Austrian and Slovene Presidents Cover Wide Range of Topics; Blocking of Slovenia's EU Membership Talks Discussed

Vienna, 6 November - Austria congratulates Slovenia on the progress it has made on the path towards EU membership and supports it on this path, said Austrian President Thomas Klestil following talks with visiting Slovene counterpart Milan Kucan, who kicked off his first official visit to neighbouring Austria today. Apart from the future of the EU, the two presidents covered a wide spectre of other topics, including bilateral issues, economic ties and the position of the Slovene minority and the German-speaking community in the respective countries. Also in the focus of attention were regional and global issues, with emphasis on the situation in the world following the September 11 attacks on the U.S..