Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be in Trieste tomorrow morning, at the Ridotto del Teatro Verdi, to take part in the Forum of the South-East Europe (SEE) Observatory, organised in collaboration with the Luigi Einaudi Foundation and the Trieste School of Management (MIB). The Observatory, established to promote and support the process of European integration in the Western Balkans, organises political and cultural exchanges, including the ‘Liberal Dialogues’, an international series of meetings dedicated to liberal thought, the rule of law and the future of European integration. The Minister will take part in the interactive dialogue entitled “Accelerating the Integration of the Western Balkans: A Strategic Choice for the Future of Europe”. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, Ervin Ibrahimović, will also participate in the meeting.
In the afternoon, Minister Tajani will travel to Nova Gorica, Slovenia, for a meeting with the Slovenian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tone Kajzer. The two Ministers will hold a joint press conference. Minister Tajani will also meet with representatives of the Italian minority in Slovenia and the Slovenian minority in Italy at the new centre for intercultural dialogue in Nova Gorica.
Italy and Slovenia enjoy excellent bilateral relations and increasingly close economic cooperation. Slovenia is Italy’s leading trading partner in the Adriatic-Balkan region, with trade totalling 11 billion euros in 2025, up 36 per cent on 2019. The two Ministers will also discuss connectivity in the Upper Adriatic and connections to the Western Balkans, which play a strategic role in the integration and growth of the Adriatic-Balkan region. The agenda for the talks will include a focus on European issues and EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, a priority for both countries. Slovenia is among the countries that signed the “Charter of Rome” on 10 July, a political document proposed by Italy aimed at preserving the credibility, predictability and unity of the enlargement process, reaffirming the principles of merit and equal treatment among candidate countries.
