C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LJUBLJANA 000747

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SI
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT PLAN FOR DISPLACED ROMA MET WITH FIERCE
RESISTANCE

REF: LJUBLJANA 719

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


1. (U) SUMMARY. Tensions continue to rise in Slovenia as the
GoS's proposal to relocate the displaced Roma family of
Ambrus (reftel) was met with immediate opposition from the
local community. Residents frame the dispute as a problem
with law and order, not discrimination. But images of angry
local protesters are being interpreted as manifestations
against Roma, proving difficult for the leadership in
Ljubljana to explain to the rest of Slovenia and the rest of
Europe. As media, civil rights groups, and opposition
leaders blasted the government for its handling of the
family's relocation, the Council of Europe's Human Rights
Commissioner arrived to investigate, and government leaders
backpedaled in hopes of finding a solution that is amenable
to all parties. Brokering an agreement will be
extraordinarily difficult, but the more significant issue is
whether the government will push forward with legislation and
programs to address the long-term challenge of Roma
integration in Slovenia. END SUMMARY.

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GOVERNMENT PROPOSES NEW HOMESITE FOR DISPLACED ROMA
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2. (U) On Monday, November 13, the Government of Slovenia
announced a proposal, a week before its self-imposed deadline
of November 19th, to relocate the displaced Roma family to a
small village located nearby their former home of Ambrus.
The proposal calls for the 30 members of the Strojan family
to move to a settlement near the village of Malo Hudo, just
two kilometers from their original home in Ambrus, both of
which are within the municipality of Ivancna Gorica.


3. (U) The site is owned by the government and would be
transferred to the family in exchange for their current land
in Ambrus. The government also promised to bring in
temporary, prefabricated "trailer" housing, to expedite the
process for obtaining building permits, and to erect three
permanent homes on the site. According to media and
government reports, representatives of the Roma f

rom Ambrus
chose the site on Monday after viewing several different
options. GoS officials stated that the temporary housing and
a formal written agreement with the family could be completed
as early as the end of this week, allowing the family to move
in almost immediately.


4. (U) On Monday a local attorney for the Roma family,
Tatjana Markelj, announced that the Strojans would be filing
a lawsuit against the community of Ambrus for the forced
relocation.

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PROPOSAL MET WITH FIERCE LOCAL OPPOSITION
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5. (C) The relocation plan was met with immediate, fierce
opposition from the local community. Approximately 300
residents from the village of Malo Hudo gathered on the
evening of November 13th for a protest meeting to discuss the
government's announcement. Mayor of Ivancna Gorica, Jernej
Lampret, and other local officials attended the meeting.
Residents expressed serious frustration with the local and
national government for failing to consult them on the
decision. They began collecting signatures of those who were
against the relocation of the Strojan family to Malo Hudo and
demanded that the proposal for the relocation be changed.
According to an Embassy local staff member (PROTECT) who was
on hand for the meeting, the residents were furious with the
Mayor and other local officials, who contradicted statements
made by Director of the Government Office for National
Minorities Stanko Baluh that a "local official was on hand"
when representatives from the national government and the
Roma family looked at potential sites Monday morning.
Attendees also spoke at length about their previous
difficulties with members of the Strojan family.


6. (U) On Tuesday, November 14, the city council of Ivancna
Gorica voted unanimously against allowing the Roma family to
return to their municipality. Mayor Lampret said that the
possibility of finding an acceptable location for this Roma
family in the municipality was "no longer possible" and any
attempt to find a new location there would only create new
conflicts. According to media reports, several hundred local
residents who were gathered to demonstrate against the return
of the Strojans cheered on the decision, while other Malo
Hudo residents prepared to block the route to the proposed
site with trucks, tractors and fallen trees.

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7. (C) COMMENT. A well-liked and trusted locally employed
staff member of the U.S. Embassy (STRICTLY PROTECT) is a
resident of Malo Hudo and lives nearby the proposed location
for the resettlement of the Strojan family. He attended the
town meeting on November 13 and is closely following the
issue. He maintains, and other sources have commented, that
the primary problem for local residents is not the presence
of a Roma family, but specifically the Strojan family, who
have a reputation for harboring non-Roma criminals, blatantly
ignoring local law, and terrorizing the local population.
The local staffer admits that some protesters may be
motivated by a dislike of Roma in general, but that the vast
majority of the local residents are simply fed up with the
escalation of problems and crimes committed by the Strojans
and their friends and by the complete inability of local
police or authorities to handle the problem. He says that
the years of problems with this family were topped off by the
violent incident in Ambrus that left a local citizen in a
coma. The staffer reports that this incident, in combination
with a lack of trust in local authorities to enforce the law,
is what motivated local residents to take action. END
COMMENT.

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ROMA COMMUNITY WEIGHS IN ON THE SITUATION
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8. (U) The Forum of Roma Councilors, a group made up of
approximately twenty Roma elected to local municipal councils
throughout Slovenia, visited Ambrus Friday, November 10 to
talk with local authorities and work to resolve the problem.
Their visit did not bring about any workable solutions.


9. (U) The President of the Slovenian Roma Association, Jozek
Horvat, who is in the U.S. with the Department of State's
International Visitor Leadership Program, spoke to reporters
in New York regarding the latest incident. He said that the
action against the Roma family in Ambrus constituted
discrimination, but he welcomed the government's assistance
in moving the family to Postojna because he believed the
family would have been harmed if not for their relocation.
Horvat, who has been working with the government on Roma
legislation, urged the government to move forward quickly in
addressing Roma issues, saying, "there is no more time for
thinking...the time has come to act." After meeting with
Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg, Slovenian Roma
Association Secretary General Janja Roser expressed concern
that without government action, "relocations of the Roma will
become commonplace" and that the gatherings of local
residents in Ambrus and Malo Hudo were illegal because they
promote violence.


10. (U) Family representative Mirko Strojan has fanned the
fires of the problem over the course of the week, with
numerous comments to the press (some calling for violent
actions) and calling on Thursday, November 16 for a march of
600 Roma (from Slovenia and Croatia) from the Slovenian town
of Grosuplje to the village of Ambrus. However, shortly
after announcing it, Strojan said the march would be
postponed.


11. (U) BACKGROUND NOTE. Horvat, and many of the members of
the Forum of Roma Councilors, are part of the well organized
Roma community in the northeastern Slovenian region of
Prekmurje that has long had positive relations with the local
community. These communities have a delicate relationship
with the Roma groups in Dolenjska, which have been more
transient, had more difficulty integrating into their
respective communities, and been the focus of many of the
most difficult Roma problems over the past few years. END
BACKGROUND NOTE.

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CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES
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12. (U) On the evening of Tuesday, November 14, people from
Slovenian civil rights groups assembled in Ljubljana and
marched to the Parliament Building to call for the
integration of Slovenia's Roma, highlight the problem of
discrimination in Slovenia, criticize the government's
handling of the Ambrus situation, and call for the dismissal
of Minister of Interior Dragutin Mate. Comments were
highlighted by extreme criticism of the government, including
signs that read "We Are All Gypsies Under (Prime Minister
Janez) Jansa" and referenced the Ku Klux Klan. While media
reports estimated the crowd at approximately 500, PolOff
observed a smaller crowd of approximately 250. The protest,
which was not legally registered, attracted roughly 75

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onlookers and a significant presence of riot police and media.


13. (U) Government opposition leaders also continued their
criticism of the government's handling of Roma issues, with
Liberal Democracy (LDS) leader Jelko Kacin saying on
Wednesday, November 15, that the government's actions were
"encouraging intolerance towards those who are different and
minorities." He also criticized Jansa for visiting Iraq on
Wednesday instead of receiving visiting Human Rights
Commissioner of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammarberg.

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GOVERNMENT BACKPEDALS ON PLAN & WORKS TO COUNTER CRITICISM
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14. (C) Government officials responded to the escalating
local and national criticism on Tuesday afternoon, appearing
to backpedal in regards to the proposed new settlement in
Malo Hudo by saying that a "final decision had not yet been
made" and that they would seek a "new approach...(with)
consensus from the local population." Minister of Education
and Chair of the Slovenian Government Commission for the
Protection of the Roma Ethnic Community, Milan Zver, has been
a lead spokesman on the issue, pushing moderation and
dialogue. He has called for the Strojan family to return to
Ivancna Gorica saying that it would not be fair to "export"
the problem to another community. Zver highlighted the
difficulty of finding a solution for the Strojans saying that
the family does not want to join other Roma and that "nobody
wants them, neither the Roma nor others." Zver said that the
situation of Roma in Slovenia is "not ideal, but much better
than in many parts of Europe." His colleague, Interior
Minister Dragutin Mate, has taken the majority of the heat
from civil rights groups and the Ombudsman for the situation
surrounding the Strojan family's move to Postojna. Mate
responded to criticism by denying that the state forced the
Strojans to move and saying that they willingly chose to move
themselves.


15. (U) Prime Minister Janez Jansa, returning from a
week-long trip to the Middle East, spoke out on the topic on
Thursday, calling for calm in order to give the government
time to find a location that will be suitable for all
parties. He added that the intense media coverage has pushed
resolution farther away. Jansa mentioned that the government
might consider several locations near Ljubljana including the
area of Trzin. Jansa also said that what was certain was
that the family could not return to Ambrus given that it is
not a legal settlement and could not be found to be a legal
settlement in the future. In response to opposition attacks,
Jansa pointed out that these problems were not new and that
his government "inherited" many of them from the previous
government, which did not manage to pass Roma legislation
during its twelve years in power.

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WHILE THE EU COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATES
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16. (U) On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 14 and 15, Human
Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Thomas
Hammarberg visited Slovenia to discuss the Roma issue with
GoS officials, civil rights organization leaders, the
Slovenian Roma Association, and the Roma family in question.
Hammarberg met with GoS Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek, Minister of
Interior Dragutin Mate, Minister of Environment Janez
Podobnik, and Minister of Education and Chair of the
Slovenian Government Commission for the Protection of the
Roma Ethnic Community Milan Zver and visited with the Roma
family in their temporary residence in Postojna. On
Thursday, November 16, Hammarberg held a press conference
calling the relocation of the family "unacceptable" but
saying that the government was handling the issue with
"serious and sincere efforts." He lauded efforts to bring
the family and local citizens together to find a compromise
solution but said that ultimately the family should have a
right to move back to their home in Ambrus. Hammarberg was
hopeful regarding overall Roma issues in Slovenia, pointing
to inclusion of Roma on local city councils and efforts to
finally move forward formal legislation outlining protection
for the Roma community.

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WHAT,S NEXT FOR THE STROJAN FAMILY
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17. (U) With the government's original deadline of November
19th looming there will be significant pressure to move the
Strojan family out of their temporary housing and into a
permanent settlement. Family representative Mirko Strojan

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has told the media that they will stay in Postojna at least
until the 19th and perhaps a day or two longer, but not
beyond that. All signs point to the government, through
Minister Mate, Minister Zver, and the Office for National
Minorities Director Baluh, working with local authorities and
community members to find a more feasible permanent solution
than what was presented on November 13th. In the meantime,
national and local authorities will have to overcome extreme
frustration and distrust from both the local citizens of
Ivancna Gorica and the Roma family Strojan, while being
subject to vigilant scrutiny from the media, civil rights
groups, opposition politicians, and the European authorities.


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ROMA PROTECTION LEGISLATION JUMPSTARTED
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18. (U) After languishing for years, the government has
announced that legislation to protect the rights of Roma is
currently going through administrative corrections, with the
intent that it will be ready for government adoption by the
end of November. While the legislation will focus on all
Roma in Slovenia, it is likely that it will bolster the
generally positive relations between Roma and local
communities in Prekmurje. The hope is that it will also help
improve the tenuous situation of Roma groups in Dolenjska.


19. (C) COMMENT. In a matter of weeks the case of the
Strojan family has ballooned from a small town issue to one
of national and even international significance. While local
residents of Ivancna Gorica decry media coverage as
uninformed and unbalanced, repeated images of angry local
protesters are being interpreted as manifestations against
Roma, proving difficult for the leadership in Ljubljana to
explain otherwise to the rest of Slovenia and the rest of
Europe. Brokering an agreement that is acceptable to all
parties will be extraordinarily difficult for the Jansa
government, and post believes it will continue to take
serious hits (some more justified than others) for its
handling of the Roma in Dolenjska. Heated, highly publicized
criticism from opposition leaders comes across as a political
pot shot given the current opposition's lack of progress on
the Roma issue during their hold on power. It is
unsurprising that Jansa feels frustrated with their sudden
interest in making the integration of Roma a partisan
political issue. While past governments were able to push
Roma issues off to the side, the silver lining of the
incident is that it seems to have convinced the current
government and Slovenian Parliament to push forward with
legislation protecting the Roma and with workable solutions
to integrate all Roma communities into mainstream Slovenian
life. Whether progress can be made depends on the efforts
and willingness of all sides. END COMMENT.
ROBERTSON