The President of the Republic of Slovenia receives members of the Presidency of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament
Ljubljana, 10/18/2005 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today received members of the Presidency of the Socialist Group in the European parliament who participated – at the invitation of Boris Pahor, head of Slovenia's delegation in the Socialist Group in the European Parliament – in a two-day conference of Social Democrats of the EU Member States and countries of South East Europe, entitled »European Future for the Balkans«.
Dr Drnovšek and the members of the Presidency first discussed the European Constitutional Treaty. In President Drnovšek's words the process of ratification must be continued, thus enabling each Member State of the European Union to be offered an opportunity to take a stand on this document. In the continuation, a great deal of attention was devoted to the prospects of the countries of South East Europe, in particular of the Western Balkans. President Drnovšek said he was pleased that Croatia was given the green light to open negotiations with the European Union. He went on to give a positive assessment to the opening of the process of talks on the status of Kosovo, which will be a contribution to the stability in the region and will provide an impetus to the continuation of the processes leading towards European integration. Dr Drnovšek and the members of the Presidency also touched on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which encourages reflection on the upgrading of solutions comprised in the Dayton Accord in the direction of ensuring economic development for this country.
At the end, Dr Drnovšek said he was pleased that the members of the Presidency of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament chose Ljubljana as the venue for their meeting, and said he hoped this would become common practice also in the future.