LJUBLJANA, Nov 19 (Hina) - NATO membership is a strategic priority of the Slovene government with which the majority of political parties and citizens agree, Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said on Tuesday.
LJUBLJANA, Nov 19 (Hina) - NATO membership is a strategic priority
of the Slovene government with which the majority of political
parties and citizens agree, Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said on
Tuesday. #L#
Drnovsek spoke for today's issue of his government's English
language publication "Slovenian News" ahead of NATO's summit in
Prague on Thursday where Slovenia expects to be invited to join the
alliance.
Drnovsek said that Slovenia, as a country which has been applying
for NATO membership for a long time, was fully aware of the
challenges the membership brought and the criteria it imposed. He
expressed confidence Slovenia met the demands necessary to join
NATO, particularly in the spheres of politics and economy.
The Slovene PM estimated that further engagement in the
stabilisation of the region was his country's most concrete
contribution to NATO. He announced the continuation of the Slovene
army's transformation towards a more professional force and a
further increase in spending for the defence, which is one of NATO's
demands for Slovenia's membership.
(hina) ha sb