After Friday’s session of the National Security Council (Svet za nacionalno varnost – hereinafter referred to as SNAV), at which the situation regarding the coronavirus and the state of illegal migrations were being discussed, Prime Minister Janez Janša said in a statement for the media that SNAV believes we are at a turning point – a point where, even with the soft measures and without a major halt to all public life and the economy, we can still stop the spread of the coronavirus, which would prevent us from having to pay the same high price for the virus as we paid in the spring.
“And because of this, the National Security Council calls on all citizens of the Republic of Slovenia to fully abide by the implemented measures, because the actual effect of the measures will depend on this,” said the Prime Minister Janez Janša, adding that the National Security Council also estimates that there are no disagreements between the government and the profession when it comes to the measures being implemented.
“SNAV estimates that the adopted measures are appropriate, balanced, and that the plans adopted to fight against the coronavirus are also well-prepared and balanced, and that all the necessary variants are prepared, so we could stop the virus in any case,” said the Prime Minister. He added that at the moment, “we are not facing the dilemma of whether we will be able to stop the spread of the virus, we know we are capable of stopping it, as we have already proven this with significantly fewer resources in the spring, but the question is what price will we have to pay for it.”
“This price does not depend on the government, as it has taken the measures that are appropriate and suffice, the price depends on whether we will all respect and follow these measures,” Prime Minister Janša pointed out. He added that it is a fact that 5 percent of the population does not comply with the current, soft measures, which significantly lowers the effectiveness of these measures and prevents, or rather threatens and belittles the responsible behaviour of others – of 95 percent of the population.
Janša calls on the opposition to support the activation of Article 37.a of the Defence Act
“As far as illegal migration is concerned, the National Security Council fully supports the proposal of the Slovenian police to propose the activation of Article 37.a of the Defence Act to the National Assembly, due to the severity of the situation. This article enables the activation and use of additional forces from the Slovenian Army for the protection of the Schengen border between Slovenia and Croatia,” said the Prime Minister Janez Janša.
“We are urging the opposition parties to support the measure this time, as this is a decision that needs to be supported by a two-thirds majority,” Janša said. “The government has a direct duty to ensure the safety of all citizens of our country. For the Slovenian government, the security of Slovenian citizens in the middle of Ljubljana is just as important as the human rights and security of the citizens in Ilirska Bistrica, Črnomelj, or any other municipality along the border or along the so-called migrant route, where a lot is going on, which sometimes endangers the safety of our citizens and their property. ”
The mainstream media is ignoring the migrant crisis
Janša added that the mainstream Slovenian media outlets do not report on the events on the migrant route, but they do report on a police officer giving a cyclist in the middle of Ljubljana a dirty look, which they apparently consider to be a violation of human rights. “For the Slovenian government, the human rights and security of all citizens are equally important, regardless of where they live, and we are therefore once again asking for seriousness, in order to ensure enough votes for the activation of Article 37.a of the Defence Act in the National Assembly,” Prime Minister Janša stressed.
“Due to the COVID-19 situation, which is becoming increasingly more difficult and demanding, additional resources for the Slovenian police are needed here, and these resources are limited. The police cannot be working on the tasks related to the COVID-19 situation, and also protecting our southern border at the same time. If the decision to activate Article 37.a of the Defence Act would not be adopted in the National Assembly, the Slovenian government only has one other option, and that is to ask for the help of the police from the partner countries in the Schengen area. Thus, the police would be able to continue to protect our southern border and the population living along the border, with the help of their colleagues from other countries, just like in 2015,” Prime Minister Janez Janša concluded.