"Synergism", shared work: this is the slogan that Slovenia has chosen for its six months’ presidency of the EU Council. Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country that will be at the head of the community for the first six months of 2008, speaks of this phrase. "We will serve the unity and effectiveness of the EU. The Union needs initiative and energy, dialogue and openness, as well as many friends and partners". Rupel recalls that his country will be the focus of attention in the next few months, as it happened "when it took over the presidency of the OECD and when it became a member of the UN Security Council". He lists again the priorities of the presidency, which had already been illustrated by the Prime Minister, Jansa, including research, the Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment, intercultural dialogue. But the leader of Slovenian diplomacy lingers in particular on the future of the Western Balkans: "We are responsible for asserting the European values he explains in these regions that belong to Europe but still do not meet the conditions for accession to the EU". Hence his commitment "to the stabilisation" of the region, as the international status of Kosovo must be urgently dealt with.
