President Dr Drnovšek on an official visit to Poland
Warsaw, Poland, 04/13/2005 | press release, statement
Today President Dr Drnovšek is on an official visit to Poland. President Dr Drnovšek was first received by Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.
The two presidents stated that the relations between Slovenia and Poland are very good and continue to strengthen as far as political issues regarding the future of Europe as well as issues on the bilateral level are concerned. They expressed satisfaction with the fact that economic relations between the countries are developing well, which has been proven by a steady increase in trade between the two. Interest on the parts of both countries in more advanced forms of economic cooperation is also growing. In connection with this, President Dr Drnovšek emphasised that Poland is one of Slovenia’s most important trading partners.
In the discussion, special attention was paid to the issues of the European Constitutional Treaty ratification, the OSCE – in particular from the standpoint of attempts at reform and Slovenia’s role as the OSCE Chair – negotiations on the next financial perspective in the EU, the EU enlargement process, and various issues concerning Southeast Europe.
Following the talks, President Dr Drnovšek offered the following in his statement to the public (unedited record):
“I am pleased to be visiting friendly Poland. Cooperation with Poland is highly important for us. Since our independence in 1991, we have developed extremely good relations; there is an ongoing political dialogue, and a number of meetings at the highest-level have been held during this period. All this time we have pursued the same goals: to become members of the EU and NATO. These goals have been achieved. I believe that Poland and Slovenia occupy a strong position on the European map and our interest is focused on a European future now. We wish to achieve the best cooperation possible in making the European Union as good and efficient an entity as possible, enabling it to justify and fulfill the expectations of our citizens.
We have discussed the Constitutional Treaty for Europe. Slovenia has already approved it, ratified it in parliament, and we expect it to be approved and adopted by the parliaments or through referenda in other EU Member States. We firmly believe that procedures should be maintained even if in the case that a referendum in a member State should fail; therefore we should not, on any account, abandon this goal but continue with these procedures and in the end, arrive at the approval and ratification of the European Treaty. True there have arisen barriers in the past, but the European Union has always succeeded in finding a way forward. We find the Polish experience and the familiarity with Ukraine highly valuable. We also believe that Ukraine should have a European prospect. It too is a European country, aspiring, quite understandably, to join the European integration process and thus assure its future.
In the countries of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans, Slovenia is particularly present because of its proximity and its experience, trying to initiate a European prospect for those countries and simultaneously assure a truly stable and economically prosperous future for this region of Europe. We have many tasks in common and implement them jointly, either within the framework of the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the United Nations or NATO. Slovenia and Poland meet everywhere, and in most cases our cooperation is very close and we pursue the same or similar objectives. The same holds true for bilateral cooperation, while economic as well as other relations are being enhanced. I am convinced that this visit to Poland, together with a strong economic delegation, will open up new perspectives for both enhanced economic exchange as well as increased investment activity.”