SLOVENE PM VOICES CONCERN ABOUT KOSOVO DURING COM

S E C R E T LJUBLJANA 000544

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EINV CASC PHUM PARM ECON SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENE PM VOICES CONCERN ABOUT KOSOVO DURING COM
FAREWELL CALL

REF: A. SECSTATE 114783


B. LJUBLJANA 00526

C. LJUBLJANA 00540

Classified By: CDA MCOLEMAN; REASON 1.4 (B)

Summary
--------------


1. (S) During COM's farewell call with Prime Minister Janez
Jansa August 17, Jansa expressed concern that we have missed
the best opportunity to resolve the Kosovo issue and warned
that a solution is needed soon to prevent violence. He
called the U.S. the "main hope," and blamed some European
players for doing nothing to help. On the nearly $1 billion
proposed Harrah's entertainment project in Slovenia, Jansa
said this investment is important for the country and that
September will be a critical month in building parliamentary
support for legislative changes necessary for the deal to go
forward. On other subjects, the PM worried about the
situation in Afghanistan and promised that Slovenia will act
to reduce caveats on its military there; he welcomed the
visit of a U.S. expert group to witness a test of Slovene
MANPADS (Ref A); and he reported that the Government and
opposition are in agreement that some kind of outside
mediation is needed to resolve the Croatia-Slovenia border
issue. COM urged the PM to do whatever possible to speed the
completion of property denationalization, particularly that
which is affecting elderly American citizens, and address the
Jewish community's claims for heirless property in Slovenia.
End Summary.

Kosovo Needs a Solution Soon
--------------


2. (C) COM paid a farewell call on PM Jansa on August 17.
The PM's foreign policy advisor, Andrej Rahten, and DCM were
also present. COM described his recent visit to Kosovo
during which he had met with the Slovenian 10th Battalion
deployed around Pec (Ref B). He praised the Slovenian
soldiers' excellent relations with both the Kosovo Albanian
and Serb communities and their contributions to peace and
stability in the region. Characterizing the Slovenian
military contingent as a "dream team," COM pointed out that
the Battalion's 42 officers have a combined total of 36 years
of U.S. military training and that their performance in
Kosovo not only shows that they are getting the training they
need, but that they are putting it to good use.


3. (C) Jansa agreed with COM's assessment and remarked that
he too would love to visit his troops in Kosovo but that the
situation is very complicated and that he could not visit
Kosovo without also visiting Serbia. He voiced concern about
developments in Kosovo, saying that he feared we have missed
the best opportunity to solve the problem (though he admitted
that the absolute best time to have done this was right after
the 1999 war.) The PM stressed that no one authority
controls the situation in Kosovo and therefore a solution
must be found quickly to prevent conflict from breaking out.
He stated that Russia is exploiting the issue much more than
was expected but that there are limits to such a policy. The
U.S., he said, is the "main hope," as some European players
are "behaving like European players in the last century --
waiting and doing nothing."


4. (C) Jansa acknowledged that Kosovo is going to be a big
issue during Slovenia's upcoming EU Presidency. He said the
Slovenian Governmentis not afraid of the problem, but that
Kosovo coud become such a dominant issue that it would
hiner progress on other important regional issues. He
remarked that the statement by the EU's Troika
representative, Wolfgang Ischinger, that partition of Kosovo
could be on the table if the two parties agreed was "stupid,"
as the Albanians will never agree to partition. He
underscored that the Serbians have to get this problem from
the past behind them and the Kosovars have to learn how to
take care of themselves. COM assured Jansa that the U.S.
will stand with Slovenia on this issue during its Presidency.
He noted that because of Slovenia's own fight for freedom
and its deep knowledge of the region, it was particularly
good that Slovenia was taking over the EU Chair at this time.


Crucial to Build Support for Harrah's
Entertainment Project in September
--------------


5. (C) COM expressed appreciation for the PM's leadership
in promoting the nearly $1 billion proposed investment by
Harrah's Entertainment in a huge casino/entertainment center
in Western Slovenia. Jansa responded that the investment is
very important for Slovenia and stated that a lot of work has
already been done to make the deal a reality. He worried,
however, that Harrah's Slovenian partner, HIT, had conducted
a very poor public relations effort and had lost a month of
precious time in building support for the project. He noted
that this is a risk factor since the matter will come up in
Parliament in the fall and it will require a majority vote to
change the gaming law to enable the project to go forward.
Jansa pointed to the existence of a "dangerous lobby" of
existing casino owners who are fearful of Harrah's. He
described them as operating crude gambling operations and
noted the irony that no one stood up to oppose them when they
launched their businesses.


6. (C) COM mentioned that a Harrah's representative will
return to Slovenia in September and will be in contact with
all the key players, including the Economic Ministry and
local officials. He also suggested that the representative
should meet with Catholic Church officials, who have
expressed reservations about the project. Jansa supported
this approach, and revealed that he had personally worked to
convince the Catholic Church not to issue a statement
opposing the deal, but that recently a local bishop had
criticized the project publicly. He speculated that some
critical statements by civil society groups are actually
engineered by business interests opposed to Harrah's entry
into Slovenia. The PM asserted that the Government is
prepared to provide a greater share of the tax revenue from
the Harrah's-HIT entertainment center to local governments in
the region. He hoped that this final "carrot" would help
build crucial support that would result in a Parliamentary
majority for the project.


Mediation Essential to Resolve
Croatia-Slovenia Border Issue
--------------


7. (C) COM asked about the Government's deliberations
earlier that day with Parliamentary party groups on the
border issues with Croatia. The PM reported that a large
majority of the coalition and opposition parties agree that
any negotiation with Croatia must deal with all outstanding
land and sea border issues. They also agree that some kind
of outside mediation will be necessary to find a solution and
that the Government's recent proposals for arbitration were
right on target. The PM said that the ball is now in
Croatia's court, though he expressed doubt that the electoral
clock (upcoming elections in both countries) will enable a
resolution any time soon, and probably not before Croatia
enters the EU. Slovenia, he said, is flexible on the arbiter
as long as all the outstanding border issues are on the table.


GOS Will Take Action to Reduce Caveats
for Troops in Afghanistan
--------------


8. (C) COM noted the recent departure of a replacement
rotation of Slovene soldiers to Afghanistan (Ref C) and asked
about the status of caveats. Jansa replied that there are
still some among the General Staff who are opposed to
changes, but that Slovenia had promised to address the
caveats issue after the Riga Summit, and it has to follow
through on its pledge. He noted that Slovene soldiers are
supportive of a change: they have been trained and deployed
and they want to be where the action is. The PM expressed
concern about how things are going in Afghanistan. He
remarked that this is a decisive time and the international
community has to press hard.


Bilateral Issues: MANPADS and
property denationalization issues
--------------


9. (S) COM noted that the USG is still interested in Slovene
MANPADS. The PM said that U.S. experts were welcome to visit
Slovenia to witness a test firing of the MANPADS this fall.

COM also raised the issue of property denationalization and
noted that a number of elderly American citizens are still
waiting for resolution of their property claims which have
been tied up in the Slovenian courts. Jansa acknowledged
that the denationalization process was flawed and should have
been handled better. COM urged Jansa to do what he could to
promote final resolution of remaining cases. On Jewish
claims for heirless properties in Slovenia, COM noted that
there had recently been some progress between representatives
of the GOS and the World Jewish Restitution Organization in
plotting a way forward. But he warned Jansa about the
political implications of not appearing to be forthcoming on
this issue. The PM said he is well aware of this and
reported that he met with the head of the Jewish community in
Slovenia and asked him for a list of claimants, but that to
date he has not received the requested information. The
meeting concluded with a brief discussion about the need for
close U.S.-Slovene consultations during Slovenia's EU
Presidency and about the confirmation process for the next
U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia. Jansa expressed enthusiastic
appreciation for COM's activism, support for Slovenia and his
widely admired use of the Slovene language during his tenure
as U.S. Ambassador.


COLEMAN