国际英语新闻:Slovenia, Russia ties "significantly strengthened", says Russian PM Medvedev

LJUBLJANA, 26 July (Xinhua) -- The visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday during his two-day visit to Slovenia that cooperation between Slovenia and Russia had been significantly strengthened over the past few years.

He made the remarks when he attended Sunday's annual commemoration at a Russian Chapel in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, dedicated to several hundred Russian POWs who died there while building a key road for the supply of the Isonzo Front almost 100 years ago.

Dmitry Medvedev meanwhile labelled the chapel "a memorial of the absurdity of war". But its longevity proves that honest emotions of unity of Slavic ancestors live on, even if states and social systems have changed in the meantime, Slovenian Press Agency (STA) quoted him as saying.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, his visiting Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and former Slovenian President Milan Kucan attended the ceremony.

Cerar labelled the chapel "a witness of one of the tragic chapters in human history which would keep reminding us of our duties."

The chapel's message is "a message of peace and peace is a major responsibility of all of us, so we must always work towards it," he added.

Medvedev, the most senior Russian official to have ever attended the Russian Chapel event, said that "while we are united by glorious history, we must also think about future".

"This is not a cooperation which depends on growth and decision-makers should do everything in their power for it to continue, because we all want that," he said.