SLOVENIA: CONTINUING ITS COMMITMENT TO NATO IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000111

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR/NCE FOR SADLE, EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2017
TAGS: MARR MOPS NATO PINS PREL SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: CONTINUING ITS COMMITMENT TO NATO IN
AFGHANISTAN

REF: A. SECSTATE 13871

B. LJUBLJANA 95

C. LJUBLJANA 52

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


1. (C) SUMMARY. Slovenia begins its fifth year of commitment
to Afghanistan this week with the deployment of 53 fresh
soldiers for a six month rotation with the Italian-led PRT in
Herat. These troops relieve 52 troops deployed at that
location since August 2006. The GoS announced this fall that
its next rotation of troops to Afghanistan in August 2007
will increase by 20 percent from fifty four to sixty six.
This consistent troop commitment is complemented by recent
donations of rifles and ammunition for 10,000 new members of
the Afghanistan Security Forces. The GoS's recent decision to
send troops to KFOR in Kosovo with greatly reduced caveats
may foreshadow a move by Prime Minister Janez Jansa to push
forward with reducing restrictions on SAF troops in
Afghanistan. END SUMMARY.

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Contributions: Troops, Weapons, Ammunition, Moral Support
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2. (U) On February 19, 53 soldiers from the Slovenian Armed
Forces departed Celje, Slovenia for a six month rotation with
the Italian-led PRT in the western Afghan town of Herat. The
troops will relieve 52 Slovenes currently deployed at that
location. There are also two Slovenes serving in the ISAF
command in Kabul. This rotation begins the fifth consecutive
year that Slovenia will have a presence in the ISAF mission.
As announced on the sidelines of the Riga summit in late
November, the GoS has committed to add 12 to 15 additional
troops to its contingent in Afghanistan. The expansion to
approximately 66 troops in Herat is expected to come in fall
2007 and will most likely coincide with the next deployment
of Slovenian troops in August 2007.


3. (U) In late September 2006, during an informal meeting of
NATO defense ministers hosted by Slovenia in the coastal town
of Portoroz, Minister of Defense Karl Erjavec announced a GOS
pledge to equip approximately one half of the 20,000 troops
that will be added to the existing Afghanistan Security
Forces. The donation included 10,000 decommissioned
automatic rifles and two million rounds of ammunition (a
total value of USD 660,000). It was delivered in early
November 2006, less than six weeks after the announcement.


4. (U) In November both Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and
Prime Minister Janez Jansa came out of the NATO summit in
Riga publicly calling for additional development aid to
Afghanistan, institution building, the strengthening of civil
society and democracy, and economic investments. They also
both talked about the possibility of reducing some caveats on
SAF troops currently deployed to Afghanistan and said the GoS
was rethinking its position on this.

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What's Next: Reducing Caveats, Expanding Civilian Cooperation
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5. (U) SAF troops serving in Afghanistan currently operate
with three main caveats: they are geographically limited to
operating in Herat, they cannot intervene in cases of civil
unrest, and they have orders only to protect their base and
convoys that operate from it. PM Jansa has been quoted in
the press as saying that the GoS is "rethinking
restrictions," saying that this is "simply about eliminating
some obstacles, which are sometimes illogical." That said,
he has been careful to say that rethinking caveats does not
necessarily mean SAF troops would be redeployed to more
dangerous parts of Afghanistan.


6. (U) The question of caveats on SAF troops in Afghanistan
arose again in early February when Slovenian leaders agreed
to deploy 600 troops to KFOR with considerably reduced
restrictions on their activity (Ref B). The decision marks a
major shift in GoS policy and the first time that Slovenian
troops have been deployed abroad without major restrictions
on their movement, activities, and function. It occurred
without a change in Slovenian law, contrary to claims often
cited by Chief of Defense Albin Gutman and MOD Erjavec in
meetings with USG officials that legal issues were the major
roadblock to reducing caveats on Slovenian troops.
Significantly, there was little public backlash. Speaking to
the press on this decision, Prime Minister Jansa, who
previously told USG officials that Slovenes will eventually
operate abroad with reduced caveats, told media outlets that

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"Slovenia respects the decision of the November summit of
NATO and reduced national caveats," continuing that "it makes
no sense to send a strong peacekeeping force to a hot spot
and (limit) its powers." Jansa has said that the GoS is
planning for even fewer restrictions on troop activities in
the future, but has not engaged on where or when this will
happen. The obvious next location -- and that most often
mentioned in the press -- is Afghanistan.


7. (U) Though the GoS has not yet announced any civilian aid
commitments to Afghanistan, FM Rupel has mentioned publicly
that the GoS is considering additional non-military
assistance in the areas of education and training for
security forces. Though its international development funds
are extremely modest, Slovenia is increasingly interested in
contributing internationally through development assistance
as well.


8. (C) COMMENT. The GoS has repeatedly heard and responded
to USG calls for more international contributions,
particularly to Afghanistan. And it often participates in
numbers that far outpace other coalition members on a per
capita basis. While the GoS felt it could not commit
outright to some of our requests at Riga and the informal
ministerial in Brussels in January 2007, it is increasingly
showing support where it is able, from increasing troop
deployment numbers, to weapons and equipment donations, to
public statements saying all the right things. Slovenia
might be able to do more in Afghanistan. However, a general
request for further troop contributions is likely to yield
few results. A more tailored and creative approach to seek
out specific contributions in niche areas like the Mountain
Warfare School (Ref C) that the GoS is well suited to
provide, could yield further and enthusiastic participation
by the SAF. Alternatively, we should be prepared to explore
options if the GoS is ready to take a more serious look at
contributing in the civilian sphere, particularly in the
areas of education and security forces training.


9. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED. The decision to send SAF troops to
KFOR with greatly reduced restrictions represents a big test
for PM Jansa with the public and for the SAF operationally.
The decision was most certainly made by Jansa himself, and it
can serve as a litmus test of the public's concern about
Slovenes being deployed abroad in potentially dangerous
positions. That the decision to lift most restrictions was
observed by the public and the press without great criticism,
should give Jansa the confidence to push forward to reduce
restrictions on SAF troops in more difficult places like
Afghanistan. END COMMENT.
ROBERTSON