PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, MILAN KUCAN, RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, DR EJUP GANIC

Ljubljana, 14 June 2000



The President of the Republic, Milan Kucan, today received the President of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr Ejup Ganic. Dr Ganic informed President Kucan of the most topical issues in the reintegration of the country, such as institutional reform in the functioning of the central government bodies of the Federation, return of refugees, economic development, privatisation and foreign investment. The collocutors underlined that relations between the two countries are excellent, particularly economic cooperation under the Stability Pact. Both Presidents believed that a continued international presence is of great importance in light of the longterm development prospects of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Concerning the French initiative to call a conference of the EU and former Yugoslav states which are not yet involved in negotiations with the EU, President Kucan welcomed the idea, adding that Slovenia is prepared to participate in the preparation of the conference and is willing to share its experience in the process of accession to European structures with the participants. He also expressed his hope that the conference will be able to define the points of departure for a longterm stabilisation of the region and a prospect of joining European structures for the countries of South East Europe.