SLOVENIA: DAS PEKALA AND DEPUTY FM CERAR DISCUSS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000359

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR EUR/FO, EUR/NCE, EUR/OHI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2016
TAGS: PREL SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: DAS PEKALA AND DEPUTY FM CERAR DISCUSS
EU PRESIDENCY

REF: LJUBLJANA 353

Classified By: CDA Maryruth Coleman for reason 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary. In a May 24 meeting with EUR DAS Mark
Pekala, Slovenia's Deputy Foreign Minster Bozo Cerar outlined
some goals for the Center for European Perspective (CEP) and
described the priorities of the Government of Slovenia (GOS)
for its presidency of the European Union in the first half of

2008. Though 18 months away, the GOS has developed its
priorities and will kick off its agenda with an international
conference on energy called "Caspian Outlook 2008" in August

2006. It will also make enlargement a priority as well as
increase attention to EU "neighbors" such as Ukraine, Moldova
and Mediterranean countries. Additionally, DAS Pekala raised
Slovenia's anti-trafficking efforts and work being done on
restitution of Jewish properties seized and nationalized
after World War II. End Summary.


2. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Bozo Cerar welcomed the
meeting with DAS Mark Pekala and updated him on initiatives
Slovenia has launched in the Western Balkans. Slovenia has
several institutions through which it works: the Center of
Excellence in Finance, the International Trust Fund for
Demining, and the recently inaugurated Center for European
Perspective. All three institutions are results-oriented.
The first two are widely known in the region and beyond and
enjoy excellent reputations for professionalism, solid
outcomes and have moved from success to success in their
relatively short histories. The CEP is expected to join
those ranks, and it has already launched and has in
development several programs.

--------------
Priorities for EU Presidency
--------------


3. (C) Cerar listed what he thought would be priorities for
Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008 and said
they were not waiting for the presidency to begin to get
started on the issues. The constitution and EU institutions
topped his list. He worried that the "period of reflection"
would go on too long, and Slovenia would want to ensure
movement on both fronts during its tenure. Enlargement was
next. Cerar expressed the firmly held belief in the GOS that
absent the integration of the entire former Yugoslavia into
the EU, there "would never be stability in the region." He
also expected that Slovenia would maintain focus on the
"neighbors" Ukraine, Moldova and the Mediterranean countries.
Slovenia would also like to use its geographical location
as a crossroads between east and west Europe, and the many
traditions involved, to foster intercultural dialogue.
Rounding out the list of top priorities was energy. In
August, the GOS plans to inaugurate the Bled Forum with a
conference on Energy and the Caspian Basin.


4. (C) Saying it was never too early to start consultations,
DAS Pekala suggested this meeting might be considered the
first opportunity for an exchange of views on priorities
between the US and Slovenia as EU president. The US shares
Slovenia's concerns about the need to keep a European
perspective alive for the countries of the Western Balkans,
to remain committed to partnership in the "neighborhood" and
to work as partners on all the common concerns we have in
areas outside of Europe. Pekala welcomed the fact that the
GOS was making energy a priority and encouraged a sustained
focus and open dialogue on this within the EU.

--------------
Small but up to Global Responsibilities
--------------


5. (C) Looking forward to hosting PDAS Volker and Political
Directors from EU-10 foreign ministries in September, Cerar
remarked that Slovenia is "small, but it does not run away
from responsibilities." While it has an historical interest
and responsibility in the Balkans, it does not limit itself
to participation in international missions in that region.
He underscored Slovenia's significant (for its size) presence
in Afghanistan, its trainers both in Iraq and Jordan
contributing to those efforts, a "symbolic" presence in Congo
and willingness to participate in a NATO mission in Darfur,
should that happen. Slovenia will also host a Port Security
Initiative (PSI) exercise in May 2007. Cerar said that
Slovenia would also like to offer itself (presumably through
CEP and other NGOs) as a model for the "nuts and bolts" on
how to build a democracy.

--------------
Russia

LJUBLJANA 00000359 002 OF 002


--------------


6. (C) Mentioning that Prime Minister Janez Jansa was on his
way to Moscow to meet with President Putin, Cerar asked for
the latest USG views on Russia. DAS Pekala explained that
cooperation on globally important, strategic issues such as
non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, the Middle East Peace
Process, destruction of nuclear weapons, North Korea, etc.,
was very good. We were, however, concerned about the
apparent roll-back of democratic principles within Russia and
its reluctance to accept the fact that democracies on
Russia's borders are a good thing. And the United States was
not shy about expressing these concerns publicly and
privately. Cerar took all the comments on board and
expressed that Slovenia shared our concerns on democracy
issues.

---
TIP
---


7. (C) DAS Pekala related the discussion he had had with
Chief State Prosecutor Barbara Brezigar just prior to this
meeting (Reftel). He emphasized that Slovenia needed to make
a strong effort to prosecute and convict traffickers going
forward. Cerar reiterated that the GOS was fully committed to
combating trafficking, a sclerotic judicial system
notwithstanding.

--------------
Jewish Restitution
--------------


8. (C) Over the past year, the local Jewish community has
been in discussions with the GOS about restitution of
confiscated and nationalized properties. The GOS has
promised to cooperate with members of the Jewish community in
researching the properties and using that research as a basis
for negotiating appropriate restitution for the surviving
family members. It has taken much longer than anticipated
for the GOS to put out a tender for this project, and it is
now scheduled for June. DAS Pekala expressed our strong hope
that the GOS would give this issue some attention and get the
research underway as soon as possible. Bureaucratic problems
aside, Pekala said the concern was that this delay was
resonating as a step backwards among NGOs and others with an
interest in resolving restitution issues in Europe. Cerar
said the government was indeed dedicated to solving this
problem, and it had set up a commission for just this
purpose. He apologized for the bureaucratic delays, but was
certain the tender would be advertised in June, the contract
awarded by August and the project would be underway by the
Fall.

COLEMAN