Delo on Italy's Veto On Slovenia's Associate Membership in EU

Ljubljana/Paris, 23 February - Slovenia had an opportunity to force Italy to withdraw its veto with which it has been preventing the beginning of the talks on the associate agreement between Slovenia and the European Union since last year. Slovenia had such opportunity when former Italian minister of foreign trade Renato Ruggiera, supported by the European Union, decided to run for the post of the General Director of the World Trade Organisation. According to the statute of the organisation, all the WTO members have to agree on the appointment of this high-ranking official. This means that Slovenia could have prevented the appointment of Renato Ruggiero to this post by imposing a veto, writes a Ljubljana daily Delo correspondent from Paris.