The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and President of the European Council, Mr Janez Janša, this afternoon held a brief working meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia, Robert Fico, in Ljubljana.

 

(Photo: Srdjan Živulovič/Bobo)

 

Prime Minister Janez Janša and his Slovakian counterpart focused on certain priority tasks of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency and topical issues. They exchanged positions on the energy and climate package proposed last month by the European Commission, welcoming it as a major step in the direction of fulfilling EU commitments in terms of combating climate change.

 

They also discussed the enlargement of the European monetary union and Slovakia’s efforts to join the eurozone next year. The Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša, congratulated his Slovakian counterpart on the country’s good economic results and assessed that, on that basis, Slovakia would be able to meet the criteria for entry into the eurozone.

 

(Photo: Srdjan Živulovič/Bobo)

 

The two Prime Ministers also paid special attention to the process of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the Member States. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and current President of the Council of the European Union, Mr Janez Janša, informed the Slovakian Prime Minister that Slovenia had already ratified the Treaty and acquainted him with progress on ratification in certain other European Union Member States. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia, Robert Fico, notified his Slovenian counterpart, Janez Janša, of the launching of ratification process in Slovakia and of problems that had subsequently arisen in the Slovakian Parliament. However, he assured Mr Janša that the great majority of Members of the Slovakian Parliament supported the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and that Slovakia would seek to resolve the present difficulties in a true European spirit.

 

The two Prime Ministers also welcomed the previous day’s democratic and free elections in Serbia and confirmed their support for the European perspective for Serbia and other countries of the Western Balkans.