Slovenian wins last seat on praesidium

Date: 18/04/02

By Martin Banks

A FORMER Slovenian prime minister has told of his hopes for the Convention after he was elected this week to the influential praesidium.

Alojz Peterle, 54, became the 13th member of the steering committee after he won a three-way contest.

He was elected on the first ballot with 12 votes while Lithuanian Alvydas Medalinskas and Slovakian Irena Belohorska received nine and two votes respectively. Each is already among the Convention's 105 members. The 23 national parliamentarians, who represent the candidate countries, voted in Monday's ballot.

Peterle, Slovenia's first democratically elected prime minister, told European Voice he hoped his election would enable the accession countries to participate fully in the work of the Convention.

He said: 'I feel committed to the people who elected me and I see my role as a sort of bridge between the Convention delegates and members of the praesidium.

'The Convention is a historic opportunity to shape the future of Europe - it is an opportunity we must not waste. I think it was also important that someone from the candidate countries was involved in the praesidium which, after all, will shape the overall agenda.'

Christian Democrat Peterle, an MP in Slovenia for 12 years and prime minister from 1990-92, said: 'It is a great personal honour to be elected and is also, I think, no small recognition for the progress Slovenia has made in recent years.'

It is not yet clear, however, whether Peterle will represent the 13 countries bidding to join the EU or just Slovenia, on the praesidium. Representatives of some states, including Cyprus and Latvia, favour him representing them as a bloc but others, such as Poland, insist he has no such mandate.

• Members of the public and media were turned away from Monday's plenary meeting of the Convention due to lack of space in the meeting room. They were directed to an overspill room, which was also full.