KOSOVO/WESTERN BALKANS, CROATIA'S EU ACCESSION,

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000152

SIPDIS


FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/RPM (HOLTZ),EUR/ERA AND EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2015
TAGS: PREL SI HR OSCE KO RU
SUBJECT: KOSOVO/WESTERN BALKANS, CROATIA'S EU ACCESSION,
OSCE AND PROPOSED JANSA VISIT TO WASHINGTON FEATURE
PROMINENTLY IN EUR/NCE DIRECTOR GARVEY'S MEETINGS IN
LJUBLJANA


Classified By: Dean J. Haas, DCM, for reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: EUR/NCE Director Janet Garvey held a series
of meetings in Ljubljana 4 March with key Slovenian
interlocuters. Issues raised included:

-- Slovenia's interest in working toward a final agreement on
Kosovo this year;
-- the priority Slovenia places on its relationships with its
Southeastern European neighbors and their efforts to join EU
and NATO;
-- Slovenia's OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office and the way forward
with the Russians;
-- Slovenia's path toward adoption of the Euro and managing a
Schengen border; and,
-- the importance of getting Prime Minister Jansa to
Washington for a meeting with President Bush this fall.

Garvey also heard a spirited read-out from former FM (now
Presidential advisor) Vajgl on his meeting that morning with
the Croatian Ambassador on his country's efforts to meet EU
demands for the turnover of Ante Gotovina prior to the formal
start of accession negotiations 17 March. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Janet Garvey, EUR/NCE Office Director, visited
Ljubljana 3-4 March to familiarize herself with Embassy
operations and personnel and to meet with key Slovene players
to discuss bilateral relations and Slovenian foreign policy
priorities. On 4 March, Garvey met with the following
officials:

-- Andrej Logar, MFA Director General (Acting),Bilateral and
EU Affairs
-- Marija Adanja, State Undersecretary, MFA EU Office
-- Boris Frlec, Chair, MFA OSCE Task Force
-- Borut Mahnic, State Undersecretary, MFA Security Policy
Division (NATO)
-- Andrej Rahten, Chief International Affairs Advisor to PM
Jansa
-- Ivo Vajgl and Melita Gabric, International Affairs
Advisors to President Drnovsek
-- Vojislav Suc, MFA State Undersecretary for North and Latin
America


3. (C) Garvey's Slovene interlocuters presented a fairly
united front on a handful of issues, including Kosovo, the
western Balkans, OSCE and PM Jansa's desire to visit
Washington in the fall. The only "curveball" came in her
meeting with President Drnovsek's foreign policy team when
former FM Ivo Vajgl gave a rather blunt readout of a meeting
he had just come from with the Croatian Ambassador to
Slovenia on the upcoming date for the start of EU accession
negotiations and the requirement that "full cooperation" with
the ICTY meant turning over Ante Gotovina to The Hague
tribunal. (see para 6)

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KOSOVO
--------------


4. (C) Acting DG Logar told Garvey that the U.S. is seen
favorably in Kosovo and suggested that it needed to take
advantage of this positive sentiment emanating from a largely
Muslim population, particularly given anti-U.S. feelings
among Muslims elsewhere in the world. Slovenia's policy on
Kosovo is that there is no going back to pre-1999 conditions,
and that no partition of Kosovo is acceptable nor is any
attachment of it to another country. Logar mentioned EUR DAS
Kathy Stephens' upcoming trip to Prague and Budapest to
discuss Kosovo and urged Garvey to suggest that Stephens make
a stop in Ljubljana as well. Frlec, the OSCE TF Chief,
called Kosovo "a ticking bomb" that should not be forgotten
and outlined Slovenia's efforts in the OSCE context to work
on the issue. Presidential Advisor Gabric termed U.S.
involvement "important" in Kosovo and throughout southeastern
Europe because the countries involved "understand what is
backing the words of the Americans." (COMMENT: We suspect
Kosovo was high on FM Rupel's list of talking points for his
7 March meeting with the Secretary. END COMMENT.)

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CROATIA'S EU ACCESSION
--------------


5. (C) Logar told Garvey that Slovenia would like to see
Croatia in the EU as soon as possible, however, "full
cooperation" with the ICTY is a critical pre-condition and
"full cooperation means full cooperation," and Gotovina must
be turned over first. If this does not happen, the wrong
signal will be sent to other states seeking to join the EU
and NATO. Logar said that 17 March is a "flexible date" to
begin accession negotiations with Croatia. The Luxembourg
Presidency has floated the idea of postponing the start of
negotiations to 22 June, according to Logar.


6. (C) Vajgl entered his meeting with Garvey late and was
clearly worked up over the meeting he had just come from
during which the Croatian Ambassador to Slovenia had
presented to Vajgl a letter for President Drnovsek co-signed
by the "three Presidents" of Croatia (State, Government,
Parliament). According to Vajgl, the letter restated
Croatia's commitment to cooperating with the ICTY and to
surrendering Gotovina, but also asked in strong terms that
the accession negotiations begin on 17 March. Vajgl told
Garvey that he had taken advantage of the meeting to give the
Croatian Ambassador some "advice." Vajgl said he told the
Ambassador the Croatians were showing "too much self
confidence", something Slovenia had been accused of in its
own NATO and EU accession processes, but that Croatia was far
worse than Slovenia ever was. "It is in their mentality."
Vajgl continued, "it is pride." Vajgl conceded that there is
"85 percent opposition in Croatia to giving up Gotovina." He
said that Croatia is "trying to set the conditions" rather
than respect those which have been set for it. Vajgl's
counterpart, Melita Gabric, who had not attended the meeting
with the Croatian Ambassador, seemed to want to spin Vajgl's
comments a bit more diplomatically when she interjected, "the
culture of compromise is not widespread in the Balkans." She
added, "we do support Croatia but (it) must meet the EU
criteria." She reluctantly concluded, however, that "Croatia
(often) sells more form than substance."


7. (C) In her meeting with Garvey, EU Office Director Adanja
(who is quickly becoming one of the Embassy's most reliable,
well-briefed, articulate and cordial contacts) sagely noted
that "Croatia seems to prefer advice from others besides
Slovenia." She reiterated, though, that there is close
cooperation between the two countries and that it is in
Slovenia's national interests to see the EU accession process
"speed up" for all western Balkan nations, without
sacrificing the requirement for ICTY cooperation from each.


8. (C) NOTE: PM Jansa and Croatian PM Sanader held a
surprise Sunday meeting 6 March to discuss bilateral issues.
The Slovene News Agency reported after the meeting, "Sanadar
acquainted Jansa with Croatia's efforts to cooperate with the
ICTY...Jansa said he hoped the new assurances and proof
presented by Croatia to the EU would be taken into account
when Croatia's European prospects are considered." END NOTE.

---
EU
---


9. (SBU) Adanja indicated that full entry into Schengen was
very important to Slovenia and it is doing everything
possible to meets its goal of late 2006 implementation. She
acknowledged that autumn 2007 is a more likely date given
what she termed to be "delays" in Brussels on full Schengen
implementation in new member states. In reply to a Garvey
question, Adanja said she expects Slovenia to have a "special
arrangement" with Croatia to ensure smooth cross-border
travel. With regard to adoption of the Euro, Adanja
confirmed that Slovenia appears on track for an early 2007
transition with the only remaining concern centering around
domestic inflation rates. A top current priority for Adanja
and her team are the negotiations on the EU financial
perspective. Slovenia is very close to the line between
donor and recipient countries in the EU context and domestic
political pressure to remain recipient status is strong.

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OSCE (AND THE RUSSIANS)
--------------


10. (C) OSCE TF Chair Frlec provided Garvey an overview of

Slovenia's OSCE priorities, including reaching an agreement
on the budget/scales of assessment, working with the
Russians, coordinating the work of the Eminent Persons panel,
and getting the most out of the OSCE's "flexibility" and its
17 field missions.


11. (C) Frlec described the current impasse with the
Russians as being "deeply political" in nature. "It comes
from Putin." Frlec said his team is seeking to listen to the
Russians and find ways to bridge concerns. "Slovenia is in a
position to get results. They (the Russians) like us and are
sorry we have to deal with these problems." He said that one
particular irritant for Russia is that it sees itself as a
partner when dealing with the EU, NATO and the Council of
Europe but senses that in the OSCE the participating states
all agree and "then provide them an ultimatum." Frlec senses
a slight "softening" in Moscow's attitude and approach after
the President's meeting wtih President Putin in Bratislava.
He said FM Lavrov's recent letter on scales of assessment,
while "still not acceptable," did show some movement. FM/CiO
Rupel would like to move forward on Russian proposals for
conferences on military doctrines and energy security. Rupel
will seek to get Secretary Rice's concurrence for these
conferences during their meeting in Washington. Garvey
stressed to Frlec the importance of "speaking with one voice"
to the Russians.


12. (C) Earlier, Logar had expressed his own frustrations
with the Russians, acknowledging that Slovenia needed to get
them on board in the OSCE, but also opining that Putin and
his "circle" are "former KGB" and their mentality and outlook
"haven't really changed." Logar says he senses strongly that
the Russian MFA is not making the key decisions on OSCE or
other key matters, but rather Putin's inner circle is in
charge. He said the Russians know that "what happened in
Georgia and Ukraine could happen in Moldova next" and this
exacerbates the reactions from Moscow.

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GETTING JANSA TO WASHINGTON
--------------


13. (C) Logar, Adanja, Rahten, Vajgl and Gabric all
commented very positively on the President's recent trip to
Europe and the opportunities it provides for the
U.S./European relationship. Rahten called it a "good,
impressive sign" and was glad to see the optimistic message
that came out of the meetings, especially in Brussels. He
added that Slovenia "supports the U.S. mission to enlarge
democracy" in the Middle East.


14. (C) All senior interlocuters (in lockstep) delivered
one other important message: please help us get a meeting
for PM Jansa with President Bush this fall. The Prime
Minister hopes to travel to Washington for a series of
meetings and appearances. Logar stressed how much the new
Slovene government wants to be a "credible, strategic
partner" of the U.S. and pointed to Slovenia's support of
recent NATO and EU decisions regarding support to Iraq. He
added that "Slovenia will support and be active in efforts on
Iraq."
ROBERTSON


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2005LJUBLJ00152 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL



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