SLOVENIA: FOMIN TO ATTEND BERLIN ANTI-SEMITISM

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000324 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL SOCI SI OSCE SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: FOMIN TO ATTEND BERLIN ANTI-SEMITISM CONFERENCE REF: A. SECSTATE 78071 ¶B. SECSTATE 81476 ¶1. (U) POL/ECON CHIEF AND POL-MILOFF DELIVERED REFTEL TALKING POINTS AND DELEGATION LIST ON 15 APRIL TO MFA OSCE TASK FORCE MEMBERS URSKA AJDISEK AND KATARINA GRADIC, BOTH OF WHOM WORK ON HUMAN DIMENSION ISSUES. AJDISEK SAID THAT FOMIN DMITRIJ RUPEL AND AT LEAST TWO OF HIS KEY STAFFERS, INCLUDING HIS CHIEF OF STAFF SANJA STIGLIC, WOULD ATTEND THE CONFERENCE. SHE ADDED THAT, WHILE NOT YET CONFIRMED, RUPEL PLANS TO DELIVER A SPEECH DURING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE. DR. HANNAH STARMAN, ONE OF SLOVENIA'S FOREMOST EXPERTS ON ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR HEBREW AND JEWISH STUDIES AT A PRIVATELY-FUNDED GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR THE HUMANITIES IN LJUBLJANA, WILL BE INCLUDED AS A PUBLIC MEMBER OF THE SLOVENIAN DELEGATION. IN ADDITION TO RUPEL, HIS STAFF, AND STARMAN, THE SLOVENIAN DELEGATION WILL INCLUDE THE SLOVENIAN AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY, SIMONA DRENIK FROM THE SLOVENIAN MISSION TO THE OSCE, AND GRADIC. ¶2. (U) AJDISEK SAID THAT THE MFA HAD BEEN INFORMED THAT FOMINS FROM IRELAND, LUXEMBOURG, CZECH REPUBLIC AND GERMANY WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE CONFERENCE. WHILE NOT NECESSARILY FROM THE RESPECTIVE FOREIGN MINISTRIES, SHE SAID THAT MINISTER-LEVEL REPRESENTATION FROM SWEDEN, LATVIA, FINLAND AND THE UK IS FORESEEN, AND THAT DENMARK AND POLAND WILL SEND REPRESENTATIVES AT THE STATE SECRETARY LEVEL. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: BY INCLUDING STARMAN, IT APPEARS THAT THE GOS IS FINALLY RESPONDING TO THE POSITIVE EXAMPLE SET BY THE U.S. OF INCLUDING NON-GOVERNMENTAL EXPERTS IN DELEGATIONS TO SUCH CONFERENCES. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE ARE AWARE OF A WILLINGNESS BY THE GOS TO REACH BEYOND THE CONFINES OF THEIR MINISTRIES TO PUT TOGETHER THE MOST EFFECTIVE DELEGATION POSSIBLE. WE HOPE IT MARKS THE BEGINNING OF A TREND THAT WILL CONTINUE AS THEY INTENSIFY OSCE-RELATED ACTIVITIES IN PREPARATION FOR THEIR CHAIRMANSHIP-IN-OFFICE IN 2005 AND BEYOND. END COMMENT YOUNG NNNN