Dr Drnovšek and Dr Stoiber in favour of strengthening the economic co-operation between Slovenia and Bavaria
Ljubljana, 05/18/2004 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, received the Minister-President of Bavaria, Dr Edmund Stoiber who was on a visit to Slovenia, and who participated in the official opening of the exhibition featuring the Oldest Known Writings in Slovene in their original. By way of introduction, Dr Drnovšek and Dr Stoiber welcomed regular political dialogue between Slovenia and Bavaria and spoke in favour of strengthening economic co-operation and of further investments made by Bavaria’s companies in Slovenia. President Drnovšek stressed in particular the importance of continued co-operation between Siemens and Iskratel.
Dr Drnovšek thanked both Germany and Bavaria for support Slovenia enjoyed in its endeavours to join the European Union and NATO and expressed his hope that Slovenia and Bavaria would co-operate fruitfully in solving common issues and challenges facing the European Union. They also discussed topical issues of the European Union in the light of adopting the EU Constitutional Treaty, and the possibilities for future enlargement of the EU with new members. They agreed that the European Union, now enlarged by 10 new members must prove to be efficient and therefore would require internal consolidation. In Dr Stoiber’s opinion, the European Union has excellent prospects; however, in order to avoid the alienation of the European institutions, special attention is to be paid to enabling the EU inhabitants to become more familiar with the work of these institutions. In addition, they need to be encouraged to vote in the European Elections.
Upon the request of Dr Stoiber, Dr Drnovšek outlined Slovenia’s view on the situation in the area of former Yugoslavia and stressed the importance of Croatia's membership of the EU and of the European prospects being maintained in other countries. In his opinion, reform policies need to be implemented in these countries, and in future the European Union will have to appropriately address the solution of the Kosovo issue, as in Kosovo in recent months tension between Albanian and Serb inhabitants has once again been growing.