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