Weekly Review of Events Involving Slovenia from 10 through 16 March

Ljubljana, 17 March - Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek paid an important visit to Austria last week, discussing all open issues between Slovenia and Austria. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel made a conciliatory statement after the talks, saying that "history is history" and that the focus should now be on future. Thus he indirectly replied to demands of his coalition partners, the Freedom Party, which still condition Slovenia's membership in the EU with the abolition of the AVNOJ decisions.

Slovene President Milan Kucan hosted Maltese President Guido de Marco and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski last week. While Defence Minister Anton Grizold paid an official visit to Greece, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel discussed EU issued during his visit to Sweden together with Slovenia's chief EU negotiator Janez Potocnik.

A hundred days have passed since the incumbent government assumed office. The relations in the coalition, however, were strained last week, as the government despite disapproval of coalition partner SLS+SKD Slovene People's Party dismissed head of the Post of Slovenia Marija Ribic.