President Drnovšek concludes his visit to Rome
Rome, Italy, 03/01/2003 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Janez Drnovšek today concluded his participation at the international conference organised by Aspen Institute Italia by addressing the plenary session devoted to proposals for the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU, to be held in the second half of this year. The plenary session was chaired by the Italian senator and Vice-Chairman of the European Convention, Giuliano Amato. Apart from the Slovene President, the speakers included the Italian Minister of Technology Lucio Stanca, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Dan Geoana, former Italian Foreign Minister Gianni De Michellis, German Minister of the Interior Otto Schily, President of the Polish National Bank Leszek Balcedowicz, and the EU Commissioner for Competition Policy Mario Monti.
President Drnovšek said in his address that the upcoming Italian Presidency would be extremely important for the future development of both the EU and Europe at large. Today, Europe finds itself in a very unique situation. On the one hand, European leaders confront each other with different viewpoints on the topical situation in international relations, while trying to give the impression that their co-operation in other areas remains unchanged. Also, for this reason, the Slovene President expressed his hope that we could be optimistic about the future course of events, although the fact remains that Europe is facing one of its most serious crises in its recent history, marked also by the absence of a clear strategy and motives on the part of some leaders. Mr Drnovšek also stressed that he understood the present position of the US, which following the 11 September attacks decided to take an active approach in ensuring national safety. The only problem is that the American side failed to present its strategy well enough to the international public, which is at the same time unsatisfied with the American opposition to international initiatives such as the Kyoto Agreement and the International Criminal Court. To continue to play a leading role in guaranteeing international safety, the US will undoubtedly have to also assume responsibility vis-a-vis other issues, such as combating world poverty and climate change, where Europe’s position is more progressive and developed.
President Drnovšek said that Europe and the US should now strive to find common ground and to bridge the gap between their positions. This would not only benefit transatlantic co-operation, but also international organisations such as the UN and NATO. Otherwise, Italy will face serious difficulties during its presidency. Mr Drnovšek also pointed out that the EU candidate countries followed the present disagreements between the EU and the US with mixed feelings. He believed that recent statements, particularly by one of the largest European countries, did not contribute to the impression that candidate countries were joining an association of equally respected members. He therefore expressed his hope that such statements did not represent the general attitude in the EU towards the prospective new members.
President Drnovšek concluded his address by saying that despite the present situation he remained optimistic about its resolution and wished the Italian Presidency of the Council every success.