LJUBLJANA, February 21. /TASS/. Slovenia and Russia have close links and a very high level of cooperation in various spheres, Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Wednesday during talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
"Historically, we’ve had good relations with Russia," he said. "Our leaders hold regular meetings at the highest level. We have far-reaching cooperation that branches out to cover politics, science, culture, and the economy."
The Slovene diplomat recalled that a branch of Moscow State University had been opened in 2017 in the town of Koper.
He also mentioned a memorandum on an international center for research on World War II in Maribor, which Lavrov and Erjavec were expected to sign on Wednesday, adding that this sphere of activity would help the two countries broaden their ties.
Erjavec also mentioned the reciprocal Years of Culture in Ljubljana and Moscow, when Moscow hosted an exhibition highlighting the works of architect Joze Plecnik and the play ‘The Serfs’ by the classic of Slovenian drama, Ivan Cankar, was staged in Moscw.
Slovenia’s top diplomat said the two countries could take pride in the fruits of their economic cooperation, as bilateral trade grew 15% in 2017. This moved the Slovenian-Russian trade close to the mark they once had displayed in the past, which is 1 billion euros a year.
Moreover, the minister noted that Russia was one of Slovenia’s major partners outside the EU.