Janša attending EU summit on pandemic, economic recovery

Brussels – Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša is among the EU leaders attending a summit in Brussels on Thursday dedicated to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, post-pandemic economic recovery, migrations, and relations with Russia and Turkey. Janša did not make a doorstep statement or take questions from reporters on arrival in Brussels.

With vaccination against Covid-19 being among the most important topics, the summit will review the progress of member states in vaccination, with the EU setting the goal of a 70% vaccination rate for adults by the end of summer.

This is the first time after the Covid pandemic broke out in March last year that journalists were able to pose questions to EU leaders on their arrival at the summit, but unlike some 20 other European leaders Janša did not make a doorstep statement as planned or take questions from reporters.

The STA has been unable to get an official response to the question why the prime minister failed to appear before the press, except that he decided not to give a doorstep statement. It is not clear yet whether the prime minister will have a press conference at the end of the summit.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that the upcoming Slovenian EU presidency, i.e. Prime Minister Janez Janša wants to include sport in the resolutions from the summit.

According to the British newspaper, Slovenia wants the summit to confirm the unity of sport organisation in Europe, which comes as a surprise for European diplomats as the EU has no major jurisdiction in this field.

The Financial Times reported that Slovenian diplomats said that this was meant to prevent disputes such as the one raised with the idea of a European Super League, and added that Janša had been holding a grudge with UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, a Slovenian, for a long time.

The official response from Slovenia to the report is that the country advocates an European model of sport that would encourage sport values in Europe, like freedom of assembly, solidarity, diversity, openness and inclusion.

On the eve of the summit, Janša reportedly met Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Italian national-conservative party Brothers of Italy (FdI) and the president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.

The meeting was announced on the websites of the FdI and ECR and on Meloni’s website. Janša’s office said yesterday that the prime minister would meet the leaders of all European political parties and groups as part of preparations to the EU presidency.

The post Janša attending EU summit on pandemic, economic recovery appeared first on Slovenia Times.

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