SLOVENIA: UNIFIED NATO POSITION IS TOP PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000382 SIPDIS SIPDIS USNATO (LOOK, LAURENDEAU),S/CT, EUR/RPM, USOSCE, EUR/NCE (SADLE),EUR (VOLKER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017 TAGS: KCFE NATO PARM PREL SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: UNIFIED NATO POSITION IS TOP PRIORITY FOR CFE EXTRAORDINARY CONFERENCE REF: A. SECSTATE 77371 ¶B. SECSTATE 75293 ¶C. LJUBLJANA 312 ¶D. LJUBLJANA 344 Classified By: COM for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) PolMilOff delivered reftel a points to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Security Policy Department staffer Andrej Slapnicar who will represent the GOS at the High Level Task Force meeting in Brussels June 7. Slapnicar thanked PolMilOff for the points, the explanation of USG views, and the continuing engagement of the USG on this issue, noting that the MFA has yet to hear from the Russians on the topic. He said Slovenia regrets the fact that "it came to this," noting that the Slovenes are still trying to figure out the reason for Russia's recent actions and its "threat" to freeze membership in the CFE (particularly given Slovenia's understanding that this is not an option according to the treaty). ¶2. (C) Slapnicar reaffirmed that while Slovenia is not a party to the CFE (and therefore will not be represented at the CFE Extraordinary Conference in Vienna next week) it is closely following the issue and continues to see the CFE as the cornerstone of European security policy. In response to the point that it may be helpful for Slovenia to reaffirm its desire to join the Adapted CFE Treaty, Slapnicar said the MFA would take this under consideration, noting that the GOS has repeatedly stated its intent to join the Adapted CFE Treaty to the Russians at "all levels." ¶3. (C) Slapnicar said that Slovenia's top priority is a unified NATO position on the issue and that Slovenia will strongly advocate for unity despite the fact that there are some diverging views within the alliance on how to approach Russia. He said that it is very important that the atmosphere of the meeting next week is about "dialogue between the parties, not confrontation," and that this dialogue continues beyond the meeting. ¶4. (C) Slapnicar noted that Russia seems to be strangely overlooking Slovenia in its current statements regarding CFE. He repeated comments about Russian President Putin referring to Slovakia instead of Slovenia (reftel c) when referencing NATO countries that Russia would like to see become parties to CFE and then pointed out that the Russian Note Verbale explicitly mentions the three Baltic states in point six but does not mention Slovenia. He said the MFA was unsure whether this was intentional or unintentional on Russia's part. ¶5. (SBU) On the sides of the discussion, Slapnicar commented on his attendance at the May 31 - June 1 OSCE Counterterrorism Conference (reftel d) noting that it was an interesting discussion -- despite OSCE's lack of coordinating authority on the topic -- but that, most importantly, it was good to see U.S. and Russia cooperating on this topic and engaging in constructive dialogue. ¶6. (C) COMMENT. Slapnicar and the MFA are clearly receptive to USG views on this issue and very appreciative of USG efforts to keep Slovenia informed. He said he is eagerly awaiting USG proposals on elements for a final document and would be pleased to hear any additional insight the USG has on Russia's behavior and intent regarding CFE. Slovenia is likely to follow the USG lead during CFE discussions at NATO. END COMMENT. ROBERTSON