NEWS

Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša, wife of the Slovenian Prime Minister, played hostess to Mrs Ban Soon-taek, wife of the UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon

On the occasion of the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki moon, his wife, Mrs Ban Soon-taek, and Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša, the wife of the Slovenian Prime Minister, spent a leisurely afternoon together.

 

After having been received with military honours, they were escorted to Lipica stud farm, where they were welcomed by its director, Tomi Rumpf. At the open riding arena, they watched Lipizzaner stallions performing a pas de deux, which also featured a black Lipizzaner, the only one of its kind in Slovenia. After the show they were ferried around the estate in an original Landauer carriage, constructed between 1910 and 1918 in the then Austrian-Hungarian Empire, which is now only used for special occasions.

 

They then returned to Ljubljana to listen to UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon’s address at the National Assembly. The Secretary-General began his speech by expressing his delight at being in Slovenia again, a country to which he feels particularly attached. Mr Ban Ki-moon praised the example the country has set in the area of the advancement of women, noting that he is addressing the National Assembly at a time when it has the most women present in its history. He stressed the need to continue investing in women and in areas which are yielding results, such as accessibility for women to legal and economic security, which is also one of the concerns promoted by Mrs Ban Soo-taek.

 

Mrs Ban Soon-taek and Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša were than taken to a scout camp in Ribno pri Bledu, where they were welcomed by a pack of scouts and Anton de Costa, Scoutmaster of the Saleška zveza tabornikov, a regional Scout Association. They welcomed Mrs Ban Soon-taek with a bouquet of prairie flowers and the traditional gift of a piece of bread and salt; they were happy to meet again with Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša, who is a general practitioner and an old acquaintance. The scouts prepared a short programme of songs, and presented Mrs Ban Soo-taek with a scout's cap and neckerchief. Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša praised the efforts made by the organisation to preserve the scouting tradition and stressed that spending summer holidays in the nature is an extremely useful experience for children.

 

Before parting, Mrs Ban Soon-taek expressed her appreciation of Slovenia which, in her words, is a wonderful country, and lavished particular praise on the surroundings of Bled Lake, which she was delighted to have had the opportunity to visit with her host. Mrs Urška Bačovnik Janša thanked her and wished her well for the rest of her journey across the region with her husband, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.