Division for South-Eastern Europe and Regional Cooperation

phone: +386 1 478 22 67

fax: +386 1 478 22 69

The department is responsible for organising and coordinating bilateral relations with countries in the Western Balkans, EU candidate and accession countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Turkey) and for Slovenia's participation in regional initiatives, within which Slovenia runs and finances projects on human rights, democratisation, regional economic regeneration, security and defence, justice and home affairs. The department monitors events within its areas of responsibility, launches initiatives for bilateral cooperation and proposes the adoption of international agreements to develop cooperation. It pays special attention to protecting the interests of Slovenia, its citizens, and businesses in South Eastern Europe and Turkey, and to monitoring the alignment of Western Balkan states with the EU and when so requests shares Slovenian experiences and knowledge of the negotiation process for EU membership. The department is also responsible for coordinating the maintenance of borders with all neighbouring states.

The department is also in charge of Slovenia's activities within the Central European Initiative (CEI), the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative (AII), the Alps-Adriatic Working Community, the Danube Cooperation Process, and the Quadrilaterale group, in which Slovenia cooperates with Croatia, Hungary and Italy.