DOPING-GERMAN MINISTER CALLS ANTI-DRUG MEETING A SUCCESS

BONN, Jan 18 (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Otto Schily said on
Monday after an informal meeting in Bonn with his European
counterparts that authorities in the European Union needed to work
together to fight doping in sport.

Germany, which holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, called
the meeting to coordinate the EU's position ahead of an International
Olympic Committee doping conference in Lausanne from February 2 to
4.

"The German government is of the opinion that we have to make the
fight against doping in sport a top priority," Schily said in a
statement. The interior minister in Germany is the government's top
official for sport.

"I consider it to be a great success that sport ministers in the EU
were able to meet today to discuss the issues openly. The EU states
have to develop a unified position together with the international
sport bodies to fight doping."