Vienna, 13/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Benia Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian Foreign Minister, invited his Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian, Slovenian and Polish counterparts to gather in Vienna on 6 June to discuss the "community of interests" that could later become an "alliance".
The minister explained that she sees this "community of interests" after the fashion of Benelux or the "northern dimension". The meeting on 6 June must allow substance to be given to this "strategic partnership". Ms Ferrero-Waldner proposes that the meeting should be followed by two meetings annually. The partnership envisaged would aim at transforming geographic, historical and cultural links between Austria, its neighbours and Poland into a political alliance. So far, only Hungary has publicly approved this idea. It is true that Austria's relations with countries that are part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire are not free from disputes, mainly with Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
We recall that Benelux, born before the European Economic Community and cited as a model of strategic partnership, consists in customs union between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The "northern dimension" consists of coordination between the positions of Finland, Sweden and Denmark, EU members, and with those of Latvia and Estonia, applicant countries, as well as Norway, whose population refused integration as a Union country.