Washington - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Slovenia's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2024-2025 during talks with Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar in Washington on Monday. The US sees Slovenia as an appropriate candidate, Blinken said.

The US considers Slovenia a very suitable candidate which if elected would be "a credible voice contributing to the preservation of international peace and security", Blinken said as quoted by the US Department of State.

Logar noted that during the meeting, he had presented "the activities Slovenia will advocate and present to foreign partners, particularly countries whose support we need".

"We believe that Slovenia as a country that upholds the rule of law, defends fundamental human rights and is active in multilateralism can offer the right set of reasons for support," the Slovenian foreign minister said, adding that he had already talked about this with his European colleagues, most recently with his French counterpart in Paris on Thursday.

Commenting on Belarus's bid for the same seat on the UN council, Logar said that Slovenia had demonstrated its advocacy of the UN's key principles on multilateral level. Meanwhile, he regards Belarus as a country that has problems with the principle of democracy, noting that the US's choice of whom to support is clear.

Asked about Belarus's comment that Slovenia submitted its candidacy at the behest of the US, Logar said that Slovenia would focus on getting its own messages across.

"This is a joint Slovenian project, we're at the beginning of this journey and I can say that our diplomacy will do its utmost to get as many votes as possible for our candidacy. I hope that we will be as successful as possible in this year-and-a-half-long campaign, and I hope that we will also get the support of Russia," he said.

Logar also said that Slovenia was continuing the bilateral strategic dialogue with the US under the Joe Biden administration. The dialogue was launched in December 2020 when previous US President Donald Trump was in office.

"Slovenia entered into the strategic partnership last year and this meeting was a review of the work done so far and an announcement of the next steps.

"We agreed that at the start of next year a delegation of the US government will visit Slovenia to continue this dialogue, and in the second half of 2022 we will visit the US," said Logar.

Yesterday's meeting focussed on security issues, particularly in relation to NATO's joint action, developments on the Russia-Ukraine border, and key challenges for NATO, Logar added.

"I also presented the achievements of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU and the desire for active cooperation, especially in the Western Balkans region, where the EU, together with the US, can ensure the region's progress on the road to the EU.

"Slovenia will be actively engaged in this area, both at EU level and with its transatlantic partner, the US," the minister noted.

During his in-person meeting with Logar, Blinken said that he appreciated Slovenia's support for all six Western Balkan countries in their EU accession efforts.

"The secretary of state and Foreign Minister Logar jointly expressed their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina," the Department of State's spokesman Ned Price said after the meeting.

The pair also highlighted the importance of transatlantic relations for Europe's security and prosperity, the press release reads.

Following the talks, Blinken posted on Twitter: "Slovenia is a strong partner in our efforts to revitalize the U.S.-EU partnership during its @EUCouncil presidency."

Logar was also asked whether he and Blinken talked about the recent European Parliament's rule of law resolution on Slovenia.

The minister replied that the US delegation had praised the Slovenian EU presidency as well as the priorities through which the presidency advocates transatlantic dialogue. "There was no mention of any negative points," he said.