President Pahor hosts President of Hungary Katalin Novák on official visit to Slovenia

Today, on Friday, 15 July 2022, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, the President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, is paying an official visit to Slovenia. This is the first official visit of the newly-elected President of Hungary to Slovenia. Presidents Pahor and Novák first met in June on the margins of the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Riga.


Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

Following an official reception with military honours, the presidents laid a wreath at the Monument to All Victims of Wars and War-Related Victims in Congress Square in Ljubljana. Presidents Pahor and Novák continued the official visit with a private meeting at the Presidential Palace and plenary talks between the delegations of the Republic of Slovenia and Hungary, headed by their respective presidents.

At the press conference that followed the talks, President Pahor warmly welcomed President Novák, emphasising the friendly relations between Slovenia and Hungary. Slovenia is the first of Hungary’s neighbouring countries to be visited by President Novák, and President Pahor said that this decision is viewed as a gesture of full cooperation, friendship and mutual affection.

The two heads of state agreed that we live in very challenging times and that we need friends, even if they hold different views and opinions. According to President Pahor, neighbouring countries in particular should strive for mutual understanding and respect and cultivating exemplary relations.

Significant attention in the talks between the two presidents was devoted to security, particularly the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Western Balkans. President Pahor expressed satisfaction that his counterpart publicly supported his initiative to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina the status of a candidate country without any conditions at the Riga Summit. President Pahor went on to stress the importance of European unity in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stating that "the EU should be as united as possible in dealing with the consequences of this war if we are to prevent the logic of dispute resolution by use of force from continuing".

"I believe that the duration and nature of the war in Ukraine will bring about a new bloc division," he added. "Should that happen, it will be important to see on which side of the geopolitical divide the Western Balkans will end up."


Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

Responding to a question regarding the recent rulings in Slovenia and the EU, the two presidents also commented on the rights of the LGBTQ community. President Pahor said that he received the decision of the Slovenian Constitutional Court with understanding and joy, calling it progress in the respect for human rights in Slovenia. He emphasised that minority rights in no way threatened the rights of the majority, recalling that he strove for the adoption of a family code with this provision back when he was Prime Minister.

The two presidents concluded the official visit to Slovenia in Lendava by attending the opening of the renovated Home of the Hungarian Self-Governing National Community. As part of the opening in Lendava, Presidents Pahor and Novák will meet with the representatives of the Slovenian and Hungarian national communities from both sides of the border.


Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA