 The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, on the second day of his state visit, laid a wreath on the monument to the unknown soldier at Piazza Venezia in Rome. |
 Afterwards President Türk and his wife Barbara Mikliè Türk met with the Mayor of Rome, Giovanni Alemanno, and his wife, Isabella Rauti. After a reception with the trumpet ensemble Fedeli di Vitorchiano, President Türk and Mayor Alemanno had a short conversation, which was followed by President Türk s inscription in the Golden Guestbook of Rome. |
 President Türk then visited the prestigious "La Sapienza" university in Rome, where he gave a lecture entitled "The Future of the European Union: Three Priority Issues". In his lecture, President Türk said that the European Union must regulate its situation and turn the crisis into an opportunity if it wishes to strengthen its global role. He stressed that the EU must set priorities for its foreign policy, in which it needs a more effective hierarchy, and must further elaborate the key fields of its policy, such as human rights. All this requires leadership, which must, in the President’s opinion, come both from the Brussels institutions and from the individual Member States. |
 In the afternoon, President Türk met with the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Silvio Berlusconi, to discuss international issues and bilateral relations. Dr Türk offered Mr Berlusconi his condolences for the death of an Italian soldier in Afghanistan. The two also addressed issues for the future of the European Union, the relations of the European Union with the Russian Federation and the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline.
In the field of bilateral relations, the two stressed the visible progress in the resolution of issues for national minorities in both countries. President Türk pointed out that the discussion on minority issues organised by the Italian government coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Act Protecting the Slovenian Minority in Italy, and this offers, in his view, an excellent opportunity to assess the situation in this area. The two agreed on the importance of a regulated and stable manner of financing minorities, which must now find areas of activity and concrete projects. |
 President Türk expressed his belief that strong cooperation between the countries required mutual trust and respect, which had been established with the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, and that it was now time for concrete projects working in partnership. As regards the possibility of returning works of art taken from Istria to Italy after the Second World War, it was stressed that this was a progressive process which might begin with a public exhibition of these works.
President Türk and his wife Barbara Mikliè Türk, and the President Napolitano and his wife Clio Napolitano, attended a concert by the choir Carmina Slovenica in the evening. This was followed by a reception on the state visit of the Slovenian president to the Italian Republic. |