GREECE SUPPORTS SLOVENIA’S AMBITIONS
On the occasion of the official visit to the Hellenic Republic

Athens (Greece), 6 June 2001




Ladies and Gentlemen, the talks we had with the Greek Prime Minister were held in an atmosphere of friendship that we widely felt during our visit to Greece. Slovenia sees its cooperation with Greece as a great opportunity for both countries to jointly advocate the dissemination of European values for a common European future.

When Slovenia came into being ten years ago it identified two key objectives: membership of the EU and membership of Nato. It has proved with its endeavours that it is a credible candidate and that it can be a credible partner in the future. Greece has been a very understanding partner all this time – a country that supports Slovenia’s ambition. The experience that Greece is selflessly making available to us on accession to the European Union and life within it, is of great importance to Slovenia. The fact that this year Greece has also become a member of the monetary union deserves our congratulations, as does, of course, Prime Minister Mr Simitis. For us it shows in practical terms that it is possible through great efforts and with the support of the Member States of the European Union to implement what we identified as our ambition at the time of Slovenia’s birth.

Slovenia has closed twenty out of twenty-nine chapters in its negotiations with the EU and I believe that this proves Slovenia will be able to fulfil the membership conditions. I am convinced, too, that Slovenia will be identified as the most serious candidate for membership of Nato.

Greece will, of course, be an important partner for Slovenia in the economic field. Mr Simitis is right that a probable reason for the insufficient use of the opportunities so far is the relatively poor knowledge of the possibilities available. We shall attempt, during this visit, to do something about that at the business conference organised by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Greece and Slovenia. A further contribution to this will be the Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation which was signed today. Contributions will most certainly also be made by the agreements on air transport and maritime transport which are currently under preparation. Both are important also for the exchange of tourists – Greece is an important destination for Slovenian tourists.

There are many reasons allowing me to view the cooperation between Greece and Slovenia with optimism. And I think that the visit of Prime Minister Simitis to Slovenia will a crowning moment of cooperation between our two countries.