Energy security is to be among the key priorities of Slovenia's EU presidency, Development Minister Ziga Turk stressed as he addressed on Sunday in Zagreb, Croatia an energy conference of countries from SE Europe.
"The Zagreb meeting brought a timely demonstration of a political will to create a basic framework for global energy security," Turk assessed.
He added that Slovenia was ready to accept its role in the energy community. He sees a possibility for Slovenia to confirm this by organising an international gas forum or through the establishing of a regional market with energy products that would operate in line with exchange principles.
Turk said after the conference that the meeting of state representatives from SE Europe did not aim at discussing specific positions of individual countries with regard to energy projects in the region.
Asked about Slovenia's stance on an-European oil pipeline connecting the Romanian port of Constanta and Italy's port of Trieste, Turk said that "all offers need to be examined and Slovenia's geographical position
needs to be used, however not without also considering environmental protection".
He highlighted the connections between energy and environmental protection as put forward by the Lisbon strategy. "This is about having a big opportunity to use technological development to move patterns of energy use and patterns of economy towards smarter energy," Turk said.
The minister also attended a working lunch that provided the possibility of a multilateral meeting with the special guest of the Zagreb conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Turk said that there were no bilateral talks between Putin and him.
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