Slovene parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Jozef Jerovsek said at the beginning that Slovenia was among the EU countries which advocated launching Croatia's membership talks as soon as possible because it would benefit everyone as well as provide the other countries in the Western Balkans with a European prospect.
Jerovsek said Slovenia would continue to support Croatia's EU entry despite opinions that the Union's enlargement should be slowed down. He added the support would also continue despite opinions in Slovenia that as an EU member with influence on the enlargement process, Slovenia should secure political compensation for a 2001 border deal which Croatia has not ratified yet.
Strategic Research Institute director Borut Brgic said Croatia and Slovenia could cooperate strategically in the stabilisation of the Western Balkans, while resolving their outstanding issues more productively given that they shared the basic political views. He also highlighted the need to cooperate in combating organised and transborder crime.
Pjer Simunovic of the Croatian Foreign and European Integration Ministry thanked Slovenia for organising the conference and for its active support for Croatia's EU entry.
Speaking of the armed forces reform, he said Croatia did not see a real threat coming from the neighbourhood and was reforming the military in keeping with NATO standards so as to be able to respond to global threats such as terrorism.
Attending the conference are also representatives of embassies in Ljubljana, including Croatian Ambassador Mario Nobilo, as well as the president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee on Human Rights, Zarko Puhovski.