What Matej spoke about.

16

Dec

2025

SL Speech

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European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion’ (debate)

26

Nov

2025

SL Speech

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The situation of Christian communities and religious minorities in Nigeria and the Middle East, and Europe’s responsibility to protect them and guarantee freedom of conscience (topical debate)

25

Nov

2025

SL Speech

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European Defence Industry Programme and a framework of measures to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products (‘EDIP’) (debate)

Madam President! We all know that peace is the foundation of everything. Peace is a prerequisite for the functioning of all social subsystems, be it the economy, health, education, pension system. And long-term peace for our children can only be secured by credible deterrence. Credible deterrence can only be achieved if the right defence capabilities are in place. What is the cost of these real de…

12

Nov

2025

SL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President. North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan. These are just a few of the countries in the world where the massacres of Christians are taking place. In a way, our mother Europe seems to be deaf to persecuted Christians everywhere in the world. It is not unimportant that as many as 380 million Christians around the world today face various f…

21

Oct

2025

SL Speech

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Institutional consequences of the EU enlargement negotiations (debate)

Mr. President! What are the consequences of enlargement for existing members and for new ones? Positive in any case, and it is truly amazing how much time is spent discussing what the consequences will be. Definitely positive. The new members, of course, get additional funds because they can strengthen their development, but the existing members get, above all, new markets where they can sell thei…

21

Oct

2025

SL Question

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Institutional consequences of the EU enlargement negotiations (debate)

Mr. President! Twenty-one years ago, a major expansion took place, of which Slovenia was a part. And last year, calculations were made on who gained the most from the enlargement of the European Union, taking into account all existing old members, as well as those new ones. And France was among the three countries that gained the most from enlargement. So, I would like to know why you are opposed …

20

Oct

2025

SL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President! Do you remember in 2004, 21 years ago, when Slovenia joined the European Union? It was the star of the entrance at the time, developed, modern, advanced. Where is he today? Unfortunately, things are going backwards, and I have to say that Slovenia is becoming a kidnapped country today. Let's just look at the police case. The police were led for two years by an illegally appointed …

8

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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United response to recent Russian violations of the EU Member States’ airspace and critical infrastructure (debate)

Madam President, in today's debate, we are seeing how Russia is mocking and deliberately provoking the EU. Putin is doing so because we are a democracy and because he knows our rules of engagement. Russia knows that NATO aircraft carrying out air policing can only shoot down Russian aeroplanes if NATO aircraft are attacked. The Russians are exploiting our rules of engagement so that they can use t…

7

Oct

2025

SL Speech

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Time to complete a fully integrated Single Market: Europe’s key to growth and future prosperity (debate)

Dear Vice-President, dear colleagues! Today we have devoted a great deal of time to complaining about how the single market does not work and how powerful the 450 million market is. Yeah, it's true. We need to go to concrete actions, we need more speed. What does concrete action mean? Namely, we promised the so-called 28th regime, where a company established in Slovenia can practically work anywhe…

9

Sep

2025

SL Speech

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Wave of violence and continuous use of force against protesters in Serbia (debate)

Madam President. The protests. The right of assembly is the most normal thing in all Western European democratic countries, so it should not even come as a surprise to the Serbian Government. You can distinguish a Democrat from an autocrat very quickly by how he handles the protests themselves. The democrat will resort to dialogue, and the autocrat will resort to violence. If anything, I've been w…

9

Sep

2025

EN Speech

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Ukraine (joint debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioners, dear colleagues, it seems that we are waiting for the war in Ukraine to end on its own, or for President Trump or the Pope to bring it to an end. None of this has happened. The war will end when Putin realises that he has nothing to gain on the battlefield. That is the reason for our unwavering support for Ukraine. Our support for Ukraine is the path towards pe…

8

Sep

2025

SL Speech

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Investments and reforms for European competitiveness and the creation of a Capital Markets Union (debate)

Madam President. Dear colleagues! It has been a year since Mr Draghi poured us pure wine, what the European Union and all of us need to do in order to continue to be a relevant player in the international arena and to continue to be an economic and economic power. It's been a year since then. Let's ask ourselves what really happened this year. Mr Draghi recently performed again in Italy in Rimini,…

9

Jul

2025

SL Speech

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EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season (debate)

Madam President! Commissioner! Colleagues! I come from Slovenia, which in the past was the victim of violent and extensive wildfires. In Slovenia, more than half of the area is made up of forests, so fires in inaccessible areas are practically a constant, constant threat. I am also a volunteer firefighter. Slovenia, which has a population of two million, has 165,000 volunteer firefighters, 50,000 …

8

Jul

2025

EN Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on North Macedonia (debate)

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, North Macedonia has been an EU candidate since 2005, with 20 years of efforts towards membership. During this time, the country has demonstrated real dedication, enacted many important reforms and moved closer to the EU. Yet we must be clear – enlargement must remain a merit-based process. Countries that deliver results and respect democratic v…

18

Jun

2025

SL Speech

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Upcoming NATO summit on 24-26 June 2025 (debate)

Dear Commissioner, Vice-President, dear colleagues. In Slovenia, we have some folk wisdom that holds true, even in the field of defence and security. Namely: together we are stronger and the group is as strong as the weakest link. NATO is a defence alliance that offers collective security to all countries, and collective security has always been cheaper and more powerful than the security that eac…

7

May

2025

SL Speech

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EU support for a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace in Ukraine (debate)

Madam President! Dear Commissioner, Chair-in-Office, dear colleagues. War is evil, and war takes the future away from the younger generations. And it is our duty to do everything we can to stop the war in Ukraine. It is also our duty to do everything possible to stop the future war on European soil. But rewarding Putin for his crimes will never guarantee lasting peace. To indulge authoritarian lea…

6

May

2025

SL Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Serbia (debate)

Mr President. I come from Slovenia, a country that was once part of Yugoslavia with Serbia. Ironically, in a way, practically on the eve of the end of the Second World War, when we thought we had dealt with totalitarianism once and for all, we are still engaged in establishing basic democratic standards. When communism fell in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, we were convinced that freedom and democracy w…

1

Apr

2025

SL Speech

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EU Preparedness Union Strategy (debate)

Madam President! Dear colleagues, Commissioner! Peace is the desire of all of us. Sometimes it seems that it is absolutely self-evident, sometimes so desired, but difficult to reach. And peace is the foundation that ensures the functioning of all social subsystems, from the economy, health to social. Recognising that peace is not self-evident, the EU's ReArm programme to build credible deterrence …

11

Mar

2025

SL Speech

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Clean Industrial Deal (debate)

Madam President! During the previous mandate, European policies and the economy were guided by the foundations of the ideological green transition. The consequences are known to everyone today. In recent years, electricity and gas prices have risen to record levels and remain high despite stabilisation. The Clean Industrial Deal we have on the table today is a pragmatic response to the madness of …

11

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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White paper on the future of European defence (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, esteemed colleagues, now more than ever, we need a true European Defence Union. Today we face a key moment for our defence under the REARM Europe plan. While I strongly advocate for this initiative, we must recognise that we are at least three years late in addressing our defence needs. Europe must reclaim its own security. We are at the beginning of an important journe…

11

Feb

2025

SL Speech

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Political crisis in Serbia (debate)

Madam President! The vice-president! Commissioner! Dear colleagues and colleagues! In Serbia, we follow the strength and determination of young people. They do not demand the authorities, they demand a different future, they demand European Serbia. Serbian students are the voice, hope and conscience of the entire Balkans. Authoritarian tendencies, manifested in corruption, abuse of power and influ…

20

Jan

2025

SL Speech

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Powering Europe’s future - advancing the fusion industry for energy independence and innovation (debate)

Madam Vice-President, Commissioner. I want a cleaner planet and I want a real green transition. Nuclear power is the key to all of this. And if the European Union wants to promote nuclear technology, then firstly, nuclear safety must remain at the heart of our efforts. The European Union must continue to promote cooperation on high nuclear safety standards. Secondly, investment in research and dev…

18

Dec

2024

SL Speech

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Restoring the EU’s competitive edge – the need for an impact assessment on the Green Deal policies (topical debate)

Mr President. The goal of the green transition was to reduce CO2 emissions.2. Did we really? We're not. Timmermans' green transition was a political and ideological campaign that did not deliver results. Billions of euros have been invested in the green transition in recent years, but the targets are not met because you have approached the green transition ideologically rather than scientifically.…

18

Dec

2024

SL Speech

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Preparation of the EU-Western Balkans Summit (debate)

Madam President. The European Union is a project of peace. And this peace project will never be complete if there are no Balkan countries within this European Union. It is my great wish that the members of the European Union become members as soon as possible. This is, after all, in our own interest, and it is primarily in their own interest. I am confident that they will do their homework well wi…

17

Dec

2024

SL Speech

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Russia’s disinformation and historical falsification to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner! It is known that communists in the past used a very simple modus operandi. First discreditation, then liquidation. Putin does exactly the same thing. First he discredited Ukraine and then he tries to liquidate it. But he calls this liquidation liberation, and this ‘liberation’ represents the killing, demolition and, in a way, the denial of all that has been created i…