“As long as Prime Minister Janez Janša remains in power, I am afraid that the Slovenian presidency will fail to pursue the ambitious agenda that people deserve. This Parliament has debated the concerning situation in Slovenia several times in the past two years and the European Commission, in its 2020 Rule of Law report, criticised media freedom in the country. We will have the chance to ask the prime minister about this in plenary next week. We will also ask about the presidency’s plans to push forward the Next Generation EU, which is urgent. The presidency should also try to make progress in important areas such as adequate minimum wages, equal pay and asylum reform. The Portuguese presidency has managed to make progress on many important fronts. We hope the Slovenian presidency finds leverage to broker key agreements in the Council. We are ready to cooperate to find positive results, but the Slovenian government must urgently appoint its delegate to the EU Public Prosecutor’s Office. We expect transparency and accountability from all EU Member States.