As Minister Erjavec stated at the press conference, he was very pleased with the topics and the organisation of this year’s forum, which is now in its seventh consecutive year and has become one of the most notable events in this region and beyond. The forum, attended by many distinguished and high-level guests from the fields of politics, business and academia, focused on finding answers to current challenges in Europe and the international community.

Minister Erjavec, the host of this year’s forum, noted that the issues chosen were highly topical. He touched upon Europe’s role in the changed global world, where power centres are shifting from North to South and from West to East. One of the forum’s messages is that a changed environment requires Europe to change.

“Slovenia needs reforms and the Golden Rule,” said Minister Erjavec. “The Bled Strategic Forum could help raise public and political awareness of why this is necessary.” He is certain that the message is clear and that Slovenia needs to undertake these reforms; should international assistance be required, the reforms would be even more drastic. “We need to make changes if we want a safe future not only for ourselves, but also for the generations before and after us,” the Minister stressed.

He also mentioned numerous bilateral meetings that he had had in the course of the Forum. Among others, the Foreign Minister met eight counterparts (from Qatar, Montenegro, Kosovo, the Palestinian National Authority, Slovakia, Macedonia, Nigeria, and Croatia) and high representatives of international organisations (OECD, OSCE).

In his closing speech, Minister Erjavec also mentioned the Business Forum and Young BSF. The latter confirmed that we should listen to the voice of the future generation of young leaders when addressing the new challenges of the modern world.

At the end of yet another successful international conference in Bled, the Minister invited everyone present to attend the eighth Bled Strategic Forum next year.