In efforts to have good political ties with all European countries at all levels, Slovenia wants to strengthen political dialogue with Poland, the biggest and most influential country in the Višegrad Group, President Borut Pahor's office said.

Duda's is a return visit and comes after Pahor was in Poland in April last year. Overall political contacts have been quite frequent, as the prime ministers met for a working visit in Poland on 24 January and the interior ministers held talks, also in Warsaw, in September last year.

Despite the wish for close cooperation, their actual positions show two countries not being on the same side on key issues of late, in particular migrations and a multi-speed EU.

While Slovenia is willing to accept the concept of a multi-tier EU and has been participating in the refugee relocation and resettlement scheme, Poland's conservative government has been fiercely opposed to both.

Duda will start his visit with a working lunch at Strmol Castle. He and Pahor will be joined by Mladen Ivanić, the chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency, for talks on the Western Balkans.

They will then travel to Celje to unveil a bench of friendship at Celje Castle, a symbolic location since Ana of Celje, a 15th century noblewoman, went on to become queen of Poland.

Monday will be dedicated to more official business as Duda is also received by Prime Minister Miro Cerar and Speaker Milan Brglez. Both presidents will also attend a Polish-Slovenian business forum.

In 2016 bilateral trade amounted to EUR 1.5bn, with Slovenia's exports at EUR 809m.

In terms of foreign direct investment the situation is similar. Slovenia had FDI stock of EUR 63m in Poland and Polish companies only had EUR 14m-worth of investments in Slovenia.

But in recent years the situation has been changing as Polish firms, in particular investment funds, have made significant acquisitions: Innova bought engineering firm Trimo, Lintech Holding purchased Adria Airways, luform Spolka bought aluminium products maker Aha Emmi, and Enterprise Fund VII acquired sports retailer Intersport ISI.