Erjavec said that the presidential election in the US had exposed the sharp divide of the American electorate. The voters are the ones who decide, he told the STA on Wednesday.

Following eight years of Democratic leadership, a part of the electorate decided in favour of something new. This is now raising a number of questions, he added.

The minister is certain that it will be known in good time in which direction Trump will lead the US and subsequently international politics.

The new president will have to face some tough issues in international politics, including his county's relations with Russia, he said.

According to Erjavec, US-Russia relations will be of key importance for tackling several crises, such as in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, and the fight against terrorism.

It is in everybody's interest that US-Russia ties be good. And a different policy by the US could lead to relations with Russia improving at the global level, Erjavec added.

Turning to relations between the US and the EU, the foreign minister stressed they were traditionally friendly and believes that they would continue to develop in the same direction.

Erjavec would meanwhile not want to speculate on Trump's other plans for the US. While Republicans dominate both chambers in the Congress, which play an important part in policy making, the Grand Old Party was not unified in its support for the president-elect, he added.

However, given that Slovenia has failed to allocate the promised 2% of GDP to defence, Erjavec is concerned over Trump's statement that all NATO members should meet their financial commitments. "We'll see how serious Trump's statements made during the election camping were and how he plans to implement them."

He did not forget to mention that it was good for Slovenia that the incoming First Lady Melania Trump is Slovenian. "We should not expect too much, but this will be positive for Slovenia," Erjavec concluded.