President Borut Pahor and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, marked the first Day of Slovenia-UK Friendship on Tuesday in Gornji Suhor, a village in south-eastern Slovenia, where a British bomber crashed in 1945. They laid wreaths at the memorial plaque commemorating the crew, five of whom were taken to safety by local Partisans.
In their addresses, both Pahor and Prince Edward underlined the importance of friendship between their countries in the past and in the future.
Pahor expressed satisfaction that the first Slovenia-UK Friendship Day is marked in the presence of a member of the royal family after having discussed the initiative with the Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year.
Prince Edward thanked Pahor for choosing this location to mark the Slovenia-UK Friendship Day to “commemorate these airmen but also the families that supported them when the air plane crashed here”. “Today is an important day. A day to remember what connects us, both in the past and the present and more importantly in the future,”said The Prince.