SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT WORKING TO RESOLVE DIFFICULT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LJUBLJANA 000763

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT WORKING TO RESOLVE DIFFICULT
ROMA ISSUE

REF: A. LJUBLJANA 747


B. LJUBLJANA 719

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


1. (C) SUMMARY. The Government of Slovenia continues to
struggle to resolve the issue of relocating 30 members of a
Roma family displaced from their home in late October by
protests from neighboring villagers (reftel a). Government
missteps in the search for a resolution have caused several
prominent leaders to pay a public price over the past few
weeks -- Minister of Education Milan Zver resigned his
position as Chair of the Government's Commission on Roma, new
Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic backed away from an
initiative to house the Roma family in the capital, and the
Ljubljana Chief of Police lost his job. While the government
takes hits from nearly all sides on the issue, some observers
including a key Roma leader, Jozek Horvat Muc, maintain that
this case is a poor one to use as an example of the
government's treatment of the Roma community, highlighting
that there are over 100 criminal complaints pending against
members of the Strojan family and calling this a problem with
one family, not the entire Roma community. Regardless,
international pressure is mounting and criticism of the
Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner (reftel b)
continues to echo as the problem heads into its fifth week.
Government officials are clearly struggling to find a
solution, even with what Prime Minister Janez Jansa calls a
"massive effort" to find a suitable location for the
permanent resettlement of the Strojan family. END SUMMARY.

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MISSED DEADLINES, HIGH LEVEL RESIGNATIONS PLAGUE ROMA
SITUATION
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2. (C) As many expected, the GoS missed its self-imposed
deadline for a solution to relocate the 30 members of the
Roma family Strojan no later than Sunday, November 19th. The
deadline came and went with some fanfare however, as the
failure to secure a permanent solution led main government
spokesman on the issue Milan Zver, the Minister of Education
and the Chair of the Slovenian Government Commission for the
Protection of the Roma Ethnic Community, to offer his
resignation from the Commission. Leaders from the Slovenian
Roma Association and the Roma Councilor's Forum reiterated
their support for Zver and said that there was no need to
remove him as head of the commission. Prime Minister Jansa
has not accepted the resignation and Zver continues to lead
the process looking for a solution. Speaking during a
roundtable on Roma issues on November 22nd, Zver talked about
the difficulties in demanding integration from different
communities while also trying to protect their autonomy and
culture, and echoed previous statements from Prime Minister
Jansa that the intense media coverage has fueled the fire of
the dispute and portrayed Slovenia in an inaccurate light.

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PARTIES LOOK TO LJUBLJANA FOR POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
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3. (C) As continuing community protests made the likelihood
of a return to the municipality of Ivancna Gorica
increasingly less likely, Minister Zver and the government
negotiators on the issue reached out to other municipalities
looking for assistance. Initially it seemed that relocation
to Ljubljana might work, and during COM's first courtesy call
on the new Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Jankovic, on November
22nd, Jankovic said that he had just spent an hour talking
about the Roma's situation with Minister Zver, and that he
thought Ljubljana would be able to help. He told COM that
the Strojan family looked at four locations within the city
and chose the location that was "slightly isolated."
Jankovic said that the City was planning a meeting with
community representatives on Tuesday, November 28th, to get
their approval of the plan, and after that, to formally offer
the land to the Strojan family. Mirko Strojan, a
representative of the family, told the press they were
enthusiastic about the Mayor,s offer of assistance.


4. (C) In public statements the Mayor said that the Strojan
family should have an opportunity to live in Ljubljana, but
only if a location is found that is acceptable to both the
family and the local residents. This proved to be a problem,
and Jankovic gave up his efforts on Friday, November 24th
after roughly 200 citizens of Ljubljana's Sostro neighborhood
mounted protests on Thursday and Friday against the
possibility of the Roma family moving into their
neighborhood. Jankovic expressed frustration and
disappointment to the media that the process had gotten ahead

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of itself when someone leaked information to locals before
the proposal had been brought to the neighborhood council.
He also criticized the national government for not attending
the emergency Friday neighborhood meeting to help convince
locals to accept the Strojan family. Media reported that
Jankovic's efforts to win over the crowd failed and that
there was "loud cheering" when he announced at the end of the
meeting that he would not force the relocation to Sostro
against the will of local residents. The Roma issue appears
to have been too divisive for the new Mayor to resolve in his
first full week in office.

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ROMA ISSUES TAKE CENTER STAGE IN PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT
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5. (C) Concurrent to the search for a new home for the
Strojans was increasing engagement from Slovenian government
officials on Roma issues. On the day of the missed deadline,
President Janez Drnovsek spoke out publicly on the issue
saying that any solution "must guarantee equality, justice,
dignity, and safety" for both the Roma and their neighbors
and calling on the police to protect all people and their
property. The Monday, November 20th Parliamentary debate
session was highlighted by tough commentary against Prime
Minister Jansa and the government. Slovenian National Party
(SNS) Head Zmago Jelincic highlighted a widely held
perception that Roma are held to a different standard than
the average Slovene, saying that the police do not enforce
the law and that police have allowed Roma community to "do
what it wants." Liberal Democracy Party (LDS) representative
Majda Sirca continued that party's critical rhetoric against
the current government saying that at least nine
constitutional rights had been broken thus far in the
government's handling of the Roma issue. Later that week, on
November 23rd, the government unanimously adopted the long
awaited Bill on the Roma and forwarded it to the full
Slovenian Parliament for discussion (reftel a, b),coming a
step closer to fulfilling an obligation set out in Slovenia's
constitution and pushing forward efforts to assist in the
integration of the Roma into Slovenian society. Among other
things, the bill outlines plans to create a Council of Roma
to liaise with the GoS on Roma issues, requires local
municipalities to address zoning issues related to Roma
settlements, and creates a fund to promote the integration of
Roma communities. The week concluded on Friday, November
24th, with a meeting between Prime Minister Janez Jansa and
Slovenian Roma Association Head Jozek Horvat Muc to discuss
the issue of the Roma in Ambrus as well as the government,s
recent passage of Roma legislation. According to Horvat Muc,
Jansa focused on specifically the need to legalize Roma
settlements (noting that 70 of the approximately 100 Roma
settlements in Slovenia are illegal),and praised the
Slovenian Roma Association for its good work in cooperating
with the government to advance Roma issues.

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ROMA ASSOCIATION HEAD OPTIMISTIC IN MEETING WITH EMBASSY
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6. (C) Prior to his meeting with PM Jansa, Horvat Muc met
with PolOff and PAO to discuss the situation and also reflect
on his recent trip to the U.S. with the Department of State's
International Visitor Leadership Program. Horvat Muc
expressed satisfaction with the work of Minister Zver and
Stanko Baluh, the head of the GoS Office for Nationalities,
saying that they were doing "more than expected" to solve the
problem of the Roma in Ambrus, though he criticized Minister
of Environment Janez Podobnik (a member of the Slovenian
People's Party or SLS) for his lack of involvement.


7. (C) In regards to the government,s law on Roma, Horvat
Muc said that it was generally very good, defining the
responsible bodies for the implementation of the measures
adopted by the GoS in 1995, including the problems of
education, housing, and employment opportunities. Horvat
said that this may finally jumpstart movement on the plan to
help the integration of Roma, by explicitly identifying when
the state and local officials are obliged to act and
authorizing the state to interfere with local authorities to
legalize Roma settlements if necessary. He cited Krsko as a
city that has effectively dealt with the Roma issue by
legalizing the settlement with the help of the state.

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A ROMA PROBLEM OR A STROJAN FAMILY PROBLEM?
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8. (C) Horvat Muc also brought up a difficult topic that has
largely gone unspoken in the international media, the

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criminal reputation of the Strojan family. While the
government takes hits from nearly all sides for its poor
treatment of the Strojan family (and in turn the Roma
community in general),many observers maintain that the real
problem is with the members of the Strojan family, not
animosity towards all Roma. Prime Minister Jansa briefly
mentioned this during the Parliamentary debate on November
20th highlighting that there are currently over 100 criminal
complaints pending against members of the Strojan family.
Horvat Muc seemed to confirm this overall feeling, saying
that he understood why some people would not be interested in
having the Strojans as neighbors and agreeing that their
behavior has, in general, not been ideal. The common "under
the breath" refrain to the Roma issue in Ljubljana is a
tongue in cheek comment that none of the critics would want
the Strojans in their neighborhood either. The problem is
significant given that the residents of Ambrus say that the
Strojan family's record of behavior, not the fact that they
are Roma, compounded by the local police's inability to hold
the family accountable for their actions, is what led them to
demand that that the Strojans leave their home. Many
observers in Slovenia seem to agree that the negative
reputation of the Strojans further compounds the problem, and
potentially makes this case a poor one to use as an example
of the government's treatment of the Roma community overall.

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STROJANS, ATTEMPTS TO GO HOME ARE MET WITH ANGRY RESISTANCE
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9. (C) The Strojan family, who had agreed to stay at the
temporary location in Postojna "a few days" beyond the
deadline, independently attempted to return to their home in
Ambrus on Saturday, November 26th roughly one month after
they had relocated to Postojna and one week after the
government,s deadline to find them a new home. The actions
brought on renewed protests and construction of roadblocks
from hundreds of locals in Ambrus, which in turn led to the
deployment of roughly 100 police in riot gear. The Strojan
family was held by police in a nearby town to avoid a direct
face off with the crowd of protesters. Media coverage of the
incident included pictures of protesters facing off with riot
police and at least one protester who had been bloodied
during the fracas. Some onlookers criticized the police's
handling of the situation.


10. (C) Prime Minister Jansa and the Ministers of Education,
Interior, and Environment as well as the Chief of Police,
held an emergency meeting with the local leaders from Ambrus
and Ivancna Gorica Saturday, and then met that evening with
the Strojans at a highway rest area nearby the town of Visnja
Gora. The Strojans decided to return to Postojna after the
high level meeting convinced them a return to their home in
Ambrus would not be safe. Frustration is growing on all
sides of the conflict, with Mirko Strojan using the media to
inform locals that he and his family were leaving Postojna to
return to Ambrus, Ambrus community leader Alojz Sinkovec
telling the media that locals would keep vigil on the site in
case the Strojans attempted to return later that night (after
they had returned to Postojna),and government ministers
calling the Strojans' decision to return to Ambrus
"irrational" and a move that "defied reason."

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THE BUCK STOPS WHERE? THE ROMA PROBLEM BLAME GAME BEGINS
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11. (C) On Monday, November 27th, the Chief of the Slovenian
Police Force (a part of the Ministry of Interior) dismissed
Ljubljana Police Chief Branko Slak over the police's
"shortcomings" and poor handling of "information on operative
measures of past events." Media speculation immediately said
the firing was to scapegoat someone in the Ministry of
Interior hierarchy in order to "save" Minister of Interior
Dragutin Mate, saying that Slak had brought Mate to Ambrus to
negotiate the dispute between the Strojan family and locals
in late October and started the entire Roma mess. They
opined that at that meeting, Mate was convinced under
pressure from locals to get the Strojan family removed from
the village and to promise locals that the Strojans would not
return. Media also criticized the police for being unable to
handle the Ambrus protests safely and professionally. On
Tuesday, November 28th, a group of Slovenian intellectuals
urged Prime Minister Jansa to dismiss Mate over his handling
of the issue saying that he assisted in a "violent
deportation" and violated the constitution.

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THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR THE STROJANS
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12. (C) With the Ljubljana plan off track and local
municipalities in the southeastern region of Dolenjska
opposing the return of the Strojan family, the government
appears to be at a standstill in finding a solution.
Appearing on television on Sunday, November 26th, Minister
Zver maintained that there is enough tolerance and good will
in Slovenia to find a solution, but said that a real solution
will take more time. However, some Roma community leaders
wonder if any municipality in Slovenia will willingly accept
the Strojans given their criminal reputation.


13. (C) The government avoided another potentially disastrous
face off when Roma leaders decided to cancel a Ljubljana
protest calling for participation from 2,000 Roma (the event
was originally planned for November 21, then changed to
November 27 before ultimately being canceled). President of
the Slovenian Roma Association Horvat told PolOff that he did
not support the idea of a protest, that such events "only
harm the Strojan family," and that he was working to convince
local Roma leaders in Dolenjska to permanently drop the idea.



14. (U) Media report that the government will look for an
interim solution in a government-owned home for the winter,
and then build a home on a permanent location in the spring.
According to Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the GoS will
continue what he calls a "massive effort" to find a suitable
location for the permanent resettlement of the Strojan family.


15. (C) COMMENT. As tensions continue to boil and
international authorities continue to criticize the situation
(a second New York Times article appeared on November 26th
and supermodel Naomi Campbell condemned the treatment of Roma
during a visit to Ljubljana the same week),pressure will
only continue to build. The fact that hyper-popular new
Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic was unable to broker a
solution speaks volumes about the difficulty of the
situation. Post expects that the government may retreat from
the controversy by temporarily housing the family for the
winter and putting off a permanent solution until 2007. End
Comment.
ROBERTSON