SLOVENIA FIRM ON CHINA ARMS EMBARGO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000778 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA (LABARGE),PM/DDTC (WESTLING), EAP/CM (ZARING) E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV PHUM SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA FIRM ON CHINA ARMS EMBARGO REF: SECSTATE 194456 Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Slovenia firmly supports continuing the EU China Arms Embargo and does not believe the human rights situation has improved appreciably in China to warrant a review of the policy. Polecon chief discussed reftel points with MFA EU Correspondent Aljaz Arih December 5. Arih said he expected the issue to be discussed at the upcoming GAERC, and while the GOS fully supports a common position on the Code of Conduct, Slovenia does not see agreement on it to be explicitly tied to the lifting of or even a review of the China Arms Embargo. Arih added that the time is not right, most EU countries are of the same mind as Slovenia on this, and that the fact that it has not been up for discussion in lower level EU working committees only underscores the intensely political nature of the issue. When asked, Arih said he thought consensus on the Code of Conduct could be jeopardized by refusal to lift the embargo, but he did not think this would sway Slovenia's or any other EU member's position on the embargo. ROBERTSON