President Drnovšek receives Irish Prime Minister Ahern
Brdo by Kranj, 05/20/2004 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, received the Prime Minister of Ireland, Mr Bertie Ahern. Mr Ahern was on a working visit to Slovenia in his capacity as the President of the European Council. In their talks, Dr Drnovšek and Mr Ahern focussed on a number of topical European Union issues.
Most attention has been given to the further course of the IGC and to the possibilities of adopting the Constitutional Treaty during the Irish Presidency. Dr Drnovšek commended Mr Ahern and Ireland for succeeding, despite all the difficulties, in having this issue returned to the agenda of the EU Member States. Dr Drnovšek and Mr Ahern exchanged their respective views on the issues of the future composition of the European Commission, qualified majority decision-making, preamble to the new Treaty, and the issues of equity and equality of states in an enlarged European Union in general. They also touched on the issue of the possible EU membership of Turkey. Dr Drnovšek and Mr Ahern expressed their hope that the EU Constitutional Treaty would be adopted despite the fact that a number of states indicated that they would hold a referendum on its adoption. In their talks, the Irish Prime Minister also stressed the importance of the New Neighbourhood Policy pursued by Ireland in the recent months and progressing well.
In the continuation and upon the request by Mr Ahern, Dr Drnovšek outlined Slovenia’s estimate of the situation in the area of former Yugoslavia. He recalled the severity of the situation in Kosovo and the possibility of its further aggravation. Based on the talks with the counterparts from this region, Slovenia’s president relayed their wish to join the European Union, and said that the European prospects gave to this area special stabilisation significance. Dr Drnovšek and Mr Ahern also discussed some other topical international issues.
At the close of their talks, President Drnovšek wished the Irish Prime Minister every success in the concluding part of the Irish Presidency of the European Union.