Erjavec will also meet Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović, Prime Minister Ivica Dačić and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Aleksandar Vučić.

This is a return visit following Mrkić's visit to Ljubljana in October 2012.

Serbia gained the status of an EU candidate country in March 2012, and it expects to get a date for the launch of accession negotiations at the end of June, as it reached an agreement on normalisations of relations with Kosovo in April.

Slovenia, which has recognised Kosovo, supports the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, as well as the European integration of Serbia and the entire region.

Relations between Slovenia and Serbia are good, with Serbia being the eleventh biggest trade partner of Slovenia and the second biggest recipient of direct investments from Slovenia in 2012.

Last year Slovenia exported more than EUR 654m in goods, while importing almost EUR 364m worth of goods from Serbia.