LJUBLJANA, Aug 19 (Hina) - Senior Slovene officials maintain their country needs time to decide about signing a deal with the US on the non-extradition of US citizens to the International Criminal Court. They hope Europe and the US
will reach an agreement on the matter which will not affect Slovenia's integration into the European Union and NATO.
LJUBLJANA, Aug 19 (Hina) - Senior Slovene officials maintain their
country needs time to decide about signing a deal with the US on the
non-extradition of US citizens to the International Criminal
Court. They hope Europe and the US will reach an agreement on the
matter which will not affect Slovenia's integration into the
European Union and NATO. #L#
"It is a matter of conflicting interests," Prime Minister Janez
Drnovsek said in Bled on Monday after meeting a US congress
delegation headed by Henry J. Hyde, chairman of the foreign affairs
committee.
"On the one hand we understand the US position that they don't want
to send their troops where they are not protected by guarantees, but
on the other this constitutes stepping outside the international
legal order," said Drnovsek.
Asked if this stance might force Slovenia to have to decide between
the EU and NATO, the prime minister conceded this might indeed
happen but that he hoped for a compromise solution.
President Milan Kucan, who in the past stated that Slovenia viewed
membership in the EU as more important than that in NATO even though
both were national priorities, said after meeting Hyde he was
confident Europe and the US would reach a compromise.
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel reiterated that Slovenia would
consult the EU on the matter even though, he said, this did not mean
that Slovenia's stance would be the same as that of Brussels or the
other countries aspiring to join the Union.
(hina) ha