Dmitry Medvedev has held talks with Slovenian Prime Minister Miroslav Cerar.
Documents signed following Russian-Slovenian talks
Transcript of the beginning of the
talks:
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter):Mr Medvedev, allow me to welcome you and your delegation here.
I’m very happy that this year you attended the memorial ceremony marking the 99th anniversary of building a Russian chapel under the Vrsic Pass.
This year’s events are conveying the message of peace, and they also allow us to strengthen our friendly relations in the future.
I’m very happy that we’ll also be able to exchange opinions and viewpoints regarding our bilateral relations, as well as neighbouring states and the world in general.
Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen.
Indeed, members of our delegation were very pleased to attend the ceremony near the Russian chapel at the Vrsic Pass yesterday and to see with our own eyes that this place linking our nations still arouses genuine, sincere emotions. I’d like to once again thank the leaders of the Republic of Slovenia for paying attention to this chapel and to the memory of soldiers who were killed there.
Apart from the memorial event, our delegations will have the chance to exchange opinions on all aspects of Russian-Slovenian cooperation with you and your colleagues.
You and I have already spoken yesterday during preparations for the event and at lunch. I met with the President in the evening, and we also discussed our relations. Therefore, we’ll continue broad Russian-Slovenian consultations today. Let’s proceed.
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Documents signed following Russian-Slovenian talks
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of
the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia regarding
economic cooperation in third countries
Signed
by First Deputy of the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian
Federation, Alexei Likhachyov, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Karl Erjavec
Cooperation Programme between the Government of the Russian Federation and the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia in Culture, Research, Education and Sport
in 2016−2018
Signed by Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation, Alexei Meshkov, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Karl Erjavec
Cooperation Programme in Healthcare between the Ministry of Healthcare of the
Russian Federation and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia in 2015−2017
Signed by Minister of Healthcare of the
Russian Federation, Veronika Skvortsova, and Minister of Health of the Republic
of Slovenia, Marija Milojka Kolar Celarc
Cooperation Programme between the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia in 2015−2016
Signed by the Ambassador of the Russian
Federation to the Republic of Slovenia, Doku Zavgayev, and acting Director
General of the Directorate for Legislation on the Justice System of the
Republic of Slovenia’s Ministry of Justice, Ciril Kersmanc
Memorandum of Understanding on the Efficient Use of Resources, Energy Efficiency,
Enhancing Energy and Environmental Security and Using Alternative Sources of Energy
between the Russian Energy Agency Federal State Budgetary Organisation of the
Russian Federation’s Energy Ministry and Slovenia’s Comita d.d.
Signed by Director General of the Russian
Energy Agency, Anatoly Tikhonov, and Comita CEO, Danilo Durakovic
Joint news conference with Dmitry Medvedev and Miroslav Cerar
Transcript:
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter): It was a great honour for us to attend the commemoration ceremony to mark 99 years since this memorable event with our esteemed colleague Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. This ceremony was a message of peace, a sign of good, friendly relations between Slovenians and Russians, and between the two countries. Yesterday, during the commemoration, and also today we exchanged views on bilateral relations, and discussed developments in our neighbouring countries and around the world. We share good and solid relations, are engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation and, as I said, developed strong friendly ties. Yesterday our discussions were mostly focused on a number of international areas of tension, while today the two delegations moved on to discuss economic cooperation between our countries, where we see many opportunities. The signing of the agreement and the memorandum shows that we are strengthening our relations on a number of levels, including economic and cultural cooperation, as well as in healthcare, environment protection and in other areas. It is very important that we sought to highlight ways and means to improve economic cooperation, including promoting ties between SMEs, chambers of commerce and other institutions. In this regard, the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation is expected to take centre stage. The intergovernmental commission has proved to be efficient in finding solutions to the issues I’ve mentioned.
Of course, the Prime Minister and I raised the Ukraine issue. I shared Slovenia’s perspective with my Russian colleague. Among other things, I said that Slovenia is committed to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence, as well as the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. I also noted that Slovenia stands for political dialogue and rapprochement. It was important for me to share this perspective with my esteemed colleague in person. We also briefly discussed developments in the western Balkans and terrorism. Make no mistake, we are all committed to promoting stability in the western Balkans, both in economic and political terms. We have no differences in this respect. We stand for cooperation and dialogue to bring about stability and development. We also share a common perspective on counter-terrorism cooperation.
In conclusion, it is important to note that our discussion was informal, albeit very constructive. The two delegations include representatives from various areas of bilateral cooperation, and I hope that moving forward we will work in similar vein. Thank you very much.
Dmitry Medvedev: Distinguished media representatives, colleagues, we have completed the talks with my colleague, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Miro Cerar. Our discussion was frank, interesting and, of course, was held in an atmosphere that has always been proper to Russian-Slovenian relations. We discussed a broad range of issues, as my colleague just said. However, the immediate reason behind this visit was to attend a commemoration ceremony at the Russian Chapel at the Vrsic Pass. To be honest, this place leaves a very strong impression, as I’ve been telling the Slovenian Prime Minister and President. When someone tells you about it, the impressions are not quite the same. Seeing this with your own eyes gives rise to a very special kind of emotion. On behalf of Russia, I would like to thank the Republic of Slovenia for its attention to this place.
Apart from the commemoration, we held detailed talks, as Mr Prime Minister has just said. We mostly focused on trade and investment. We stated that in recent years bilateral trade has taken a major step forward, expanded and reached substantial levels. It almost reached 2 billion dollars at its peak. Unfortunately, trade volume has been on the decline lately. There are objective reasons for this – prices on hydrocarbons -- and subjective ones – the EU decisions and Russia’s reciprocal measures to restrict trade. We all hope they will come to an end sooner or later. We also hope that these decisions will be made by those who initiated these actions.
We agreed to continue carrying out joint projects, including those in the most important industries (such as high-tech and pharmaceuticals), to improve cooperation between regions of Russia and Slovenia, and to involve small and medium-sized companies in it. Large companies are doing well, but we know that the economy is in full bloom only when small and medium-sized companies are taking part in it. Both Slovenia and Russia have many of these enterprises, and we should do everything to support their work.
We think we should continue our energy dialogue. We have done much to promote it in the past few years. Let me recall that at one time Slovenia showed great interest in the South Stream gas pipeline, and a relevant intergovernmental agreement was signed. As I’ve already told the Slovenian media, later on this project was blocked by the European Union. But we are not marking time. We believe Slovenia, which held a constructive position on this issue, can take part in other projects.
What else would I like to say? Obviously, we will continue developing our humanitarian ties, our historical and cultural contacts. They are very strong, and we do indeed pay special attention to the preservation of our common historical heritage. We have many relevant programmes, including those under the auspices of the Forum of Slavic Cultures. I hope we won’t waste any of this and that this visit will be of help in this respect.
We discussed many international issues. Naturally, the Ukrainian conflict is the most complicated and sensitive of them all. My colleague explained the EU position, which we know about, while I set forth Russia’s position, which our partners know about as well. We also proceed from the premise that this conflict does not have a military solution and should be resolved by peaceful means, primarily at talks between all of its parties. I’m referring to the official government and the authorities that currently exist in the southeast. The Russian Federation also stands for Ukraine’s territorial integrity but, naturally, with due account for last year’s decisions on Crimea. We are ready to continue our consultations on this issue. I believe it is useful in any case.
Needless to say, we could not ignore other international issues, such as the struggle against radical terrorist groups, including the Islamic State. We also discussed the situation in the Balkans. Russia emphasised again that we abide by all the fundamental relevant agreements reached some time ago, including the Dayton Accords.
And the last point I’d like to make is that I invited my colleague to visit the Russian Federation. Naturally, we’ll agree on the place and time later on.
Question: Good afternoon. The EU-imposed sanctions reduced trade between Russia and Slovenia by 40 percent. It goes without saying that this is adversely affecting our bilateral relations and economic indicators. Meanwhile, Slovenia officially supports the sanctions, as its Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, recently said. Do you think the development of international ties (as is borne out by this visit) helps to overcome the restrictions imposed by sanctions, considering the fairly complicated period in relations between the EU and Russia? The question is to both prime ministers.
Dmitry Medvedev: Let me start since this question was asked by a Russian agency. In reality, these sanctions were not the primary reason for the decrease in trade, and we must be frank about that. Trade went down because of the change in its structure and prices on its major items – hydrocarbons – which is not particularly good for Russia (we are interested in higher prices) but is good for Slovenia because customers are certainly interested in lower prices. But practice shows that everything comes full circle and prices will rebound sooner or later. This item will change. I must admit that sanctions and Russia’s reciprocal restrictions are affecting our trade. I don’t know how much, but they are probably restricting our trade by about 20 percent, and this is an obviously negative factor.
We discussed this situation, and I again reiterated our position that sanctions have never produced any positive results, that they impede development and damage the legal interests of Russian and Slovenian business. There is nothing to rejoice about. We should try to overcome these sanctions. Considering they were not adopted or initiated by us, we expect the EU to start lifting them. I think everything will stabilise sooner or later. Let me emphasise once again that nobody is interested in sanctions. Last but not the least, the side that imposes sanctions cannot resolve a single issue using these restrictive measures. This is the current situation. I’m confident that the consultations with our partners will continue.
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter): I agree with my distinguished colleague that much of the reduction in our mutual trade is a result of its structure rather than the sanctions. Just like the Russian side, we are in favour of lifting these sanctions. Importantly, the sanctions stem from certain events and circumstances. We hope that these circumstances will be removed, the specific agreements will be complied with, the situation will stabilise and that we, together with our European partners, will decide on lifting these sanctions. These sanctions adversely affect both the EU and Russia. Therefore, we must get to a point where the sanctions are no longer needed – in the interests of all the parties involved in the conflict, both the EU and Russia.
Question: Good afternoon, I represent Slovenian television. I have a question for the Prime Minister of Russia and the Prime Minister of Slovenia. Mr Medvedev, what exactly do you expect from Slovenia following your visit to our country? What kind of a dialogue should Slovenia initiate in the European Union? Mr Cerar, what diplomatic moves in the European Union is Slovenia considering in order to provide for lifting of the sanctions as soon as possible? Thank you for your responses.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. We expect Slovenia to continue to pursue its current balanced and reasonable position within the EU. I spoke about this openly with my colleague and during the meeting with the President.
The fact is that the EU is a non-homogeneous union. My colleagues from Brussels told me on many occasions, "You try to run a conglomerate of 28 states!" We understand that all countries are different, and they all have different positions. There are states that, in our view, have adopted a calm and a reasonable position, for example, on issues related to the development of their relations with Russia, or on matters related to the Ukraine conflict. There are other states whose position is, to put it mildly, emotional, or has been partly formed as a result of phantom pains. Slovenia’s position, I repeat, has always been and, I hope, will continue to be, calm and balanced. It’s good that, while discussing a wide range of complex issues in the EU, we can hear the voices of the countries that realise that the sanctions will lead us nowhere, that we are destined to be together and that we need to promote good neighbourly relations and resolve all conflicts peacefully.
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter): I’m very grateful to my colleague, the Prime Minister, for his words of appreciation.
Slovenia has, and will continue to have a clear-cut political position, which it has upheld until now as an EU member. Regarding the sanctions against Russia, we are one of the states which... Despite the measures that have already been taken, we, the Foreign Ministry and I, are in favour of a dialogue regarding the Ukrainian issue and the widest possible use of political methods in order to reduce the scope of the military conflict and everything that leads to violence. Of course, Slovenia will maintain such a position. We are following the situation as it unfolds very closely, and if the circumstances improve, we will be very happy, since it will result in lifting the sanctions.
I should note in this regard that yesterday and today, we have had an opportunity to directly and openly share our views, and perhaps I, as a Prime Minister, will convey to my EU colleagues, through a dialogue, the ideas that I stand for in theory and in practice.
Question: Good afternoon, Mr Medvedev. You said that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project was discussed during the talks. Do you have Slovenia’s consent to become a transit country? When will the talks begin? I also have a question for Mr Cerar: If Slovenia becomes a transit country for Russian gas under this project, are you ready to explain its importance to the officials in Brussels, so as to avoid a repeat of the scenario with the South Stream? Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: When we discuss the Turkish Stream, we must realise that its underlying principles are somewhat different from the South Stream. Clearly, in the case of the South Stream, we initially tried to agree with all the prospective partners who could be involved in transporting gas, including transit countries, and, of course, the European Commission. The project, in fact, was cancelled because of the position adopted by the EU, which is a shame, because the project hasn’t reached the goals that we set ourselves, and a number of states that could have participated in it lost the chance to earn some money, including for gas transit.
The Turkish Stream is quite different. It’s an entirely commercial project. In this scenario, we would like to see all the issues related to further use of gas in the EU resolved by the European Union. The European Union and the participating countries should decide what they want to do with imported gas in order not to run into the familiar problems. Our part of the deal is to transport natural gas across the Black Sea bottom and have it taken over at the border with the European Union. I’m referring to the idea of creating a major gas distribution centre, a so-called hub, on the border between Turkey and Greece. Everything else is up to our partners. This project will be up and running after we have finalised all the necessary legal terms and conditions, including an agreement between Russia and Turkey (an intergovernmental agreement), although a number of decisions in this regard have already been made. Our friends from Slovenia should determine their role in this arrangement themselves based on what I just said.
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter): I understand that despite the formal freezing of the South Stream project... This project has become irrelevant, and we are now considering the possibility of the Turkish Stream that my colleague, Mr Medvedev, has mentioned. I’m aware that Slovenia, as part of the European Union, should find a place of its own when the time comes. We should first see if we want to become a transit country, and if we decide that we do, we’ll do our best to become part of it. But since this is a distant prospect, it’s hard to be specific about it now.
Question: Slovenian newspaper Vecer. I have a question for the Russian Prime Minister. What do you think about the wiretapping scandal between Croatia and Slovenia? How will it affect stability in the Western Balkans, where Russia has geostrategic interests? Are you concerned about such steps by Croatia? If Croatia steps back from the arbitration agreement, how will it affect the situation in the Western Balkans?
Dmitry Medvedev: You want me to speak on topics that are beyond Russian-Slovenian cooperation?
I believe that scandals of any kind are unproductive. It is important for countries, especially closely related countries, such as Slovenia and Croatia, as well as a number of other neighbouring countries, to act within the scope of the agreements that were once achieved and that address all the problems in a friendly manner. Only then we can look confidently to the future. So, I hope that this kind of scandal will not worsen the situation in the Balkans or affect cooperation between your countries.
Miroslav Cerar (via interpreter): Personally, I think that this subject is not appropriate for discussion as part of good Russian-Slovenian relations. Nonetheless, allow me to say a few words about this. I think that, in accordance with the arbitration agreement rules, the Croatian side will be unable to avoid the trial. According to the tribunal, this process will continue. As you are aware, Slovenia has already started the procedure for nominating a new arbitrator. I hope that each of us does all it takes to continue the process in the spirit of good neighbourly relations. We know that the tribunal should act independently, and I hope that it will take the process to its completion. This is an example of how things can be addressed peacefully between states.