Getting to know each other for the first time

State visit to Carinthia: President met Emperor

Officially met on Thursday: Nataša Pirc Musar and Peter Kaiser.(Bild: LPD/Erich Varh)

The prospects couldn't have been bleaker: Rain and only 14 degrees in mid-May - but despite the weather, the working meeting between Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar and Governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) was "amical".

It was the first official meeting between the two politicians, a first opportunity to get to know each other: "We discussed the progress that has been and is being made in the development of the bilingual population in Carinthia and looked at future developments."

"Language and language promotion are particularly important, and we have taken further steps to make it easier for bilingual teachers to work in kindergartens," Kaiser summarizes.

Pirc Musar and Kaiser: an "amicable" meeting.(Bild: LPD/Erich Varh)

The Slovenian grammar school celebrated in the Neue Burg in Völkermarkt.(Bild: zVg)

"Thanks to Austria"
"Neighbourly cooperation based on trust" is particularly important to her, emphasized Pirc Musar, who recalled the devastating floods in Slovenia last summer: "Austria was one of the first countries to help us enormously, and we are grateful for that. We are increasingly intertwined with Carinthia in terms of infrastructure and economy."

Afterwards, the politicians went to the festive academy of the Slovenian grammar school, where the 25th anniversary of the trilingual Julius Kugy class was celebrated, in which classes are taught in German, Slovenian and Italian. "Such an investment in education is an investment in peace," congratulated the governor on the anniversary.