Slovenian President attends ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II

Moscow, 9.5.2010  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today attended a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II. Together with more than 20 heads of state, he attended the military parade on Red Square, in which members of the armed forces from Russia, Poland, the United Kingdom, France and the United States took part. President Türk then laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden at the Kremlin Wall. He continued his visit by attending the formal reception marking the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II, hosted in the Great Kremlin Palace by the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. On this occasion, the Slovenian President had brief meetings with President Medvedev and other statesmen assembled for this occasion.

In his statement to the press, Dr Türk said that the Moscow military parade has demonstrated that Victory Day is a common pan-European holiday. He emphasised that it would have been wrong to perceive today's event and celebration in terms stemming from the time of the Cold War and went on to say that the Cold War has long since been behind us. Therefore, there is a need to establish new relations. This was also one of the topics which President Türk discussed with the Russian representatives, including President Medvedev, Prime Minister Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov.

During their talks, the dignitaries expressed their satisfaction with bilateral relations, while agreeing that these relations should nevertheless be complemented with new content. In Dr Türk's view, Slovenia should, on the one hand, put more emphasis on technological cooperation in areas such as IT and pharmaceuticals and, on the other hand, improve its ability to discuss energy issues. There are further possibilities in developing new patterns of cooperation in culture and certain international issues, including the discussion on new European security architecture.

As a concrete possibility for furthering cooperation between Russia and the European Union, President Türk mentioned the possibility of a visa-free regime modelled after the EU arrangements with the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Dr Türk positively assessed the Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty signed by the US and Russia and went on to say that this is a very good opportunity for a new phase extending the discussion on conventional weapons and new security arrangements. In his opinion, however, this discussion should also include the European Union.