Greek President on official visit to Slovenia

Brdo pri Kranju, 17.11.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today received the President of the Hellenic Republic, Dr Karolos Papoulias, who is on an official visit to Slovenia. After President Papoulias was received with military honours, the two presidents had a brief one-to-one meeting, followed by plenary talks between the delegations of the two countries, led by Dr Türk and Dr Papoulias.

In his welcome, President Türk first referred to the rich Greek cultural tradition, including the political culture and the notion of democracy, of which Greece is the very home. He emphasised that as Member States of the European Union, both countries should jointly deliberate on the future of the EU as a democratic community. Furthermore, Dr Türk advocated further development of bilateral political, economic, cultural and other relations to the benefit of both countries. Assessing relations between Slovenia and Greece as excellent, he nevertheless stressed Slovenia's interest in increasing balanced trade with Greece. A meeting of the two presidents with Slovenian and Greek businessmen, to be held on the second day of the visit, will also be devoted to enhancing economic co-operation.

Extending his thanks for the reception, the President Papoulias highlighted the high level and quality of bilateral relations. He emphasised that Slovenia and Greece have several common positions, and as two smaller Member States of the European Union, have interests in mutual support. Dr Papoulias supported joint action by the two countries not only in the countries of South Eastern Europe, but also in other regions, and advocated bilateral co-operation in the area of energy and culture. He offered an invitation to President Türk to attend the opening ceremony for the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The two presidents also discussed preparations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009. The two expressed reserved optimism with regard to the chances for a successful conference and expressed their hope that a binding political agreement will be reached at the conference that would provide reduced greenhouse-gas emissions. They also touched upon institutional reform of the European Union and expressed the interest of the small Member States in affecting the selection of senior political representatives of the Union and the distribution of competences between the European institutions.

President Türk said that Slovenia strives to develop in a new way the tradition of ancient wisdom and Mediterranean culture. Part of this effort is the establishment of the Portoro¾-based Euro-Mediterranean University, and Dr Türk called upon higher education institutions in the Mediterranean area to co-operate as fully as possible in this project. He also presented Slovenia's candidacy for the seat of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to President Papoulias.

The two presidents also discussed the situation in the Western Balkans and supported the process of accession of the countries of the region to the European Union. President Türk stressed the importance of resolving bilateral issues between the countries in the region and presented the arbitration agreement on the settlement of the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia to President Papoulias, who welcomed the agreement and expressed the wish that the countries would ratify it very soon. President Papoulias expressed support for the further enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkan countries, and also supported Turkey’s accession to the EU when all the required conditions have been met.

President Türk underlined that Slovenia will continue to make every effort to maintain international peace and security and presented to President Papoulias Slovenia’s candidacy for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.