SLOVENIA CONSIDERING EU PRESIDENCY STATEMENT

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000122 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA/IR, DRL/NESCA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: IR KDEM PGOV PHUM PREL SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA CONSIDERING EU PRESIDENCY STATEMENT CONDEMNING IRREGULARITES IN IRANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS REF: A. STATE 25587 ¶B. STATE 13345 ¶1. (SBU) On March 12, Emboff met with Polonca Smole, desk officer for Iran at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),to urge Slovenia, in its role as president of the Council of the European Union, to issue a statement after Iran's parliamentary elections condemning the elections for lacking transparency and failing to meet international standards. Smole responded that Slovenia is discussing with its European partners the possibility of issuing a presidency statement that would condemn any irregularities in the Iranian electoral process but would wait until at least after the first round of elections scheduled for March 14 before drafting the actual text. Smole noted that Slovenia is waiting for more information and expects to receive a report on the election process from its embassy in Tehran shortly after the first round of elections. Smole said that Slovenia would rely heavily on the content of this report when forming its position, but she noted that the MFA has already observed some "irregularities" in the electoral process. As for the timing of the EU presidency statement, Smole explained that Slovenia is deliberating whether to issue it after the first round of elections or to wait until after the second round scheduled for March 28. Smole acknowledged our message that Slovenia display strong leadership on the issue in its capacity as EU president and said that she would relay the message to the appropriate officials at the MFA. COLEMAN