Janša was critical for the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija's Channel 3 of opposition efforts to replace him, saying that the parties have only been able to produce several potential PM-designate candidates, while failing to agree on any kind of programme.

"What they are doing now is only an attempt to bring down this government and come to power at any price. They believe that the awarding of bad loans, capital increases for banks etc. will simply be able to continue then," he said, adding that Slovenia's resources are exhausted.

According to Janša, left-leaning parties have been constantly proving that they are without a positive programme and need to create an external enemy to succeed in their struggle for power.

The prime minister expects that an early election will be held, saying that his Democrats (SDS) had already foreseen this in December last year and do not have a problem with it. "I am however afraid that we are the only ones seriously dealing with this".

Defending his decision not to subject himself to a vote of confidence in parliament, the PM said that had he followed the call of Citizens' List president Gregor Virant in January and resigned, Slovenia would have been left without a functioning government that would not be able to negotiate with Croatia, propose the ratification of its EU accession treaty, continue the bad bank project or negotiate EU funding.

Janša elaborated on his decision to withdraw outgoing Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec from talks with Croatia, arguing that Erjavec had been undermining the negotiations with constant public appearances meant to help him get reelected as Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) president at the party's upcoming congress.

He moreover argued that given Erjavec's announced resignation as minister, it was necessary to secure continuity and that the minister had been neglecting his responsibility to brief the PM on the talks.

Janša said that Erjavec's decision to put on hold the appointment of 17 ambassadors was completely irresponsible given that some embassies have been without an ambassador for months. He said that there had been no political pressure concerning the candidates and that the appointment procedure would be resumed.

According to the PM, the only pressure came from Erjavec who was pushing for the reappointment of an ambassador whose father is an important DeSUS official who could help Erjavec in his efforts for DeSUS presidency.

Concerning the talks with Croatia on the LB issue, Janša said the planned 10 March meeting with counterpart Zoran Milanović will only make sense if an acceptable proposal for a solution is reached by then.

He feels this is possible, adding that Milanović and him had discussed the issue several times but remained discreet about it. "I am happy that Milanović maintained 100% credibility of these contacts in this respect."

As regards the time frame for the talks, he said they "needed to be wrapped up in time" for Slovenia to ratify Croatia's accession treaty.

Commenting on the findings of the Corruption Prevention Commission accusing him of several violations of graft legislation, Janša said anyone of Slovenia's two million citizens exposed to the same treatment by the commission as him would have been guilty.

"If it is deemed that these delays [in the reporting of assets] and wrong figures, because the price of an old car was cited, require replacing the PM and risk all the consequences for the country, they are welcome to go ahead."

Janša said that he had always been the victim of attempts to frame him and that he had fully accounted for his assets before the commission, but that the latter did not wish to hear his explanations.

He also dismissed the assertion of the anti-graft commission that his daughter's employment at state-owned gas company Plinovodi was secured in a corrupt manner, saying "it would have been a major surprise if the decision of the commission was different from the position of the daily Dnevnik" which first reported on the case.

As regards the government's recent wave of fresh appointments at state institutions, he said that the figures were no different or even below those seen under the previous government of Borut Pahor, which moreover appointed people when it no longer had full powers. He added that appointing competent people who share the views of the government and are therefore motivated only makes common sense.