President of the Republic receives Participants of Joint Parliamentary Assembly of European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries

Ljubljana, 17.3.2008  |  press release

Tonight, the President of the Republic, Dr Danilo Türk organised the reception at the National Gallery for the participants of the joint parliamentary assembly of the European Union member states and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries.

In his introductory address to the participants the President spoke about the history of the relations between the European Union and other regions. He stressed that these relations had first concerned economic relations, trade and investments, and later evolved to the political dialogue. In this field he emphasised especially the issues of democracy and human rights, which are still relevant, and particularly the problem of immigrations, combating all forms of discrimination and promotion of freedom of speech or the protection of media against any forms of pressure.

As the President of the Republic pointed out, these issues are still topical in the European Union Member States, too. However, their resolution requires an understanding that human rights are not merely the matter of legal norms but also the issues of cooperation, mutual understanding and tolerance. He closed his speech by the thought that we may help implement human rights also by means of politics, economic relations and development, and wished all participants at the Assembly to continue raising awareness on the importance of such cooperation between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.