The MPs unanimously endorsed a position telling the Slovenian, Italian and European public that they oppose the terminals. "The key conclusion of today's session is that the committee - considering all the negative effects that the terminals would bring - will use all legal means to prevent the construction," the committee's chair Jožef Horvat of the coalition New Slovenia (NSi) told the STA.

The committee is however also ready to tackle the issue through dialogue, he added.

Horvat was happy to say that the members of the committee had been unanimous on all issues.

Agriculture and Environment Minister Franc Bogovič told the press in Brussels on Monday that the government had endorsed some confidential decisions concerning the terminals at its last session which were aimed at protecting "Slovenia's interests".

Italy recently revived the idea of the construction of a gas terminal at Aquilinia (Žavlje) near the border with Slovenia, a pipeline connecting the terminal with Italian pipelines on the western side of the Gulf of Trieste, and an off-shore terminal.