Foreign relations of Slovenia

The Hague – Foreign Minister Anže Logar met his counterpart Stefan Blok as part of his working visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday to discuss cooperation, Slovenia’s EU presidency, and topical issues. Logar expressed interest in strengthening economic cooperation between Slovenia and the Netherlands, especially in digitalisation and green technology.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has arrived in Geneva to take part in a leadership meeting on the Western Balkans.

The meeting is organized by the World Economic Forum as an expression of its commitment to serve as a reliable platform for public-private cooperation and for enhancing positive development in the region and beyond.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva participated in a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Berlin Process. The initiative was launched in August 2014.

Participants in the process are the countries of the Western Balkans and EU Member States, including Bulgaria.

Brnabic pointed out that the relations between Serbia and Croatia are important for the stability of the region, and that, consequently, it is necessary to improve the dialogue and intensify cooperation in resolving open issues.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's success in the European accession process contributes to the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans and the European Union as a whole, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Thursday at a meeting she had with the Prime Minister of this country, Denis Zvizdic.

This is stated in a report published ahead of this year's Munich Security Conference, dubbed, "The Great Puzzle: Who will pick up the pieces?"

The segment of the report dedicated to this region is entitled, "Western Balkans: With friends like these...," and it states that EU leaders "recognize the strategic importance of this missing piece in the 'jigsaw of Europe'."

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Thursday in Bucharest, prior to the informal meeting of the foreign affairs minister of the EU (Gymnich), that the Western Balkans states should be integrated in the European Union at a much faster pace than currently.

A joint initiative by Germany and France to address illicit firearms trafficking has moved the issue of controlling the illegal trade in small arms from the Western Balkans up the political agenda, the German Federal Foreign Office told BIRN.

As Associated Press (AP) reports, a similar meeting was held in the same place last year.

Main topic of this year's meeting is "regional economic integration " which includes discussions about developing joint vision for aligning with the EU, the implementation of a regional economic zone and other issues, AP reports.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic will be hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin, in his first official visit to Germany since he took the post in 2016, with Podgorica's bid to join the EU expected to be discussed.