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Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_02February4 - Index

IntERview
take place, where the governing body of the EU will meet the
new Russian president. This will also be an opportunity to convey
the main messages and directions of the EU to the new Russian
government.
THE RECENT MEETINg bETWEEN
yOURSELf AND THE CROATIAN MINISTER
Of fOREIgN AffAIRS JANDROKOVIÊ IS
UNDOUbTEDLy A gOOD SIgN fOR A NEW
bEgINNINg IN RELATIONS bETWEEN
THE COUNTRIES, AND NECESSARy
fOR SUPPORT TO THE PROCESS Of
NEgOTIATIONS bETWEEN CROATIA AND
THE EU. THE CONCLUSION WAS THAT
A PATH HAS TO bE fOUND AS SOON AS
POSSIbLE TO OPENINg THE CHAPTER ON
fISHERy, WHICH SLOVENIA IS bLOCKINg
DUE TO THE CROATIAN IMPLEMENTATION
Of THE PROTECTED ECOLOgICALfISHERIES
ZONE (EfZ) IN THE ADRIATIC
fOR MEMbER STATES Of THE EU. HOW
WILL yOU APPROACH SOLVINg THE
QUESTION Of THE bORDER bETWEEN THE
COUNTRIES?
The meeting of the foreign ministers would be better called an
event which will, hopefully, stimulate new dynamics in relations
between two friendly states, Slovenia and Croatia. I am glad that
we, the Foreign Ministers, met after an interruption which lasted
one year.
As for the question of the Croatian protected Ecological-Fisheries
Zone, there is no blockade that Slovenia would be implementing
with regard to that. It is simply an obligation that Croatia has towards
the EU and which it has to solve in a dialogue, talks with
the European Commission, Slovenia and Italy. It is not a bilateral
question; that was on Monday, 18 February again confirmed by
the Foreign Ministers of all Member States of the EU, which have
again called upon Croatia to respect the assumed obligation that
it will not implement its zone for the Member States until a solution
is reached which will is acceptable to all interested states. If
Croatia does not solve this question as soon as possible, it will face
consequences in the accession negotiations with the EU, but the
European Commission will primarily deal with that.
The Zone should not be linked to solving the border. The nonimplementation
of the Zone is an obligation that Croatia has to
the whole EU and needs to discuss in that forum. With regard to
the border, the Prime Ministers of both countries agreed in August
last year that this question could be solved with the help of a third
party. For that purpose, we have formed expert groups in the Foreign
Ministry, and this dynamic continues carried out separately
from solving the question of the Zone. But it is true that it is in our
interests, and above all in the interests of Croatia, that the question
of the non-implementation of the Zone is solved as soon as
possible. Without this solution, we cannot expect progress on the
border or anywhere else. Also, the Enlargement Commissioner,
Olli Rehn, has warned Croatia of that several times.
sinfo february 08 16
MR. RUPEL, ALMOST THE SECOND MONTH
Of SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCy Of THE
COUNCIL Of THE EU IS bEHIND US. OUR
COUNTRy IS fOR THE fIRST TIME IN ITS
HISTORy IN SUCH A ‘HIgH’ POSITION. HOW
DO yOU ASSESS THIS PRESIDENCy IN
gENERAL, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN fOR
OUR COUNTRy?
There is no doubt that the Presidency of the EU is a very demanding
project for Slovenia, and at the same time a big recognition
for our country. Never has Slovenia appeared in the European and
world public as much as in the past two months, which means
that with the Presidency we have increased our visibility and drawn
people’s attention in Europe and around the world to us. This can
be a strong stimulus for our economy, an opportunity for tourism,
as people get to know and describe Slovenia as a beautiful and
friendly country, also due to the extraordinary environment of the
Congress Centre at Brdo, where the majority of the Presidency
events take place; but it is also an account that also a small country
that became a Member of the European Union recently can take
the reins of the EU in its hands.
HOW DO yOU THINK SLOVENIA IS DOINg
IN THIS ROLE?
Perhaps others would be more appropriate to assess how we are
doing. The Presidency is a very complex matter - it includes the
Prime Minister and numerous Ministries; I can talk above all about
the Foreign Ministry and I must say that the Presidency is very
strenuous, but I am content with the results after the first two
months. In the area of foreign policy, the central priority of the
Slovenian Presidency is ensuring a European future for the Western
Balkans These are difficult questions, where complications might
arise, as not all Member States have the same policy in this area.
Harmonisation of the 27 states is therefore a very demanding task,
and we have done a big job here, and the results are even better
than expected. Already at the January meeting of the General
Affairs and External Relations Council we reached consensus with
regard to a political agreement with Serbia, with the purpose of
avoiding the difficulties which prevented signing the Stabilisation
and Association agreement with Serbia. I have myself put a lot of
work into that - I have visited Holland, where the obstacles were
the greatest, and I talked to representatives of parliamentary parties,
to the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister, and in the end
we unanimously offered Serbia a political agreement, which the
authorities in Belgrade have not signed so far, but in a way it has
already had a positive effect.
Even more demanding was the work related to Kosovo, where
differences between the Members of the EU are greater. Here we
had to consult almost all Member States, and even at the meeting
of the Council on 18 February, much harmonisation was still
required. But we were successful also in this and we achieved a
common position. We should stress that this position includes all
basic elements related to the status of Kosovo. The approval of
this position, which many doubted even the day before the meeting,
is therefore an important success, which reflects the unity of
the European Union and a European perspective for the Western
Balkans.