The president of the National Council, Marina Carobbio (SP/TI), visited Ljubljana from 19 to 21 May 2019 at the invitation of her Slovenian counterpart, Dejan Židan. She also met the president of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, and the Slovenian prime minister, Marjan Šarec, and took part in World Bee Day events on 20 May.

​On 20 May, Ms Carobbio took part in a round-table discussion in the Slovenian parliament to mark World Bee Day, which was also attended by Swiss film-maker Markus Imhoof, the director of the documentary «More Than Honey». The aim of this World Day, set up on Slovenia’s initiative, is to raise awareness of the essential contribution bees make to the health of humanity and the planet. Slovenia is a pioneer in bee protection and biodiversity conservation, being the first country in the EU to impose a national ban the use of certain pesticides, in 2011.

On 21 May, Ms Carobbio visited a cancer treatment centre in Maribor which received funding of CHF 5.5 million as part of Switzerland’s first contribution to EU enlargement. The centre has received radiotherapy equipment in cooperation with the oncology department of the cantonal hospital of Bellinzona.

Official talks with the Slovenian authorities covered bilateral relations between Switzerland and Slovenia and many other topics. During the meetings, Ms Carobbio brought up in particular Switzerland-European Union (EU) relations and the European Commission’s decision to limit Swiss stock market equivalence. She also emphasised the fact that Switzerland’s second contribution to certain EU member states including Slovenia had been approved by the Swiss National Council, but remained conditional on the non-adoption of discriminatory measures against Switzerland by the EU. Other subjects such as the European elections, the EU integration of the West Balkan countries, the dual system of vocational education and training, the Slovenian health system, protection of biodiversity in Switzerland and Slovenia, linguistic minorities and gender equality were also discussed during the visit.

Switzerland and Slovenia maintain excellent relations, including particularly strong economic ties, and cooperate actively within international organisations. These two Alpine nations have the Italian language in common, and both have a strong economy and a close trading relationship with the EU.