News and Media News

8. October, 2009

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today received the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Lászlo Sólyom, on his two-day official visit to Slovenia. After being received with military honours, the two presidents had a brief one-on-one meeting, followed by plenary talks between the delegation of the Republic of Slovenia and the delegation of the Republic of Hungary, led by Dr Türk and Dr Sólyom, respectively.

The Slovenian President first highlighted the friendly relations between the two neighbouring countries, pointing to his visit to Budapest last year, his first-ever official visit to a foreign country. Dr Türk emphasised that trade relations between the two countries can be considered excellent, despite the recent decrease in the exchange of goods due to the economic crisis. He expects, however, that the situation will only be temporary and that the bilateral exchange will soon reach the previous annual level of EUR 1.5 billion. They also talked about one of the most important Hungarian investment in Slovenia, Emonika City Center.

The Hungarian President also assessed bilateral relations as excellent, stating that relations at the civil level should be strengthened, as, in spite of the proximity of Hungary and Slovenia, the people of both countries know relatively little about each other. In Dr Sólyom's opinion, despite the 25% decrease in trade there has also been rapid growth over the past years. However, the two countries should nevertheless make efforts to re-establish the previous trade levels. He indicated that there are large Hungarian companies which, the recession aside, have shown interest in investing in Slovenia.

In the area of economic cooperation, the two presidents touched upon the issue of energy security, whereby they particularly mentioned the construction of the South Stream and Nabucco pipelines and electricity links. President Türk highlighted the inclusion of these projects in a wider European context, while the Hungarian President stressed the importance of cooperation of the new EU Member States in the construction of railway, road and energy infrastructure.

Mora about the visit of Hungarian president in Slovenia in official press release http://www.up-rs.si/up-rs/uprs-eng.nsf/dokumentiweb/1C7D3069718A72A7C125764D00361367?OpenDocument

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