Speaking to the press in Ljubljana to mark the Day of Slovene Diplomacy in remembrance of the day when Slovenia was admitted to the United Nations in May 1992, Rupel commented, among other things, on Slovenia's presidency over the European Union in the first half of 2008.
Asked by a correspondent of the Croatian Television how the unsolved problem of the border demarcation with Croatia would affect his country's presidency of the EU, the Slovene Foreign Minister answered that he believed that "Slovene chairmanship of the European Union is not related to it".
"The Slovene Presidency must be harmonised wit other (EU) members. We shall not preside over the Union on our own behalf," Rupel said.
He reiterated the positions of Ljubljana on other outstanding issues in its relations with Croatia, including the debt of the Ljubljanska Bank to Croatians which Slovenia treats as a problem in the package with other issues stemming from the succession to the former Yugoslavia, and Slovenia's unwillingness to go to the international arbitration regarding the border demarcation.