The meeting with the speaker focused on the role of parliaments in the adjustment of legislation to EU standards, a release from the president's office reads.

The Macedonian speaker presented the political situation in the country, which he described as stable but underscored the need to press on with the reforms started.

He expressed his regret about the lack of progress in negotiations on the name dispute with Greece, which has been an obstacle in Macedonia's bid to join the EU and NATO.

Veljanovski asked Pahor to extend his invitation to Speaker of the Slovenian National Assembly Janko Veber to visit Macedonia, so that cooperation between the countries' political institutions could continue.

The meeting with PM Gruevski saw an exchange of opinions on topical issues related to the EU and its future development and the situation in the Western Balkans.

The president's office reported that the pair underlined the need for regional cooperation and agreed on the importance of the regional summit to be hosted by Slovenia next week.

They also discussed the potential to increase trade between the countries.

Pahor also visited a EUR 75m hydro power plant on the Treska river, one of the biggest investments in the region in recent years. The project was overseen by Slovenian company Riko, and involved many Slovenian companies and Macedonian subcontractors.

On the occasion, Pahor praised Slovenian companies for forming clusters to win major contracts abroad. But he also pointed to untapped potential.

Meanwhile, the reception hosted by the Slovenian-Macedonian business association in Skopje also featured a promotional event for the European Basketball Championships to be hosted by Slovenia in September.

Pahor and Ivanov exchanged national team jerseys, while the Macedonian MIA press agency cited Ivanov as expressing his belief that Slovenia would organise successful championships.

He was also quoted as saying that Macedonia would have been an EU member already had the union used sports rules.