SLOVENIAN DEPUTY FM MOVING THE BILATERAL AGENDA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000096

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, G/TIP, AF/E
NSC FOR D. WILSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIAN DEPUTY FM MOVING THE BILATERAL AGENDA
FORWARD INCLUDING DEMOCRACY PROMOTION

REF: SECSTATE 4746

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


1. (C) Summary. In a recent meeting with COM, Deputy FM
Bozo Cerar expressed a strong interest iour Democracy Agenda
and how Slovenia might adapt this approach to foreign
relations. Cerar's interest led to a deeper discussion of a
number of bilateral and multilateral topics. On UN reform,
Cerar reported that Slovenia was generally in close agreement
with US positions and would be offering its support, though
he had doubts as to how fast the UN would be able to move on
establishing the Human Rights Council. Cerar confirmed the
GOS had reimbursed the trafficking in persons NGO Kljuc for
all its services for 2005. He said the GOS was managing the
needs of trafficking victims with the assistance of the
Catholic charity Caritas until it could finish the tendering
process for a new long-term arrangement. COM and Cerar also
discussed Slovenian President Drnovsek's Darfur initiative.
Cerar said the GOS had earmarked 30.2 million SIT
(approximatlely $150,000) for use by Slovene NGOs working at
Hamdia refugee camp, and he was curious about US views of
Drnovsek's activities. Cerar also elaborated on some of
Slovenia's civil society building projects closer to home in
the Western Balkans, and particularly, Macedonia. Cerar
repeated strong GOS interest in a visit to the White House by
Prime Minister Janez Jansa some time this spring End Summary.

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Transformational Diplomacy
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2. (SBU) COM hosted State Secretary (deputy foreign minister
equivalent) Bozo Cerar for lunch February 9, 2006. The
discussion was wide ranging and covered key points of
bilateral and multilateral interest. Cerar expressed
particularl interest in the Secretary's recent speeches on
transformational diplomacy adn teh US Democracy Agenda.
Cerar is overseeing the management of a foreign ministry in
transition from representing a small, newly independent state
to representing a full member of the European Union, NATO and
with growing interest outside its own borders. Coming off
the demands of OSCE chairmanship and looking forward to the
EU presidency, Cerar said he was interested in hw Slovenia
might further promote the Democracy Agenda, particularly in
the Balkans.. He asked for more information (which Embassy
has provided from the new Democracy Dialogues Homepage) which
might help him in his own speeches and articles on the
subject.
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Development Cooperation with Macedonia
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3. (SBU) Slovenia and Macedonia have signed a development
cooperation agreement, and programs are already underway.
The agreement is primarily focused on training of civil
servants. An ongoing project is through Slovenia's
well-regarded Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) in
Ljubljana which trains civil servants in public finance. The
Ministry of Economy is leading a project on small and medium
enterprise creation for entrepreneurs and government
officials. These two programs and another small one through
the Ministry of Agriculture complement Slovenia's twinning
project with Macedonia between Ministries of Justice. The
justice twinning program is funded primarily through EU
Commission funds, however, Slovenia also contributes to it
bilaterally. Additionally, the GOS has high hopes for its
new Center for European Integration. It is currently putting
together an advisory board and former German Foreign Minister
Genscher has agreed to join. Cerar said they would like to
have a prominent American representative on the board as
well. Once up and running, (the GOS has provided initial
funding) the idea is to provide a central location for
aspiring EU members from the Balkans and further afield to
prepare for the EU accession process.

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TIP - Getting Back on Track
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4. (C) The GOS had a drawn-out public dispute with the NGO
Kljuc which the previous government had contracted to perform

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victim protection services. Cerar told the Ambassador that
ultimately all 27 million SIT had been paid to Kljuc for
services provided in 2005. Somewhat defensively, he said
that public information had been very one sided because of
Kljuc's vocal and aggressive tactics, and he intimated that
the GOS had uncovered some irregularities with how Kljuc was
spending GOS funds. He did not elaborate further.


5. (C) Turning the focus to the future and what measures were
being taken to ensure the safety and security of potential
new victims, the Ambassador asked about current arrangements
for victims assistance. Cerar said that the local NGO
Caritas, on an interim basis, was handling the care of any
new trafficking victims, and that the public tender calling
for these services would be ready for publication by the end
of the week of February 13. Kljuc will be invited to compete
for the contract. Cerar said the GOS was undecided as to
whether the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, or the
Ministry of the Interior should take the lead of the
Governmet's anti-TIP program. For the next six months, at
least, the national coordinator will remain at the Ministry
of the Interior. Wrapping up the discussion of TIP, Cerar
underscored the GOS' seriousness about dealing with TIP. He
mentioned that Slovenia would be putting more resources
towards the effort and would, additionally, draw on EU funds
to combat trafficking in the future.

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Darfur
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6. (C) Cerar asked Ambassador what the USG view was of
President Drnovsek's Darfur initiative Ambassador responded
that while we were pleased that drnovsek's ideas, for th
emost part, tracked our own, our energy and focus was on
working through the Abuja process and the UN framework.
Cerar said that the GOS was supportive of Drnovsek's efforts
and that it would provide about 30.2 million SIT (approx.
$150,000) to Slovene NGOs - UNICEF, Caritas, Together
Foundation, the Red Cross - working in the Hamdia refugee
camp. (Note: lunch took place before Drnovsek upgraded his
plan from 10 to 16 points and extended his invitation for
meetings in Slovenia to the rebel groups as well. End Note.)

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Jansa Visit to Washington
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7. (C) Not unexpectedly, Cerar raised the GOS strong hope
that PM Janez Jansa would be able to meet with President Bush
sometime this spring. COM explained the difficult of
scheduling White House visits given POTUS' Spring/Summer
travel schedule and upcoming congressional elections, but
assured Cerar he would continue to push for such a meeting
notwithstanding. He said that Jansa was preparing to meet
with both German PM Merkel and Russian President Putin this
spring, and the absence of a meeting at the White House would
be hard to explain tothe Slovenian public, particularly given
teh PM's pro-American pro-NATO agenda.



8. In addition to the topics discussed above, COM flagged
for Cerar the murky legal foundation currently in place for
US citizens wanting to purchase property in Slovenia. He
also mentioned the specific denationalization case of Rudolf
Hoehn-Saric, an elderly constituent of California Senator
Barbara Boxer.

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Comment
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9. (SBU) Cerar was very engaged on all issues raised during
lunch. He has been consistently responsive to USG inquiries
and requests and appeared genuinely interested in
regularizing the issue of trafficking victims protection.
Cerar understands and appreciates the USG emphasis on
transformational diplomacy and the democracy agenda because
this approach and emphasis mirror especially Slovenia's
interests in the Balkans.

ROBERTSON