Hollande visits Slovenia to boost ties

French President Francois Hollande arrived here on Thursday morning, kicking off the first official visit by a French top leader to Slovenia. Hollande is expected to have talks with Slovenian President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek and Parliament Speaker Janko Veber, focusing on deepening the strategic partnership. The meetings are also expected to deal with Slovenia's financial crisis, according official sources here. France, the second biggest economy in the eurozone, voiced early this year confidence in Slovenia's ability to shake off crisis, and reportedly wishes to increase investments in the country. Slovenia has been in growing financial difficulties since 2008 which saw the start of financial crisis in the United States and Europe. Slovenia and France signed in March 2011 a strategic cooperation partnership agreement aimed to strengthen political, economic and other ties between the two countries. President Pahor visited Paris in April 2013. Apart from his meetings with Slovenian leaders, Hollande is also due to attend a Brdo Process conference hosted by the Slovenian and Croatian presidents at Brdo pri Kranju, some 30 km northwest of Ljubljana. Presidents of all former Yugoslav republics plus Albania will attend the informal meeting. The six republics once part of Yugoslavia are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. France is one of Slovenia's major trade partners. In 2012, trade volume between the two countries amounted to 2.1 billion euros (2.7 billion U.S. dollars).