 | The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today received the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, who is on a working visit to Slovenia. The two Presidents started the meeting with a tête-à-tête discussion which was followed by talks between the delegations of the two countries.
In his press statement, President Türk explained that President Yushchenko’s visit was very important both for bilateral relations and for the exchange of opinions on the situation in Europe and around the world. Bilateral relations between the two countries have developed very well, political relations are excellent and economic relations are intensifying – last year, trade between the two countries amounted to €269 million, representing significant progress and representing an increase of over 55% compared with the previous year. Dr Türk pointed out that Slovenia was satisfied with this development and would like to see it continue as dynamically in future.
As Dr Türk remarked, President Yushchenko’s visit was particularly important because of the Ukraine’s role in Europe and the prospect of it having a future in Europe. “Slovenia takes every opportunity to clearly voice its firm support for Ukraine having closer ties with the Euro-Atlantic structures. We are pleased that Ukraine has made progress on its path to joining the World Trade Organisation and in establishing a free trade area with Europe. We would like to see this process continue as intensively as possible, with a view to ensuring firm foundations for the country’s future in Europe, for the prospects of Ukraine’s EU membership,” said President Türk. He expressed the hope that this process, which had been moving along at an appropriate pace during the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, would continue after the Slovenian Presidency.
The two Presidents also talked about the prospect of organising a bilateral economic conference in Ukraine which would present possibilities for further cooperation to entrepreneurs from both countries. Dr Türk said that the Slovenian side has already shown a relatively high level of interest, particularly in the fields of pharmaceutical technologies, household appliances, household equipment and telecommunications.
President Türk accepted with pleasure an invitation from President Yushchenko to visit Ukraine. |