 The Presidents of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, and of the Republic of Croatia, Dr Ivo Josipoviæ, attended the "Route of Friendship" concert in Trieste, at which musicians from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy performed under the baton of the famous Italian conductor, Riccardo Muti. Before the concert, the three presidents paid homage to the memory of tragic events from the past, thus promoting efforts for the constructive and friendly co-existence of the three peoples in a united Europe.
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 On their arrival in Trieste, the three guests were welcomed by the prefect of Trieste, Dr Alessandro Giacchetti. Presidents Türk, Napolitano and Josipoviæ then walked to the Slovenian cultural centre "Narodni dom" and laid a wreath at the building’s memorial plaque, thus honouring the memory of this building, which was burnt down on 13 July 1920, and which has special symbolic value for the Slovenian community living in Italy. On this occasion, the three presidents met with representatives of the Slovenian community in Italy, Mr Rudi Pav¹iè, president of the Slovene Cultural and Economic Union and Dr Drago ©toka of the Council of Slovenian Organisations, and signed the visitors book. At the Trieste Piazza della Libertà, the Slovenian, the Italian and the Croatian president subsequently laid a wreath at the memorial plaque dedicated to the refugees from Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia who left their native land in the period following World War II. |
 The presidents took advantage of their meeting in Trieste to hold trilateral talks. In their joint statement before the meeting, the three presidents highlighted that the purpose of their meeting was to confirm the strong commitment to what today unites the three peoples, in order to prevail over what painfully separated them in the turbulent historical period marked by wars between countries and nations. They emphasized that Croatia, Italy and Slovenia are today meeting in the spirit of the European Union, which is in essence the herald of respect for diversity and harmony among nations, cultures and languages, which have already coexisted for centuries. In their statement, the presidents undertook always to promote, in such an atmosphere, respect for the rights of all minorities.
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 In his statement to the press following the talks, President Dr Türk said that all three presidents understood that the burning down of Narodni dom was a prelude to a great tragedy caused by 20th century fascism, which gave rise to World War II and to many other injustices. However, in the President’s words, that era is long behind us and he added that the moment had come to open a new chapter and look back on history with respect and compassion for all victims and for all those who had then suffered, and to look forward to the future with self-confidence. As he explained, Italy and Slovenia are members of the European Union and Croatia will soon become a member, too; he added that all three countries shared many common tasks and that care for national minorities was one of them.
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 The three presidents agreed that necessary budgetary restrictions related to the economic recession should not affect the national minorities. President Türk stressed that, during their talks, this issue was considered to be a very important point of principle, in view of the fact that the national minorities constitute an important element of our future common cultural development. |