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President Drnovšek attends a lunch for NATO member state ambassadors
Ljubljana, 02/12/2003 | press release
The President of the Republic, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today attended a lunch with the NATO member state ambassadors accredited to Slovenia. The lunch was hosted by the present NATO coordinator in Slovenia, the German ambassador Mrs Heike Zenker.
During the lunch, President Drnovšek and the ambassadors exchanged views on a range of issues, particularly those relating to Slovenia’s accession to NATO. Dr Drnovšek emphasised the importance of maintaining unity within the North Atlantic alliance. In the twentieth century, NATO played a key role in assuring the peaceful development of Western Europe, and not so long ago it made a vital contribution to establishing stability in South-Eastern Europe, a fact often neglected in the current debates taking place in Slovenia. Nevertheless, President Drnovšek expressed his firm belief that Slovene citizens would go out and vote in the referendums on the European Union and NATO to be held on 23 March, and make a responsible decision, appropriate to such a historic moment.
On the topical issue of Iraq, President Drnovšek repeated his opinion that it was difficult to imagine the United States changing its position, since this would be tantamount to handing a victory to Saddam Hussein, which would be harmful to the entire world. This makes it even more important that consensus is reached within the UN Security Council on how to solve the Iraqi issue and preserve the unity of the international community. By no means, however, would Slovenia consent to grouping countries into pro-European or pro-American camps because of the Iraqi crisis. Slovenia counts both the United States and the European Union as its allies.
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Office of the President of the Republic
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