Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel underlined the economic and political importance of the Caspian region as they opened the Caspian Outlook 2008 conference at Bled on Saturday. They said the forum would not be a political showing, but a big brainstorm for debates about key issues affecting the world.
Explaining the reason why the Caspian has been chosen as the first topic of the newly-established Bled Strategic Forum, Rupel said the first answer was energy. "I think we all agree as to the strategic importance of Caspian energy; the prerogative is to develop the Caspian region into a transparent, stable and competitive energy partner," he said.
But the Caspian is also crucial politically. "Without durable political stability, the regional energy market will develop sub-optimally... A genuine spirit of political cooperation is needed in order to bring the Caspian region firmly on track towards Euro-Atlantic integration."
PM Jansa also highlighted energy and political stability, pointing out that energy security was a priority for most governments in the light of the high oil price and an exceptionally inflated commodity market.
"With continuous mutual interest of fully functional relations with Russia, new pipelines are also needed to connect the European gas market with the Caspian and Central Asia, as well as with the Middle East," he said. "The Caspian region should become an important partner in European energy policy."
Jansa as well as Rupel highlighted the need for countries in the region to achieve political stability, and added that there is a lot of know-how in how to manage transition in Europe, in particular in Central Europe, which can be passed on and shared with countries in the region.
Another reason why the Caspian is so important is that with the EU accession of Romania and Bulgaria, Europe will share "a common strategic theatre with the South Caucasus states". "I am convinced that a more dynamic relationship between the South Caucasus and the EU will improve stability and democratic progress in the region," Jansa said.
The prime minister also said that the conference is in a way a preface to Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008, especially in view of the fact that energy security and EU enlargement have been identified as priority issues.
Jansa and Rupel voiced the hope that the Bled Strategic Forum, which was established by the Foreign Ministry and the Institute for Strategic Studies, an NGO, would develop into a new Slovenian brand.
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