Pahor meets Guterres, Lavrov as he completes New York trip

New York – President Borut Pahor met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Yorl on Friday after he addressed the 76th session of the UN General Assembly stressing the need for dialogue.

Pahor and Guterres discussed climate change and security challenges, with Pahor reiterating Slovenia’s commitment to multilateralism and cooperation with the UN.

The pair also stressed the role of strengthening multilateralism in the post-Covid economic and social recovery.

Pahor took the opportunity to invite Guterres to visit Slovenia next year as the country marks the 30th anniversary of its UN membership.

Pahor’s meeting with Lavrov discussed Afghanistan, and EU-Russia relations, with Pahor saying there was a lack of trust on both sides, which called for more dialogue.

Lavrov welcomed the Slovenian decision to declare Day of Slovenia-Russia Friendship to celebrate it when the annual ceremony ie held at the Russian Chapel in Slovenia.

Before addressing the General Assembly, Pahor met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and European Council President Charles Michel.

Pahor and Michel talked about the upcoming summit between the EU and the Western Balkans that the Slovenian EU presidency will host on 6 October in Slovenia.

The Slovenian president also met Luxembourgian Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Friday as he completed his multi-day meetings-packed visit to the UN.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar, who accompanied Pahor, has also had a busy schedule, having held 15 bilateral meetings and taken part in several other meetings.

On Friday, he attended a meeting of an informal ministerial network for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an Article 14 conference of the comprehensive nuclear ban treaty (CTBT).

At the first event, he pointed to the need for the rule of law and efforts to fight against impunity, while expressing Slovenia’s support for an initiative which encourages the youth to get engaged in science and technology to ensure global peace and security at the second event.

Logar’s meeting with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra meanwhile focussed on economic cooperation as Algeria is Slovenia’s second most important economic partner in Africa.

Lonag and his Jordanian colleague Ayman Safadi exchanged views on the state of the peace process in the Middle East, Jordan’s role in the region and on EU-Jordan relations. The pair also urged strengthening economic cooperation.

On Thursday, Logar attended the 10th virtual conference of the Community of Democracies, organised by the Romanian presidency. “Democracy must be treated as a universal value which is based on the freely expressed will of the people to decide on their own future,” said Logar.

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