Slovenia and Italy are focused on Europe’s future, cooperation and rapprochement

The President of the Republic informed her counterpart about the efforts of the Slovenian minority in Italy to convene a roundtable for minority issues within the Italian Ministry of the Interior as soon as possible, which President Mattarella supported. The main issue to be addressed is the guaranteed representation of the Slovenian representative in the Italian Parliament. “There have been many symbolic steps in overcoming the differences of the past over the past decade, and the President and I will work to ensure that the next steps are also oriented towards a European future, cooperation and rapprochement. And securing guaranteed representation could certainly be one of those steps,” emphasised the Slovenian President.

Slovenia’s Nova Gorica and Italy’s Gorizia will co-organise the European Capital of Culture project in 2025, and today the Presidents agreed to be honorary patrons of this project, which is a model example of good neighbourly cooperation within the European Union.

The Presidents also touched on migration, developments in Ukraine and the situation in the Western Balkans.

Slovenia is aware of the need for a common asylum policy and is working in this direction, but the two sides agreed that it will be necessary to establish effective and balanced migration management and to fight illegal migration.

On Ukraine, Pirc Musar strongly agrees with President Mattarella’s recent statement that the peace we are all striving for must reflect justice and international law.

For Slovenia, it remains particularly important to continue the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans; in this process, it will continue to provide technical and political assistance to the countries of the region in their efforts to move towards the EU, and the country looks forward to the cooperation of Italy, which President Mattarella welcomed today, and of the other countries of the Adriatic region.

While the two countries are most closely linked by their two minorities, bilateral cooperation is intense, diversified and excellent. Italy is Slovenia’s third most important economic partner, and the Presidents would like to see this partnership become even more fruitful in the future.

 We need to highlight the importance of pollinators and address food security challenges

 Tomorrow’s World Bee Day, the sixth observance of the day, was preceded by the opening of an exhibition at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to mark this important international day.

On this occasion, President Pirc Musar met with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and stressed that Slovenia will continue its bee diplomacy and highlight the important role of pollinators in the fight against hunger.

“The greatest contribution of bees and other pollinators is the pollination of nearly three-quarters of all plants, from which, in turn, 90% of the world’s food is produced. One-third of the world’s food production depends on bees, i.e. one in three tablespoons of food depends on pollination.”

Food security will also be the focus of the second President’s Forum in the autumn. The President spoke with Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), on the topic.

According to current international data, over 258 million people in 58 countries faced acute hunger in 2022, 65 million more than last year. “This is an extremely worrying figure and it is up to developed countries to address this problem decisively. In recent years, Slovenia has increased funding to address this issue six-fold, and we are actively highlighting the importance of innovation, food diversity and local sourcing, responsible consumerism and the role of young people, and the empowerment of women, vulnerable groups and small farmers,” said the President of the Republic, underlining Slovenia’s activities in this area.