Minister Logar assessed the special session as a welcome step towards better communication and an effective exchange of good practices in safeguarding public health and supporting the economy. He also underscored the importance of cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) which supports Member States by providing them with guidelines, tools, and scientific data they can employ in their efforts.

The Minister commended scientists for their remarkable efforts in developing a COVID-19 vaccine. He announced that in the framework of its presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2021, Slovenia will promote the discussion on how the Union could most effectively approach the challenges related to the availability and accessibility of pharmaceutical products.

He went on to underline that the pandemic has had a particularly serious impact on developing countries, aggravating the problems they were already facing even before the pandemic emerged. Slovenia’s COVID-19 response included the provision of humanitarian aid and development assistance. “Everyone, not only the privileged few, should have the right to health. We should therefore push for universal health coverage”, added Minister Logar. 

He also stressed that in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to continue to respect the generally accepted norms and standards in relation to human rights, as the current crisis has had a devastating impact on the rights of the most vulnerable and has exacerbated the already existing structural inequalities within our societies.

Minister Logar advocated for a global sustainable recovery process, as part of which countries would strive to achieve the targets set out in the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. Only through innovation, digital transformation, and green solutions can the recovery be stimulated. In this context, the Minister drew attention to the “Corona Virus Media Watch” platform that was launched by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) based in Ljubljana and is charged with observing the emerging trends related to COVID-19.