President of the Slovak Republic receives Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor

President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič received Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor. At the beginning of the meeting the Slovak President said that “relations between Slovakia and Slovenia are friendly, and our opinions concerning both European and world politics are very similar.” The Slovak President pointed out that Slovakia and Slovenia could also expand mutual investments in third party countries.

During their meeting, the partners also discussed the issue of the economic crisis and its impacts on both countries. Ivan Gašparovič perceives the influx of new investments which may contribute to the revival of the economy as positive. The President also deems it important that individual countries do not solve the crisis on their own and that the European Union takes an active part in measures to fight the situation. Ivan Gašparovič highlighted the level of cooperation between Slovakia and Slovenia in the area of education and culture.

At the meeting, the Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said that after the country’s accession to the Eurozone both countries are in the same position within the EU, and that cooperation would therefore naturally increase. “The crisis is very extensive and deep. Slovenia as well as Slovakia will not be able to deal with its impacts on their own since they are dependent on the development of world economies,” the Slovenian Prime Minister said.

The Slovak President said: “The crisis showed us that the state’s function must be reassessed. The state should increase its performance in controlling and overseeing regulatory functions in relation to the free market.” The President was also interested in the opinion of the Slovenian Prime Minister on EU enlargement, as well as on relations with neighbouring Croatia.