Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel will pay an official visit to Luxembourg on Tuesday to learn about its experience in presiding over the EU. While Slovenia will serve as EU president for the first time at the beginning of 2008, Luxembourg has held the rotating presidency 11 times, the last time in 2005.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the EU's future will also be on the agenda as Rupel meets his counterpart Jean Asselborn, who also serves as deputy prime minister, and Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. A meeting with the Grand Duke is also scheduled.
Preparations for EU presidency were at the forefront when Asselborn visited Slovenia in October 2006. At the time Rupel said Luxembourg was as a model in many ways, referring to its small size and many achievements, including as EU president.
Asselborn described Slovenia's upcoming spell at the helm of EU then as a major task that the country was bound to do well, while he refrained from giving concrete advice. He did say, though, that he found it especially important for the government to enjoy the support of the national parliament during its stint.
The two nations have similar views on a number of issues that are topical in the EU. They have both ratified the constitutional treaty, which was rejected in the 2005 referenda in France and the Netherlands. Both countries have also advocated keeping a major part of the existing proposal in the overhauled treaty.
Nevertheless, EU foreign ministers, who gathered over the issue in Luxembourg on Sunday, opted for having a new document passed in the classic way, i.e. by amending the existing treaties.
The resolution of issues related to the EU's constitution and its institutional make-up is closely linked to the bloc's further enlargement, which both Slovenia and Luxembourg support, in particular to the Western Balkans.
Another item on the agenda of Rupel's talks in Luxembourg is expected to be the situation in the Middle East. Just today the EU announced it would resume direct aid to the new Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank, in which Hamas is not involved. The EU suspended its aid more than a year ago after Hamas won the election in the Palestinian territories.
According to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, bilateral cooperation between Luxembourg and Slovenia is good with all-round political dialogue at all levels. However, Slovenia would like to boost business ties so it has organised several business conferences, the last time as Prime Minister Janez Jansa visited Luxembourg a year ago.
Bilateral trade amounted to EUR 113m in 2006, while this is expected to improve now that Slovenia has joined the eurozone.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|