Fisher, accompanied by his spouse Margit, will be received with military honours in Ljubljana, soon after which he and Pahor will head for Kočevje (S) to meet representatives of the German-speaking community living there.

Fisher will be the first Austrian president to visit the community, whose roots go back some 600 years but which now only consists of around 100 members.

The community is supported by Austria and is striving to be recognised as a minority. This would for instance entitle it to funding for its associations, the Austrian Press Agency APA reported.

An important topic for Slovenia on the other hand is the protection of the Slovenian minority in Austria's Carinthia province and is also expected to be discussed in talks between the two presidents on Monday. Pahor received last week representatives of Slovenian minority organisations in Austria.

Following a press statement by the two presidents, Fisher is scheduled to meet Parliamentary Speaker Janko Veber and visit the Ljubljana St Nicholas's cathedral, after which Pahor will host the Austrian presidential couple for lunch at Bled.

Fisher will then hold a working meeting with PM Alenka Bratušek, who met Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann along with Croatian PM Zoran Milanović in Graz on 23 August. The three called for joint efforts against unemployment, for economic growth and a democratic Europe.

Moreover scheduled for the afternoon is Fisher's attendance of the Bled Strategic Forum, where he will participate in the main panel of leaders entitled "Changes in Europe and the World".

Slovenia and Austria have been nurturing very good neighbourly relations and meetings between politicians are frequent.

Pahor was on an official visit in Vienna in February, while the Austrian president last visited Slovenia in April 2011. Bratušek paid an official visit in June, following Pahor in picking Austria as her first destination among neighbour countries after assuming office.

Economic ties have also been intensive, with EUR 5.6bn or a 48% share in foreign direct investment in 2012 making Austria by far the most important foreign investor in Slovenia.

Slovenian exports to Austria amounted to EUR 1.73bn last year, while imports stood at EUR 2.59bn. The figures for the first five months of 2013 were EUR 742m and EUR 1.06bn, respectively.