President Drnovšek ends his official visit to Slovakia
Bratislava, Slovakia, 10/15/2003 | press release
As a part of his official visit to Slovakia, President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today met the Speaker of Parliament of the Slovak Republic, Pavol Hrušovsky.
In the introduction, Mr Hrušovsky commended the good cooperation between the Slovene and the Slovak parliaments, which was particularly intensive during the adjustment of respective legal systems to that of the EU. This afternoon, Mr Speaker is departing for a visit to Slovenia at the invitation of the President of the National Assembly, Mr Borut Pahor. This is also a further sign of very close cooperation.
The Slovene President first expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality he had been offered throughout his visit to Slovakia, and added that the two countries fostered exceptionally positive bilateral relations. Another stimulating factor is the growing economic cooperation between Slovenia and Slovakia. The main part of the talks, however, was devoted to the exchange of opinions about the draft of the new European Constitution.
Mr Hrušovsky noted that Slovakia had opened a lively debate on the future role of the national parliaments, and argued against the categorisation of states. In his words, Slovakia wished that the European Union be a community of equal states, enjoying the same status regardless of their size and length of membership in the EU. The Slovene President followed up by saying that we would all have to get used to reaching constructive compromises, and that large members should not allow for the smaller states to be marginalized.
At the end of the meeting, the host, the Slovak President Rudolf Schuster bid farewell to Dr Drnovšek with military honours, and thanked him for the visit and the expressed readiness for excellent cooperation also in the future. President Drnovšek thanked President Schuster for his hospitality, and wished both countries successful co-existence in the European family of nations.