STA, 6 November 2018 - The opposition Democrats (Slovenska demokratska stranka - SDS) have requested an extraordinary session of the National Assembly to debate the UN-sponsored global compact for migration. MP Branko Grims said Tuesday the party demands the Slovenian government reject the agreement in its entirety.
The SDS is against the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration because "it treats all migrants in the same way, and eliminates state borders in the long-term".
The party fears the agreement would present a burden for Slovenia in terms of finances and in general, and would result in a downfall of Slovenia as well as other European countries, according to Grims.
He stressed that an increasing number of countries had already withdrawn from it, including the US and three of Slovenia's four neighbours.
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Saying that the agreement is not binding on Slovenia is misleading, according to Grims. While it is true that parties to it are not legally bound by the deal, they are bound by it politically, he stressed.
Signatures for the request of the parliamentary session were contributed by another two opposition parties, New Slovenia (NSi) and the National Party (SNS).
Jožef Horvat, who heads the NSi's deputy group, told the press the government should not support the deal because it does not address the issue of how to eliminate the causes of migrations.
The NSi would like the National Assembly to pass a resolution recommending that the government "encourage seeking within EU and UN institutions a solution to eliminate the causes of migrations in source countries".
Slovenia had endorsed the drafting of the agreement, but the Foreign Ministry stressed on Monday that it was not binding and that it gave countries' sovereignty to shape their own migration policies.
The document, the first international agreement on migration management aimed at improving cooperation on this issue, will be adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, next month.
See all our stories on immigration in Slovenia here
