CONTINUED DIALOGUE BETWEEN SLOVENIA AND CROATIA
Working meeting between Presidents Kucan and Mesic on the occasion of the opening of Plecnik exhibition
Statement by President of the Republic Milan Kucan at joint press conference

Zagreb (Croatia), 7 June 2000



Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to be present here in Zagreb at such a unique Central European cultural event as is the opening of the Plecnik exhibition. This is an opportunity for President Mesic and I to discuss some of the current issues.

Our attention focused on the French idea voiced at the occasion of President Mesic's visit to Paris, namely the idea of convening the countries emerging from the territory of the former Yugoslavia. We shared the opinion that the idea is an interesting one, provided it opens up prospects for a more rapid approximation to European structures by Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, provided it discusses the future of Montenegro, provided it discusses the broader context of the future of the Balkans. Such a conference could not limit itself only to the countries emerging from the former Yugoslavia. This would have to be a conference of all European states with an emphasis on two aspects: the historic roots of continuous conflict in the Balkans and the prospects of Balkan nations as seen by Europe in the light of a new Europe that is coming into effect.

We also discussed the internal situation in Slovenia and in Croatia. We discussed the urgency of continuing activities for the preparation of solutions for open questions in Slovene-Croat relations. We were both of the opinion that new initiatives are needed and that it is obvious that solutions under current initiatives are not the most fortunate ones.

We also discussed the European Union and NATO, however much one can discuss these issues in such a short amount of time.