Slovenian President: “The expansion of the European Union into the Western Balkans is the most important mechanism for peace, security and prosperity in the region”

Today, 26 March 2017, and tomorrow, 27 March 2017, Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Ms Tanja Pečar will host Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Mrs Agata Kornhauser-Duda at an official visit to the Republic of Slovenia.

The visit by the Polish president began at the Strmol castle with a working lunch, which was organised by President Pahor for President Duda and Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanić. The working lunch was followed by a press conference held by all three presidents.

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

At the press conference, President of Slovenia Borut Pahor thanked the President of Poland Andrzej Duda for accepting the idea of a working lunch with Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanić so that they could discuss the fate of the Western Balkans and the prospects of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I have no doubt that the European context of the expansion of the European Union to the Western Balkans remains the most important mechanism for peace, security and prosperity of the Western Balkans,” said President Pahor.

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

President Duda emphasised the importance of peace and cooperation for stability of the region and expressed Poland’s support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ambitions in their efforts to gain membership in the European Union and the NATO alliance. Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivanić thanked President Pahor and President Duda for the invitation and support that both had expressed for its European endeavours, and warned that in the opposite case an isolated Bosnia and Herzegovina would face internal tensions and differences.

In the afternoon, President Pahor and President Duda visited Celje, where they were joined by Ms Pečar and Mrs Kornhauser-Duda, who as part of the ladies’ programme viewed an exhibition on the Counts of Cilli (Celje) at the Celje Regional Museum at Knežji dvor.

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

At the museum, Presidents Pahor and Duda signed their names in the book of honoured guests of the town of Celje. Then the presidential couples toured the Celje Castle and unveiled a bench of friendship between the two countries on the castle grounds. The erecting of the bench at Celje Castle has historical symbolism, as Anne of Celje, a member of the dynasty of the Counts of Celje, became the Queen of Poland – just last year we celebrated the 600th anniversary of her death. The bench in Celje is the twelfth bench of friendship that the Slovenian President and his guests have unveiled during official presidential visits to Slovenia in a permanent memorial to the meeting and to good relations between the countries.

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA