Omerzel described the talks as concrete and fair, saying that he and Zanonato "touched on practically all the aspects of the problem, starting with its environmental questionability and all the way to the strategic value of the gas terminal", which is opposed by Slovenia.

He noted that there was a joint interest for diversifying energy sources and that "a location that is not contentious environmentally for Slovenia is acceptable for us".

"Of course, Aquilinia is not such a location," Omerzel was clear about the location originally planned by Italy.

Thus the two countries will talk about a concrete location for the terminals in the North Adriatic. "One side will do nothing without the other side," he said, announcing that further steps would be taken in the coming months.

The two ministers also broached the construction of the South Stream pipeline, which will bring Russian gas to Europe, in which both Slovenia and Italy are participating.

Omerzel pointed to questions related to South Stream raised by a package of EU directives determining that supply of energy needs to be separated from the grid management, while access to the grid must also be provided to other suppliers.

Russian gas giant Gazprom, involved in both the supply and grid operation in South Stream, is a strong opponent of this and Omerzel indicated that the EU granting an exception in this case would be a possible solution.