Commissioner van den Broek welcomed the signing of the protocol, which would allow the Slovak Republic to participate in various Community programmes. Pointing out that the delay that had occurred was not due to political reasons, he stressed that if Slovakia wanted to stay in the leading group of candidate countries for EU accession it would have to improve the stability of its institutions and commit itself to greater respect for human rights. The Commissioner also said that he had called for assurances to be given in the area of nuclear safety.