Prime Minister to Visit Northern Ireland, Ireland, Austria, and the G-8 Summit in Germany

In Belfast, the Prime Minister will meet with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr. Marjorie Mowlan, as well as with the First and Deputy Ministers of the Northern Ireland Assemblies, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon. He will also meet with key participants of the Peace Process, including fellow Canadians General John de Chastelain, Chief Justice William Hoyt and Professor Clifford Shearing. As well, the Prime Minister will meet over 100 graduates of the International Fund for Ireland programs, many of whom visited Canada as part of the fund's New Horizons program.

Mr. Chrétien will then proceed to Dublin, where he will meet with President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The Prime Minister will be accompanied by International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi, who will be leading a business and trade mission.

In Vienna, the Prime Minister will meet with Chancellor Viktor Klima and President Thomas Klestil, as well as with Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel.

The Prime Minister will then travel to Germany to take part the semi-annual Canada European Union (EU) Summit, June 17, with the acting head of the European Commission and Chancellor Schröeder of Germany, which currently holds the EU Presidency.

Finally, the Prime Minister will attend the G-8 Leaders' Summit, in Cologne, June 18-20. This year's Summit will review world economic developments and discuss how to address the social implications of globalization, including debt relief initiatives for the poorest. Leaders will also use the opportunity to discuss the situation in Kosovo.

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