KOSOVO ICJ RESOLUTION: SLOVENIA WILL ABSTAIN, SAYS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000451 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2018 TAGS: PREL UNGA EUN KV SI SUBJECT: KOSOVO ICJ RESOLUTION: SLOVENIA WILL ABSTAIN, SAYS FRENCH UNLIKELY TO ACHIEVE EU CONSENSUS REF: A. SECSTATE 105796 ¶B. LJUBLJANA 395 Classified By: DCM Brad Freden, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) DCM met the morning of October 8 with MFA Director General (P equivalent) Bogdan Benko to follow up on Ref B demarche. Benko said the French Presidency proposal for a common EU position was under silence procedure until 0900 in New York. He said the proposal had three elements: abstention, a common explanation of vote, and no amendments. Benko said, however, that it is unlikely that all 27 member states will agree to abstain. He cited in particular, Greece, Spain and Romania as likely to vote "yes." He said the UK planned to join the U.S. in voting "no." ¶2. (C) Absent a common EU position, Slovenia will abstain despite our efforts to convince them to vote "no." Benko explained that Slovenia wanted to preserve its influence with Belgrade in order to continue pulling Serbia toward Europe. He noted that Slovenia enjoys excellent relations with both Kosovo and Serbia, which has allowed it to play a stabilizing role in the Western Balkans. He cited as an example Ljubljana's handling of Kosovo's independence declaration during the Slovenian EU presidency. Noting that it could take the ICJ "two years" to decide the case, he speculated that referring Kosovo's independence to the ICJ could help Tadic by temporarily taking the issue off the front burner of Serbian domestic politics. ¶3. (C) Benko said that Slovenia was trying to play a constructive role within the EU on this issue by, for example, attempting to convince Spain to abstain rather than vote "yes." He said the Slovenian explanation of vote would note the importance of the ICJ in international law, but would emphasize "the unique context that makes Kosovo's independence sui generis." GHAFARI