Austria Will Not Make EU Expansion Conditional Upon Resolution of Bilateral Issues

Ljubljana, 11 February - AUSTRIA/EMBASSY/STATEMENT
Austria will not change its stance on relations with Slovenia, the Austrian Embassy in Ljubljana wrote in a special statement commenting the entry of Joerg Haider's Freedom Party in the new Austrian government. "The new government will continue to clearly support Slovenia's EU accession, it will acknowledge its special responsibility for the protection of the Slovene ethnic minority in Austria which is already legally enshrined in the Austrian State Treaty and will make efforts to solve the remaining open issues in a friendly manner and on the basis of ... European values," the statement said.