Participation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia at the 7th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM 7)

Beijing, 25.10.2008  |  press release

As part of his visit to China, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, took part in the 7th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM 7), attended by the leaders of 27 European Union countries, ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries (ASEAN), and the leaders of India, Pakistan, Mongolia, China, South Korea and Japan. Yesterday afternoon, the Slovenian President attended the opening ceremony of the 7th Asia-Europe Summit and the first closed plenary session on the topic of "International Economy and the Situation of Finance", where he addressed the audience.

In his speech, Dr Türk drew attention to the fact that, during the discussion focused on ways of seeking solutions to the global financial crisis, proposals for institutional reform, including modification of the structure of the IMF, were made. In his view, these changes will have to happen over a certain period of time; however, he questioned whether the discussion could be said to have reached a point where the issue of institutional aspects – which could make further discussion difficult – should be tackled. President Türk pointed out that this process requires a gradual approach and that short- and long-term measures along with rules and principles are required in the first place; it is only after this has been achieved that institutional issues can be addressed properly. At the end of his speech, Dr Türk added that in seeking solutions to the crisis it is indeed helpful to consider all possible aspects, but that things should happen progressively. In the President's words, the first thing to be done is to define priority measures to be used and to consider the extent to which regional policies may pave the way to final institutional changes at a global level.

This morning, President Türk attended the second closed plenary session ''Global Issues – Safe Food, Natural Disaster Preparedness and Management'' and the third closed plenary session ''Sustainable Development – Millennium Development Goals, Energy Safety, Climatic Change and Social Cohesion''. In the continuation of his visit, the President took part in a working lunch dedicated to ''International and Regional Development'' issues, held in honour of all delegations by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

The topics discussed during the working lunch concerned several issues relating to international peace and security, such as the situation in Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and Iran. During the discussion, President Türk positively assessed the experience gained in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and, in particular, the fact that the present approach enjoys the full support of the international community; moreover, an efficient diplomatic mechanism was put in place entailing debate between six parties, thus assuring that decisions can be arrived at relatively quickly and smoothly. Dr Türk pointed out that, in general, this is a rather useful model showing the importance of linking full international support, effective diplomatic mechanisms and consideration of the realities of regional security. Successful linking of these three elements can effectively help solve the problems, said the President.

In the afternoon, President Türk attended the fourth closed plenary session on the topic of "Reinforcing Intercivilisation Dialogue", where he gave a speech. As he stated in his address, the European Union constitutes a pluralist space encompassing different cultures where, owing to immigration phenomena, direct needs to reinforce intercultural dialogue are ever present. In the President's words, Europe is well aware of the global dimension of this issue and is consequently committed to intercultural and intercivilisational dialogue at a global level. In order to fully benefit from the economic advantages of globalisation, we should also take into account the cultural and civilisational aspects and develop our relations in the sense of mutual respect and support, said the President. Initiatives in this field, such as the Alliance of Civilisations initiated by Spain and Turkey, do exist and should be developed in such a way as to reach the highest possible synergy. Discussions on fundamental issues concerning relations and dialogue between different civilisations imply practical action, such as more frequent commentaries in the media covering current issues across different regions.

In his address, Dr Türk mentioned the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which puts forth human rights as a value common to all civilisations, nations, cultures and individuals. He recalled that at the time of the Declaration's origin, human rights in the major part of the world meant an ideal which was very distant from reality. Despite everything, the spirit of optimism that engendered the Declaration has shown that the idea of human rights possesses a true transformational power that has managed to deeply change the world, said the President. In Dr Türk's words, the authors of the Declaration were aware of the fact that the process of implementation of human rights is a long one, requiring many small steps, such as prompting social change in individual states and involving changes related to the international world order. This process is still ongoing; taking into account the long-term nature of this objective, progress can be achieved that will help develop dialogue between civilisations, concluded the Slovenian President.

On the margins of the 7th Asia-Europe Summit, Dr Türk met with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung. In their conversation they mentioned the good relations between the two countries, which should be stepped up by means of more regular and frequent contact at various levels. The Vietnamese Prime Minister expressed support for Slovenia's candidacy for non-permanent UN Security Council membership in the 2012–2013 period and thanked Slovenia for its support regarding Vietnam's integration into the international community. On this occasion, Prime Minister Dung invited Dr Türk on an official visit to Vietnam. President Türk, in the light of promoting cooperation between the two countries in all fields, also invited the Vietnamese President and Prime Minister to visit Slovenia. In addition, the two statesmen expressed their wish to improve economic cooperation in the fields of commodity and service exchange, while Dr Türk referred to Slovenia's interest in direct investments.