AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR VALENTIN INZKO PROMOTES OHR

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000039 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE AND EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2019 TAGS: PREL UN BK AU SI SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR VALENTIN INZKO PROMOTES OHR CANDIDACY REF: STATE 13424 Classified By: CDA Brad Freden, 1.4(d) ¶1. (U) CDA met today with Austria's Ambassador to Slovenia, Valentin Inzko, at Inzko's request. Inzko presented a CV for forwarding to Washington in connection with his candidacy for the Office of High Representative (OHR),Sarajevo. The CV will be scanned and forwarded to EUR/CE and EUR/SCE. ¶2. (SBU) Inzko is well and favorably known to Post. He speaks flawless English and often displays an apparently-heartfelt positive predisposition toward the U.S. He and his wife -- an Argentine-born opera singer of Slovenian descent -- were married at City Hall in New York. At the time, Inzko was Austria's Delegate to the First and Fifth Committees, as well as Deputy Chairman of the UN Disarmament Committee. His daughter will begin her studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, this fall. Inzko's CV shows extensive experience in the Balkans, including as Austria's first Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996-99 and founding Head of the OSCE Observer Mission in Novi Pazar, Serbia, in 1992. He claims to know "all of the leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina," as well as many others from the region (e.g., Mesic, Sanader). In addition to German, Slovene and English, we have heard him speak fluent Russian and Czech. According to his CV, he also speaks fluent Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and French. ¶3. (C) We cannot evaluate Inzko's qualifications relative to other candidates, but can say that he is collegial and easy to work with. He can seem culturally American in his relaxed informality and willingness to dispense with protocol, but he easily switches back to being an Old World diplomat when the situation demands. We have heard him say that OHR should maintain the power to dismiss B-H officials who cross certain red lines, but we know little else about his views on the situation there. In our meeting, he made a point of saying that he would work closely with the U.S. if selected. FREDEN