Meeting | News Releases | Final Preparations for the Reception of Fifteen Heads of State

Final Preparations for the Reception of Fifteen Heads of State

Ljubljana, 17 May 2002

At Bled, the organisation committee in charge of the 9th meeting of Presidents of Central European States today held its final plenary session. The committee, headed by the Secretary General of the Office of the President, Mr Marjan Siftar, deemed the preparations so far excellent. Participating countries now have only the final detailed co-ordination left to do.

The organisers' preparations are based on experience gained at the meetings to date, especially the 4th meeting of Presidents of Central European States in Piran in 1997, when eight presidents met. Representatives of various state bodies have reviewed the preparations in progress, which, due to the great number of participating countries, represent the most challenging organisational task, both with regard to multilateral meetings in our country and to all meetings of Presidents of Central European States so far. The final meeting of organisers focused on the review of protocol, security, preparations for media and information coverage, as well as on promotional activities; the preparedness of individual venues and the co-ordination of individual elements of the programme were also scrutinised.

The organisation committee met today in the renovated and recently opened Grand Hotel Toplice, which will accommodate the majority of presidents of participating countries. The hotel is located at the most attractive point on the bank of the lake with a magnificent view towards Bled Castle; its staff will take good care of the presidents and ensure excellent accommodation conditions for the distinguished guests during their stay there.

Meetings of Presidents of Central European States have become one of the rare traditional non-institutionalised forms of encounters at the highest level. All Presidents of Central European States have confirmed their participation at this year's meeting, while the majority of Presidents from the broader Central European region, who were invited following an agreement at last year's meeting, have also announced their intended arrival. These meetings have considerably expanded the initial framework established when four presidents - from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany - first met in Salzburg in 1993. This year's meeting will be attended by a total of sixteen heads of state, and also attending for the first time will be the President of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski as well as the chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bezir Belkic.

Government Public Relations and Medial Office