NEWS

Trilateral meeting of Prime Ministers of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, hosted the second trilateral meeting of prime ministers of the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Croatia at Brdo pri Kranju. At the meeting, the Slovenian Prime Minister, Austrian Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, primarily focused on economic cooperation between the countries, common European issues and energy. 

The three prime ministers first met on 23 August 2013 in Graz. The goal of trilateral cooperation is to strengthen dialogue among the three countries following Croatia’s accession to the European Union. 

After the current meeting, the PM said that relations between the countries were excellent, but could be enhanced by successful economic cooperation. According to the Slovenian PM, in addition to economic cooperation, today’s meeting was mainly concerned with priority issues for the EU as a whole, i.e. competitiveness and jobs for the young. 

At the press conference after the meeting, the Austrian Chancellor noted the progress made regarding economic growth in Slovenia and the much improved economic situation compared to August last year, when the PMs first met in Graz. With regard to the economic situation in Slovenia, the Slovenian PM said that economic growth creates new jobs. 

The prime ministers also discussed the situation in the Western Balkans. The Slovenian PM invited her guests to participate in the international donor conference devoted to repairing the damage caused by the deadly flooding in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, which is being held jointly by Slovenia, France and the European Commission on 16 July in Brussels. 

After today’s meeting, the prime ministers issued a joint statement.