NEWS
Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, attends the UN General Assembly opening and talks to several heads of state
After yesterday’s reception by Barack Obama, president of the United States of America, and after his first meeting with the participants of this year’s UN General Assembly session, Janez Janša, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, attended this morning the opening of the debate of 67th UN General Assembly session focused on the settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means. The opening addresses were delivered by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, president of this year’s assembly Vuk Jeremić, president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and president of the USA Barack Obama. They all stressed the importance of values and the need to strengthen UN-backed measures, and pointed out the significance of the contribution of each country and its leaders in creating peace and sustainable development for the future generations.
Prime Minister Janez Janša held several informal meetings today on the margins of the UNGA session. In his talks with other heads of state he outlined the initiative for strengthening the mechanisms for the implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was welcomed by his partners. It was also pointed out by the speakers at today’s opening that the international community does not possess sufficient mechanisms for efficient prevention of international conflicts and mass atrocities and that it is a responsibility of all countries and international organisations to improve this in the future.
In their discussion, Mr Janša and Prime Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, positively evaluated the development of bilateral cooperation between the countries. They expressed their interest in strengthening mutual relations, especially in the economic field. They also talked about a potential mutual opening of diplomatic representations when financial and other circumstances in both countries allow it. The Prime Minister of Slovenia invited the Prime Minister of Kuwait on an official visit to Slovenia, which the latter gladly accepted.
Another informal meeting of Prime Minister Janez Janša was that with the president of the Republic of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina. The Prime Minister was particularly interested in the situation and work of Slovenian missionaries on this African island. His partner in conversation showed a good knowledge of their work and thanked for their selfless contribution offered especially to the poor and the children. He expressed his support to the activities of the missionaries and stressed that he appreciated their efforts for the improvement of the economic and social situation of the population and for raising its education level.
On the margins of the UNGA session, Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, also met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi. Slovenian Prime Minister seized the opportunity to congratulate his Kosovo counterpart for the end of the supervised independence of Kosovo. Prime Minister Janez Janša expressed his support to Kosovo’s efforts for making new steps on the Euro-Atlantic way and encouraged the continuation of the dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade concerning the northern part of Kosovo. The partners in dialogue agreed that bilateral relations between the countries are good and that there are still many unexploited opportunities in the field of economic cooperation which the countries will strengthen by signing appropriate agreements in the shortest possible time.
Prime Minister Janez Janša then met with the president of the Republic of Albania, Bujar Nishari. While numerous high representatives of the Republic of Albania had visited Slovenia this year, this was the first meeting for Mr Janša and Mr Nishari. Prime Minister Janša expressed his satisfaction with the reform steps made by Albania within the last year. He commended especially the capability of the state to allow the participation of the opposition in adopting decisions most important for the national future. President Nishari thanked for the support which Slovenia offers to Albania in the process of its moving towards the EU accession. He stressed Albania’s appreciation of the active role of Slovenia in the visa liberalisation in the EU framework. He also positively evaluated the initiative for improving the effectiveness of the international Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
In the evening, Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the reception held by the Prime Minister of Australia, Julie Gillard, and focused on promoting the millennium development goals, and the reception held by the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, where discussions concerned the topic of human security – from common understanding to common action.