Slovenia to Wrap Up Accession Talks with NATO
Slovenian and NATO officials are to meet in Brussels on 31 January
for the second and last round of accession talks that are part of the
long procedure for the country's integration into the Alliance
anticipated for May 2004. If the first round was centred on political,
economic and defence issues, this meeting is to focus on security and
legal aspects, along with resources - financial as well as human.
The Slovenian delegation - led by Foreign Ministry State Secretary
Samuel Zbogar - and NATO will decide on the share that Slovenia will
have to pay into the Alliance's three budgets, which are estimated to
touch some US$ 1.6bn annually. Slovenia is expected to adopt the
costing proposed by NATO - that is some 0.3 percent of NATO's entire
budget, or some US$ 3m annually.
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