Greetings. First, my condolences to the family of the victim.
We all hope this will be the only victim.
We also wish a quick recovery
to everyone who was injured in this disaster.
I would also like to sincerely thank everyone
who is helping people within the protection and rescue system.
I think we have the best system of protection and rescue in Europe.
This bright spot allows us to look at the future optimistically,
even though nature truly battered most of Slovenia
in an unprecedented way.
I would also like to thank the Civil Protection,
the firefighters, the police, the army and all volunteers
who are doing their best in the field,
regardless of the time or conditions,
to safeguard lives
and perhaps even minimise damage.
But we know that damage will be record-high
and that it will exceed the damage done by natural disasters
ever since Slovenia's independence.
We have called a meeting of the National Security Council
for tomorrow at 11 a.m.,
because we all, including the opposition, wish to unite.
We have to stand together in such times
and be as efficient as possible with the measures
that politics has to implement for the good of the people.
We have a special meeting at 11 a.m.,
where we will discuss legislative changes with a single goal,
municipalities and the people receiving assistance faster.
We will also be discussing help that was offered
by our neighbouring countries and Brussels.
I would like to thank them as well, we got a lot of help.
We will discuss this in detail
and we will ask for help where necessary.
Conditions truly are catastrophic
and we should accept available help.
I will end by saying that we know
how terrible the situation in the field is,
especially with the infrastructure.
I am urging people to, at least for a little while longer,
not go around doing things that are not of vital importance.
They are not only endangering themselves,
but rescue teams as well, who did truly heroic work today
saving people from the roofs of flooded homes by helicopter
and breaking through to cut off areas
and establishing urgent medical and communication infrastructure.
So, I am urging people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.
We are also preparing for the recovery once the water recedes.
We will have to activate all available mechanisms and knowledge
as the damage to infrastructure, especially roads, is enormous.
I am sure we will be efficient
and after tomorrow's government meeting
we will submit an amendment to the Natural Disaster Recovery Act.
Despite the holidays the National Assembly
will have a special session, on Tuesday or Wednesday,
where they will discuss the amendment
so we can help the municipalities and the people,
as soon as possible, during August. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Defence, Marjan Šarec.
Greetings.
As the Prime Minister said, the situation is serious.
All available units have been in the field since early morning.
Civil Protection, firefighters and the army are in the field.
Regarding the army I must say
that we currently have up to 500 soldiers available to us
who have not yet been activated
because the progression of the intervention
does not yet allow access everywhere.
Units are breaking through to places
and are already working in some.
So, there is no fear that the Slovenian Army
would not be activated in its full capacity.
We must wait until tomorrow
to see what happens with the rain during the night.
I hope that roads will be passable enough tomorrow
for the teams to be able to go where they are needed.
The PM also mentioned international aid,
the EU mechanism and bilateral aid from other countries.
We will accept all of that, we will not reject it,
but things need to calm down enough
so we can efficiently distribute the teams
that will come from abroad.
Teams always need to be distributed for work to be done optimally.
Other than the number of people
the main thing is organising work in the field.
Tomorrow we will be continuing with this intervention.
Let us hope that the forecast does not come true
and that the scale will be a little smaller.
All available resources are already in the field.
The government will also discuss the issue tomorrow
and submit an amendment to the National Assembly.
But, as the PM said and I have been repeating all day,
we are urging citizens not to go anywhere unless necessary,
do not take photos, do not go near watercourses
and near intervention teams.
We really do not want to have any accidents or unnecessary victims.
That is now vital. All teams are saving lives.
The secondary phase is saving property,
and only then will the next phase be recovery.
The system works. Please, be patient
and only call emergency services when necessary.
The situation will surely improve enough in the following days
for things to take a more normal course. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of the Interior.
Thank you. Despite the catastrophic floods across most of Slovenia
internal security is working.
The police has been carrying out
regular and emergency tasks since the early morning
in accordance with the National Flood Plan.
The police used its aviation unit,
first two helicopters and a third in the afternoon,
to conduct rescue operations in affected areas.
They saved people from rooftops
in three locations that are cut off from the rest of the country
and brought them to safety.
The administrative system is also still working.
We still issued all documents in the affected areas,
both ID cards and passports for those who urgently needed them,
so we wouldn't hinder their travels abroad.
I must point out that the Slovenian police
has opened up the police academy in Tacen
to affected people who require accommodation.
Because of the increased water level of the river Sava
we had a number of residents housed in the police academy.
The academy has ensured accommodation.
We have the capacity for 120 people with food taken care of.
So, the police also did their part.
If necessary, we also have
the Vinko Beznik training centre in Gotenica.
We have the capacity for affected residents that require housing.
But, as my predecessors said,
it is necessary to follow explicit orders, warnings
and instructions by the police and other competent services.
We have heavily damaged infrastructure,
meaning bridges and roads,
and despite blockades there is still traffic.
People are still driving across them.
I must also say that quite a lot of people
go and look at the damaged infrastructure,
which hinders intervention services and is dangerous in itself.
We strongly advise against this.
If such people need to be punished
in order for emergency services to be able to operate, we will do so.
Right now we need to ensure
that intervention services are able to do their job.
Again, Ministers of the Interior
that are also responsible for civil protection
have offered to help.
As the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence have said,
we will discuss this tomorrow at the government meeting
and determine what exactly Slovenia needs.
To summarise,
I am urging all residents of Slovenia to stay at home
unless they urgently require something of vital importance.
We are already helping people in affected areas,
but the operation of intervention services needs to be ensured,
especially in impassable areas
where rescue services are also in great danger,
so something wouldn't happen to them.
We are being especially careful.
We also conducted urgent evacuations by helicopter today.
The police is ensuring the highest level of security
and full cooperation with Civil Protection
in line with Civil Protection ordinances.
I would also like to thank the representatives of the media
for reporting and quickly conveying information
and police orders and instructions to the public.
My sincere thanks to you.
Thank you. The Commander of Civil Protection.
Greetings. I will take this opportunity
to first thank my own units for today's response,
which will be even more extensive tomorrow.
I believe that we will not have any problems with this.
I would also like to thank
the helicopter units of the Slovenian police and army.
With three aircraft each they rescued people
who were too late or unable to leave their homes.
I do not know the exact number
because I have not read the reports yet,
but it is probably close to 200 people.
I would like to thank these two units on their behalf,
as well as everyone else from the police and the army that helped.
I believe that we will keep these efforts up successfully
with as little loss of life and material as possible. Thank you.
Thank you. Lastly, hydrologist Janez Polajnar.
A few words on what is coming tonight and tomorrow.
Floods from affected areas
are now moving toward the middle and lower parts of rivers.
That will be most evident at the large rivers,
like the Sava, which has reached record-high water flow.
During the night and morning this water flow will travel
through Zasavje and Posavje to the Croatian border,
where we are also expecting a record-high flow, 3800 m3/s,
similarly as in 2010.
The Savinja river will not recede much tonight,
at least in its middle and lower streams.
It will begin receding toward the morning.
The Drava will thankfully not rise anymore.
Austria informed us that they will reduce the flow to Slovenia.
The flow from Austria to Slovenia amounted to 900 m3/s,
which means that under the Markovci dam,
in the lower stream of the Drava,
the water flow is just under 2000 m3/s.
The river Mura will rise a little tonight.
Its water flow will be around 1350 m3/s,
which means that it will reach the top of the levees.
Let us hope that the levees hold tonight and tomorrow.
For a few hours during the night there will still be showers,
especially in Central, Eastern and Southern Slovenia.
In the areas where these showers can stagnate a short while
there may be torrential flooding of smaller rivers,
which will bring additional water to the larger rivers.
We expect that the hydrological situation will begin easing
during the day on Saturday and into the night. Thank you.
Thank you all. Are there any questions?
Go ahead.
Mr. Prime Minister, will the amendment contain
the changes that were already presented
or does the current situation require something else as well?
Yes, it is vital that we adopt
the presented changes to the Natural Disaster Recovery Act
with a single goal,
to help municipalites receive intervention and recovery faster.
That is the main thing. Data from the field also shows
that the municipalities are well acquainted with their options.
They no longer delay in calling for help
from other municipalities and regions.
Aid within Slovenia is running well.
This legislation is mainly important
to safeguard municipal budgets.
The State will cover the costs of the intervention and recovery,
so municipal authorities can begin implementing measures immediately.
At tomorrow's meeting we will also discuss international aid.
European Commissioner Lenarčič confirmed that he will also come
to see what can be done with the EU Solidarity Fund.
We will also see where we can apply international aid,
which has already been offered.
Most likely in establishing the road infrastructure,
among other fields.
The third thing we will discuss tomorrow
is opening stores this Sunday,
so people wouldn't think that they need to go shopping tomorrow.
We will seriously consider opening stores on Sunday,
so that people can stay at home tomorrow
and not put themselves in danger,
especially in areas with severe flooding projected.
Thank you. -One more question.
Some residents definitely have a difficult night ahead.
Have you considered ordering an evacuation in advance?
What are the residents of Zasavje,
Posavje and Bela Krajina supposed to do?
The residents of those areas know such situations well.
This is not the first, nor the last time,
but they were alerted in time by sirens and local media.
Every responsible resident should know
where their home is and in what danger it is from water.
I hope their responses will be better
than in the areas that were flooded today.
However, those were torrential flows that caught people by surprise.
Let us hope that there will indeed be fewer torrents tomorrow
and that people will be able to act.
But we have been warning them for a few days.
I saw today that those municipalities
are already preparing and distributing sandbags.
I am certain that the residents of those areas are well informed.
I think there should be no major problems.
Thank you. Any other questions?
Thank you for coming.