Slovenian President addresses participants of Global Russia Business Meeting

Brdo pri Kranju, 17.5.2010  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, took part in the business conference "Global Russia Business Meeting", attended by about 220 representatives of companies and associations and several politicians from 26 countries. In his opening address, Dr Türk emphasised the importance of strengthening economic cooperation, which may help overcome the current recession more rapidly. He highlighted that the Russian economy is achieving high growth rates, which is an opportunity for serious discussion on new forms of economic cooperation. According to the Slovenian President, the positive changes in the international political landscape, in which the spirit of optimism and friendship prevails, must also be exploited.

In Dr Türk's view, economic cooperation is influenced by security, economic conditions, the rule of law and human contacts. In the area of security, further steps need to be taken in terms of disarmament, defence cooperation and the development of a new NATO strategic concept, which should include partnership with Russia. Moreover, the Slovenian President took a positive view of the initiative of the Russian President Medvedev, who has proposed a treaty on new security architecture in the wider European area.

Better economic conditions could also be promoted by the Partnership for Progress, a concept developed within the European Union, which, among other things, defines Russia's membership of the World Trade Organisation, the promotion of new and green technologies, as well as support for SMEs. President Türk emphasised that partnership for genuine economic and technological progress should also include some larger and long-term projects in the fields of telecommunications, traffic infrastructure and energy.

He further mentioned the North and South Stream projects, which could be combined with a variety of other energy projects and integrated in a multilateral framework. President Türk noted that Slovenia, in addition to being a consumer of energy, is also a transit country for Russian gas and future host of the seat of the newly established EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

The Slovenian President stressed that the rule of law is fundamental to successful economic cooperation and explained that this includes the Partnership for Progress and multilateral frameworks for energy cooperation. The rule of law, however, can also be strengthened through Russia's cooperation with the Council of Europe and EU institutions.

As regards human contacts, Dr Türk emphasised that the existing visa restrictions are a serious impediment to business communication. In elaborating on this issue, he highlighted positive EU experience with the liberalisation of visa regimes in relation to the Western Balkan countries. The young in Russia and the European Union, in particular, should be given the opportunity for unimpeded communication, meeting, travel and getting to know each other, said Dr Türk, and added that freedom of movement is one of the fundamental human rights. He therefore called for a more liberal EU visa regime in relation to Russia and for the expansion of the infrastructure of visa centres to enable people to acquire visas more rapidly. Such a step could also significantly and practically contribute to the enhancement of cooperation between the EU and the countries of the Eastern Partnership, particularly Russia.