Drnovsek Proposes Reconciliatory Meeting to Italy's Napolitano

Rome, 18 May

In an interview published in an Italian daily on Thursday, President Janez Drnovsek proposes a reconciliatory meeting to his newly-elected Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano.

The meeting is meant to symbolically close a chapter of history between Slovenia and Italy and launch them on a path of mutual cooperation, understanding and respect, according to La Repubblica.
Drnovsek said that "both world wars and the post-WWII era were a sad period, yet both countries must try not to return to the past. I believe that we should close that chapter and look towards the future."
The time is right for such a meeting, which was also supported by Italy's former President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who, however, thought that the pre-election period was not a good time to stage it.
Drnovsek believes that the twin border cities of Italy's Gorizia and Slovenia's Nova Gorica could serve as a proper place to arrange the meeting.
"This could be an Italian-Slovenian get-together, in preparations for a tripartite meeting with the Croatian president, which could maybe take place in Italy's Trieste," he revealed.
Bilateral issues include Slovenia's demands on Italy to take greater care of its Slovenian minority and the planned construction of two gas terminals in the Gulf of Trieste, he noted.
Meanwhile other sensitive issues, such as the return of property of the "optanti" are being resolved in line with what what was dubbed the Solana package, Drnovsek told the daily.
He added that he has known the new Italian PM Romano Prodi for ten years and considers him a friend. He added that he is especially grateful for his determined support for EU enlargement when Prodi was at the helm of the European Commission between 1999 and 2004.