President of the Republic on the Symbolism of Queen Elizabeth II’s Visit

Ljubljana, 23.10.2008  |  press release

Today, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh concluded their state visit to the Republic of Slovenia. President Dr Danilo Türk and his spouse Barbara Mikliè Türk parted from the royal couple officially and with military honours at the Ljubljana International Airport.

In his statement made at the end of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the President of the Republic expressed his satisfaction with the visit. In President’s words, the visit manifested the symbolism of cooperation between one of the oldest monarchies in Europe and one of the youngest republics in Europe. The President especially stressed the genuine kindness with which the residents of Ljubljana had received the Queen on her walk through the city. Many spontaneous expressions of joy and happiness at the visit had occurred also on the way to Lipica, which had given a special charm and note to the visit as a whole, said the President.

In addition, the President mentioned the talks he had had with the Queen. In all talks, the Queen had revealed a great interest in Slovenia, its achievements and progress, he said. This interest concerned different fields, such as education, childcare, health care, development of pharmaceutical industry and technological achievements of Slovenia. The Queen had devoted a great attention to Lipica and Lipizzaners, said the President and added that this part of the visit had been very pleasant, interesting as well as symbolically important. As he explained, Slovenia has a centuries-long tradition interesting in the European as well as the global sense, so the Queen, too, had followed everything she learnt and found out on the visit to Lipica with a particular interest.