Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said in his speech at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York last night that the UN must develop a new approach to prevent mass atrocities, Slovenian news agency STA reported.
According to Janša, the world today has not become better than it was during World War II, as the lack of consistency undermines the importance of the principles on which the UN was founded. At the same time, he noted that in recent decades the UN has devoted a large part of its time to the issue of Palestine.
According to him, similar standards should be applied to other issues, such as "the suffering of Christians in Nigeria".
He called for the creation of an independent mechanism, reporting to the UN General Assembly, which would annually present a comparison between the scale, duration and severity of major crises, on the one hand, and the scope and nature of the international response – on the other.
In an interview with the American television "Fox News" Janša also commented that the UN uses double standards in its assessment of global crises and, according to him, the focus on Gaza has overshadowed Russia's war in Ukraine and other humanitarian crises.
Under the previous Slovenian government of Robert Golob, Slovenia recognized the Palestinian state in 2024 and introduced an embargo on arms exports to Israel in July last year, Slovenian national broadcaster RTV Slo recalls. The government described these measures as necessary to protect Palestinian civilians and comply with international law. However, Janša's government is working to restore relations with Israel. Earlier this month, the first Israeli embassy was opened in Ljubljana, and the two governments signed a program for cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture, youth and sports, which will remain in force until 2030.
Before "Fox News" Janša criticized European leaders for failing to recognize the broader strategic links between Iran, Russia, and the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. In his words, "lasting peace in the Middle East is not possible without regime change in Tehran".
On the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Slovenian Prime Minister also met with US President Donald Trump and invited him to visit Slovenia. Trump, in turn, promised to soon visit the country where US First Lady Melania Trump was born.