The presidents of Slovenia and Poland, Janez Drnovsek and Aleksander Kwasniewski, have called on all EU countries to endorse the European constitutional treaty. Beginning his two-day official visit to Poland on Wednesday, Drnovsek said "ratification procedures must continue even if a referendum in some member state may fail".
Slovenia endorsed the EU's constitution in parliament in early February, while Poland will hold a referendum on the issue, expectedly along with the presidential poll in autumn. Unlike the votes in some other EU countries, particularly France and the UK, the outcome of the Polish referendum is not questionable.
Holding a joint press conference, Drnovsek and Kwasniewski underscored that their countries had always had the same goals - entry into the EU and NATO. "We have now attained these goals and I believe Poland and Slovenia have well established themselves on the new map of Europe," Drnovsek said.
He and his opposite number agreed that the relations between the two countries were good and based on a fluid political dialogue. "We now want to cooperate as best as we can to make the EU as efficient as possible and to make it meet the expectations of our citizens," Drnovsek added.
According to Kwasniewski, he and his guest voiced support for the continued expansion of the EU. He specifically expressed support for the bids of Ukraine and the SE European countries to join the bloc.
The pair also discussed the EU's financial arrangements for the 2007-2013 period. Both countries support the European Commission's proposal for the 1.14% GNP cap on common expenditure. Such a position is advocated by all new EU entrants and the majority of old members, while six of the bloc's richest members insist on limiting expenditure to 1% of the EU's GNP.
Kwasniewski pointed to the good business ties between the two countries, urging Polish companies to invest in Slovenia. While there is currently no Polish investment in Slovenia, Slovenia's in Poland amounted to EUR 98.2m in 2003.
The Slovenian president was accompanied by a strong business delegation, who took part in a conference with their Polish counterparts.
What is one of the biggest business delegations ever to travel with a Slovenian president includes heavyweights such as Krka and Lek, mobile operator Mobitel, oil trader Petrol, construction companies Primorje and SCT, and sports goods maker Elan.
The Polish president also highlighted bilateral cooperation in science, culture and tourism. As part of Drnovsek's visit, the two governments signed an agreement on cooperation in disaster prevention and relief. An agreement on cooperation between customs authorities is to be signed soon.
In an interview with a Polish daily, Drnovsek had to answer questions about the erased, a group of nationals of the former Yugoslav republics who were deprived of rights of residence and other related rights in 1992.
He was confident the issue would be resolved soon. "All political players in the country surely realise that the Constitutional Court ruling will have to be implemented. The efforts by the government and bodies in charge go in this direction and I believe this issue will be resolved soon," Drnovsek said in the interview with Rzeczpospolita.
Speaking about Slovenian-Croatian relations, Drnovsek said the two countries had an open issue of the last few kilometres of the land border and the border at sea. He added, however, that this could hardly be termed as conflict given that the sea border never existed.
He said the two nations were on a good path towards finding a solution as the two governments confirmed a border agreement two years ago, however, the Croatian parliament failed to endorse the solution offered.
"The border issue can be solved - either through further bilateral negotiations or an agreement on assistance by a third party. The agreement can be a good starting point there," Drnovsek also said in the interview.
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