Interior minister tours refugee facility in Slovenia

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris visited a Ukrainian refugee reception centre in Slovenia on Saturday during an official visit in the country at the invitation of his Slovenian counterpart Ales Hojs.

The Slovenian government offers “maximum assistance” to the refugees at Logatec in the south-western part of Slovenia, Nouris said after his visit.

“The numbers are such that the Slovenian government is able to have a good management of these people, since 400 Ukrainian refugees are accommodated in this centre,” he added.

For his part, Hojs said: “I believe we managed to welcome all those who fled the war and express our solidarity with these people”.

However, he expressed concern over the increasing numbers and wished for the Russian invasion of Ukraine to end soon.

“During the last few weeks the number of Ukrainians arriving in our country has increased greatly and we really hope that the war will end as soon as possible.”

The two ministers shared views on the management of migratory flows, including refugees from Ukraine, and agreed on the need to reach a single European pact on asylum and migration which would be based on solidarity towards the Member States that bear the greatest burden.

During the discussions, the ministers also pointed out how the European Commission should immediately financially support Member States to enable them to manage the flows of refugees arriving in their countries.