On the first leg of his tour through Eastern Europe, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a visit to Slovenia where Slovenian President Borut Pahor said his country firmly supports Turkey's EU membership bid and looks forward to expanding economic cooperation with the country."Our high-level official visits are increasing with Slovenia. These visits are an indicator of the strengthening economic and political relations between the two countries," Erdoğan said. He later left the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana for Slovakia, to be followed by a visit to Romania.While Slovenia has been among the greatest supporters of EU enlargement and Turkey's EU membership bid, the two countries further strengthened ties by signing a strategic partnership document in 2011.Although Erdoğan and his delegation will meet the aforementioned leaders, he is also expected to meet the speakers of parliament from each country to discuss political, economic and other relevant bilateral relations. According to a statement by the Presidency, regional and international issues will be discussed, additional fields of cooperation are the main points to be evaluated and various agreements will be signed to strengthen relations during the visits.Ahead of Erdoğan's official visit on Monday, Pahor said that the two countries have enjoyed positive relations since they established diplomatic relation 23 years ago, "Political relations are exemplary – very good.""We have signed a strategic partnership, which for Slovenia is not a very extensive practice. We have good economic cooperation. Both countries are convinced that they can be even better. President Erdoğan comes with a strong business delegation to Slovenia and opportunities for joint cooperation in third markets are great. To have friendly relations with Turkey is extremely important. We have different perspectives on some issues, but these are not obstacles to the desire to strengthen relations between the two states," Pahor said.Slovenia declared independence on June 25, 1991, and was recognized by Turkey on February 6, 1992.Regarding Turkey's work toward EU membership, Pahor said: "Slovenia firmly supports Turkey's membership in the European Union. We are pleased that after decades of delay the first chapter [toward EU membership] has finally been opened."To gain membership in the bloc, Turkey must successfully conclude negotiations with the EU in 35 policy chapters that include reforms and the adoption of European standards. A total of 14 chapters have been opened to date, 17 remain blocked and another four have yet to be discussed.Pahor said that he believed there was no alternative for Western Balkan countries to EU accession. "It's not my job to decide, but to me, these countries have no other alternative than EU membership," he said.Pointing out the importance of peace and security in the Western Balkans for all of Europe, Pahor said Slovenia would continue to support the EU accession process of all Western Balkan countries, especially Bosnia-Herzegovina. Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987 after signing a partnership agreement with the European Economic Community in 1963 and accession talks began in 2005.