it’s mostly about prices.
If prices are very high, Russia can sell half as much oil,
but it will still have more money to finance the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, when Russia invaded Ukraine,
when it destabilised world markets with the war in Ukraine,
it also caused higher oil or energy prices,
food prices and so on. This is basically the main problem.
I hope that today we will find more concrete solutions
on how to influence energy prices.
Europe has some instruments for this,
but unfortunately, we are still prisoners
of the paradigms of years ago,
when there was neither war nor high prices.
And when the green transition paradigm applied no matter how much it cost.
These priorities now need to be reconciled.
If the European Union finds the right approach,
this will stabilise energy prices.
What about the perspective of joint procurement?
How quickly is this measure feasible? It seems a good measure in general.
This measure is good, Slovenia proposed it in October last year.
Formal frameworks are more or less set.
However, much remains to be done
by the European institutions and the Member States,
because it is a matter of coordinating formal European frameworks
and the commercial approach in the European single market.
You have already mentioned the future of the war in Ukraine and the measures
which the European Union should implement in this case.
Today you are at your last summit of this term.
What do you think would be most urgent
for the European Union and for Slovenia within the EU?
For the future of the connection and this problem?
What will be the biggest challenges?
Now, but also in the foreseeable future,
the key challenge is the war in Ukraine.
This war affects everything.
It affects geostrategic balance in the world.
It affects lesser potential crisis points, causing instability
in the Western Balkans for example.
Both Slovenian and European policy have to focus on that.
At the moment the key is to stop Russian agressors.
If Russia wins ground there,
this will increase the appetite of the agressor,
cause political instability in Ukraine,
and the loss of credibility of the EU and the West
which will affect prices, energy security,
so the war in Ukraine will decide the future of the EU and Slovenia.
Do you have any advice to your successors?
I advise proactive policy. The key point is Ukraine.
You need to know all the details
and focus on what's important.
Both Slovenian and European foreign policy
should focus on that, and Slovenia will make sure
that we can live in peace and prosperity.
I don't like to predict the future.
I was a part of the European Council for the 3rd time.
At this time there is noone in the European Council
who was there from 2004 to 2008.
I hope that many of these brave people I've met here,
especially brave female colleagues from Denmark, Finland, Sweden
and Estonia will still be here,
because they are the ones steerin the European boat
in the right direction.
As I've said many times since February, the world has changed.
We are still trying to understand how important the changes are.
The West and especially the EU, lacked ambition
and strategic answers to the strategic challenges.
The enlargement of the EU is one of the possible answers.
When we are speaking about the possibility
of the EU membership for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine,
it's a: Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
The European Council will fail to meet the demads of the time
if the candidate status is not delivered.
And to be very frank,
during the discussions since February
I saw clear division within the EU regarding its enlargement.
There are some countries that just want for aspiring
countries to stay in the waiting room or even outside
as long as possible
and thus provide a cheap labour force for core Europe.
I'm strongly against it. Europe was built on
other values.
I think this is a test.
We see that Sweden and Finland are joining NATO.
This is one of the rare bright spots
in the current situation.
The EU has to follow this path.
It has to change the criteria
and return to the original spirit of the EU.
The EU was built as a peace process.
Not only as a single market
with prices and economy influencing everything.
The Council in June will be the moment of truth.