Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LJUBLJANA600
2006-09-15 12:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ljubljana
Cable title:  

SLOVENIA VIEWS ON BELGRADE'S COOPERATION ON ICTY

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR ICTY SI 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHLJ #0600/01 2581223
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151223Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5166
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 0142
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000600 

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DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/SCE, S/WCI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ICTY SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA VIEWS ON BELGRADE'S COOPERATION ON ICTY
AND KOSOVO STATUS TALKS

REF: A. SECSTATE 146343

B. LJUBLJANA 565

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000600

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/SCE, S/WCI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ICTY SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA VIEWS ON BELGRADE'S COOPERATION ON ICTY
AND KOSOVO STATUS TALKS

REF: A. SECSTATE 146343

B. LJUBLJANA 565

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


1. (C) Summary. PolEcon Chief met 13 September with Leon
Marc, Head of the Division for South-Eastern Europe at the
MFA to discus Ref. A points. Slovenia's primary interest is
in maintaining regional stability, and a close secondary
interest is existing and potential economic investments.
Marc said Slovenia was worried about Serbia's apparent sense
of isolation from the West and its concern for Serbs living
in Kosovo. Addressing these concerns will help make progress
on Kosovo status talks. Slovenia has active bilateral
relations with both Kosovo and Serbia and Foreign Minister
Rupel was in Belgrade in July delivering many of the same
points listed in reftel. The GOS is of the same mind as the
USG on the importance of Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY.
End Summary.


2. (C) Marc (pronounced Marts) traveled to Belgrade with FM
Rupel in July and had recently returned from the Contact
Group meeting in Sofia (thus the delay in delivering reftel
points). He said that Slovenia was unwavering in its belief
that Serbia must actively cooperate with the ICTY on turning
over war criminals and that restarting discussions with the
EU would depend on that.


3. (C) Marc thought the Government of Serbia could meet many
of the requests laid out in Ref A. On turning over Mladic
and other PIFWICs, Marc referred to a paper drafted by EU
heads of mission in Belgrade which assessed that Serbian
secret services would only begin to truly cooperate on

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turning over war criminals when the Government of Serbia went
public on its goal of turning Mladic over to ICTY. He said
that if the Government of Serbia was open about this goal and
could guarantee there would be no retribution under future
governments for police cooperation, the secret services would
likely cooperate more effectively. According to Marc, this
same report commented on the strong sense of isolation

pervading Serbian government and society and the view that
Kostunica has not been able to do much to bring Serbs out of
this funk because he has been so focused on remaining in his
job - a time consuming endeavor. Marc thought it was an
excellent idea to get Kostunica to involve the Orthodox
church in publicly supporting the arrest of Mladic.


4. (C) Focusing on Kosovo status talks, Marc drew some
parallels to Northern Ireland. He thought there might be
some useful models to draw on in terms of the
institutionalized, vertical ties between the Catholics of
northern and southern Ireland that could be applied to the
undeniable ties between Kosovar Serbs and Belgrade. This
would, of course, be complimentary to the horizontal
integration of Serbs in Kosovo. Marc also commented that on
the status talks, Kosovars are very pragmatic and they know
that EU membership is in the distant future, and therefore,
they are less sensitive to EuropeanQressures than to
pressure from the United States to act maturely and
responsibly in negotiations with Serbia.


5. (C) Comment. We can safely count on the GOS to support
our positions on both Serbia and Kosovo, and on balance, to
do and say the right things both privately and publicly.
Foreign Minister Rupel, however, is known to nuance his
comments to appeal to the local audience, which can seem
unhelpful. Marc commented that on their July visit to
Belgrade, President Tadic told Rupel that he was "frustrated
by certain Slovenian officials using the word independence in
various contexts." According to Marc, Tadic said that Serbia
knows what will happen but is watching what others are
saying, and in 2007 Serbia will be "another country" with
investment potential. This seemed to be a not-so-oblique
warning that they are taking note of who they think are their
friends and will act accordingly in the future. Marc said
this does give the GOS some pause as Serbia is an important
economic partner for Slovenia.


6. (C) Comment Continued. In the last two years, the
Slovenian MFA has had no fewer than four Division Heads for
South Eastern Europe - many of them also alumni of
Yugoslavia's foreign ministry. This rotation is due, most
likely, to the fact that FM Rupel takes a strong interest in
Balkan policy and is not particularly receptive to counsel on
an issue for which he is, for all intents and purposes, the
leading national expert. The MFA's newest head of the
Division for South Eastern Europe, Leon Marc, is recently
returned from four years in Dublin. He is an alumnus of the
International Visitor program and speaks excellent English.

LJUBLJANA 00000600 002 OF 002


While he has no prior MFA experience with the former
Yugoslavia, he demonstrated a good grasp of all the issues.
If Marc can manage his relationship with the Foreign Minister
and carve out a productive role for himself, he should be an
excellent (and lasting) point of contact on Balkan issues.
End Comment.
ROBERTSON