SLOVENIA: LOOKAHEAD TO THE IAEA BOARD OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000576

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016
TAGS: KNNP PARM PINR PREL ENRG SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: LOOKAHEAD TO THE IAEA BOARD OF
GOVERNOR'S CHAIRMANSHIP

REF: LJUBLJANA 563

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


1. (C) Summary: PolMilOff met with MFA Department of Security
Policy Officer Bostjan Jerman to discuss the recent visit of
International Atomic Energy Agency Secretary General Mohamad
El Baradei to Slovenia and Slovenia's upcoming Chairmanship
of the IAEA Board of Governors. Jerman said that discussions
during El Baradei's visit focused on the current situations
in Iran and North Korea, as well as preparations for
Slovenia's IAEA Chairmanship. El Baradei appealed to the GOS
for a slow, diplomatic approach with Iran. Jerman also
expressed concern that Slovenia could get bogged down dealing
with IAEA administrative issues rather than providing
leadership on policy discussions. End Summary.

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El Baradei on Iran
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2. (C) IAEA Secretary General Mohamad El Baradei visited
Slovenia August 27-28 to discuss Slovenia's upcoming
chairmaship of the IAEA board of governors (BOG). Bostjan
Jerman, MFA Security Policy Officer, reported that El Baradei
made a strong argument for a slow, diplomatic approach with
Iran, saying that this would give moderates the space to
negotiate, while a fast track to sanctions would play into
the hands of Iranian conservatives and ensure that a
negotiated settlement is not reached. Jerman said that El
Baradei felt that Iran was still "five years away" from
development of nuclear weapons and that while the labs are
running in Iran, "they aren't enriching anything at the
moment." El Baradei said that he was concerned that Iran
will "become another North Korea" if diplomatic negotiations
do not work. Prime Minister Janez Jansa's public statements
reflected a similar viewpoint after their meeting, when he
said that the response from Iran was "by no means a step
back" and left the door open for continued negotiations. As
stated in reftel, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
supported a more cautious approach during the EU Foreign
Minister's meeting September 1 and 2 in Finland.

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Slovenia's Chairmanship of the BOG
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3. (C) According to Jerman, the more dominant topics of
discussion during El Baradei's visit were administrative
issues associated with Slovenia's IAEA BOG Chairmanship,
including discussion of the organization's budget and
technical assistance that Slovenia is giving IAEA. Jerman
commented that there were several major administrative items
that would be coming before the IAEA BOG over the next year,
including a budget discussion, and suggested that these items
might turn out to be the focus of Slovenia's Chairmanship, to
the detriment of high profile issues with Iran or North Korea
which "are ongoing, and will likely not be resolved within
the next year."


4. (C) PM Jansa commented after El Baradei's visit that
Slovenia does not have problematic relations with any of the
stakeholders in the major open issues that the IAEA will face
during Slovenia's Chairmanship. Slovenian Ambassador to
Vienna, Ernest Petric made similar public comments, saying
that the primary obligation during the Chairmanship is to
"run the Board of Governors correctly and objectively,"
eschewing Slovenia's national interest in favor of assuring
that member countries "arrive at common viewpoints."
Ultimately, Jerman commented, Slovenia would strive to be a
neutral broker during its time as IAEA Chairman.


5. (C) COMMENT: We believe Slovenia will take a cautious
approach to its IAEA BOG Chairmanship, presenting itself as a
neutral steward that will not shirk the administrative issues
during its time of leadership. While the intentions of the
GoS seem positive, we are concerned that some of the
frustrations we had with the GOS while it was Chairman in
Office of the OSCE in 2005 could be repeated. While CiO of
the OSCE, Slovenia tended to wait for consensus to develop
(or not) on issues rather than roll up its sleeves to help
create the circumstances that would bring about a consensus.
Post believes it would be helpful in the long run to engage
with Slovenia early and often as it takes on its new
responsibilities. We will need to push the GoS to take a
stronger, more activist approach while it holds the
Chairmanship of the IAEA in order to ensure that the
organization has a strong, unified voice in the current
debate around Iran and North Korea. END COMMENT.

LJUBLJANA 00000576 002 OF 002




6. (U) BACKGROUND: Slovenia will take the Chairmanship of
the IAEA Board of Governors in late September. Ernest
Petric, Slovenia's Ambassador to Vienna and its permanent
representative to international organizations in Vienna, will
preside over the Board. Slovenia has been a member of IAEA
since 1992 and has already served as Board Chairman once, in
the 1998-1999 term. The IAEA will celebrate its 50th year of
existence during the 2006-2007 term.


7. (U) Bio Note: Ambassador Ernest Petric has a long and
distinguished academic and diplomatic career. He was born in
1936, is married and has three children. He received his
Ph.D in law from the University of Ljubljana in 1965 and
supplemented his studies attending programs in Sweden, The
Netherlands, Greece, UK and Germany. From 1983-86 he was a
professor of international relations and international law at
the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was Yugoslavia's
ambassador to India and Nepal 1989-1991 and Slovenia's first
Ambassador to the U.S. and Mexico from 1991-97. From
1997-2000 he was Deputy Foreign Minister and from 2000-2002
he was Slovenia's Permanent Representative at the United
Nations in New York. He has been Slovenia's Ambassador to
Austria and International Organizations in Vienna since 2002
and in 2002-2003 he was dual hatted as Perm Rep at the OSCE.


8. (C) Bio Note/Comment: Petric's long association with the
United States, first as Ambassador in Washington and later at
the UN in New York, give him an almost unique experience
among Slovene diplomats. Our experience indicates that he is
positively inclined towards close consultations with the USG.
While Ljubljana may prefer to stake out a very neutral
position in Vienna, close and frequent engagement of Petric
in Vienna should ensure our positions are given close and
careful consideration.
ROBERTSON