WEBVTT

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Dear Pedro, Thank you
very much for your hospitality.

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Dear Andrej, congratulations

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for all the fun and entertainment
of today, not just results.

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It is always good to be among
like-minded people

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and today was a very good day
in that regard.

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Being here for the first time
at MED9, it is an honour to me

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that we were able to share
not just ideas

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in a totally friendly manner,

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but that we were able
to come to an agreement

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so easy and so fast.

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If you're like-minded and
respect each other, it's doable.

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This is one of the messages
we should send across the world.

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When you meet and discuss things
in an open and friendly manner,

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everything can be achieved.

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I would like to pinpoint
three principles.

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We dealt with energy,
which was the major topic today.

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The first one is solidarity.

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One of the major facets of the new
package that has been prepared by the EC,

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is establishing automatic solidarity
between the member states

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when it comes to gas
and electricity supply.

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This is a very important
step forward,

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because it's actually the foundation
on which the EU has been established.

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There is obviously
no disagreement on that.

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We all see major benefits
coming from that.

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Another thing, even more important
now, is that we need to be decisive.

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We, as the leaders of Europe,
cannot stall. We cannot stop.

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We shall act, not just because
the people expect that from us,

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but because it's the world
that we live in.

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For that reason, I'm particularly
glad that in the field of energy

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in view of the common
energy ministers' meeting next week,

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we came to a joint proposal
on how to reduce and curb

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the prices on gas.

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And I think this is a very
strong messages we're sending.

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We were able to come
to a joint proposal and solution.

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And we will do all we can
that next week all our colleagues

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from other EU member states
agree on that.

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For this, I'm particularly glad,
because being a small and open economy,

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it's so much more important
for us to bring the gas prices down.

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And the third one,

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which is flexibility.

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When it comes to the future
of fiscal rules especially,

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and if there's something that this
dire situation has shown us it's that

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we cannot stay rigid.

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We cannot apply the same rules
that were in place for the last 10 years

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to existing political
and global situations.

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We need to be flexible.
And again.

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We were all agreed upon that.

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When we say flexible
that means we need to target

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those particular fields
and areas such as green technology,

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and digital technology,

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where we can exempt them
from the fiscal rules.

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So it's not a total exemption,
just abandoning the rules,

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but it needs to be targeted.
That way we will use the money,

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the allocated funds
in the most efficient way.

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And finally,

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it is true, inflation is high.
The costs are high.

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There's a crisis.
The war in Ukraine.

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But this also brings
an opportunity.

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In my view the Mediterranean
area has so much potential now,

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not just messages and lessons,
but potential in order to help

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other member states,
the landlocked states,

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to help them get away
from the dependency on Russian gas.

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Slovenia that lies in-between

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understands this potential very well.

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It's not just a gateway
to the Central Europe.

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It is also the source of renewables,
especially the solar and wind.

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At the moment, that is a huge,
unexploited potential.

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Not just on the northern shore,
but even on the southern shore.

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This is where we can contribute
a lot

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 to the strategic development
of Europe in the future.