BILATERAL MEETINGS ON THE SIDELINES OF THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT

Ljubljana, 8 September 2000


President Kucan held several bilateral meetings at the Millennium Summit. Alongside other shorter meetings, he also held bilateral talks with German Chancellor Schroeder, Austrian President Thomas Klestil, Hungarian President Ferenc Madl, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres and the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. The topic of discussion in all of the meetings were issues relating to Euro-Atlantic integration processes, as well as the situation in South Eastern Europe. President Kuèan also met with the Emir of Qatar, sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani who is assuming the Presidency of the Islamic Conference Organisation this year, with whom the discussion mainly revolved around the issue of succession to the former SFRY.

The process of EU enlargement is in the interest of all of Europe and is irreversible, every candidate country must be evaluated to its own merits, President Kucan briefly summarised his talks with Chancellor Schroeder and Prime Minister Guterres. Slovenia remains a credible candidate, neither Germeny nor Portugal seeing any reason for changing the enlargement timeline in 2002, added President Kucèan.

President Kucan also discussed the issue of reforms in the UN and the Security Council with the German Chancellor. In President Kucan's opinion a reform of the Security Council is only meaningful if the organisation as a whole is reformed. “It is the Security Council's task to protect world peace and intervene when peace is under threat. Today the major threats to peace are no longer conflicts between states but rather conflicts within the boundaries of individual countries. This establishes a new relationship between national sovereignty as a classical value protected by the UN and the need for intervention in case of mass unscrupulous violations of human rights. The future of the Security Council is to be seen in this context, whereby it should play host to those countries that are capable of taking on such responsibility. It is not logical that Germany, taking into account its significance in global economy, politics and culture, is not a member of the Security Council,” stated President Kucan.

The discussion with President Klestil also revolved around the Avnoj conclusions, a contentious issue between the two countries. “We both determined that the relations between the two states were something we have been developing for many years, these relations are sound and are improving, including the economic sphere. The issue of the Avnoj conclusions that was raised out of internal political needs in Austria and Slovenia should not jeopardise the totality of these relations and should be *given the attention it deserves,” President Kucan stated following the talks. He placed particular emphasis on the fact that both Austria and Slovenia are interested in EU enlargement toward Central and Eastern Europe. Austria could play an important role in this process, as it has done to date in supporting not only Slovenia's accession but also that of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

Austria recognises that Slovenia is one of the equal successors to the former Yugoslavia. It considers Slovenia to be a credible candidate for EU accession and will not precondition Slovenia's accession with bilateral issues that are not subject to negotiation with the EU, said President Kucan. The presidents did acknowledge that there are differences concerning the recognition of the Austrian Staatsvertrag (constitution) and concerning the opinion whether the Slovenian act on property restitution is discriminatory against Austrian citizens. “Slovenia has an act pursuant to which rights may be claimed in administrative procedures and in Slovenian courts. Should anyone believe that they were disadvantaged by a decision of a Slovenian court, they have the right of appeal at the European Court for Human Rights. It is my opinion that this law is not discriminatory and that it places all beneficiaries on an equal footing,” President Kucan summarized his position which he communicated to President Klestil for the press.