Ireland should decide again and allow EU enlargement go forward so as not to harm candidate countries, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovsek, told the Irish media here yesterday. Afterwards, he had lunch with the President, Mrs McAleese, on the second day of her state visit.
Everyone in Europe was a little surprised by the Irish vote, he said, and so was Slovenia.
"We negotiated very hard, introducing reform and making efforts, and we expected the EU and member-states would do the same. We are concerned.
"We think it will jeopardise the enlargement process but I am very sure that Irish citizens did not mean to risk or question the enlargement process but gave a reaction and a warning that the whole process should be more transparent. It is the same warning that will come to us in the EU process so everyone should think about it."
Dr Drnovsek said he hoped European leaders would understand the message and that it would have positive effects. "I certainly hope the Irish people will decide again quite soon to allow enlargement go forward and not harm candidate countries who have the same rights as Ireland had some years ago of participating in European construction and the Union."
Mrs McAleese's day included a business breakfast hosted by Enterprise Ireland, at which she spoke of the success of the Irish economy; a meeting with the Mayor of Ljubljana, Ms Viktorija Potocnik; a walking tour of the city; sightseeing at the renowned tourist resort of Bled in the foothills of the Julian Alps; lunch with the Prime Minister; an address to the Slovenian Association for International Relations; and attendance at a reception last night hosted by Ambassador Thelma Doran in honour of President and Mrs Milan Kucan, at which Ms Andreja Malir played the concert harp and Mr Frank McCusker gave poetry readings.
At her several speaking engagements, Mrs McAleese reiterated what she had said on Wednesday - that the Irish vote on Nice was not a rejection of enlargement, and that she hoped Slovenia would be in before 2004. She said it was important for the smaller countries to have a voice around the EU table. "You have to fight your corner, open your mouth and speak. They would be happy if you stayed silent."
Having gained its independence, it was highly unlikely that Ireland would surrender it again to a Union where it would have a very small voice, she said.
Mrs McAleese told the Association of International Relations that Ireland had seen no difficulty in seeing itself as both Irish and European and that the Irish Government had long been a champion of the broadest possible enlargement.
The highlight of the day was the visit to Bled, half an hour's drive from the capital. The President and her party viewed the lake, with Tito's former summer villa, now a hotel, visible among the trees on one side and the snow-capped peak of the national symbol Mount Triglav in the distance on the other near where the borders of Slovenia, Italy and Austria meet.