19 April 2008
EU Presidency has no current plans to invite Dalai Lama
(DWW) The EU's Slovenian presidency, through Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, told a special Chinese envoy in Ljubljana: "The Slovenian presidency did not intend to invite the Dalai Lama to the council meeting [of EU foreign ministers] in Brussels". The Slovenian presidency, however, added that "contacts with him [the Dalai Lama] on other levels were not excluded". French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested on 01 April that the 27 EU foreign ministers might invite the Dalai Lama once a decision had been made by the Slovenian EU presidency.