Monday-Tuesday, 5-6 February 2018, Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia: For the very first time leaders of all three Benelux countries were hosted for a multilateral summit by the Government of Slovenia.
10th Slovenian Premier Minister, H.E. Mr. Miro Cerar hosted a dinner for Luxembourgian Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Xavier Bettel and Belgian Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Didier Reynders at Ljubljana Castle before they are joined on 6 February by Dutch Premier H.E. Mr. Mark Rutte for a working session at Podrožnik Villa on Tuesday.
After lunch all four on Tuesday, strolled through the city of Ljubljana. They ended up their meetings with a supper at Strmol Mansion north of the capital.
One of the topics under discussion was the implementation of the border arbitration award after Benelux prime ministers urged Slovenia and Croatia in July last year to respect the award in a constructive spirit.
Mark Rutte touched on the issue again when visiting his Austrian counterpart H.E. Mr. Sebastian Kurz early in January 2018, when they both expressed concern about the dispute and their willingness to contribute to its solution.
Slovenia has very good relations with the Benelux countries, something that was noted when Cerar hosted his Belgian counterpart H.E. Mr. Charles Michel for a meeting in Ljubljana in May 2017. The countries have similar views on the EU’s future. Both Slovenia and Belgium were at the time said to be advocating a strong, forward-looking and development-oriented EU.
Cerar highlighted the usefulness for Slovenia to build stronger ties with the Benelux countries, considering the shared values and political policies with them.
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Picture by Slovenian Government
