Slovenia Times

Slovenia – Russia
01 Traditional memorial service at the Russian chapel on
Vršič in memory of the Russian prisoners of war. Photo:
Daniel Novakovič /STA
02 Paintings of Moscow. Photo: Daniel Novakovič /STA
01 02
Slovenia – Russia:
the bilateral relationship
Prepared by Valerio Fabbri
Strategic importance of Vršič:
1916 and 2016
In early 1915, the small town of Kranjska
Gora suddenly became strategically important
due to its proximity to the Soča Front. Because
of the problems of supplying the hinterland,
the Austro-Hungarian army decided to build a
mountain road over Vršič, a pass of over 1,600
metres between the Soča and Sava valleys. Due
to a shortage of labour, the army used Russian
prisoners of war for the construction. During
the intensive work in 1916, an enormous
avalanche buried a large number of people,
among them about 170 Russians to whose
memory the remaining prisoners built a small
wooden memorial chapel. 28 July marks the
traditional day when the remembrance of this
event takes place. On the 100 th anniversary
of its inauguration, the President of Slovenia,
Borut Pahor and Russian President, Vladimir
Putin, will both participate in the ceremony
in July 2016. Once again, the Vršič mountain
pass may be of strategic importance, for Putin
to visit a European Union (EU) country is a rare
event and more-so since the imposition of EU
economic sanctions on Russia in July 2014 for
its annexation of Crimea.
Slovenia is among a select group of countries,
including Germany, Greece, Hungary,
the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy, whose
leaders have advocated an end to the penalties
imposed on Russia. During the 2015 visit of
Russian Prime Minister, Dimitri Medvedev,
to the Vršič chapel, the President of Slovenia,
Miro Cerar, stated that Slovenia wanted the
EU to lift economic sanctions on Russia as the
sanctions were affecting trade between the two
countries, which has decreased by 40 percent
as a consequence. A year later, Germany is
leading the efforts of countries increasingly in
favour of easing the pressure on the trade relationship
between Russia and the EU. German
Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
recently raised the idea of a phased removal of
sanctions as progress is achieved through the
implementation of the Minsk agreement on
Ukraine.
The Slavic factor in bilateral trade
Enjoying a combination of different geographical
features in a small area, Slovenia is often
described as a microcosm of Europe. Although
the country is not widely known in Russia,
those who know Slovenia love it and want to
move to this western-most Slavic country. As
Andrej Stopar, a former Moscow correspondent
for RTV Slovenija, puts it "the perception is
that a small, cute, clean, environmentally-friendly
Slavic country is a cozy destination for middle class
Russians, mainly from the country’s European
part". The Forum of Slavic Cultures, established
by Slovenia and Russia in 2004 with the aim
to preserve and develop the cultural values and
traditions shared by Slavic-speaking countries,
is further testament to this. For all these affinities,
Russians moving to Slovenia tend to integrate
with local people. Furthermore, cultural
contiguity also helps bilateral trade.
Top-level political dialogue was opened
in 2001 when Slovenia hosted the Russian-
American Summit in Brdo pri Kranju. Since
that event, state-level meetings have been
held on a regular basis. Russians are perceived
as acceptable and silent investors in Slovenia,
highlights Klemen Grošelj, a professor at the
Faculty of Political Science of the University of
Ljubljana and a Russian expert. Slovenia and
Russia are traditionally strong economic partners.
Russian interests in the metallurgical industry
and tourism in Slovenia are significant,
while Slovenia has been an investor in Russia,
predominately in the pharmaceutical sector,
and an exporter of wireless telecommunication
equipment, electrical machinery, mechanical
systems and coatings. As a member state of
the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia manufactured
40 The Slovenian Times | Summer Edition 2016