Weekly Review of Events Involving Slovenia from 25 to 31 May

Ljubljana, 1 June - Slovenia held the ninth summit of Central European presidents at Bled and Brdo pri Kranju at the end of the week. As many as sixteen presidents, the most so far, attended the event, which was hosted by Slovene President Milan Kucan and was one of the largest working meetings of heads of European countries in the past few years. Prior to the event, German President Johannes Rau paid a two-day official visit to Slovenia, which also hosted U.S. Senator George Voinovich and former U.S. defence secretary William Perry, who was paying an unofficial visit. Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, on the other hand, paid an official visit to China.

Successors to former Yugoslavia in Basel failed to make progress on old foreign exchange deposits. Meanwhile, news came from Belgrade that Prince Alexander Pavlov Karadjordjevic has filed a lawsuit against Slovenia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, demanding that the Slovene state restitute him the Brdo mansion.

On the Slovene political scene, speculations continued about Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek's presidential bid, however no final decision has been made as yet. His party, the Liberal Democrats (LDS), is to decide on a presidential candidate in June. Former central bank governor France Arhar, meanwhile, confirmed his presidential aspirations.