There are orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslims in this region. The religious mix is similar to Bosnia and Yugoslavia where conflict between Muslims and Christians has taken place. As an applicant for membership of EU, Slovenia is in a process of meeting EU regulations for entry. Geo - Politics: Only here I have realised the fragile nature of India's unity. This state was a republic under Yugoslavia which was united under Marshal Tito for over four decades after World War II. When Yugoslavia disintegrated, it broke up into Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia and Yugoslavia (which now contains Serbia and Montenegro). With last week's elections showing electoral losses for President Milosovich, signals are that Montenegro may also soon became an independent state. One reason for the disintegration of Yugoslavia was the federal nature of government with each state having its own legislatures and governments - a feature which appears similar to the Union of India.
The religious mix of Christians and Muslims has also caused conflict, war and ethnic cleansing in the recent years. This mix is similar to the Hindu - Muslim, situation in India.

Language: The Slovenian group of language led by Serbian are a link in this region. This covers Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Poland, Czech & Russia. Similarly Latin group of languages comprises Italian, French and Romanian which are seen as a group of languages in other parts of Europe.

There is strong interest among consumer groups in the Balkans for work in food safety and Codex at national level. The organisations are small and developing, but have the necessary structure to improve their work in this field. The organisations in Bulgaria and Romania are well developed and have already been able to influence their national Codex positions. Both of those countries have included NGO reps in national delegations to the CCFNDSU.

The workshop folder, Annex - A (progress), Annex - B (Resource manual) and Annex - C (Ranking Matrix) are available on request from the VOICE Secretariat.