15 Jun 2019, 13:02 PM

Maribor-Ljubljana Express Train Proposed, Plus Fast Rail Links to Vienna, Venice

STA, 14 June 2019 - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said on Friday she was working on the idea to connect Maribor and Ljubljana with express trains, a demand presented by a civil initiative earlier this week. Bratušek said she would push for connecting several European cities with fast trains to be one of Slovenia's priorities during the EU presidency.

"I believe Slovenia should be the initiator of express trains between Vienna, Ljubljana and Venice, and the first fast connection we need to introduce would be between Ljubljana and Maribor, two biggest Slovenian cities," the minister said.

The Infrastructure Ministry said it was working on a transport policy that is in line with the demands of the group of academics commuting from Maribor to Ljubljana on a daily basis who started the campaign for better transport connection between the two cities on Monday.

The initiative would like to cut the commuting time between the two cities to 50 minutes, while the train ride currently takes from two to three hours.

The head of the initiative, Mateja Ratej, noted that the Maribor-Ljubljana motorway, being a part of the transport corridor between eastern and western Europe, was heavily burdened, especially during holidays and in the summer.

"Traffic accidents are becoming increasingly frequent, causing tailbacks of several kilometres, which extend the 133-kilometre journey to several hours," she said.

The ministry said today it had already introduced a single integrated pass for public transport and additional fast routes. "We are modernising the existing and building new railway connections to have more cargo transported on rail and make the connections between cities faster, more cost-efficient, and more environment- and user-friendly."

According to the ministry, a task force will be set up to look into the possibilities for express trains between Ljubljana and Maribor and other cities, and estimate the costs of such a project.

The 50 Minutes Between Maribor and Ljubljana initiative was backed by the Maribor municipality and the List of Cyclists and Pedestrians.

"The situation has been causing discontent for a while and things get much worse in the summer months," Ratej said, calling for an action plan before the end of the year.

The initiative is now collecting signatures for its petition.

All our stories on railways in Slovenia are here

15 Jun 2019, 10:16 AM

Ascent Resources to Sue Slovenia After Further Delay to Gas Project

STA, 14 June 2019 - Ascent Resources, the UK developer of the Petišovci gas field in eastern Slovenia, plans to take multi-pronged legal action against Slovenia after it was ordered to get a separate permit for hydraulic fracturing.

Ascent will submit a "robust response to this manifestly wrong decision contrary to EU law," the company said in a permitting update posted on the website www.investegate.co.uk on Friday.

The statement comes after the Environment Ministry upheld a decision of the Environment Agency on the controversial gas extraction project in Petišovci.

The ministry agreed that an environmental impact assessment and a separate environmental permit were necessary because the location of the gas wells was close to water sources and because underground waters and agricultural land in the area do not have very good ability to regenerate.

The decision mistakenly concluded that the project fell within a conservation area and misapplied EU case law in relation to mitigation measures, Ascent said.

Aside from challenging the decision at the Administrative Court, Ascent plans to submit a claim for damages against the state for breach of EU law including for the unreasonably long time it took for the decision to be reached.

The company will seek damages for loss of future income from the project "which would have been expected to have been a multiple of the historic investment of some EUR 50 million."

It also plans to lodge an investment treaty arbitration claim under the Energy Charter Treaty.

"It was the strong desire of the board to avoid such litigation and obtain the permits necessary to develop the field which it was legally entitled to. As it has now become apparent that the possibility of achieving these goals has significantly diminished, the company will move ahead with filing this claim," the statement reads.

As a result of these developments, the company's focus in Slovenia now "inevitably shifts away from the development of the Petišovci Project towards obtaining legal redress for the damages inflicted on shareholders by the actions of the government."

All our stories about this project are here

15 Jun 2019, 10:05 AM

Slovenia & Russia to Expand Trade, Especially in IT, Transport, Research, Agriculture

STA, 14 June 2019 - The Slovenia-Russia commission for trade and scientific cooperation detected opportunities to expand cooperation at a session in Bled on Friday, in particular in IT, transport, research and agriculture.

Addressing reporters at the conclusion of the session, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov said that the commission was producing concrete results and projects.

"The commission is very important in identifying new business opportunities. Through it, we're doing what is necessary to enhance cooperation between businesses in the two countries," Cerar said.

He said that Russia remained a major trading partner for Slovenia, ranking 4th in terms of Slovenian foreign direct investment abroad and 9th in terms of exports.

The volume of bilateral merchandise trade has been increasing since 2017, amounting to EUR 1.16 billion last year, which Cerar said was encouraging.

He expects trade will increase further, but he said "it will be a special challenge to achieve a right balance", after Slovenia posted a trade deficit in the first quarter of this year for the first time.

The reason for the drop in Slovenia's exports recently was that Slovenian companies were locating their production in Russia.

Talks with the Slovenian companies doing or planning to do business in Russia "showed realistic opportunities to increase the volume of business", said Cerar.

The potential was identified in the fields of information technologies, transport, scientific research, agriculture and enhanced cooperation with Russian regions.

Reviewing the implementation of major projects, the commission established successful realisation of six IT projects, and added five new projects in the fields of health research, energy efficiency, ICT, agriculture and education to the programme.

Cerar underscored the need to continue constructive dialogue between the EU and Russia to reduce negative effects of restrictive measures on economic cooperation.

"Russia is a European neighbour and an important trading partner. It's key to foster a relationship of trust through regular dialogue and cooperation", said Cerar, adding that Slovenia and Russia had that trust.

"We see current cooperation between the two countries quite positively", Noskov said, describing Slovenia as a reliable and constructive partner, and noting good prospects to boost cooperation.

Noskov had expected the session to mainly seek to solve companies' problems, but it turned out the cooperation was good and that there were new concrete proposals to enhance it.

Russian companies are aspiring to do business with Slovenian businesses as well, he said, noting the Russian railways and the bank Sberbank were especially active in this respect.

All our stories on Slovenia and Russia can be found here

15 Jun 2019, 02:59 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Saturday, 15 June 2019

Bookmark this link and find the headlines faster each morning, or follow us on Facebook

A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

This summary is provided by the STA:

Tentative deal reached on electoral reform

LJUBLJANA - Party leaders appear to have reached a tentative agreement on electoral system reform, with the majority in favour of a solution that would bring the electoral system for general elections much closer to how members of the European Parliament are elected. The majority of parties are in favour of abolishing electoral districts, leaving only electoral units in which MPs would be elected with relative preferential votes, the president's office said after President Borut Pahor hosted the third round of consultations with parliamentary parties.

Fire at insulation plant near Cerknica, local advised to caution

RAKEK - A fire broke out at an insulation facility near the town of Cerknica in south-western Slovenia Thursday evening, but a group of workers and a massive effort by firefighters prevented major damage and loss of life. The fire was brought under control within an hour and preliminary tests show that life-threatening substances had not been released in the air. PM Marjan Šarec visited the site of the fire this morning, saying that the key thing at this point was that the locals were safe.

Petišovci gas field developer to sue government

LONDON, UK - Ascent Resources, the UK developer of the Petišovci gas field in eastern Slovenia, plans to take multi-pronged legal action against Slovenia after it was ordered to get a separate permit for hydraulic fracturing. Ascent will submit a "robust response to this manifestly wrong decision contrary to EU law," the company said in a permitting update posted on the website www.investegate.co.uk. The statement comes after the Environment Ministry upheld a decision of the Environment Agency on the controversial gas extraction project in Petišovci.

Back and forth over army officer sacking continues

LJUBLJANA - Standing accused of lying about the reasons for the dismissal of Miha Škerbinc as the force commander of the Slovenian army, Defence Minister Erjavec said that the Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services had again been abused for political purposes. Erjavec rejected the claims of the parliamentary commission's deputy chair Žan Mahnič that the minister's explanations about the April dismissal had been dismantled by Škerbinc's testimony for the commission on Thursday, saying the information provided by the ministry's sources did not match Škerbinc's claims. PM Marjan Šarec meanwhile expects additional explanations from Erjavec.

Slovenia expanding business with Russia

BLED - The Slovenia-Russia commission for trade and scientific cooperation detected opportunities to expand cooperation at a session in Bled, in particular in IT, transport, research and agriculture. Addressing reporters at the conclusion of the session, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov said that the commission was producing concrete results and projects. The volume of bilateral merchandise trade has been increasing since 2017, amounting to EUR 1.16 billion last year, which Cerar said was encouraging, adding that he expected trade would increase further.

Decision on Abanka sale expected on Monday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) is expected to take a decision on the sale of the country's third largest bank, Abanka, on Monday, with unofficial information suggesting three bidders value the bank at close to EUR 500 million. According to Delo, bids have been submitted by the Maribor-based bank NKBM, which is owned by the US fund Apollo, and the Hungarian bank OTP. The commercial broadcaster POP TV reported last night that apart from the two, a bid had also been submitted by the Serbian bank AIK, which already owns the Kranj-based bank Gorenjska Banka.

Slovenia appoints new ambassador to UN Geneva office

LJUBLJANA/GENEVA, Switzerland - Sabina R. Stadler (46), currently serving as director general for multilateral affairs, development cooperation and international law at the Foreign Ministry, has been appointed the new Slovenian ambassador to the United Nations. The new leader of the Slovenian permanent mission to the UN office and other international organisations in Geneva has a BA in economics from the Ljubljana University and an MA in international relations from the CERIS diplomatic school of Brussels.

Anti-graft body investigating tobacco industry lobbying

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for Corruption Prevention is looking into possible wrongdoings in the lobbying of the tobacco industry regarding the legislation introducing standardised packaging for tobacco products. The commission said it had decided for the move after learning that the initiators of the legislative proposal that would put off obligatory standardised packaging for tobacco products for another three years had been in contact with tobacco industry representatives. Detecting "certain risks and suspicion of irregularities", the anti-graft body assessed that an inquiry would be in place.

Ministry working on Maribor-Ljubljana express trains

LJUBLJANA - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said she was working on the idea to connect Maribor and Ljubljana with express trains, a demand presented by a civil initiative earlier this week. Bratušek said she would push for connecting several European cities with fast trains to be one of Slovenia's priorities during the EU presidency. "I believe Slovenia should be the initiator of express trains between Vienna, Ljubljana and Venice," she said. The initiative would like to cut the commuting time between the two cities to 50 minutes from 2-3 hours at present.

More new buildings last year, similar number of homes y/y

LJUBLJANA - Almost 8,000 new buildings were completed in Slovenia last year, a 20% increase compared to 2017. The number of new homes constructed in 2018 was almost identical to the one of the previous year, with most of them being completed in Ljubljana, the Statistics Office reported. A total of 3,037 homes were constructed last year, which is only seven fewer than in 2017. The capital saw the addition of 269 new dwellings, while Maribor, the second largest Slovenian city, lagged behind the capital with 93 new ones.

Ljubljana, Zagreb stock exchanges to float new index

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Stock Exchange and its owner, the Zagreb Stock Exchange, will launch on 19 June their first joint index. Called ADRIAprime, it will feature prime market shares from both countries. ADRIAprime is a free float market capitalisation weighted total return index and it will take into account dividends, the Ljubljana Stock Exchange said. The weight of each constituent share will be capped at 15%. The base level will be set at 1,000.00 points as of 30 April. The Slovenian drug maker Krka and the energy group Petrol will be the biggest shares.

Idrija celebrates its lace making heritage

IDRIJA - The annual Festival of Idrija Bobbin Lace will kick off in the evening with an opening ceremony in the western Slovenian town, paying tribute to its unique lace making tradition. The three-day celebration of one of the most famous Slovenian crafts will feature more than 40 various events for all ages. This year's festival will highlight the importance of sharing lace making know-how between generations in the town famous for its special lace making technique, with the local lace makers using special wooden sticks or bobbins.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

14 Jun 2019, 17:49 PM

Huge Fire at Insulation Plant Near Cerknica (Videos)

STA, 14 June 2019 - A fire broke out at an insulation facility near the town of Cerknica in south-western Slovenia Thursday evening. A group of workers and a massive effort by firefighters seem to have prevented the worst. The fire was brought under control within an hour and preliminary tests show that life-threatening substances had not been released in the air.

Nonetheless, several schools in the area and a kindergarten remain closed today and people are advised to be cautious until results of more detailed tests are known.

People are also advised not to eat vegetables from their gardens at this point or if they do, wash them thoroughly. Moreover, tap water must be boiled before consumption because of the extraordinary demand for water during the intervention, which put an excessive strain on the water supply system.

Due to the smoke from the fire, increased levels of dust particles remain in the air, however, initial analyses show no major cause for concern.

The Environment Agency and the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) have already sampled air and soil in the area for analysis and will perform follow-up tests in the coming week.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec visited the site of the fire this morning, saying that the key thing at this point was that the locals were safe. He praised all those involved in the intervention for their swift and effective response.

Cerknica Mayor Marko Rupar said that the fire had been under control within an hour. According to Srečko Šestan, the chief of the national Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration, last night's intervention was massive. At one point, there were as many as 450 people at the site, he told the newspaper Delo.

Talking to Šarec this morning, he said that the fire had been under control "in a flash" and that he had been "pleasantly surprised" when he had arrived at the site last night.

He said that everything had gone smoothly last night. The fire brigades were familiar with the plant, because three drills had been conducted at the facility prior to the fire.

"Now it is up to the police and the forensics to find out what caused the fire," the prime minister said as he visited the burnt-down plant of Fragmat, a thermal insulation panel maker.

Fortunately, the fire claimed no lives. Rupar told the STA last night that five workers were nearby when the fire broke out at about 8pm. They managed to escape the flames and also remove from the area substances that could cause explosions.

The fire broke out on the styrodur panel machine and then spread onto the warehouse, encompassing a total of 40,000 square metres.

The damage is not yet known, but inspecting the site with Šarec, Rupar said that the plant, built in 2012, was a EUR 20 million investment. It is also estimated that another EUR 5 million of material has been destroyed by the fire.

Fragmat management board member Dušan Žužek told the STA that the fire would have caused a massive loss of production, adding that the damage would be very high.

Šarec said that the fire was a "tragedy" for the owner, as this was a "state-of-the-art insulation material production plant".

The village of Podskrajnik, where the Fragmat plant is located, is only some 20 kilometres away from Vrhnika, where, two years ago, a massive fire broke out at a chemical-waste management plant.

Šestan told Delo that the authorities had learnt a lot since the Kemis fire. They were now better at informing the locals and better at coordinating their tasks, and thus more effective.

Environment Minister Simon Zajc meanwhile said that the fire did not involve any substances that could cause major environmental damage. "This was not like Kemis, the fire with which many are drawing parallels to. But because of Kemis, the intervention here was so fast."

He said the water waste from the intervention was what worried him the most, but fortunately the firefighters were able to put in place water catchers, preventing pollution of nearby waterways.

The location of the fire

"Preliminary analysis conducted by a lab team on the ground show no reason to expect any major pollution, which is good new," said Zajc.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Ksenija Klampfer has scheduled a meeting with Žužek for next week to see how best help the company. She moreover called on the local unit of the Employment Service and social services to do the same.

Fragmat technical director and the owner's son Rok Žgajnar said that crisis meetings are being called for next week to see how to proceed. The company was insured but Žgajnar said they did not know when they would rebuild the plant, if at all.

14 Jun 2019, 17:00 PM

Snow Persists in High Mountains, Not all Huts Open Yet

June 14, 2019

Late snowfalls have delayed the mountaineering season in Slovenia’s high mountains this year, which usually begins mid-June. Anyone headed to high mountains at the moment is advised to bring appropriate winter equipment, or turn around and head down if stumbling upon an icy white surface below a mountain peak.

Accordingly, not all mountain huts have opened their doors to climbers yet. For the current situation on mountain huts please follow this website: https://plangis.pzs.si/?koce=1

Although we seem to be still far from the beginning of the season, the mountain rescue service already intervened 201 times this year and 17 people lost their lives. (source)

Finally, hikers are advised not to greet any helicopters they see by waving to it unless in need of help.

14 Jun 2019, 15:16 PM

Growing Network of Camper Van Rest Stops in Slovenia

STA, 13 June 2019 - As the number of tourists visiting Slovenia with camper vans grows, so is the number of places where they can stop for rest. Since a project encouraging municipalities to provide rest stops was launched in 2014, their number has risen to 160 rest stops.

As part of the Network of Rest Stops for Camper Vans, a project launched by the the Mirna municipality in the south-east, 90 of Slovenia's 212 municipalities have various types of rest stops, ranging from places offering only water and electricity to full-fledged camping sites.

The idea is to get all Slovenian municipalities on board to construct another 40 new rest stops to get to 200, project coordinator Petra Krnc Laznik told the STA on Thursday, as representatives of the participating municipalities met in Mirna.

Where to park a motorhome in Slovenia

The local communities which have already provided some infrastructure for camper vans should now more actively attract guests and adjust their offerings to camper van tourists. "They should try to keep them in their area, offering them unique adventures and memorable moments," she said.

"There are 212 municipalities in Slovenia and each of them could have at least one place where camper vans are welcome and where tourists can experience something nice," said project manager Dušan Skerbiš, the mayor of Mirna. In this way Slovenia would get "212 interesting tourist destinations".

Krnc Laznik added that Slovenia was becoming increasingly popular among foreign camper van tourists who also seemed to be very happy with the rest places here.

The map of rest stops, and more details about them, can be found here

14 Jun 2019, 12:08 PM

Turkey Added to List of 14 Countries Slovenia Considers Unsafe for Returning Migrants

STA, 13 June 2019 - The government adopted on Thursday a decree updating Slovenia's list of safe countries from 2016. The list has three new names, while Turkey has been removed from it. This means that Slovenia will no longer return migrants or extradite suspects to Turkey.

The new list contains 14 countries: Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Kosovo, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, and newcomers Georgia, Nepal and Senegal.

A third country, meaning a non-EU member, is considered safe if it can be assumed, based on several factors, that in general it does not see persecution, torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, and that people there are not in danger due to an international or internal conflict.

There was a push last year to remove Turkey from the list after Slovenia rejected the asylum applications 38 Turks even though they had fled Turkey for fear of persecution, but the motion was rejected at committee by the previous parliament.

The move comes about a month and a half after Swedish news portal Nordic Monitor reported that the Turkish Embassy in Ljubljana spied on critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan living in the country, likely believed to be the followers of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who the Turkish authorities believe was behind the failed 2016 coup d'etat.

14 Jun 2019, 10:58 AM

Erjavec Faces Growing Pressure Over Army Officer Sacking

STA, 13 June 2019 - The deputy chair of the Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services Žan Mahnič has accused Defence Minister Karl Erjavec of having fabricated the reasons for the April dismissal of Miha Škerbinc as the force commander of the Slovenian Armed Forces.

Mahnič said the testimony given today for the parliamentary commission by Škerbinc had shown that Škerbinc had not spoken ill of the health of Maj-Gen Alenka Ermenc, the chief of the general staff, as well as that Škerbinc had not been responsible for late-night shooting at the Poček training grounds.

According to the MP for the opposition Democrats (SDS), Škerbinc attributed the reports about his comments on Ermenc to "informal informants" within the army who also spread false rumours.

One such rumour led to media reports that Ermenc would be replaced, which is something Škerbinc said he strongly opposed although he might have been misunderstood in the process, Mahnič told the press.

While Minister Erjavec is facing an ouster motion for allegedly abusing the Defence Ministry's Intelligence and Security Service (OVS) to gather information on Škerbinc, Mahnič said Škerbinc said today nobody from OVS had actually asked him, in what had been unusual sets of questions, whether he had in fact spoken inappropriately of Ermenc's health.

As for the Poček night shooting drills that upset the local community, Mahnič said Škerbinc had provided documents showing the shooting had been conducted in line with the guidelines provided by the government and Defence Ministry.

According to Mahnič, the documents show Erjavec had lied about Škerbinc's responsibility and about the shooting not being planned.

The commission decided today it would also interview Ermenc, the OVS members involved in the Škerbinc inquiries as well as OVS director Dejan Matijevič, Mahnič announced.

Erjavec has been rejecting claims that the night shooting had been in line with government-approved plans, saying the army had failed to make adjustments after a plan of exercises approved by the government in January.

The minister also dismissed Škerbinc's referencing of the documents put forward today - these in fact make up a report by Ermenc on the developments - arguing they do not go into the details of the training conducted and of all the documents issued in relation to it.

Ermenc's report, which has also been obtained by the media, however states that all agreements and guidelines adopted in relation to training at Poček had been honoured by the army.

14 Jun 2019, 08:51 AM

Slovenian & Austrian Presidents Seek Stronger Relations

STA, 13 June 2019 - Slovenian President Borut Pahor and his Austrian host Alexander Van der Bellen called for an upgrade of bilateral relations as they met in Vienna on Thursday. While acknowledging some differences in views, Pahor said those could be resolved in dialogue.

The presidents broached a variety of issues, including the status of the Slovenian minority in Austria and the position of the German-speaking community in Slovenia, which wants to be recognised as a minority.

Predsednik Pahor na povabilo @vanderbellen pričenja z uradnim obiskom na Dunaju. Sprejem z vojaškimi častmi pred Predsedniško palačo Hofburg. pic.twitter.com/ZVl1nLaHUj
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

Van der Bellen said the two countries were partners and friends whose relations were underpinned by "human, economic and political ties".

He said the situation of the Slovenian minority there had changed for the better, while there were also positive signals regarding Slovenia's support for the preservation of the German-speaking community in Slovenia.

Pahor stressed that the communities had different constitutional statuses, but he is in favour of Slovenia doing everything it can so that the community can preserve its identity. "This makes us richer," he stressed.

Predsednik Pahor poudaril vzorno sodelovanje med obema državama. #officialvisit @vanderbellen pic.twitter.com/IwKslLYOIk
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

Both presidents expressed support for the idea of a Slovenian-Austrian event marking the 100th anniversary of the referendum under which voters in a large part of Carinthia opted for Austria instead of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians.

Pahor said the anniversary was an opportunity for a manifestation that would unite both nations and countries. "It is a great opportunity to set things that appeared a historical problem into the context of the future, where they can become solutions."

Uradni obisk na Dunaju sodi v okvir prizadevanj za dobre medsosedske odnose. @vanderbellen #officialvisit pic.twitter.com/kYOpCU17Bg
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

The pair also discussed Austrian police checks on the border with Slovenia, which Pahor said were unjustified, and construction of a new unit at the Krško nuclear power station, which Pahor indicated would likely be subject to a referendum in Slovenia.

Ven der Bellen said nuclear energy, which Austria has given up long ago, was one of the open issues, a reference to Austria's long-standing opposition to nuclear energy, both existing and new projects, in its neighbourhood.

Predsednika sta se strinjala, da obe državi naslednje leto, ko obeležujemo 100. obletnico Koroškega plebiscita, obletnico obeležita skupaj in jo razumeta kot priložnost za pogled v prihodnost in utrditev medsebojnih odnosov. @TheVampsband #officialvisit pic.twitter.com/yVkwdMDto1
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

Pahor said that his official visit was a part of Slovenia's efforts to have excellent relations with all neighbouring countries, noting that Slovenia was trying to resolve problems in dialogue. He expressed pleasure at Slovenia and Austria declaring 2020 as the year of neighbourly dialogue.

Broaching EU topics, in particular EU enlargement to the Balkans, Van der Bellen said that progress with regard to the accession of North Macedonia and Albania was needed in order for the EU to remain credible.

Pahor od srečanja z avstrijsko kanclerko pričakuje, da bodo projekti, ki sta jih obe vladi že dogovorili, tekli naprej. Poudaril bo pomen dialoga in sodelovanja. pic.twitter.com/yAROtLPEHe
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

Pahor said the EU's absorption capacity was not questionable since these countries have small populations. He believes the EU Commission must treat Western Balkans as a whole.

The Slovenian president also held talks with Brigitte Bierlein, the new Austrian chancellor, with the pair describing bilateral relations as excellent and expressing the wish for deeper ties in science and culture, according to Pahor's office.

Pahor and Bierlein also expressed the hope that cooperation in 2020, which they declared as the year of neighbourly dialogue, would "nurture and affirm the already good neighbourly relations", with Pahor expressing the conviction that all issues, no matter how complex, can be resolved in dialogue.

V okviru uradnega obiska se je PRS srečal tudi z zvezno kanclerko Republike Avstrije dr. Brigitte Bierlein in s predsednikom zveznega parlamenta Republike Avstrije mag. Wolfgangom Sobotko. pic.twitter.com/BNJg960Ozy
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) June 13, 2019

The meeting with Speaker Wolfgang Sobotka revolved around international issues, the future of the EU and multilateralism.

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