SLOVENIA AGREES WITH U.S. VIEWS ON BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000127 SIPDIS SIPDIS EAP/MLS AARON COPE, IO/UNP PAUL WICKBERG E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM BM SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA AGREES WITH U.S. VIEWS ON BURMA REFERENDUM; EU STILL DIVIDED ON ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS REF: SECSTATE 26677 ¶1. (SBU) On March 18, Emboff met with Matjaz Marko from the Asia and Pacific Division at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver reftel talking points urging Slovenia to make clear to the Burmese regime that the planned May referendum on the regime's draft constitution should adhere to international standards. Marko replied that Slovenia fully agreed with the U.S. that the referendum must be conducted in a transparent manner and reflect the will of the Burmese people. When asked whether Slovenia planned to issue an EU presidency statement to this effect, Marko responded that the EU had already issued a conclusion on the proposed referendum at its meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on February 18. (Note: The GAERC statement reads, "The Council notes the authorities' announcement on 9 February of a referendum on a new Constitution in May 2008 and multi-party elections in ¶2010. It underlines that only a process that involves the full participation of the opposition and ethnic groups will lead to national reconciliation and stability." End note.) Marko said that Slovenia has no plans at the moment to issue a separate presidency statement on the referendum, as it considers the GAERC conclusion to suffice. ¶2. (C) Marko said that Slovenia, which chairs the EU's Asia-Oceania Working Party (COASI),is currently focusing much of the group's efforts on updating the common EU position on Burma and discussing the possibility of additional sanctions. He said that updating and prolonging the EU common position, which expires on April 30, is progressing nicely and that there are no significant differences among member states. On the topic of addition sanctions, however, he noted that there are still significant differences among member states. He assessed that there probably would not be much movement on the issue until it is discussed at the April 28 GAERC meeting. COLEMAN