SLOVENIA: COALITION PARTY LEADER EMPHASIZES UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000384 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2019 TAGS: NATO MARR PREL AF SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: COALITION PARTY LEADER EMPHASIZES UN MANDATE AS SELLING POINT FOR ISAF ENGAGEMENT REF: LJUBLJANA 367 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol-Econ Chief Yuriy Fedkiw, reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: CDA met December 9 with Zares Party President Gregor Golobic, the leader of one of Prime Minister Pahor's junior coalition partners, as part of the Embassy's strategy to actively engage Slovenia's leadership in support of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. MP and Foreign Policy Committee member Franco Juri had earlier called for Slovenia to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. CDA outlined President Obama's Afghanistan strategy for Golobic, emphasizing the reasons for NATO's presence and expressing appreciation for Slovenia's participation in ISAF. He also highlighted the need for building up Afghan capabilities as a critical element in that strategy, noting that Slovenia's planned deployment of an OMLT in Herat would be an important contribution to stability in that region. End summary. ¶2. (C) As part of the Embassy's strategy to actively engage Slovenian leadership at the highest levels to ensure Slovenia's continued involvement in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, CDA met with Zares Party President and Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology Gregor Golobic on December 9. The Zares Party is a prominent member of Prime Minister Pahor's ruling coalition, and promotes a center-left social-liberal platform. Golobic said that he did not see any major political obstacles with a continued Slovenian role in Afghanistan as long as the international effort maintained a clear UN mandate. Golobic was concerned that the Slovenian Government did not convey the message that this is a UN approved mission loudly enough to the public when it made the case for the deployment. ¶3. (C) Golobic conceded that while there was solid support for the mission within his own party, individual MPs have expressed their concerns about potential casualties during internal party discussions. Without mentioning Juri's name, Golobic indicated that one prominent MP was on record internally as having called for Slovenia's full withdrawal. Golobic maintained that Slovenia should remain in Afghanistan with a focus on training Afghan forces. He appreciated President Obama's recent strategy rollout and expressed his belief that Slovene public opinion was generally supportive of the effort. Golobic told CDA that the media was the bigger problem, and implied that more could be done by the GOS on the public affairs front to better sell Slovenia's NATO and ISAF engagements. 4.(C) Comment. Golobic's emphasis on the UN mandate for Afghanistan echoes PM Pahor's recent comment that Slovenian troops would remain in Afghanistan "as long as the NATO strategy is implemented as expected by the Slovene Government." While Pahor did not elaborate on his public statement, we believe the PM was referring to Slovenia's expectation that NATO would stay in Afghanistan only as long as the international community, and in particular the United Nations, agreed that there was a mandate to do so. Slovene politicians see the UN mandate and NATO commitment as political cover, without which they would be much less likely to advocate continued Slovenian engagement in Afghanistan. While increased numbers of Slovene officials are echoing Golobic's comments on the need for better strategic communications to explain Slovenia's ISAF participation, there is still little movement by the GOS to do so. Our Public Affairs Section is engaged with the MFA and MOD on developing a more proactive PR strategy. End comment. FREDEN