Slovenian, Hungarian presidents start meeting by jogging around Lake Bled

Hungarian President Novák with her Slovenian counterpart Lake Bled

Photo: FB

President Katalin Novák went jogging along the shore of Lake Bled with Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor ahead of their meeting on Thursday.

Novák said she had decided with Pahor to start the official programme of her two-day visit with sports activity on the shore of the lake.

“We’re both sportspeople — regular runners and marathon runners — so we’re starting this meeting by jogging together,” she said. “We also want to send the message that sport brings people closer together and helps build close ties.”

Slovenia and Hungary, she added, “are neighbourly countries that maintain very good relations. We want to strengthen these links at presidential level.”

Read also: President to visit Slovenia

On Friday, Novák is scheduled to lay a wreath at the memorial to soldiers who died in wars in Ljubljana and then hold a plenary meeting Pahor. She will follow with bilateral talks with Prime Minister Robert Golob.

She will hold meetings with representatives of the Raba regional Slovenian ethnic community and the Prekmurje Hungarian local government ethnic community (MMÖNK). She is also scheduled to attend the opening of the new MMONK headquarters in Lendava (Lendva).