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Zagreb - Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob met with Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković in Ljubljana on Wednesday, thanking Croatia for being the first to come to his country's aid after it was hit by heavy floods early in August.
Croatia provided concrete assistance: a helicopter with a crew and machinery. The Croatian army is currently setting up a temporary bridge over the River Dreta in the village of Lačja Vas, which is the third mission of Croatian military personnel in Slovenia following the August flooding in which six people were killed.
During the meeting, Jandroković said that Slovenia could use Croatia's experience with earthquake reconstruction, including the use of funding from the European Solidarity Fund.
There is a considerable potential for strengthening bilateral cooperation in emergency management, institutional cooperation in water management and in connecting the construction sectors in the reconstruction process.
Jandroković is currently on a two-day official visit at the invitation of Slovenian Parliament Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič. He expressed his satisfaction with the intensifying of political dialogue between the two countries, highlighting the need to increase the parliamentary dimension of the cooperation. He noted that he had previously paid an official visit to Slovenia ten years ago.
The meeting reaffirmed the friendship and partnership between the two countries. As regards outstanding issues, notably the border arbitration ruling, the interlocutors agreed that they should be addressed in constructive dialogue, "in a spirit of friendship and good neighbourliness".
Jandroković and Golob also discussed the current situation in the Western Balkans and the European Union's enlargement.
The European orientation of the countries in the region is important to both Croatia and Slovenia, with Jandroković particularly emphasising the importance of meeting all EU accession criteria.