President Pahor emphasises the need to preserve trust in the European Union during his visit to Bulgaria

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, is attending a two-day meeting of ten heads of state hosted by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev.

In addition to the Slovenian President, the meeting is also being attended by Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland, Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, Raimonds Vējonis, President of the Republic of Latvia, Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary, and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of the Republic of Malta.


Photo: Daniel Novakoviè/STA

President Pahor attended the official opening of the twelfth meeting of the heads of state and the session entitled “How to increase trust in the EU in a period of growing risks and an unstable international order?”, where the presidents discussed the future of the European Union after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and they exchanged their opinions of, and views on, the current international issues with a special emphasis on the prospects of developing the European idea and challenges in the nearby European neighbourhood. Special attention at the discussion was dedicated to the region of South-East Europe and the issue of migration.

President Pahor expressed his position that trust between Member States must be preserved and trust in the functioning of the European Union’s institutions, which was shaken by the migrant crisis and the crisis in the euro area, must be enhanced. In his speech, the President advocated a solid, integrated and unified European Union and highlighted that the European Union was not the cause of crises, but a solution for them. He added that Member States would not have been able to tackle global challenges on their own as successfully as they did within the European Union. “We are also deciding on the future of our children, and I hope that we will decide for more and not less Europe at the decisive moment,” concluded the President.

In the afternoon, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, had a bilateral meeting with Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany. They spoke about the need for joint support of the European idea and the development of strategic relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Germany.

The presidents will continue the discussions tomorrow in the National Historical Museum in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, where they will discuss the topic of “The Balkans: historical transformation from the playground of interests of major powers to a composite part of the united Europe”.

The Arraiolos Group is an informal platform for meetings of twelve EU heads of state, which has been operating since 2003, when the presidents with no executive powers met for the first time at the proposal of Portuguese President Sampaio. Today, the Group is composed of the presidents of Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. The last meeting of the Group was in September 2015 in Wartburg and Erfurt in Germany and was also attended by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor.