SLOVENIA AND THE DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000216 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CCA, EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EUR/PPD FOR ANDREA STRAND E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM KPAO PHUM PREL EUN CU SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA AND THE DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN PEOPLE REF: A. LJUBLJANA 204 B. SECSTATE 51536 C. SECSTATE 46997 D. SECSTATE 45792 ¶1. (U) In support of the Day of Solidarity With the Cuban People May 21 event, post will place the Washington-drafted op-ed in Vecer, one of Slovenia's largest dailies. We expect the op-ed will also be picked up by the national wire service and other national papers. From May 20 to 23, the Embassy website homepage will be dedicated to Cuba-related issues and will feature a Cuba fact sheet and links to the op-ed and the President's May 21 speech. ¶2. (U) The GOS has not developed any activities in recognition of the Day of Solidarity With the Cuban People, despite our urgings (reftel A). The MFA noted that the GOS is presently preoccupied with the demands of the ongoing Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, including the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit, the EU-U.S. Summit in June, and the approaching visit by POTUS. ¶3. (U) Slovenian civil society is still quite underdeveloped and there are consequently few NGOs and only one that deals with Latin America in any way. The Center for Latin America focuses primarily on cultural exchanges between Slovenia and Latin American countries and has not organized any activities for the Day of Solidarity With the Cuban People. COLEMAN