Bush to attend EU-US summit in Slovenia

"US President George W. Bush will attend an EU-US summit in Slovenia in June as part of a European tour including stops in Germany, Italy, the Vatican, France and Britain, the White House announced Tuesday.

Bush will begin the June 9-16 trip 'by participating in the annual US-European Union summit in Slovenia,' White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told reporters.

Slovenia, the first former communist state to hold the EU's six-month rotating presidency, said Monday that the summit will focus on political and regional issues, global security as well as bilateral partnership.

Perino said Bush was traveling to Europe in part 'to strengthen the trans-Atlantic partnership and to celebrate the enduring friendship between our nations based on shared democratic values,' Perino said.

'He'll also have a chance to visit with some new friends and some old friends,' she said, noting in particular Silvio Berlusconi, who has begun a third stint as Italy's prime minister.

Bush was also likely to press forward with ongoing cooperation on economic, trade and counter-terrorism issues, and to do more work on a multilateral approach to dealing with Iran, Perino added.

The June summit will be Bush's second visit to Slovenia after a 2001 visit where he officially met with then Russian president Vladimir Putin for the first time."

Source: AFP

Slovenia & Kosovo Formalise Relations

"Kosovo and Slovenia have officially announced that diplomatic ties between two countries have been established.

Through a joint statement signed by Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci and Slovenia’s Foreign Minister, Dimitrij Rupel, the two countries announced the start of relations.

“We have decided to establish diplomatic relations at the level of ambassadors,” a Kosovo government release says.

Both countries claim that establishing diplomatic relations is based on international principles and conventions."

Source: BalkanInsight.com

Rupel Blasts Former President's Views on Kosovo

"Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel on Tuesday rejected the first Slovenian president's criticism of the EU's Kosovo policy. Rupel linked Kosovo's declaration of independence to Slovenia's 17 years ago in an op-ed that appeared the daily newspaper Delo.

Former President Milan Kucan criticised the international community over Kosovo last week, saying it had shown disregard for the principle that unilateral moves should not be allowed to alter state borders.

Rupel responded to this claim by noting that the Badinter arbitration commission ruled in 1991, without the endorsement of the federal government, that parts of Yugoslavia had the right to found their own states.

The minister argued that the ruling also applies to Kosovo and Vojvodina, provinces that in the former Yugoslavia had a status similar to that of the six republics that subsequently became independent states. Kosovo and Vojvodina were also members of the Yugoslav presidency, which Rupel said was a further proof of their equal status within the federation."

Source: Slovenian Press Agency

EU-US summit to take place in Slovenia in June

"US President George W Bush is expected to attend a June summit in Slovenia between the European Union and the United States, sources in Brussels confirmed Tuesday. The summit will take place in Brdo, an estate near the capital Ljubljana where the Slovenian rotating presidency of the EU has been hosting EU meetings.

Presidency sources in Brussels said the summit would take place in the first half of June, but could not officially confirm Slovenian reports that it would be held on June 9-10.

EU-US summits are usually held once a year, alternatively in Europe or in the United States. The last such meeting took place in Washington, in the spring of 2007."

Source: DPA

Slovenia backs Brazil as permanent member of UNSC

"Slovenia supports Brazil's entry as a permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council, said a joint statement issued by Brazil's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with his Slovenian counterpart Danilo Turk on Wednesday, according to the joint statement.

'Both presidents agreed on the need to reform the United Nations system, in particular the Security Council, in order to give it more transparency and legitimacy and to reflect the changes occurred in the international order in the last half century,' said the statement."

Source: Xinhua

More EU nations to sign visa deal with U.S. next week

"Currently, only 15 EU member states enjoy the U.S. visa waiver. Citizens from Greece and 11 of the 12 newest states -- Slovenia is the exception -- are obliged to have visas, even for a short stay, when they travel to America.

Top justice officials from the EU and the United States discussed Thursday in Brdo, Slovenia, the issue of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which the EU hopes will allow all EU citizens to travel to America without a visa as soon as possible.

Washington's decision to conduct bilateral negotiations on the issue with individual EU member states, including the elements that are exclusively within the competence of the EU, was a matter of collective concern for the bloc."

Source: Xinhua

Former Slovenian President Drnovsek Dies

"Former Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek, a popular politician who helped lead the country to independence from Yugoslavia, died Saturday, his office said. He was 57.

Drnovsek, who battled cancer for years, became a political icon in part for working to keep violence at a minimum when Slovenia gained independence in 1991. He later led the country to European Union and NATO membership.

In recent years, Drnovsek made a radical shift to a holistic lifestyle and wrote several New Age-influenced books.

Mild-mannered but resolute, Drnovsek served as prime minister from 1992 to 2002, after which he became president. He did not run for a second term in elections late last year and was replaced by Danilo Turk in December.

His office gave no specific cause of his death."

Source: Guardian