STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Let's see, Germany is united and Yugoslavia is fragmented and occupied by German troops and their allies. This day in history: What year is it?] Tuesday June 26, 2:13 AM Schroeder in Slovenia to mark independence from Yugoslavia LJUBLJANA, June 25 (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met with Slovenian leaders Monday on a brief visit to mark the 10th anniversary of the former Yugoslav republic's independence. Schroeder's visit to Ljubljana is the first by a German chancellor since Slovenia and Croatia proclaimed independence from the former communist federation of Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. Germany, having just reunified, defied its European partners by being the first to recognise the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia in December 1991. Slovenia, which was already the most economically advanced part of ex-Yugoslavia, is now among the first wave of candidates for EU membership, strongly backed by Germany. At a news conference, Schroeder and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek reaffirmed the "close and friendly" ties that linked the two countries. Schroeder described bilateral relations as "excellent and "without problems." But the German chancellor reaffirmed the decision of 15 European Union members to impose a seven-year transition period for EU candidate countries before their workers are allowed equal labor rights within the community. Slovenia has sought a dispensation on this condition. Germany is Slovenia's number one trading partner, and Schroeder, who is accompanied on his trip by a number of business leaders, also discussed economic relations with Slovenian leaders. The German chancellor also joined a special session of the National Assembly and walked the streets of Ljubljana's old town Monday. He was to deliver an address at a ceremony in a square in central Ljubljana at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) as part of the anniversary celebrations, which also include an audio-visual spectacle in the square where independence was declared 10 years ago. Following in the steps of Zagreb and Ljubljana were two other former Yugoslav republics that rejected federal control -- Bosnia Hercegovina and Macedonia. On April 22, 1992, Serbia and Montenegro, surviving a string of desertions, established the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
