SLOVENIA: INTERIOR MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000252

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR EUR/NCE, DRL/CRA, CA/OCS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: INTERIOR MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION, BILATERAL ASSISTANCE, AND
RATIONALE FOR ASYLUM REFORMS.

REF: A. A) LJUBLJANA 109

B. B) LJUBLJANA 192


1. (SBU) Summary: At an April 13 lunch hosted by COM Minister
of Interior Dragutin Mate discussed Slovenia's regional
anti-crime efforts and bilateral assistance to Macedonia;
recent changes in the asylum law; latest thinking on dealing
with the "erased," and the Hoehn-Saric case, a
denationalization case involving an American citizen. On the
asylum law, Mate said that Slovenia has simplified and
brought its procedures in line with EU norms and in the
process, shut down an easy route for alien smugglers and
illegal employers of cheap labor. On the "erased" Mate said
the GOS prefers a constitutional solution to avoid
never-ending court appeals and is concerned about budgetary
impacts should the opposition have citizenship/residency
status for all made retroactive to 1992. Mate also addressed
denationalization cases, and the Hoehn-Saric case in
particular. The Ambassador explained to Minister Mate the
confusion in Washington over his letter to DHS Secretary
Chertoff and assured him a response was forthcoming. End
Summary.

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Regional Cooperation on anti-Crime Efforts
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4. (SBU) Minister Mate described for COM the "Brdo Process,"
which Slovenia conducts in partnership with Austria, as an
expert-level series of meetings throughout the year that
encompasses the countries of south east Europe region.
Members include Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania as well as
the former Yugoslav states and Albania. The GOS is currently
planning with Austria an October meeting which will focus on
cross-border issues including terrorism and trafficking in
persons. Mate responded positively to COM suggestion that
they invite US experts to attend/address the meeting. He
cautioned that to avoid ruffling the feathers of some members
who might resent American involvement in their regional
process, he would likely want to invite the U.K. and Spain as
well.

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Assisting Macedonia to Meet EU Criteria
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5. (SBU) According to Mate, Macedonia is open to receiving
assistance and guidance from Slovenia on meeting EU
standards. Mate explained that Slovenia still has strong
credibility in Macedonia and the Macedonians are eager to
enhance this partnership. Mate said he would also like to
work through the local OSCE mission, but would want to know
precisely what the OSCE wants from his ministry. Mate says
he has a good relationship with the local Deputy Head of
Mission and thinks they'll work something out.
Alternatively, the GOS is willing to work on a strictly
bilateral basis. Interestingly, Slovenia is applying lessons
learned in Jordan to its work in Macedonia. Mate said that
while they did a good job training Iraqi police in all the
latest methods and procedures, when they would send them back
to their home bases, their supervisors, who had had no
training, would often resist the introduction of new ideas
and approaches to police work. As a consequence, in
Macedonia the Slovene trainers were making a concerted
efforts to train management and supervisors along with rank
and file to avoid this kind of conflict.

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Asylum Procedures
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6. (SBU) Recent changes to the asylum law have gotten
negative press (Ref A),and Mate was eager to provide some
insight into GOS motivation for the changes. Mate
acknowledged that Slovenia had had one of the most liberal
asylum laws in Europe, but when it joined the EU, this open
policy became subject to massive abuse as alien smugglers saw
an easy way in to the European Union. To illustrate this
abuse, Mate offered a few statistics. In 2005, 5600 illegal
immigrants arrived at Slovene borders, and of these 1700
claimed asylum. Of those 1700, only 26 received asylum. The
majority of the remaining 1674 left the asylum center after
receiving a shower, food and clothes, but before officially
registering their claim of asylum. According to Mate,
illegal alien smugglers had found a "niche" in Slovenian law,


by which legal authorities would transport their clients
(whom they coached to claim asylum) the 200 miles from the
border to the asylum facilities in Ljbuljana. After a
shower, hot meal and good night's rest, the alien smugglers
would pick them up the next day and continue the journey. In
another example, Mate said that over the course of one
seven-day period in 2005, 1300 people had asked for asylum,
been brought to the center and disappeared before beginning
the formal procedures. This was a clear signal the asylum
procedure in Slovenia was broken.


7. (SBU) The asylum law was not only being abused by foreign
alien smugglers, but also by Slovenian employers. Because of
the liberal employment rules which allowed asylum seekers to
begin working the day after arrival, Slovene employers who
needed seasonal workers saw a cheap and efficient method for
bringing those workers into the country legally. As
described by Mate, busloads of people would arrive at the
border and request asylum. Automatically, they would be told
to proceed to the asylum center in Ljubljana. The same bus
that brought them to the border would take them to Ljubljana.
Upon arrival, the "asylum seekers" would register, receive
their work permits, be given a bed and three meals a day.
They would never actively pursue their asylum cases. The
next morning and every workday for the next three to four
months, a bus would pick up all the "asylum seekers" and
bring them to a factory or field to work. Then, at the end
of the busy period or harvest season, they would all just
disappear one day. The GOS needed to close this loop-hole
and the way it did this was to restrict the right to work for
the first year. It was not a popular move in the human
rights community, but it further helps the GOS to determine
if someone is a bona fide asylum seeker. Mate said there
were ways for asylees to earn pocket money at the center if
they wanted.


8. (SBU) In all of this, Mate said the border authorities had
been and were continuing to receive training on how to
identify legitimate asylum seekers. There are still
safeguards. If someone claiming asylum is instead sent to
the illegal alien center because the questioning officer was
not convinced of their claims, they have the right, once
there, to request an interview with someone from the asylum
center to make their case again. Mate said that the Ministry
of Interior has also produced a brochure in 25 languages
explaining the legal rights of asylum seekers in Slovenia.
The intention of the recent revisions to the law were as much
to ensure that legitimate asylum seekers received the
attention and care they needed as to shut down an easy route
for illegal smuggling and trafficking.

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They are not "Erased," just Inactive
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9. (SBU) When asked about the latest legislative proposals on
the "erased," Mate explained a bit of the history which had
brought Slovenia to the current situation. Mate said that,
in fact, noone had ever been removed or "erased" from any
list, rather for various reasons (as explained in Ref B) some
people never made it on to one of the "active" lists of
either citizens or legal residents. The GOS is very
interested in finally resolving a problem the previous
government never successfully addressed over the 12 years it
was in charge. Mate said the GOS wanted a constitutional
solution to what had been a constitutional failure in the
first place, and going this route would also ensure that the
ruling would not get hung up in the interminable appeals
process of the regular courts. A key sticking point between
the GOS and the opposition was how far back legal status
should be applied retroactively. The opposition claims that
for all 18 thousand who missed the original deadline, status
should be applied retroactively to 1992. The GOS wants it to
be applied retroactively to the date on which an individual
first applied for citizenship. The difference in financial
impact on the GOS would be significant.


10. (U) An interesting side note is that Mate, himself, was
born by chance in Croatia. His parents, Slovenes, were on
their way to visiting relatives in Croatia when Mate's mother
unexpectedly went into labor. In 1992, when Mate was working
at the Ministry of Defense, one of his colleagues pointed out
to him that he needed to secure his citizenship, which he
did.


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Hoehn-Saric Denationalization Case
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11. (SBU) COM had sent a letter to Minister Mate on February
6 requesting expeditious resolution of a denationalization
case involving elderly Amcit Rudolf Hoehn-Saric. The case
has been pending since 1991 and hinges on whether Hoehn-Saric
is considered to have been a Slovene citizen at the time the
property was expropriated by the state in 1948, and if so,
whether he was considered to be a minor. This case is
particularly sensitive because it involves extensive property
which contains the source of Slovenia's best known mineral
drinking water which the Hoehn-Saric family had bottled, and
there is now also a popular and profitable thermal spa. Mate
apologized that he had not gotten back to the Ambassador, and
that, in fact an answer was on his desk and had been for two
weeks. He was delaying that response because he was drafting
new instructions for those within the ministry to use when
considering this case. He hoped these new instructions would
solve the case once and for all. Mate was not forthcoming
with details of those instructions, and the Ambassador still
has not received a reply to his February letter. Mate also
noted that of the 215 denationalization cases involving
questions of citizenship/nationality, only 12 remain
unresolved.

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Comment
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12. (SBU) Mate was, as usual, relaxed and open about the
numerous issues for which he and his ministry have
responsibility. We should continue to encourage Mate and the
GOS to continue with the positive work they are doing in the
region through the Brdo Process and, bilaterally with
Macedonia. This is the type of positive influence Slovenia
should be spreading as a new member of the EU and NATO and a
former member of SFR Yugoslavia. Mate and the GOS are
struggling with some negative press generated, in part, by
opposition political parties who themselves failed to resolve
the tricky issue of the "erased." Mate's review of this
problem and his candor about financial implications seem to
show that the GOS is sincere in its efforts to come to a
final resolution. Slovenia prides itself on its human rights
record and, in fact, is running for a seat on the UN Human
Rights Council. Mate's elaboration of the reasoning behind
the recent changes in the asylum law are intended to reassure
us that while it is now somewhat more difficult to claim
asylum status in Slovenia, once an asylee's bona fides are
established, he is given all the legal and social support
available necessary to pursue his claim in Slovene courts.
Finally, we hope that Mate is seriously considering COMs
request for a fair, swift and final outcome on the
Hoehn-Saric case. However, as it involves some choice real
estate, and now very successful businesses, there will be
intense pressure to protect the interests of the Slovenian
stakeholders.
ROBERTSON