President Drnovšek receives the Finnish prime minister

Ljubljana, 09/06/2004 | press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today received the prime minister of Finland, Mr Matti Vanhanen, who is visiting Slovenia at the invitation of Slovenia’s prime minister.

Dr Drnovšek and Mr Vanhanen began by emphasising that Slovenia and Finland enjoy excellent cooperation and that with Slovenia’s membership of the European Union new opportunities have appeared for cooperation between the two countries. President Drnovšek made the point that for Slovenia, as a new member of the EU, it is important to know how to continue its journey and what approach to take. He also mentioned his recent visit to Finland and stated that Finnish solutions such as the successful interconnection of the economy, science and education have been well received in Slovenia. President Drnovšek remarked that Finland enjoys a high degree of confidence in Slovenia. The two leaders also exchanged opinions on development aid and President Drnovšek mentioned that Slovenia needs to cooperate more intensively in this field.

At the end of the discussion President Drnovšek stated that the two countries have much in common, something which contributes to strengthening relations, and expressed the hope that the good cooperation between the two countries will continue in the future.