NATO/CROATIA: GERMANY PRESSING THE SLOVENES AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000268

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2019
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO SL HR GM
SUBJECT: NATO/CROATIA: GERMANY PRESSING THE SLOVENES AT
THE HIGHEST LEVELS TO FIND A SOLUTION

REF: STATE 20395

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUNSELOR JEFF RATHKE. REASONS: 1.4 (
B) AND (D).


1. (C) Post delivered reftel points to Foreign Office
DAS-equivalent Emily Haber and MFA NATO Enlargement officer
Ludwig Blaurock and asked that Germany weigh in with the
Slovenians to encourage them to find a legal way to truncate
the referendum process so that they can deposit their
instrument of ratification for Croatia's accession by no
later than April 2.


2. (C) Haber told POL M-C that she was in the process of
finalizing papers for Chancellor Merkel's March 17 meeting
with Slovene PM Pahor in Berlin. She said Merkel would make
the following main points: Croatia's NATO accession is a
matter of the highest priority; Germany has a particular
interest in this as co-host of the NATO Summit and supporter
of Croatian accession; it would be an unacceptable failure
and embarrassment if Croatian accession were held up by
Slovenia; and it is Slovenia's responsibility to find a way
to solve the problem, rather than simply explaining the
difficulties that led to the current situation. Haber noted
that, in addition to Chancellor Merkel's meeting with PM
Pahor, Foreign Minister Steinmeier would be prepared to raise
the matter with FM Zbogar on the margins of the March 16-17
GAERC.

3. (C) Blaurock said that Germany shared the U.S. concern
about this matter and that both Chancellor Merkel and FM
Steinmeier had already emphasized to their respective
Slovenian counterparts the importance of resolving the
referendum question so that Slovenia can deposit its
instrument of ratification on a timely basis. Blaurock noted
that indications are so far that the petition drive will fail
-- reportedly only about 1,000 of the 40,000 necessary
signatures have been collected. He agreed, however, that the
Slovenian government could not afford to let the normal
referendum process play out since that would allow referendum
organizers to delay delivering their collected signatures
until April 2.


4. (C) Blaurock was critical of the Slovene government for
having "played with fire" by waiting so long to begin its
ratification process, and indicated that both the Chancellor
and FM Steinmeier have used this argument to stress to the
Slovenes that they had a responsibility to make sure this
turned out right. Slovenia had to do whatever was legally
and politically possible to resolve this matter so that
Croatia could participate in the April 3-4 NATO Summit as a
full member. While Germany will continue to exert diplomatic
pressure on Slovenia behind the scenes, Blaurock said it
thought it would be counterproductive for Germany to make
public overtures or to be seen assisting the Slovene
government in its public diplomacy campaign.


5. (C) In a separate conversation, post spoke with Claas
Koenig in the MFA's Western Balkans Division, who echoed a
number of Blaurock's comments. Koenig also mentioned that
the German Embassy in Ljubljana delivered a "clear" demarche
to the Slovene government on February 17 with the message
"resolve this issue between you, quickly; we fully expect a
successful NATO Summit." As Koenig noted, "This is our
Summit too, after all."
Koenig