(BRDO PRI KRANJU) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday he was encouraged by recent comments by Russia's president-elect Dmitri Medvedev, who is to succeed Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev, who will succeed Putin on May 7, represents "a chance that we must seize" he said on the sidelines of talks with his EU counterparts in Slovenia.

"The fact that he has spoken in favour of more market economy, for promoting civil liberties is certainly something surprising to us in the West," he told reporters as the two-day talks got underway in Brdo Pri Kranju, near the capital Ljubljana.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt echoed Steinmeier, saying that some of Medvedev's recent comments were well received, while stressing that it remained to be seen how those words were translated into action.

Other European diplomats suggested it was too early to tell if the incoming president would be able to improve relations with Europe, which have deteriorated under Putin.

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