Slovenian President Receives World Harmony Run Team

Ljubljana, 24.5.2010  |  press release

The Slovenian President Dr Danilo Türk today received the international team of runners participating in the World Harmony Run. The team leader, Dipavajan Renner, said that the torch will travel through all European countries this year, thus covering a route of 24,000 kilometres ending in Moscow.

He added that Slovenia had proved to be a true member of the global community. They therefore last year presented Dr Türk with the torch-bearer award, since they believe that the Slovenian President carries the ideals of the world run in his heart. Mr Renner recalled that this torch had been held by thousands of people since the beginning of the run in Dublin. He emphasised that peace is not only the absence of war, but also the presence of friendship, unity and harmony. In Mr Renner’s words, every person must do something to make the world better, starting with him or herself.

The Slovenian President thanked him for the symbolic handing over of the peace torch and expressed his delight with the fact that the noble message of this run not only lives but is becoming ever stronger. This year, the idea of the World Harmony Run will be given a particularly interesting feature, since the final station of the runners will be Moscow. According to the Slovenian President, this is a good choice in view of the time in which we live, when people from Europe and Russia should be brought closer together. Today, we are discussing practical things, such as economic cooperation, modernisation and visa liberalization, said Dr Türk and added that these are important elements of peace. Dr Türk highlighted the large number of people from Slovenia participating in the World Harmony Run, including many young people and the Olympic champion Miroslav Cerar. He expressed his satisfaction with the strength of the symbiosis of noble ideas and he wished all the runners every success.