Jansa and Karamanlis Pave Way for Closer Economic Ties

Athens, 23 April

Prime Minister Janez Jansa began his two-day official visit to Greece on Monday by meeting his Greek counterpart Kostas Karamanlis. While the two PMs praised excellent bilateral relations and urged action to expand economic ties between the two nations, the foreign and economic ministers of both sides signed several memorandums on cooperation. Jansa also addressed a Greek-Slovenian business conference.

Although admitting that trade was currently modest, Jansa and Karamanlis said that trends were positive. "Politics is here to create the conditions, while business executives must do business," Jansa said following a meeting with his opposite number at the outset of his two-day official visit to Athens.
Jansa and his host called for the bolstering of economic cooperation in the Western Balkans, where Greece plays an important role, while Slovenia is close behind.
The pair highlighted the importance of peace and stability in the region, backing the plan for Kosovo which was put forward by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari. They believe that a future in the EU is the right solution for the region. According to Jansa, he and his counterpart support EU accession for all countries located between Slovenia and Greece, provided they meet the conditions.
Karamanlis and Jansa also touched on Macedonia's EU membership prospects, with the Greek PM stressing that Macedonia should "change its position concerning its constitutional name". Greece insist that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia not use its constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia.
The pair said that fresh EU enlargement was not possible before the bloc carried out an institutional reform and expressed expectation that a timetable for an agreement on reforms would be set at June's EU summit.
As part of the visit, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak signed three agreements on cooperation with Greek representatives in the fields of hydrography, tourism and cooperation in the framework of the Athens international coordination centre for maritime transport.
Jansa, who is accompanied by a delegation of more than 70 executives, continued his visit by taking part in a business conference where he called for stronger cooperation in investment at the event.
He moreover highlighted the opportunities presented in the Slovenian tourism sector, while also pointing out that the number of Slovenian tourists to Greece outnumbered that of Greek tourists to Slovenia by 10:1.
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak meanwhile presented to his Greek counterpart Georgios Alogoskoufis the idea of establishing the Slovenian energy market operator Borzen as the regional operator in the Western Balkans.
Vizjak told STA that the meeting showed there was great interest in "jointly furthering our positions, above all in the countries of the Western Balkans". He highlighted the development of the electricity market as the main joint goal.
The pair also talked about furthering cooperation with the Luka Koper port and the possibility of an air link between Ljubljana and Athens.

Jansa and Karamanlis Pave Way for Closer Economic Ties

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