"Our plans are ambitious. The twenty years of cooperation and our first joint unit in Afghanistan have shown that the armies work well together and it would be wrong not to continue this. There is a chance that the soldiers of the Colorado National Guard will join us in our mission in Kosovo," the minister told the STA.

He added that talks on this were already under way. "Stabilisation of Kosovo is our priority and we want to cooperate with those whom we trust and who trust us."

Jakič is accompanied by Chief-of-the-General-Staff, Brigadier Dobran Božič, a business delegation, representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Slovenia and representatives of the Ljubljana University during the US visit.

Slovenian honorary consul in Denver Srečko Vidmar organised a business forum where Slovenian business executives met their American counterparts.

"The wish of both sides was to expand cooperation to business, culture and sport. The first impressions I got are positive," Jakič commented on the event.

Slovenian Ambassador to the US Roman Kirn said the military cooperation was being upgraded and expressed hope that business cooperation in particular would be enhanced.

At the official ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of cooperation, the Commander of the Colorado National Guard, Major General Michael Edwards, praised the Slovenian Armed Forces.

"I had the opportunity to see them in action. Slovenians are known as the best group of soldiers in Kosovo," he said.

Jakič also touched on the cooperation in Afghanistan and said that Slovenia was committed to NATO's principle of "in together out together".

He said Slovenia still focussed on the construction of facilities and security training in the country but that it wished to contribute to long-term stability of Afghanistan society with other projects, such as the strengthening of women's rights, education, and the rule of law.

The government is still discussing ways in which Slovenia will be able to help the country after the 2014 withdrawal of NATO forces, he noted.

The minister also watched training of the Colorado National Guard at the Fort Carson military base. Today he is scheduled to visit the Buckley Air Force Base and attend a graduation ceremony of cadets of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Among the graduates is also Slovenian Marko Podplatnik.