SLOVENIA LIKELY TO ABSTAIN ON UNGA RESOLUTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000728 SIPDIS SIPDIS PASS TO IO/UNP ERIN MCLINN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2017 TAGS: PREL UNGA IS SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA LIKELY TO ABSTAIN ON UNGA RESOLUTIONS WITH ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS REF: SECSTATE 159386 Classified By: CDA MCOLEMAN E.O. 12958, reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) On November 27, EmbOff met with Blazka Kepic, head of the United Nations System Section of the MFA's Division for International Organizations and Human Security, to urge Slovenia to vote against UNGA resolutions with anti-Israel bias, per reftel. Kepic asserted that Slovenia and other EU members are likely to continue to abstain from voting on the resolutions in reftel, noting that there are "no signals" coming from discussions among EU members on changing how they voted last year. Kepic explained that Slovenia tries to coordinate its positions and votes on UNGA resolutions on Middle East issues with other EU members. She implied that a coordinated EU position was important to Slovenia given its upcoming EU presidency and cited the example of Finland during its EU presidency as a model in this respect. She stated that Slovenia and the EU strive for a "balanced approach" to Israeli-Palestinian issues and try to persuade Palestinians and other Middle Eastern states to adopt more constructive language in UNGA resolutions and to focus on forging acceptable compromises. Kepic stressed that Slovenia and the EU are in favor of "streamlining the number of UNCA resolutions in general," including those with an anti-Israel bias, so that the UN can concentrate its efforts on resolutions that can generate tangible results and progress. Kepic said that Slovenia hopes the ongoing meetings in Annapolis "achieve agreement on using more balanced, constructive language in UNGA resolutions." COLEMAN