Bulgarian Prime Minster Sergei Stanishev made a one-day working visit to Slovenia on February 20 2008, the Cabinet's press service said.

Stanishev's visit came just days after Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17 and the issue topped the agenda of the talks he held with his Slovenian counterpart Janez Janša in Ljubljana.

Slovenia, the first country to secede from Yugoslavia after the fall of communism and waged a brief independence war against the federal government, became the first country that joined the European Union in 2004 to assume the rotating six-month presidency of the bloc in January 2008.

"Despite proclaiming independence, Kosovo won't be able to become a fully-fledged member of the international community for a long time," Stanishev said before the trip, as quoted by AFP.

Stanishev was accompanied on his visit to Slovenia by European Affairs Minister Gergana Grancharova and several top aides.