PM Janez Jansa, who was on an official visit in Bulgaria, and his host, Bulgarian PM Sergei Stanishev, called for stronger cooperation between the two countries, and shared the view that Bulgaria will join the EU on 1 January 2007.
It is important for the date of Bulgaria's EU entry to remain 1 January 2007 so as to encourage it to pursue reforms needed for the EU, Jansa said at Wednesday's press conference in Sofia.
"Slovenia is aware that certain problems cannot be resolved overnight," he said, and added that Bulgaria has already started tackling several issues, most notably corruption and the reform of the justice system.
The visit of the prime minister, who was accompanied by Economic Affairs Minister Andrej Vizjak and a strong business delegation, will in Jansa's words bring not only political, but mainly economic results.
A business forum was opened by the two prime ministers on the sidelines of the visit, which is seen as an opportunity for companies to forge direct ties and possibly agree on concrete deals.
Moreover, Vizjak and Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Kornelia Ninova signed a memorandum of cooperation between the two ministries for economic affairs.
Meanwhile, Slovenian Ambassador to Bulgaria Andrej Gerencer and Bulgarian Deputy FM Ljubomir Kyuchukov signed a programme of bilateral cooperation in science, education and culture for the 2006-2008 period.
Stenishev praised Slovenia and its achievements in the EU and stressed that the Bulgarian government would look to advance bilateral economic ties. He thanked Jansa for the support Slovenia was giving Bulgaria in its bid to join the EU. According to him, the visit is extremely important as it marks a new era in Bulgarian-Slovenian relations.
Jansa agreed with Stenishev that relations were excellent and free of open issues. He believes that the memorandum signed by the two economics ministers is a good basis for strengthening economic ties.
Jansa reiterated the importance Slovenian places on the integration of the Balkans in the EU even beyond the next round of enlargement that will encompass Bulgaria. He stressed that the country would make that one of the priorities of its stint as EU president in the first half of 2008.
The Slovenian prime minister also used the occasion to outline the planned reforms in Slovenia.
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