Merkel to Discuss Euro Crisis With Pahor During Slovenia Visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss Europe’s sovereign debt crisis with Slovenia’s Prime Minister Borut Pahor during a visit to the euro nation later this month, Slovenia’s government said.

“The German chancellor is coming to Ljubljana on Aug. 30 and, yes, she will very likely discuss the debt problems in Europe with the prime minister and other officials,” Spela Vovk, Pahor’s spokeswoman, said in a phone interview today.

Merkel will also hold talks with Janez Jansa, the former premier, who leads the largest Slovenian opposition party, according to the party’s website. A German government spokesman declined to comment on details of the trip, saying it hasn’t been officially announced in Berlin.

Slovenia, which joined the euro in 2007, is among the 17 countries in the single currency that needs to pass legislation to enhance the scope of the European rescue fund to implement a July 21 agreement by euro-area leaders. Slovenia’s minority government may have trouble doing so after the resignation yesterday of Interior Minister Katarina Kresal, a move that risks pushing the former Yugoslav nation into early elections.

Pahor’s administration, which took power in 2008, has 33 lawmakers in the 90-member assembly after two coalition partners left the ruling group since May. The loss of a minister may also hamper attempts to cut public spending after voters rejected a proposed pension overhaul in a June referendum. Regular elections are planned for late 2012.

Slovenian 10-year bonds rallied for a second day today as yields dropped to 4.89 percent as of 3.12 p.m. in Ljubljana, the lowest level since July 8.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is Slovenia’s biggest export market, representing about 20 percent of its exports.

To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Cerni in Ljubljana at bcerni@bloomberg.net

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