Pahor, who started a two-day official visit to France today, reassured the French president that Slovenia would solve its problems on its own, presenting the plans and measures of the Slovenian government for the consolidation of public finances and economic recovery.
He noted that the coming months, which will see various measures and reforms, would be difficult, but that "at the end we will able to proudly say that Slovenia was able to solve the crisis on its own with the understanding of its partners, including France".
Hollande also stressed there were no reasons for comparing Slovenia to any other country that recently required Eurogroup assistance, neither in the banking and economic nor in political terms.
"Between Slovenia and France, there is friendship and also solidarity," he added, noting that the EU is also expected to serve as a framework for solidarity and for growth.
Pahor announced he invited the French president to Slovenia and that the visit was expected to take place by July.
On the second anniversary of the signing of a strategic partnership between Slovenia and France, Pahor said the partnership was not only illustrated by tonight's opening of an exhibition of Slovenian impressionists in Paris, but also by the comprehensive political dialogue and the fact that trade between the countries has remained at pre-crisis levels.
Moreover, Pahor stressed that Slovenia - although focusing on its own problems - still wanted to carry part of the European responsibility for SE Europe, as it has valuable knowledge, experience and ideas for strengthening peace in the region and for EU enlargement, in which respect he announced the revival of the Brdo Process.
Accompanied in France by Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec and Culture Minister Uroš Grilc, Pahor first made a stop today at the lower chamber of the French parliament, the National Assembly, where he was received by chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Elisabeth Guigou.
He was moreover scheduled to visit the Foreign Ministry to meet Minister of European Affairs Thierry Repentin.
In the evening, the president will open an exhibition entitled "Slovenian Impressionists and Their Time 1890-1920" at the Petit Palais museum, in what is the first major Slovenian exhibition in France since the 1995 show of modernist painter Zoran Mušič (1909-2005).
An important topic of the visit is boosting economic cooperation, as part of which Slovenian and French business representatives will be meeting for a business breakfast on Thursday.
As the Slovenian government has announced privatisation by summer this year, the Slovenian delegation is also gauging interest for Slovenian companies in France, where companies are said to be most interested in the field of energy.
Source: SloveniaTimes
