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President Drnovšek receives Portugal's Foreign Minister
Ljubljana, 03/05/2003 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Janez Drnovšek today received the Foreign Minister of the Portuguese Republic, Antonio Martins da Cruz, who is paying an official visit to Slovenia.
The main points of discussion between President Drnovšek and Minister da Cruz were the topical issues in international relations and, in particular, the developments in the Iraqi crisis. They both stressed the need for the international community to maintain unity in resolving this problem, and pointed to the primary role of the UN Security Council in this process. Dr Drnovšek and Mr da Cruz also agreed that Europe and the US should now speak with one voice and bridge the differences in their positions for the benefit of transatlantic co-operation and international organisations such as the UN and NATO. In addition, the President conveyed to the Foreign Minister the mixed feelings of the EU candidate countries about the disagreements between the EU and the US.
Their talk also focused on the future of the European Union and on its enlargement. Portugal's Foreign Minister stressed that Slovenia continued to enjoy Portugal's support in its accession to the EU.
Dr Drnovšek and Mr da Cruz agreed that Slovenia and Portugal will – as two small EU members – share similar interests. They assessed bilateral relations as extremely good, with no unresolved issues. They were also both of the opinion that Slovenia's forthcoming entry into the EU offered various fresh possibilities for deepening mutual co-operation.
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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
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