Weekly Review of Events Involving Slovenia from 29 September to 5 October

Ljubljana, 6 October - Slovene Prime Minister last week ruled out the option that the issue of sea border between Slovenia and Croatia could be solved by arbitration as announced by Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan earlier in the week. The 47th annual assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) took place at Bled, at which representatives of 19 NATO member states and 17 associated countries paid special attention to the fight against international terrorism. Leading ATA officials stressed that NATO enlargement remains the alliance's priority even after the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S..

Foreign Ministers of the Vilnius group of countries held a meeting on the sidelines of the ATA assembly, while presidents of the Vilnius group met for the first time in Sofia at the end of the week. In a final statement, the presidents pointed out the importance of NATO enlargement for the strengthening of security and stability in the whole of Europe and expressed their countries' readiness to participate in the fight against terrorism.

Slovene and Austrian Foreign Ministers, Dimitrij Rupel and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, met in Slovenia to present the tasks of a commission of Slovene and Austrian historians and legal experts who are to study the relations between the two countries in the 20th century. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg also paid a visit to Slovenia last week.

The events on the inner political scene were marked by an interpellation motion filed in parliament by opposition MPs in a bid to oust Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Janez Kopac, while the Culture Ministry last week rejected the demand by the Roman-Catholic parish Bled to return the Lake Bled island in kind. However, the parish will geth the church on the island.