Minister Tajani in Ljubljana for the Committee of Ministers Italy-Slovenia

The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, will be a Ljubljana, Tuesday 29 October, to participate in the Committee of Ministers Italy-Slovenia. The Italian Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Hon. Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Valentine Valentini, the Undersecretary of State for the Interior, the Hon. Nicholas Molteni, and the Undersecretary of State for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Louis d'Eramo.

“I am pleased that the Italy-Slovenia Committee of Ministers is meeting again more than three years after its last meeting,” Minister Tajani said. “The broad government participation confirms Italy's attention to deepening bilateral relations with Slovenia. There are numerous strategic sectors with strong potential on which we want to focus our action starting from today's meeting,” he highlighted. Tajani.

Italy and Slovenia boast in the first half of 2024 an exchange that reached a quota 6,73 billion euros. “It is an excellent starting point, but we want to do more by fully involving businesses and civil society” highlighted the minister Tajani. “Italy and Slovenia can boast an added value in their relations thanks to the excellence of cross-border cooperation. This is a model in the EU and for the entire Balkan region,” underlined the Minister, who mentioned in this sense the satisfaction for the designation of Gorizia and Nova Gorica including European Capital of Culture for 2025.

During the meeting, particular attention will be paid to the topic of cooperation on migration matters. “We work closely with Ljubljana to combat irregular immigration in the Schengen area and ensure proper management of external borders. The growing instability in the Middle East poses further challenges in the complex management of migration routes, such as the Balkan one, for which we intend to strengthen our bilateral cooperation and action at EU level,” indicated the Minister.

There is also a strong convergence of views with Ljubljana on European priorities in view of the new institutional cycle. "We want to work together to keep the issues of competitiveness of our companies and a realistic environmental policy among the priorities of the European agenda" he indicated. Tajani. The Minister then focused on the topic of enlargement to the Balkans: “The European Union cannot be considered complete without the “reunification of the Western Balkan countries” he indicated “with Slovenia we will ask the European institutions for concrete results on this important dossier also to promote the growth and stability of the entire Adriatic-Ionian region”.