President Pahor hosts his last official visit by a foreign statesperson to Slovenia – At President Pahor’s invitation, the President of Austria, Dr Alexander Van der Bellen, is on an official visit to Slovenia

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Dr Alexander Van der Bellen, is on an official visit to the Republic of Slovenia. This is the last official visit by a foreign statesperson to Slovenia in the term of President Pahor.

Following the official reception with military honours, the Austrian President laid a wreath on the Monument to the Victims of All Wars and War-Related Victims in Congress Square in Ljubljana. The official visit continued with a private discussion between both presidents at the Presidential Palace and a plenary meeting between the delegations of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Austria chaired by both presidents.


Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

At the press conference that followed the discussions, President Pahor first warmly greeted President Van der Bellen. The Slovenian and Austrian presidents highlighted the excellent relations between the countries, including sincere and friendly personal relations. President Pahor thanked President Van der Bellen for open and friendly dialogue and expressed a special recognition and gratitude for the personal contribution of President Van der Bellen to the good neighbourly relations between Slovenia and Austria. The Slovenian President also reflected on the important milestone that was attained with the participation of both presidents at the 100th anniversary of the Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 2020 in Klagenfurt and when the Austrian President apologised in Slovenian for the injustices and delays in enforcing the minority rights of Slovenians.

On this occasion, special attention was also dedicated to the situation of the German-speaking ethnic community in the Republic of Slovenia. President Van der Bellen said that Austria was striving for an official recognition of the German-speaking community in Slovenia. President Pahor explained that Slovenia had recently doubled the funds for the German-speaking community and that he had met with them several times. The Government is obliged to maintain the situation of minorities in accordance with the cultural agreement with which it complies; however, the National Assembly is not considering the option of changing its status to become a minority, as is the case with the Hungarian and Italian minorities.

Other central topics of the presidents’ discussions included the war in Ukraine, energy supply and climate change. Both presidents advocated for Bosnia and Herzegovina to obtain candidate status for EU membership this very month. They commended Croatia’s entry in the Schengen Area and assessed that the fact that Slovenian policy supports the entry, despite Croatia’s ongoing rejection of the international tribunal’s border ruling, was a sign of maturity and wisdom.

President Van der Bellen arrived in Slovenia yesterday and was hosted by President Pahor at an informal friendly dinner at Strmol Castle. On that occasion, the presidents conferred on each other the highest state decorations of their respective countries, i.e. the Slovenian Order for Exceptional Merit and the Austrian Grand Star, the Decoration of Honour for Services, for their contributions to deepening bilateral relations and enhancing the ties between both countries in the European spirit.


Photo: Bor Slana/STA

Presidents Pahor and Van der Bellen met with the German-speaking community living in Slovenia. As per the agreement with the host of the official visit, President Pahor, President Van der Bellen also held an informal meeting with the newly elected President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.

In the afternoon, both presidents will visit Ptuj and inaugurate a bench of friendship between Austria and Slovenia at Ptuj Castle. This will be the last, 27th bench, that President Pahor will inaugurate upon a visit by a foreign statesperson to Slovenia.