Paris, 30/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is invited to take part at the spring session of the Western European Union Assembly (also called the interim European Security and Defence Assembly), to be held in Paris from 18 to 20 June. Other invitations to this Assembly will go to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, for the future WEU Council Presidency (from July, the presidencies of the WEU Council and the European Union will thus coincide again), Dutch Defence Minister Jozias van Aartsen for the current EU Council Presidency, Swedish Defence Minister Björn von Sydow for the EU Council Presidency, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Secretary General of the WEU and High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana. The agenda of the session will be as follows:
Monday 18 June:
Address by the President of the Assembly, Klaus Bühler
Report by Michael Liapis (Nea Demokratia, Greece) on "the follow-up to the Nice decisions on the ESDP and the completion of the project for European defence"
Address by Jozias van Aartsen
Address by Javier Solana
Report by Francesco Amoruso (Alleanza nazionale, Italy) on the "position of member states on the future of the parliamentary dimension in the new European security and defence architecture"
Tuesday 19 June:
Report by Karl-Heinz Hornues (CDU/CSU, Germany) on a "new concept for European security".
Address by Guy Verhofstadt
Report by Theodora Bakoyianni (Nea Demokratia, Greece) on the "implementation of the Nice Summit decisions in the operational area of European Security and Defence Policy" (ESDP)
Report by John Wilkinson (Conservative, UK) and Andras Barsony (MSZP, Hungary) on the "contribution of European non-EU countries to military crisis management in Europe".
Address by Björn von Sydow.
Report by Mimi Kestelijn-Sierens (VLD Liberal Party, Belgium) on the sub-regional organisations in Europe and their parliamentary dimension (Northern Europe).
Wednesday 20 June:
Report by Dieter Schloten (SPD, Germany) on the "CFE Treaty and its implications for the European Security and defence Policy (ESDP)".
Address by Jean-Claude Juncker.
Report by Norbert Haupert (Christian Socialist Party, Luxembourg) and Alvydas Medalinskas (Liberal Party, Lithuania) on the "prospects for the participation of the associate partner countries in European armaments cooperation".
Address by Igor Ivanov.
Report by Mimi Kestelijn-Sierens (VLD, Belgium) and Guillermo Martinez Casañ (Partido popular, Spain) on "European anti-missile defence: a role for Russia".
Report by Erich Maass (CDU/CSU, Germany) on "a joint European space strategy".
Report by Jacques Baumel (RPR, France) and Cevdet Akçali (True Path Party, Turkey) on "The Middle East and Security in Europe".