SLOVENIA: PM ASKS FOR BREATHING ROOM RE GUANTANAMO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000274 SIPDIS S/GC FOR DANIEL FRIED AND MICHAEL WILLIAMS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM KDRG SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: PM ASKS FOR BREATHING ROOM RE GUANTANAMO DETAINEES Classified By: CDA Brad Freden, Reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) DAS Stu Jones asked Prime Minister Pahor in a private meeting at the Bled Strategic Forum on August 30 if Slovenia would be willing to accept one or two Uighur detainees from Guantanamo. Pahor declined to provide an immediate answer, staying that he needed to resolve the border dispute with Croatia before approaching Parliament with another difficult "ask". He sees an immediate window of opportunity (septel) for resolving the border dispute and does not feel he can afford to have another controversial issue on his plate until agreement is reached or the window closes, likely in a matter of weeks. DAS Jones offered to have Special Envoy Dan Fried to meet with Slovenian officials, but Pahor demurred for the time being. Comment -------------- ¶2. (C) Pahor is clearly feeling the strains of leadership as he tries to manage the simultaneous challenges of the Slovenia-Croatia border issue, the recession and budget crisis in Slovenia, and falling approval ratings for his government. When asked about detainees, Pahor, who had been focusing on Croatia, blanched momentarily and asked, "Did you want an answer now?" Jones replied that the important thing was for Slovenia to say yes, not that it do so immediately. This message has been cleared by DAS Jones. FREDEN