Mit - Index

Mit - SINFO March 2008 No.6 - Index

QUoTESofTHEfortnight
sinfo february 08 2
Dimitrij Rupel /Foreign Minister and chair of the EU's General
Affairs and External Relations Council/: EU Presidency pinnacle
of Slovenian politics, Ljubljana, 2 April : Slovenia's ongoing sixmonth
stint at the helm of the EU is the pinnacle of Slovenian
politics. Slovenia is steering the EU and coordinating European
politics. There have been no mistakes in foreign policy during
the three months of presidency...We assume responsibility for
our actions, we brave all the obstacles. Slovenia's achievements
include the conclusions from the meetings of the General Affairs
and External Relations Council, which in January agreed on a
temporary political agreement with Serbia, unified its position
on Kosovo in February and held a preparatory meeting for the
European Council in March.
Janez Janπa /Prime Minister and current President of the European
Council/: Compromise could quickly further Macedonia's
NATO bid, Bucharest, 3 April : If Macedonia is constructive
in its talks with Greece regarding the name issue, it could very
quickly get an invitation to join NATO, Slovenia stands 100% behind
Macedonia's efforts to join the alliance. Macedonia did not
get an invitation to join the organisation at the ongoing NATO
summit. But the worst scenario did not happen as Macedonia
does not need to wait for the next summit, it could get invited as
soon as it resolves its name dispute with Greece.
Janez LenarËiË /State Secretary for European Affairs/: Slovenia
exceeded expectations in many ways, Ljubljana 31 March: Considering
the issues and doubts which arose before the beginning of
the Presidency, we can now with certainty conclude that Slovenia
is up to this task. We can also say that it has exceeded expectations
in many ways. Maybe it is because expectations regarding the
Slovenian Presidency were relatively low. In these three months it
has been demonstrated that Slovenia is definitely capable of taking
on the task and carrying it out as expected. Among the individual
issues Kosovo was the most significant. It was expected that this
issue would divide or split the European Union or stir up a dispute,
but it has not. And the Slovenian Presidency and its leading of the
discussion is at least partially responsible for that.
John Monks /Secretary - general of the European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC)/: I am very grateful to the Prime Minister
for the warm reception that we had, Ljubljana 5April: I am
very grateful to the ZSSS, too. For the very efficient way they organised
today. And there’s many things done recently. This feels
even more respect for Slovenia, for the way it conducts itself, for
the way its handling the presidency and for the way that it set
in very, very good example among those nations that joined the
EU in 2004. So, I just finished on that congratulatory note Prime
Minister to your county and to your government and to you for
the way matters are being conducted. We appreciate them very
much.
Jožek Horvat Muc /The chair of the Council of the Roma Community/:
Situation in Slovenia favourable for the Roma,
Ljubljana, 8 April: The situation in Slovenia is favourable for the Roma,
which has also been confirmed at a recent plenary of the parliament
of the International Romani Union. We are very pleased
with the situation in the Prekmurje region.The situation in other
parts of Slovenia is not that good, but it is improving, local communities
are helping the Roma to improve housing conditions.
The majority of the problems are attributed to employment and
shortage of municipal funds intended for the Roma.