Europe welcomes Slovenia’s president initiative for Sudan’s Darfur

Jan 26, 2006 (LJUBLJANA) — The EU’s foreign policy and security chief, Javier Solana, has welcomed Slovene President Janez Drnovsek’s efforts to end the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Javier Solana, the EU high representative for foreign and security policy, said in a letter addressed to Drnovsek that he was pleased to see the Slovene president giving so much attention to this long-lasting African conflict, reported the Slovenian news agency STA.

Solana said that Drnovsek’s proposals and decision to visit Sudan in mid-February are very welcome. He added that he agrees with Drnovsek’s view that decisive action needs to be taken by the international community to put an end to the conflict in Darfur.

Drnovsek recently suggested that his country establish a camp in Sudan for 10,000 refugees, and said Slovenia had also offered to set up a field hospital and send land-mine clearing experts to the region.

The Slovenian president visited France, the U.S. to plaid for international help in his initiative, an initiative he has dubbed, “The World for Darfur.”

Drnovsek acknowledged his country had no special interest in Sudan, but said he felt compelled to address the humanitarian crisis in Darfur because of “the power of connections between all people.”

He said he also planned to visit Sudan in February and was waiting to hear back about a visit to neighboring Chad, which has taken in some 200,000 refugees from the two-year Darfur conflict.

(ST)