SLOVENIA IN ADVANCE OF THE JANUARY 30 GAERC

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000055 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/ERA HBISHARAT, EUR/NCE VTRIM E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016 TAGS: PREL SUBJECT: SLOVENIA IN ADVANCE OF THE JANUARY 30 GAERC REF: SECSTATE 11254 Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Pol/Econ Chief discussed reftel points with MFA EU Correspondent Peter Grk January 25, 2006. ¶2. (C) Iran: Grk thought the most important item on the GAERC agenda would be Iran and what the EU-3 would have to say. He said Slovenia hoped the international community would speak with one voice and that if Iran is referred to the UN Security Council after the February 2 IAEA Board of Governors meeting, we would need to be very precise about the actions we are looking for. Grk said Slovenia supports referral and that the EU and US seem to be of the same mind on next steps with Tehran. He took on our points about being clear to Syria and Iran about their meddling in Iraq. When asked, Grk said he had not seen any reporting on the impending IAEA board meeting out of Tehran (where Slovenia has a mission) but he was aware that the EU missions did have biweekly meetings. ¶3. (SBU) MEPP: Grk was curious about US policy should HAMAS gain a critical mass in the new Parliament. The EU needs to work out its policies, too and he thought this would be another important conversation at the GAERC. ¶4. (C) Belarus: Grk predicted it would be hard to get a meeting with Lukasenko since the Fried/Cooper message is "not a message they want to receive." On potential sanctions, Grk expressed the view that they might not be very effective since the Belarussian government would not care as long as it had Russia covering its back. He agreed some extra measures should be taken, however. There are some strong business ties between Slovenia and Belarus, but Grk said he had not heard about any companies weighing in yet on commercial interests that could be at stake should comprehensive sanctions be put into place. ¶5. (SBU) Montenegro: Grk said the word of the day on Montenegro was "incentives" both for Belgrade and Podgorica. The GOS is satisfied with EU special rep Lacjak because of his experience in the region and language skills. They think he is doing a credible job of trying to ensure the legitimacy of the Montenegrin referendum. ¶6. (SBU) Kosovo: Slovenia supports Ahtisaari's bottom up approach on Kosovo, agreeing that with the loss of Rugova, it will be important to keep both sides focused on practicalities of the negotiations. Grk said the EU would also be looking at what went right and what went wrong with Bosnia to help guide its engagement in Kosovo in going forward. He talked of ensuring Kosovar ownership of programs and building local capacity from the outset. ROBERTSON NNNN