BRUSSELS 28-29 March 2008 European Union foreign ministers meet. Preparing for new EU-wide foreign minister

When the foreign ministers of the European Union meet, they will be moving forward on the decisions made by the EU leaders at their summit two weeks earlier. They are likely to discuss international issues ranging from Central Asia to the Sudan and shaping the role of the new EU foreign minister. The most urgent issue is likely to be the fallout from the expected declaration of independence from Serbia by Kosovo.

The scale of the fallout could depend on whether the Serbian election of Jan 20 produces a leadership that notches up the nationalist rhetoric and sentiments.

The ministers will also be helping to shape the role of the future EU foreign minister, a post agreed as part of the new Lisbon Treaty to give the bloc a stronger foreign policy profile on the global stage. The minister will hold office for a five year period, chairing the General Affairs councils and presiding over the European External Action Service, EEAS.

Slovenia's plan to hasten EU membership of western Balkan countries is also likely to occupy the ministers. Andrej Šter, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, said in October that having reached agreement on the Lisbon Treaty, the Union “should now be able to talk about enlargement and the Balkans with confidence and without ill-founded fears.”

Slovenia is hosting an EU-Western Balkans Forum to be held in March. On the margins of the Nov 2004 summit, the second EU-Western Balkans meeting reiterated EU member states' unreserved support for western Balkans countries' prospective EU membership.

Šter said that the Slovenian Presidency would aim for further progress in the accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey. He expressed the hope that Turkey would be “inspired by European principles” to find a solution to the Cyprus problem. “Ankara must understand that you can’t join a club without accepting the rules.” Jan/08