Rupel: Slovenia among Serbia's biggest allies

Slovenia is one of Serbia’s most ardent supporters within the EU, says Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel.

Source: B92
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Last night, on Slovenian state TV’s Hot Seat program, Rupel said that Slovenia did not represent a stumbling block for Serbia—quite the opposite in fact.

Recent incidents, such as the bomb at the Mercator centre in Belgrade and the threats to other centers, he called misunderstandings, as “Slovenia was one of Serbia’s most ardent advocates within the EU.”

The Slovenian foreign minister did not ascribe the incidents any political relevance, but added that Slovenia had to be ready for everything, had to guarantee its security, something the Slovenian embassy in Belgrade was ready for.

He said that he did not believe that Slovenia and Serbia would fall out over the aforesaid incidents.

“We were big friends even before Milošević, and I believe that we’ll be big friends inside the EU,” said Rupel, adding that the incidents were an indicator of the tension felt within one section of Serbian society that needed to be allayed, and that the two countries were traditional allies.

The Slovenian foreign minister stressed that it was time “to end the Yugoslav crisis.”

He added that he believed that Kosovo representatives would listen to the opinions of other countries when it came to declaring independence, and that there was no panic and nor any cause for threats.

On the subject of the internal diplomatic document recently published by Slovenian daily Dnevnik that has seen Rupel’s ministry come in for considerable criticism over the last few weeks, he denied that Slovenia was a pro-American country, and that U.S. policy on relations with Serbia had a positive influence.

The minister added that the published memorandum, a transcript of a conversation between Slovenian and U.S. diplomats, had more or less been part of normal Slovenian diplomatic communication, and that it had been no great find, maintaining that Slovenian foreign policy was not under the influence of the U.S. or anyone else for that matter.

He said that the passing of such documents to the press was nothing less than theft, and should be treated as such.

According to Rupel, the scandal had not affected Slovenian-U.S. relations, though it had caused a certain amount of unease.

The minister said that the matter had been unpleasant, as henceforth his Slovenian colleagues would be warier in their conversations, though the scandal had not as yet soured relations between Serbia and Slovenia.

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