PDAS VOLKER ENCOURAGES SLOVENES TO KEEP TRANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000255

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR IR RU SI
SUBJECT: PDAS VOLKER ENCOURAGES SLOVENES TO KEEP TRANS
ATLANTIC FOCUS


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


1. (C) In meetings April 10 with Government of Slovenia
officials, EUR PDAS Kurt Volker reinforced the importance of
maintaining a strong trans-Atlantic dialogue during
Slovenia's EU Presidency. Discussions at the MFA focused on
the Western Balkans including an idea suggested by MFA
Security Policy Chief Stanislav Vidovic that the Adriatic
Charter be expanded to include all countries in the region
with NATO aspirations - no matter how far off. Volker assured
Vidovic that the NATO summit in Bucharest would be
substantive and hoped it would include issuing invitations
for new members. In a later dinner with International
Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, Andrej Rahten, Volker
expanded on themes raised earlier with FM Rupel (septel)
including the importance of a strong EU position on Cuba,
changing the tone of the dialogue on Missile Defense, the
need to work closely on Iran and other Mid East issues, and
the best way to help the Western Balkans to move forward.
End Summary.

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NATO - Engaging with Neighbors
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2, (C) Following his meeting with FM Rupel, PDAS Volker met
with the Director of the America's Division Roman Kirn and
the Director of Security Policy Stanislav Vidovic. Vidovic
was curious to know what the Bucharest NATO Summit would
accomplish since he felt there was not much advancement on
various internal debates. Vidovic said he was puzzled by
France's behavior in NATO and asked if its desire to be on
the military and civilian budget committee indicated it was
drawing closer to military structures. And finally, Vidovic
suggested that if two of the three members of the Adriatic
Charter were going to be invited to start with a membership
action plan in NATO, it might make sense to expand the
Charter. This way Albania is not left behind on its own and
it provides a venue for other countries to draw closer to
NATO without having to join Partnership for Peace or other
formal structures.


3. (C) Volker assured Vidovic that the Bucharest NATO summit
would be substantive and that he hoped NATO would be
extending invitations to aspirant countries. Of course, they
would have to be fully prepared to join and there were no
guarantees. All would have to work hard in the next year.
Volker thought the idea of expanding the Adriatic Charter
interesting, especially if some current members were left
behind in the next round of NATO expansion. Regarding
France, Volker thought the French were protecting their
interests and were generally wary of our proposals on common
policy. Commenting on missile defense, Volker told Vidovic
and Kirn that the U.S. wanted to reorient the current
discussion so that the U.S., NATO and Russia would be working
together on missile defense broadly, with the U.S. national
missile defense programs as one element in a wider context of
cooperation in facing missile threats.

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EU - Think Trans-Atlantically
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4. (C) Turning the discussion to U.S. - EU issues, Volker
explained to Kirn and Vidovic that the U.S. - EU relationship
was not limited to strictly bilateral issues, but encompassed
all the things we do together in the world, and that, in
practice, we structure our relationship along the lines of
the EU pillars. After discussing what the timing might be of
a U.S. - EU summit in 2008, Kirn asked about the declaration
which would result. He suggested it would be better if it
could be shorter and focused on fewer issues. Volker said
that while the declarations can be very long and may lack
crispness, they have been very useful documents, and the
press rely on this detail in order to report the results of
the summit accurately. He suggested that if the GOS wanted
to make sure issues were shaped properly in the press, they
should focus attention on comments the Prime Minister would
make in his press conferences. Volker's parting advice was
to keep things simple. Decide on what Slovenia wanted to
accomplish and pursue those issues. He said to avoid "wedge"
issues and above all, keep thinking trans-Atlantically, and
the U.S. will help make things work smoothly.

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Russia in the Region
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5. (C) During Dinner with the prime minister's Advisor for
International Affairs, Andrej Rahten, Volker and Rahten
discussed Russia and shared the view that it has taken on the
role of spoiler in the region vis a vis Kosovo and missile
defense. Rahten said his impression was that Russia would
continue to be obstructive on Kosovo, but it might stop short
of using its veto in the Security Council. He viewed
Russia's aggressive response to missile defense as tactically
successful. Interestingly, Russia has not demarched Slovenia
on either the Kosovo or MD issue. It has come in, however,
to protest about the removal of the Russian WW II statue in
Estonia. Rahten said that Slovenia engages Russia primarily
through the Forum of Slavic Cultures.

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Cooperating on the Middle East
--------------


6. (C) In explaining how the recent visit of Iranian FM
Mottaki came about, Rahten admitted the GOS had been unaware
of President Drnovsek's initiative to send letters to the
President and Ayatollah in Iran. He said that prior to the
visit, PM Jansa had talked with EU Foreign Affairs chief
Javier Solana who agreed that Jansa could meet with Mottaki,
but counseled him not to deviate from the EU position on
nuclear enrichment. Jansa has still only received a half
page readout on the President's hour long meeting with
Mottaki, and Rahten said the GOS was extremely embarrassed by
this whole episode. Noting that FM Rupel would travel to the
Middle East in early May, Rahten said they would be sure to
consult with the EU's special representative on the region
prior to travel. Volker noted the U.S. - EU coordination on
the Middle East is very good and we rely on Solana and the EU
Presidency to keep that cooperation going. He cautioned,
however, that visible non-coordination between the PM and the
President such as on the visit by Mottaki could not be
allowed to happen during Slovenia's Presidency.


7. (C) On EU issues, Volker reinforced the hope that in the
wake of Spanish FM Moratinos' visit to Cuba, the EU would
make a strong joint statement on the importance of allowing
the Cuban people to choose their own government. Rahten
asked about a January 2008 visit to the U.S. for Prime
Minister Jansa to launch the EU Presidency. Volker said this
is something they would need to take up with the White House,
closer to the date.


8. (U) PDAS Volker cleared this cable.
ROBERTSON