|
Dr. Drnovšek invited to pay an official visit to France
Ljubljana, 10/23/2003 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, late today received the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dominique de Villepin, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Slovenia at the invitation of the Slovene Minister of Foreign Affairs.
President Drnovšek said in introduction that the countries enjoyed good and friendly relations, as was made evident by the pace of bilateral meetings between high representatives of both countries during this week. Dr Drnovšek renewed his invitation to the French President to pay an official visit to Slovenia. In turn, the French Minister extended to the Slovene President an invitation from the French President, Jacques Chirac, to pay an official visit to France, which was favourably received by the Slovene President.
Minister de Villepin informed the Slovene President about Frances’s position on the draft of the new European constitutional treaty. Both countries wish the Intergovernmental Conference to complete its work by the end of this year. In this connection, the French Minister stressed that amendments to the existing draft would not be very reasonable and could prolong the whole process. The French Minister also informed the Slovene President about the position of France on the common European defence. He emphasised that this was a major issue in the future Europe that would define its future role on the international stage.
During the meeting, the statesmen also touched on some current international topics, including the situation in Iraq. In this context, the French Minister stressed his conviction that in order to stabilise the situation in the country full sovereignty of this state was urgently required.
At the conclusion of their talks, President Drnovšek expressed his belief that maintaining good relations between the countries also provided an assurance of continued good partnership in the future.
|
Office of the President of the Republic
Erjavčeva 17
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
phone: +386 1 478 12 22
fax: +386 1 478 13 57
gp.uprs@up-rs.si
|