NEWS
Prime Minister Borut Pahor visits Slovakia
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Dr Franci Križanič, today paid an official visit to the Slovak Republic. As part of the visit, Prime Minister Borut Pahor held meetings with the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, the President of the Slovak Republic, Ivan Gašparovič, and representatives of Slovenian companies.
(Foto: Bor Slana/Bobo)
Prime Minister Pahor was received with military honours at the start of his visit by Prime Minister Fico. Their talks focused on measures to mitigate the negative effects of the current economic crisis and on further strengthening bilateral economic relations between the two countries. Mr Pahor and Mr Fico shared the view that enhanced economic co-operation between the countries of Central Europe was of vital importance at a time of global financial crisis and that the proximity of the two countries and the complementarity of their economies offered opportunities for even closer co-operation. Mr Pahor and Mr Fico also discussed the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament, highlighting concerns about the anticipated low turnout. Their talks also focused on energy security and opportunities for co-operation in the area of nuclear energy. The two agreed that, rather than reducing the tax burden, which would be an inappropriate measure to overcome the economic crisis in the long run, it was more important to create macroeconomic conditions to boost development-oriented entrepreneurship.
(Foto: Bor Slana/Bobo)
After the meeting, Prime Minister Pahor and his host attended the opening of the business conference, at which Mr Pahor addressed Slovenian and Slovak businessmen. In his address, he stressed that the Slovenian Government would firmly promote a healthy business environment, and invited Slovak businessmen to co-operate more closely with Slovenian companies.
(Foto: Bor Slana/Bobo)
Mr Pahor's talks with President Gašparovič focused on tackling the dire economic situation currently facing the two countries. Mr Pahor outlined the key measures adopted by the Slovenian Government to prevent the crisis and the domestic economic situation from further worsening. At the close of the meeting, Mr Pahor and Mr Gašparovič also touched on relations between Slovenia and Croatia. Mr Pahor took the opportunity to thank Slovakia for its support of the European Commission's proposal for settlement of the border dispute with Croatia.
Prime Minister Pahor concluded his first official visit to Slovakia at a meeting with a group of Slovenian businessmen, announcing the streamlining of costs of the network of diplomatic and consular missions, and a greater emphasis on economic representative offices.