The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, and his Hungarian colleague, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, attended the opening ceremony this afternoon for the new motorway sections on both the Slovenian side (Beltinci-Pince) and the Hungarian side (Pince/Tornyszentmiklós-Budapest). On this occasion, both prime ministers engaged in a brief bilateral meeting whose main focus was further opportunities in bilateral relations between Slovenia and Hungary, as well as current European and other international issues.
(Photo: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000)
After the meeting, Prime Minister Janša expressed his satisfaction with the opening of the more than 70-km-long motorway and added that by completing the last section of the Pomurje motorway next month, Budapest will have the first modern road connection to the Adriatic Sea.
(Photo: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000)
At the bilateral meeting the prime ministers of the two governments continued the talks held last autumn when the first joint session of the governments took place. "At the last meeting, we talked about numerous still unexploited opportunities in the exchange of goods and services between our two countries," said Prime Minister Janša and added that the latest statistical data show that since then new potentials had arisen. In 2007, trade in goods and services thus increased by 30%, and this year by over 20%. The two statesmen also touched upon plans for new infrastructure connections between the neighbouring countries, such as electricity, gas and railway networks.
(Photo: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000)
In the words of Prime Minister Janša, joint governmental sessions such as the one held in autumn 2007 represent an excellent opportunity to review agreed matters and to set new goals for the future. One possible future topic could be, in the opinion of the Slovenian Prime Minister, cooperation in the area of energy and infrastructure.
(Photo: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000)
Prime Minister Janša availed himself of this opportunity to thank his colleague Prime Minister Gyurcsány for Hungary's support of Slovenia during its EU Presidency. "We were close allies, and particularly so when certain demanding situations in the region of the Western Balkans, with which we are both quite familiar, had to be resolved," noted the Prime Minister, expressing his conviction that this alliance brought stability to the region.
