Visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia

 

President Vučić said that the high level of bilateral relations was confirmed at the meeting with President Pahor, and pointed out that he conveyed Serbia's position on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija to his Slovenian counterpart and the position that the issue must be resolved by compromise, through dialogue, because frozen conflict is never a good solution, which can still be seen very well today in the examples of the escalation of such conflicts.

 

"I believe that our position is based on respect for the principles of international law, on solid legal foundations. Our position is not easy, it is clear that we have different views on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija," said President Vučić and reiterated that Serbia wants to continue the dialogue with Priština under the auspices of the EU. He emphasised that Slovenia's role in the Western Balkans region is always important for Serbia.

 

 

 

"Slovenia has been presiding over the EU since July, and Slovenia's support on our EU path is important for us. Preserving peace and stability is of key importance to us. Serbia maintains not only good, but excellent economic progress within the European framework, a high growth rate, and it is crucial that we dedicate ourselves to economic and reforms in the area of the rule of law. I believe that we can achieve better results with our partners from the region. We have good talks and a good dialogue on the position of Serbs in Slovenia and Slovenes in Serbia," said President Vučić and added that the 6th session of the Governments of Serbia and Slovenia is expected to be held. He said that Serbia is on the European path and strongly supports all others on that path and that he has nothing against a comprehensive approach in the process of the Union enlargement.

 

"We think it's important that we all take care of the whole region together because we live together, side by side. We have nothing against a holistic approach. Of course, you will always have an approach based on progress, but we don't mind a more significant geopolitical approach to the Western Balkans," said President Vučić. 

 

 

President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, declared himself in favour of the EU's geopolitical approach in the enlargement process and the rapid accession of the Western Balkans, because only that, as he said, can ensure peace, security and stability. He stated that there are currently two types of fatigue that raises concern - on the one hand, fatigue from EU enlargement, and on the other, in many countries of the Western Balkans, fatigue in the implementation of reforms and a decline in confidence in the European perspective.

 

"It is neither in the interest of the EU nor the citizens of the Western Balkans. With a fresh strategy that would emphasise the geopolitical approach to enlargement, we want to warn Brussels that only rapid entry of all countries in the region can maintain peace, security and stability," he said. Pahor added he believed it would be easier to solve all the remaining problems after joining the EU. He said that some issues, which are sensitive, bilateral, could be resolved more easily or would become irrelevant by joint accession to the Union, and he expressed hope that Brussels would understand Slovenia's message.

 

"If you look at the map of Europe, you see that the Western Balkans are surrounded by EU countries. If you look at the absorption capacity, it is only about 10 million people, which is not a big challenge and problem for the EU," said the President of Slovenia.

 

Belgrade,

14th May 2021