Announcing the visit on Thursday, Slovenian media underlined that this would be Josipovic's first visit to a neighbouring country since coming into office last month.

The media expect the talks to reaffirm the good bilateral relations which have improved since the two countries signed an agreement on resolving their border dispute by international arbitration last summer.

The media underlined the fact that the Slovenian Constitutional Court is discussing the arbitration agreement a day before Josipovic's arrival. The Slovenian government expects the discussion will provide for its ratification in Slovenia.

When he was a member of parliament, Josipovic was against the arbitration of the agreement, but as soon as he was elected president, he said he was a legalist, that an agreement ratified by parliament should be honoured, and that everything should be done so that Croatia was well-prepared for arbitration, the STA news agency said announcing Josipovic's visit.

Josipovic and Tuerk are scheduled to hold talks in Brdo Pri Kranju and address the press afterwards. They will also speak at a conference which Croatian and Slovenian business people are due to hold in the afternoon.

In Ljubljana, Josipovic will hold talks with PM Pahor and Parliament Speaker Pavel Gantar.