Press
Center
Skopje, Macedonia (Thursday-Friday,
February 22-23, 2001)
The Republic of Macedonia,
in capacity of Chairman-in-office of this SEECP will host a regular
summit of Heads of states and governments from Southeastern Europe on
Friday, February 23, 2001 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. The meeting
will take place at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje beginning at
10:00 am local time.
Those in attendance will
include President Boris Trajkovski (Republic of Macedonia), President
Petar Stojanov (Republic of Bulgaria), President Rexhep Meidani (Republic
of Albania), President Jon Iliesku (Romania), Prime Minister Costas
Simitis (Republic of Greece), Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit (Republic
of Turkey), Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic (Republic of Croatia),
Chairman of the Presidency Zivko Radisic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and President
Vojislav Kostunic (FR of Yugoslavia). The Secretary-General of Council
of the EU, Mr. Javier Solana, the External Relations Commissioner of
the European Commission Mr. Christofer Paten, and Head of the Stability
Pact for Southeastern Europe Mr. Bodo Hombach will also attend the meeting
as special guests of the host. The ministries of economy of the South
East European Cooperation Process member and observer countries are
invited as well.
"Now that we have
achieved peace and stability in the region, we must re-double our efforts
to create the conditions which will allow that peace transform the region
economically and politically," stated President Trajkovski. "We
now have a real opportunity to work together to bring about economic
prosperity for the region - and we we'll do this for our children,"
Trajkovski continued.
The highlights of this meeting will include: Ceremony of the signature
of the Declaration of Acceptance of the Charter on good Neighborly Relations,
Stability and Cooperation in the South-Eastern Europe by Bosnia and
Herzegovina and the FR of Yugoslavia; Signing Ceremony of the Agreement
for the demarcation of the border between Republic of Macedonia and
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
At the end of the summit, the Heads of state and Government will adopt
the Summit Final Documents that will be prepared by the Political directors
at a meeting prior to the Summit.
Concurrently with the
Summit an Economic Forum will be held with the Ministers of economy
of the SEECP participant countries. The main purpose is the development
of the economic cooperation among the countries in the region and the
process of integration in the united Europe.
The SEECP was founded
in 1996 at a meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. Original member states include
Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia are observers. The purpose of the SEECP
is to strengthen relations among the states of Southeastern Europe and
to promote regional stability, security, democracy and economic prosperity.
The heads of state and government meet once per year and the foreign
ministers also meet at least once per year with rotating host countries.
The Republic of Macedonia has taken an active role in the SEECP since
its inception.
***
During the Summit, a press
center will be established at the Hotel Alexandar Palace. Press accreditation
should be addressed directly to the Information Agency of the Republic
of Macedonia (tel. + 389 91 114 695, fax: + 389 91 114 162). The press
correspondents and Mass Media will be present at the opening and closing
ceremonies and will participate to the press conference.
