SHIELD S59-05: SLOVENIA DEMARCHED ON IRANIAN

S E C R E T LJUBLJANA 000057 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC SI SUBJECT: SHIELD S59-05: SLOVENIA DEMARCHED ON IRANIAN PROCUREMENT ENTITY SAMAMICRO (S) REF: SECSTATE 10911 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas B. Robertson for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (S) On January 26, PolMiloff delivered reftel demarche to MFA Security Policy staffer Bostjan Jerman. Jerman noted that Slovenia had not had any dual-use transactions with the UAE in recent years but promised to update his database with the information provided. ¶2. (S) Jerman also raised a separate issue related to the Australia Group (AG),noting that it appeared Russia was launching a coordinated campaign with EU member states to lobby for AG membership. Jerman said he had been contacted January 26 by the Russian DCM about this issue. Jerman said that the EU's logic on such issues generally favored the inclusion of states currently outside of nonproliferation regimes since leverage was greater once a country was inside a regime. Jerman asked for the USG views on Russian membership in the AG. ¶3. (S) Post requests Department guidance on discussing USG views on Russian membership in the AG with Slovenia. ROBERTSON NNNN