Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05LJUBLJANA882
2005-12-27 07:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ljubljana
Cable title:  

OSCE: U/S BURNS BILATERAL MEETING WITH CIO

Tags:  PREL MARR MOPS SI 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000882 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2015
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS SI
SUBJECT: OSCE: U/S BURNS BILATERAL MEETING WITH CIO
DIMITRIJ RUPEL


Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000882

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2015
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS SI
SUBJECT: OSCE: U/S BURNS BILATERAL MEETING WITH CIO
DIMITRIJ RUPEL


Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Summary. Meeting on the margins of the OSCE
Ministerial, U/S Burns and Slovene Foreign Minister and
Chairman in Office of the OSCE Dimitrij Rupel discussed
Slovenia's cooperation in and contribution to international
peacekeeping missions; the Government of Slovenia's (GOS)
recent political commitment to send demining trainers to Iraq
under the auspices of NATO; upcoming status talks on Kosovo
and the importance of keeping Belgrade engaged; and pursuing
a robust democracy agenda with Cuba, Belarus, and other
countries in the New European Neighborhood. The second half
of the meeting focused on CiO Rupel's final stab at getting
all 55 members of the OSCE to agree on language for a
Ministerial Declaration. Burns responded positively but
firmly that absent language on Istanbul Commitments and a
call for Russian withdrawal of troops from Moldova, the U.S.
would be unable to sign a Ministerial Declaration. Burns and
Rupel agreed to engage in further negotiations on this
subject with the OSCE Troika, U.K., Germany, France, and
Russia. End Summary.

2.(U) Meeting participants were:

U/S Nicholas Burns
Ambassador Thomas B. Robertson
Ambassador Julie Finley (OSCE)
EUR/RPM Director James Warlick
P Special Assistant David Bame
Pol/Econ Chief Colleen Hyland (notetaker)

FM Dimitrij Rupel
Ambassador Boris Frlec
State Under Secretary Vojeslav Suc
Special Assistant Ales Balut
(notetaker)



3. (SBU) U/S Burns and FM Rupel briefly discussed Slovenia's
contributions to international missions. Rupel was concerned
that in sheer numbers, Slovenia's contribution may not appear
significant, but, in fact, constituted a serious commitment.
Slovenia remained focused on the Balkans and would continue
to increase troop levels in the future, including with a
motorized battalion in Kosovo in 2007. Rupel also confirmed
that the GOS has made the political decision to send demining
trainers to Iraq with the NATO training mission (NTM-I). U/S
Burns welcomed this news agreeing Slovenia's contributions
were significant and that sending demining trainers to Iraq

will offer important support to our efforts there. Burns and
Rupel discussed the changing role of NATO in the world,
agreeing that its future would include greater focus on
global partnerships with non-NATO countries.

4.(C) Turning to Kosovo, a subject of tremendous interest to
Slovenia, Burns said that upcoming status talks will require
a united alliance to get the message to the Kosovar Albanians
that they must protect minority rights, and work seriously on
standards. Burns and Rupel agreed on the need to press the
Serbs to engage and shared an assessment that the next
elections in Serbia could produce a government that would
sour the political dialogue. Rupel pressed on the need to
offer the Serbs "compensation," suggesting a fast track to
the EU would help mitigate the expected loss of Kosovo and a
possible loss of Montenegro. Burns reiterated USG policy does
not accept partition or border changes, and that all parties
must be fully engaged in finding the solution. Serbs must
also address war crimes and particularly the capture of Ratko
Mladic. Bringing Mladic to The Hague will open doors for
Serbia. Burns underscored that this is not only U.S. policy
but NATO policy.


5. (SBU) Burns raised the importance of working together to
promote democracy and human rights in places such as Cuba and
Belarus stating specifically that there should be
consequences for Belarussian actions and the need to remain
focused on democracy in our dealings with Minsk. Rupel
agreed that it was important to continue working together,
particularly at the UN, on promoting human rights issues in
Cuba. He said, too, that Slovenia is completely on board
with EU policy towards Belarus and agreed that a coordinated
strategy between the U.S. and EU made sense. Rupel also
welcomed Burns' comments on Secretary Rice's recent statement
on alleged U.S. detention or transfer of terrorist subjects.


6. (C) In a final bid to hammer out a Ministerial
Declaration, Rupel suggested a meeting between the OSCE
Troika (Bulgaria, Slovenia, Belgium) the U.S., Germany,
France, U.K. and Russia. Rupel said that Russian FM Lavrov
would agree to Porto language but he (Rupel) wanted to find a
compromise that went beyond that. Before agreeing to such a
meeting, Burns suggested that since all except the Russians
were NATO members, it was imperative that those members be


united on language before going into a meeting with the
Russians, and that language should be the same as what would
be used in Brussels for the NAC Communique. It would be a
mistake to allow Russia to play one NATO ally off another,
particularly in light of the upcoming NAC. Burns reiterated
that the U.S. did not believe the OSCE needed to be fixed and
would not agree to anything that might jeopardize the
effectiveness of the OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR),the OSCE's strongest component.
Burns also explained to FM Rupel that every formulation of
language on the Istanbul Commitments the U.S. had offered
Russia had been rejected including the NAC language. Given
Rupel's tireless work over the past year and good results in
Kyrgyzstan and other missions, however, Burns said he was
willing to give this one more try. Rupel agreed to arrange a
prior meeting at the Ambassadorial level to develop a unified
approach to the Russians, and the Ministers met subsequently
on December 5 (Septel).
ROBERTSON


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