STA, 11 November 2018 - President Borut Pahor stressed that Sunday's central commemoration marking the end of World War One in Paris celebrates a commitment of states and world leaders to peace. "We want to enhance our common efforts towards this fundamental value," he was quoted by his office as saying.
Pahor added that "there is nothing nobler than our political mission to secure that this and future generations live in safety and peace".
He is in Paris with some 80 world leaders upon the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
The president is also taking part in the Paris Peace Forum, which is debating the world order, its goals and possible changes, according to Pahor's office.
Ob Slavoloku zmage v Parizu poteka osrednja slovesnost ob 100. obletnici konca 1. svetovne vojne. #CentenaireArmistice #armistice100 pic.twitter.com/fKAnfi8JeI
— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) November 11, 2018
The forum, organised by France to strengthen multilateralism, was opened by Macron, and also addressed by Merkel and UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres.
Pahor sees it as an attempt to see if countries themselves and in collaboration with one another do everything to secure a lasting peace and strengthen values such as mutual respect, consideration, tolerance and solidarity, as well as renouncing threats and hate speech.
"We wish for the memory of war atrocities not to fade away as time passes by. It is people who decide on peace or war. No action in favour of peace and enhanced mutual understanding and cooperation is superfluous," said Pahor.
The world leaders taking part in the forum were invited to donate a book which in their view brings a message of peace to the Peace Library.
Pahor will donate I Saw Her That Night, Drago Jančar's award-winning novel which was among many accolades it has received declared in France the best novel by a foreign writer in 2014.
The shocking plot is based on real events, narrating a story about war, which never solves problems but creates even more horrific ones, Pahor's office said.
"I Saw Her That Night is a story about emptiness and about the people whom the war deprived of their lives - symbolically and actually."
The novel will be donated in three languages - Slovenian, French and English, bringing to the library "a Slovenian appeal and desire for peace".
