NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor in Gdansk: Peace is not something we can take for granted

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, yesterday attended the ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II in Gdansk, Poland.  The ceremony, paying homage to the memory of fallen soldiers and defenders during the first battles between Polish and German forces in 1939, was attended by more than 20 political leaders of countries involved in the war, which affected the whole world.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

  

Before his departure for Gdansk yesterday,  Prime Minister Pahor pointed out that we should bear in mind that the European idea and the Community, which includes Slovenia, was established on the basis of "the experience that peace is not something we can take for granted and that we should do our best to preserve it". In this context, he added that we should not forget the painful experience of that time.  The enormous pain and suffering stimulated the international community and European nations to make fundamental changes in international cooperation, created peace between those nations who were formerly in hostile conflict and led to the establishment of new multilateral relations between countries, who were then able to secure peace.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)ž

 

The ceremony paying homage to the memory of fallen soldiers starts every year exactly at the moment when on 1 September 1939 the first shots from the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein were fired and takes place at the memorial symbolising the heroism of the Westerplatte defenders. In Poland, the latter became a symbol of resistance and an enduring memory of the victims of a terrible war which marked the 20th century.

 

As part of his visit to Gdansk, the Slovenian Prime Minister also held bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Jadranka Kosor, and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

Before his meeting with the Croatian Prime Minister, Mr Pahor declared that their meeting would be "a continuation of the process of enhancing mutual trust between the two countries" and in this context added that the meeting with Prime Minister Kosor in July "despite doubts, brought about a change in the atmosphere". After the meeting, Mr Pahor confirmed that their meeting additionally strengthened the intention for the process to continue in good faith, "since this helps the negotiators of both countries formulate, in the following weeks, a proposal for a solution leading to our mutual satisfaction". After the meeting, the Croatian Prime Minister said:  "We have done approximately 95 percent of the work, however there are some details remaining."  She added, in this connection, that Ljubljana and Zagreb would continue their discussions by way of "quiet diplomacy".

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/STA)

  

In the continuation of his visit, the Slovenian Prime Minister met the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting where they discussed the South Stream gas pipeline project, routed through Slovenia. The two prime ministers agreed that, in connection with this project, there are still some remaining issues to resolve, which should be accelerated in order to increase the effectiveness of the negotiations. In this context, Prime Minister Pahor added that Prime Minister Putin and he would examine the open issues, while the next meeting of the negotiation groups that will seek to resolve all the open issues is scheduled for September.