PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: President represents Slovenia but does not make foreign policy

Under Slovenia's Constitution, the president represents the country in the international community, but his or her powers in foreign policy are limited.

The country's foreign policy is mainly in the domain of the National Assembly, while its implementation is in the hands of the Foreign Ministry, international relations expert Jožef Kunič has told the STA.

However, the president is seen as the main representative of the country abroad, he added. According to veteran diplomat Peter Toš, he or she is also free to give initiatives and proposals on foreign policy to relevant bodies.

Both Pahor and Šarec agree that the president and the government must speak the same language abroad. "I represent Slovenia, I don't lead its foreign policy," said Pahor, the incumbent president.

He said that due to his past experience in foreign policy, he has always tried to be as synchronised as possible with the prime minister, foreign minister and the presidents of both chambers of parliament.

Šarec shares this view, saying that any discrepancies could confuse foreigners and make the country look ridiculous. "Solo actions are never good," he said, noting though that recently they had not been uncommon.

The Kamnik mayor sees the role of the president in foreign policy mostly in promoting international business cooperation. The president and the entire diplomatic service must represent and promote the interests of businesses, he believes.

Although the president has the power to appoint and recall ambassadors upon the proposal of the government, neither candidate would refuse to confirm the appointment of ambassador candidates like former President Danilo Türk did in 2008, raising a lot of dust.

Pahor said that if he opposed a certain candidate, he would intervene before the government confirmed the candidate rather than wait for the final step. Šarec, meanwhile, said his personal opinion on a candidate would not affect the appointment procedure, but he would reject the appointment of a candidate who did things that damaged the country in the past.

Asked about other topical foreign policy issues, the two presidential candidates said they supported the proposal to remove the fence from the border with Croatia.

Commenting on border checks within the Schengen zone, Pahor said that he did not support Austria's reintroduction of the checks on its border with Slovenia, because Slovenia was implementing the Schengen rules in an efficient manner.

Similarly, Šarec said that "we need to be cautious" regarding the European Commission's new proposal of a possible three-year extension of border checks within the Schengen zone.

He believes the Schengen system could be improved and that in the face of changes to the security situation, the Dublin Regulation, allowing countries to send asylum seekers back to the country through which they entered the EU, should be changed as well.

Asked which group of countries within the EU Slovenia should favour, Pahor said it was very important for Slovenia to be part of the core EU countries, although good relations with the Visegrad Group of Central European countries were also important.

Šarec too believes Slovenia should strive to be in the EU's core, but the question was whether it was ready to pay for this and contribute more business-, economic- and security-wise.

Both candidates think Slovenia should insist on its cohesive, appeasing attitude to Russia, but Šarec added this must be balanced with the country's attitude to the US.

Both Pahor and Šarec support the Iranian nuclear agreement and believe Slovenia should join the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

But the two candidates have different views on Turkey's EU accession talks. While Pahor believes they should continue, Šarec thinks the EU should end the negotiations, but maintain dialogue with the country.

Asked whether Slovenia should recognise Catalonia's independence, Pahor and Šarec said that the Catalan people should first clearly say what they want and show unity.

Pahor said he believed Slovenia's diplomatic and consular missions in some countries should be closed and opened in other countries, while Šarec would not close any such offices.

On the contrary, Šarec would reopen the embassies that have been closed, for example in Ireland and Sweden, and open a diplomatic mission in the Middle East, for example in Kuwait, Qatar or the Emirates.

Neither Pahor nor Šarec would change the current provision allowing for 10% of Slovenian diplomats posted abroad to be non-career diplomats.

Asked if there is a country they would not want to visit as president, Šarec said he would not visit a country that posed a threat to peace and stability in the world, while Pahor replied in the negative.