Slovenia, Czech republic to promote cooperation in bilateral talks

Slovenia and the Czech Republic aimed to further bilateral cooperation during talks between Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister Karl Erjavec and state leaders of the Czech Republic on Thursday.
Erjavec, also the foreign minister of Slovenia, is due to meet Czech President Milos Zeman and his Czech counterpart Lubomir Zaoralek during his two-day visit to Prague.
The talks will focus on cooperation in trade and investment as well as Slovenia's cooperation with the Visegrad Group of countries, which aside from the Czech Republic comprises Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
The two sides will also exchange views on the situation in the Western Balkans, the Ukraine crisis and the Middle East, as well as EU issues, Slovenian Press Agency reported.
Erjavec's visit to Prague comes seven months after Zeman's official visit to Ljubljana.
The Czech Republic is one of Slovenia's main trade partners with merchandise trade amounting to 1 billion euros (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, of which 559 million euros (699 million U.S. dollars) came from Slovenian exports.