President of the Republic receives President of the European Commission

Ljubljana, 8.5.2008  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today received the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso. They devoted most of their time addressing the issue related to the European Union and the Slovenian Presidency. In their talks, special attention was devoted to the issues stemming from the increase in food prices in world markets and impact of this rise on achieving development goals and objectives. The statesmen agreed that rising food prices caused certain concern and the need for analysing all the causes of this complex phenomenon, as well as careful adoption of the positions of the states on this issue and their coordination within the European Union. They called attention to the fact that jumping to conclusions on the impact of biofuel production on the food price is inappropriate as demonstrated by studies being currently carried out.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, acquainted the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, with the European Commission's idea on the evaluation of the progress achieved regarding the Millennium Development Goals and definition of commitments for their fulfilment in the future. This topic will be an important element of the summit debate to be prepared by the United Nations Organisation in New York in September this year. Mr Barroso and Dr Türk also addressed the issue of the EU enlargement and other international crises issues such as the situation in the Middle East.