SLOVENIA: AGREEMENT ON HSPD-6 NEGOTIATIONS POSSIBLE BY

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000341 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (PARA NUMBERS CORRECTED AND ADDED SENSITIVE CAPTION) SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/CT, EUR/CE, L/CA FBI FOR TSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CMGT CVIS ASEC PREL PTER SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: AGREEMENT ON HSPD-6 NEGOTIATIONS POSSIBLE BY YEAR-END ¶1. (U) Summary: A joint team composed of representatives from the State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Office of the Legal Adviser, and Terrorist Screening Center visited Ljubljana on October 19 to commence negotiations with the Slovenian Government on an agreement to exchange terrorism screening information pursuant to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6). Most major issues with the text of the agreement were addressed and resolved; it is likely that an agreement will be signed before the end of the year. End summary. ¶2. (U) On October 19 a joint team from the Department's Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT),Office of the Legal Adviser (L/CA) and the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) arrived in Ljubljana on October 18. Diane Bean, Director, Terrorism Information Sharing Office, Homeland Security Directorate, S/CT; Rick Kopel, Principal Deputy Director, TSC; Katy Youel Page, Attorney-Advisor, L/CA; and Lyn Brown, General Counsel, TSC, and Arthur Sepeta, Assistant General Counsel, TSC met with Slovenian government (GOS) officials representing the Ministries of Interior (which includes the Police Directorate),Justice, and Foreign Affairs in an all-day session to negotiate the text of a binding HSPD-6 agreement as well as supplemental technical procedures. ¶3. (SBU) Discussions about the content of the text moved forward swiftly, with both sides identifying areas of compromise while still retaining the essential aspects of the agreement. The Slovenian side is still considering possible language for sections of the Agreement regarding protection from disclosure to ensure they are consistent with Slovenian law on personal data privacy. The U.S. delegation agreed to examine the proposed technical procedures to determine how much of the procedural language could be incorporated into the public agreement. Both sides agreed to communicate and exchange proposals by the first week of November. Once the text of the final agreement is reached, it will be presented to the Slovenian parliament for consideration and approval. The Slovenian team does not foresee this as a major obstacle and anticipates Parliamentary concurrence. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: Post is optimistic about the prospects for the bilateral HSPD-6 agreement. Previous GOS concerns about operational information that would not be published seem to have abated, and the results of the day's session left few areas yet to be concluded before presentation to parliament. ConOff will follow up with GOS interlocutors to maintain the momentum from this visit and to expedite the exchange of proposals as needed. End comment. ¶5. (U) HSPD-6 team members have cleared on this cable. FREDEN