Piešťany after the SEI summit, 24th and 25th of November 2005, Piešťany
Over the 24th and 25th of November 2005, Piešťany Spa was the location for the summit of government chairmen of the Central European Initiative countries (SEI). We welcomed 11 prime ministers, 6 government ministers and a further 400 or so guests comprising representatives from individual countries and including almost 100 journalists from Central and Eastern Europe, from Austria to Ukraine, and from Albania to Poland. The aim was to widen regional cooperation with a focus on economic matters. In the following days, media from the participating countries such as the BBC, Reuters, Czech Broadcasting, TV Ukraine, Die Presse and Slovak TA3, TV Joj, agency broadcasting, and daily newspapers reported on the summit’s work.
"Well, each year the Central European Initiative hands over the reins to one of its seventeen member countries. Recently, Poland had the opportunity to host the meeting, and this year it's Slovakia. I think it's partly what the CEI is all about. It gives the member countries a chance to showcase their countries in the lights of international media. It's a chance to attract journalists and, of course, it has a knock-on effect on tourism, and so on, so it's really about making the member countries more visible as well,” said Rob Cameron from the BBC.
In a statement, Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda emphasised that the Slovak government is focusing on seeking ways in which current member states who have already joined the EU – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia – can help other SEI countries who are prospective members, such as Rumania and Bulgaria and others such as Belarus or Moldavia.
The prime ministers and leading representatives of the SEI were welcomed at a celebrative dinner in the art-nouveau style hotel the Thermia Palace by Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda. Among the guests were the general director of Piešťany Spa, Klaus Pilz, and mayor of Piešťany, Remo Cicutto.
“Over the last thirteen years I have not seen such a celebrative dinner,” said Klaus Pilz when evaluating this leading event. “Owing to the leadership and cooperation with the Hungarian arm of our company, Danubius Hotels Group, we will continue with this, and after this experience we can only look forward to another similar “summit””.
On the collective picture (from left to the right upper line) Mirsat Kebo - commisar for refugeesfrom Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gheorghe Pogea - vice - president of Romania, Giulio Tremonti - vice - president of Italy, Andrei Kobyakov - vice - president of Belorussia, Ludwik Dorn - vice - president of Poland, (from left to the right lower line) Yurii Yekhanurov - Prime Minister of Ukraine, Janez Janša - Prime Minister of Slovenia, Sergei Stanishev - Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Sali Berisha - Prime Minister of Albania, Mikuláš Dzurinda - Prime Minister of Slovak Republic, Ivo Sanader - Prime Minister of Croatia, Jiří Paroubek - Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Vasile Tarlev - Prime Minister of Moldavia a Svetozar Marović - Prime Minister and president of Serbia and Montenegro.
From left to the right: Austrian ambassador in Slovakia Martin Bolldorf, Klaus Pilz - general manager of Slovak Health Spa, Inc. with Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Lev Novobilsky - general manager of Marienbad Kur & Spa Hotels.
Spa Hotels
