Opposition Parties Stay Away from Constitutional Consultation

Ljubljana, 3 February - Two leading opposition parties have stayed away from a closed-door meeting of deputy group leaders that was called by Speaker of Parliament Borut Pahor in a bid to reach consensus on the referendums on Slovenia's integration into the EU and NATO. As the leaders of the Social Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) explained, they would not attend the meeting because the "ruling coalition should first meet itself and decide whether it is ready to find a constructive solution".