The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, in official visit to Ljubljana at the invitation of her counterpart, Slovenian National Assembly Speaker Pavel Gantar, was received by the President of the Republic of Slovenia Danilo Türk and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor. In addition to the NARS Speaker, NARS Deputy Speaker and President of the Friendship Group with Slovenia Nikola Novakovic also took part in the meetings with the Slovenian officials.

In the meeting with Borut Pahor, the NARS Speaker thanked Slovenia for its support of the “open door” policy for the acceptance of Western Balkan countries into the EU and in that context for Slovenia’s support of Serbia’s progress towards full-fledged EU membership. She highlighted the importance of the Agreement on social insurance, military and cultural cooperation, as well as the significance of the creation of a joint railway company Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia, expected to commence operation soon, which would attract commercial flow. Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor stressed that Serbia has always been a factor of stability in the region and expressed hope that the fact would be taken into consideration in the search for solutions to the Kosovo issue. Pahor went on to state that only dialogue can lead to a solution, but that all sides should appreciate Serbia’s position. According to him, Serbia has great potential and EU should not lose the “heart of the region”. He believes that, even though there has been word about a satiation regarding the acceptance of new members into the EU in the previous period, Serbia can expect Slovenia to advocate its accession to full EU membership.

In the talk with the President of the Republic of Slovenia Danilo Türk, Djukic-Dejanovic stated that, Slovenian Government’s efforts to improve the status of Serbs in Slovenia notwithstanding, they still come against numerous problems, such as the financing of cultural programmes, lack of facilities for the work of cultural and artistic societies, lack of funds for the societies’ fixed expenditure and a disorganised approach to learning the mother tongue. It is in Serbia’s interest that a Council for cooperation with non-recognised constitutional minorities be created at the Slovenian Government, that the Slovenian Parliament adopt a declaration on non-recognised minorities, as well as that the Ethnicity Ordinance be expanded to include non-recognised minorities. “I consider is useful that the Slovenian Parliament adopted the amendments and modifications to the Law Regulating the Status of Citizens of Other State Successors of SFRY”, said Djukic-Dejanovic. She added that Serbian citizens are interested in increasing the number of Serbian companies doing business in Slovenia since Slovenia is one of Serbia’s most important economic and commercial partners. Slovenian President Danilo Türk suggested that Serbia should take active part in the current EU debate on energy production problems.

Both sides emphasised the importance of the agreement between the Serbian Orthodox Church and Maribor city authorities on the construction of an orthodox church in the city.