Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LJUBLJANA122
2007-03-02 14:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ljubljana
Cable title:  

SLOVENIA: FORMER UN ASSISTANT SYG SHARES VIEWS OF

Tags:  PREL PGOV SI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLJ #0122/01 0611427
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 021427Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5597
INFO RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 2341
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0082
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000122 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: FORMER UN ASSISTANT SYG SHARES VIEWS OF
HIS NATIVE COUNTRY


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

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000122

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: FORMER UN ASSISTANT SYG SHARES VIEWS OF
HIS NATIVE COUNTRY


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


1. (C) Summary. Slovenia's former Ambassador to the UN and
(subsequently) former Assistant Secretary General for
Political affairs at the UN, Danilo Turk, is enjoying a
sabbatical from diplomacy as a professor of international law
at Ljubljana's Law Faculty. His many years in New York give
Turk a unique insider/outsider perspective on Slovenia's
domestic politics. Slovenia, though making strides to expand
its world view, is a relatively parochial, homogenous
society. As it prepares to lead the EU and make
intercultural dialogue a key theme of its Presidency, Turk
thinks it needs to demonstrate some credibility on the issue
which it could do by ensuring a mosque is built in Ljubljana.
It could also do right by the "erased," (undocumented
residents) an issue successive governments have failed to
address and for which the "passing of time doesn't help."
Turk is as dismayed as any onlooker by the entrenched
positions that Slovneia and Croatia have staked out on the
border and other problems arising from the breakup of
Yugoslavia. The most important element that seems to be
missing from the dialogue, according to Turk, is mutual
respect. On internal politics Turk, though concerned that
Prime Minister Jansa and President Drnovsek were airing their
differences publicly, said this difficult cohabitation is
nothing new for Slovenia. End Summary.

--------------
Sensitivity on Human Rights Needed
--------------


2. (C) COM hosted former UN Assistant Secretary General for
Political Affairs Danilo Turk for lunch February 23. Turk
has spent the last 18 months since his return from New York
lecturing on international law and writing a book on the same
at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law. Turk has also
become a regular contributor of op-eds to the number three
daily newspaper, Vecer. Conversation started with a
discussion of human rights and Turk's particular interest in
this subject. Of Slovenes, he commented that they still
must develop a sensitivity about human rights which they
lack. He attributed this to years of socialist rule, which

assumed all people's rights were ensured by the state which
guaranteed jobs, healthcare etc. Rather than responding
defensively to human rights critiaques published on Slovenia
-- responses which often play out in the media -- he thought
that the GOS would gain credibility if it acknowledged
shortcomings and responded more constructively. In the run-up
to the EU presidency, and with intercultural dialogue as one
of its main themes, Turk said Slovenia needed to demonstrate
credibility by addressing internal issues such as the
building of the mosque in Ljubljana and the treatment of the
so called "erased:" non Slovenes who were in Slovenia at the
time of independence and who for various reasons failed to
establish their legal status in Slovenia.

--------------
Solving problems in a "business-like fashion"
--------------


3. (C) When asked about the continuing saga of the
Slovenia/Croatia border disputes, Turk laughingly suggested
the governments take a page from the US/Soviet play book and
talk things over in a "business-like fashion." He thought
that Slovenia and Croatia lacked the crucial element of
mutual respect in their exchanges as demonstrated in the
press on a regular basis by politicians from both countries.
Turk did not think Presidents Drnovsek and Mesic had any hope
of finding a solution. However, with some "imagination" and
if they were well-prepared to truly negotiate, Turk thought
Prime Ministers Jansa and Sanader could find some
compromises. Turk did criticize the Government of Croatia
for holding international law up as the "10 Commandments"
rather than guidelines to fall back on in case the two
parties are unable to reach a better agreement. Turk also
did not hold out hope that the "bureaucratic minds" of
Brussels would ever take this up as an EU problem.

--------------
Future Ambitions
--------------


4. (C) Turk's name has been bandied about in political
circles as a possible candidate first for Mayor of Ljubljana
and more recently for President. When COM asked about his
aspirations in this area, Turk said he never seriously



considered running for mayor. After all, that job requires a
person who can make tough decisions not "someone seeking
compromise his whole life." Nevertheless, he did not rule
out interest in other government positions.

--------------
Comment
--------------


5. (C) Danilo Turk is a shining star among Slovenia's
politicians and diplomats. His years in New York have peeled
away the parochial mind set which many of his Slovenian
contemporaries still retain. It is inconceivable that he
would sit on the sidelines for long, and his natural next job
would be as Foreign Minister. With current FM Rupel in no
apparent rush to leave the scene, however, it is unlikely we
will see this shift until after the Slovenian EU presidency
ends in June 2008.
ROBERTSON