LJUBLJANA, April 30 (Hina) - European Commission President Romano Prodi on Friday arrived in Nova Gorica, a town in Slovenia bordering with Gorizia in Italy, where the central celebration of Slovenia's admission to the European Union
will take place tonight.
LJUBLJANA, April 30 (Hina) - European Commission President Romano Prodi
on Friday arrived in Nova Gorica, a town in Slovenia bordering with
Gorizia in Italy, where the central celebration of Slovenia's
admission to the European Union will take place tonight.#L#
Greeting Slovene Prime Minister Anton Rop on the border, Prodi said he
had long been looking forward to the event which would make this
border zone an area of cooperation.
Prodi and Rop will hold speeches tonight at the newly constructed town
square linking the two towns, and their mayors Mirko Brulc and
Vittorio Brancati will unveil a mosaic symbolising the fall of borders
and the creation of united Europe.
Shortly before midnight - when celebrations of the European "big bang"
will culminate in the other nine countries which join the EU -
Slovene, Italian and European anthems will be played and flags hoisted
in the square.
Earlier in the day Prodi visited Trieste and laid wreaths at the San
Sabba Rice Mill, a WWII fascist camp, and the Bazovica pit. The
Italian news agency Ansa said Prodi voiced hope that the leaders of
Italy, Slovenia and Croatia would meet at Bazovica soon.
"I hope the day will soon come when the heads of state of Italy,
Slovenia and Croatia will meet at this place to share their memories
and admit the sad events from the past in an embrace of forgiveness
and solidarity," Prodi said during the visit to the Bazovica pit,
which Ansa described as a symbol of violence against Italians from
Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia at the end of WWII.
(Hina) rml