Ljubljana - President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Janez Janša congratulated on Monday Emmanuel Macron on being elected the president of France for a second term in Sunday's run-off of the presidential election.

Wishing Macron a lot of success in performing "this responsible function in the future" on behalf of Slovenian citizens, Pahor said that Slovenia and France remained close allies, the president's office said.

The president added in his congratulatory message that Slovenia and France had developed a strategic partnership based on friendship and common European values in the 30 years since they had established diplomatic ties.

Bilateral relations are marked by excellent cooperation in politics, economy and other fields, while the successive EU presidencies in 2021 and 2022 have upgraded the relations for the benefit of the EU as a whole, the office said.

Pahor expressed the belief that the Franco-Slovenian strategic partnership would be further deepened and developed for mutual benefit.

The president also noted the current security challenges, including Russia's aggression against Ukraine, saying they required cooperation within the EU and NATO to be nurtured and strengthened.

Among the issues that need attention, Pahor also mentioned stability of the Western Balkans and the EU enlargement process.

Macron, who defeated Marine Le Pen with 58% of the vote in Sunday's run-off to win another five-year presidential term, was also congratulated by Prime Minister Janez Janša on Twitter.

Janša said that "we are looking forward to continuing the close cooperation in the EU and in global challenges", adding that Europe needed strong leadership in these challenging times.