Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic Hail the Outcome of Nice Summit

Bratislava, 11 December - Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic welcome the agreement passed at the EU summit in Nice, the three countries' prime ministers stated after their meeting in Bratislava on Monday. The new agreement on the EU institutional reform opens doors for enlargement as of 2003 and the four nations are confident that they will conclude membership negotiations by the end of 2001. Slovenia's Janez Drnovsek, Slovakia's Mikulas Dzurinda, Hungary's Viktor Orban and the Czech Republic's Milos Zeman voiced hope that their countries would take part in the 2004 elections for the European Parliament.