Ljubljana - Foreign Minister Anže Logar assured his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg on Friday that Slovenia would be completely transparent about its plans to build a second unit at the Krško nuclear power station, in particular when it comes to environmental impact assessment.

Dialogue with Slovenia's neighbouring countries regarding this issue will be "inclusive to the maximum extent", Logar said at a joint press conference in Ljubljana.

He said that Slovenia was already fulfilling the highest nuclear safety standards and would continue to do so, stressing that nuclear was a key source of energy for the country.

It will also play an instrumental role if Europe is to achieve a rapid transition to green energy sources.

Schallenberg said that an open dialogue was very important and that Austria respected decisions by other countries on what kind of an energy mix they would have.

But he noted that Austria had always emphasised the downsides of nuclear: the potential for nuclear accidents and the cost of technology.

There are alternatives, from solar and wind energy to water and biomass, according to him.

Having been accompanied to Ljubljana by Styrian Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer, Schallenberg proposed that Slovenia and the state of Styria should strengthen energy cooperation.

Schallenberg and Schützenhöfer also held talks with Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Blaž Košorok. The ministry has not disclosed the details of the talks, but Austrian press agency APA reported that an agreement had been reached to draw up a joint study on the earthquake study of the planned unit two in Krško.