GOC COORDINATING WITH USG ON NEXT STEPS IN NATO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000167 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV HR NATO SUBJECT: GOC COORDINATING WITH USG ON NEXT STEPS IN NATO ACCESSION PROCESS REF: A. ZAGREB 00160 ¶B. ZAGREB 00148 Classified By: Poloff Peter D'Amico for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. After the Croatian Parliament approved Croatia's NATO Accession Protocol, the Ambassador met with MFA Director Mario Nobilo on March 26 to coordinate on the next steps that the GoC would take so it would be ready to become a member of NATO in time for the Summit on April 3. Nobilo said Croatia's signed instrument of accession would be in Washington by March 30 so Croatia could deposit as soon as the Secretary General issued the invitation to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. Nobilo reported that the Slovenian MFA told Zagreb that the ratification process in Slovenia would finish around March 30. Both the Ambassador and Nobilo agreed that it was prudent to be prepared for the possibility that Slovene ratification might come at the last minute and that all the relevant players in the accession process coordinate closely with each other over the coming days. End Summary. NEXT STEPS FOR CROATIA ¶2. (C) Following Croatian Parliament's vote to approve Croatia's NATO Accession Protcol (ref A),the Ambassador met with MFA Director for International Organizations and Security Mario Nobilo on March 26 to coordinate on the next steps that Croatia would take so it would be ready to become a member of NATO in time for the Summit on April 3. The Ambassador congratulated Croatia on the historic vote the day before in the Sabor. Nobilo thanked the USG for its support in the accession process and expressed satisfaction with the vote in the Sabor. Nobilo said now that the Sabor had approved the document, President Mesic was expected to sign the protocol during the day on March 26. The protocol would then be published in the official gazette on March 27 so it could come into effect. After the protocol was published in the gazette Mesic would then sign the instrument of deposit. A Croatian diplomat would then fly the signed instrument of accession to Washington over the weekend and the document would be in DC by March 30. The GoC would keep the instrument of accession waiting in the Croatian Embassy in Washington and deposit it with the State Department once they received invitation from the Secretary General to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. Nobilo added that just to be safe the GoC was going to scan the signed instrument of accession so it could also be sent electronically to the State Department if necessary. RATIFICATION PROCESS IN SLOVENIA ¶3. (C) Nobilo said the Slovenian MFA told Zagreb that the ratification process in Slovenia would finish approximately on March 30. The Slovenes were planning on flying the instrument of ratification to Washington for deposit around March 30 as well. The Ambassador noted that the USG had heard similar positive statements from the GoS regarding the timing for the completion of the Slovene ratification process. Both the Ambassador and Nobilo agreed that it was wise to also be prepared for the scenario the Ambassador discussed with FM Jandrokovic (ref B) that envisioned the possibility Slovene ratification might come at the last minute. The Ambassador and Nobilo both stressed that it was important for all the relevant players in this process to coordinate closely with each other over the coming days to deal with any issues that could arise. BRADTKE