VZCZCXRO2267
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHLJ #0041/01 0551559
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241559Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7672
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LJUBLJANA 000041 
 
CODEL 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR DAS QUANRUD AND DAS JONES, EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2020 
TAGS: PREL MARR OREP KSPR ZL SI
SUBJECT: WESTERN BALKANS MAJOR THEME OF CODEL VOINOVICH 
VISIT TO SLOVENIA 
 
REF: LJUBLJANA 0036 
 
Classified By: CDA Brad Freden reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
SUMMARY 
 
1.(C) The Western Balkans dominated discussions in Ljubljana 
on February 14 between Senators Voinovich (R-OH) and Shaheen 
(D-NH) and Slovenian leaders, including President Turk, Prime 
Minister Pahor, Foreign Minister Zbogar and Defense Minister 
Jelusic.  The Senators thanked Slovenia for its leadership in 
the Western Balkans and called on the Government to continue 
its efforts to support entry of the former Yugoslav republics 
and Albania into Euro-Atlantic institutions.  Slovenia's 
leadership was unanimous in stressing the need for the EU to 
provide visa liberalization for Bosnia prior to the July 
anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, and for  Sarajevo to 
join NATO's Membership Action Plan at the April ministerial. 
Slovenia plans to work with the Bosnians to identify reform 
"deliverables" prior to the NATO ministerial and the kick-off 
of the BiH presidential campaign.  FM Zbogar highlighted the 
division of military property and a "joint declaration on a 
common future" as examples of possible concrete steps BiH 
could take now to show that it is serious about addressing 
constitutional reform after the elections. 
 
2.(C) Zbogar expects Croatia to conclude its EU accession 
negotiations by the end of the year.  All were confident that 
Slovenia's Parliament would ratify the border arbitration 
agreement, and that Ljubljana's relations with Zagreb would 
continue their upward trend.  Senator Voinovich called 
opposition leader and former PM Janez Jansa to urge him not 
to actively oppose the arbitration agreement.  On Kosovo, the 
Slovenes would like to see any further drawdown of KFOR 
carefully calibrated to the political situation on the 
ground.  Slovenia remains committed to Kosovo's security and 
will provide additional flexibility to its forces in KFOR as 
they expand their area of responsibility in the country. 
Slovenia has good cooperation with Serbia in many areas 
including defense reform.  Voinovich seemed to share PM 
Pahor's sentiment that "if Croatia joins the EU and Serbia is 
left behind, all hell will break lose."  Turning away from 
the region, the Senators emphasized the importance of NATO,s 
mission in Afghanistan and thanked the Slovenes for their 
contributions in support of ISAF.  In a private conversation 
with FM Zbogar, Voinovich said he hoped Slovenia would find a 
way to accept detainees from Guantanamo.  When asked about 
the absence of an ambassador, the Senators said that they 
expected a U.S. ambassador would be on the ground in 
Ljubljana soon, and Shaheen promised to give priority to the 
confirmation process.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BOSNIA: MAP AND VISA LIBERALIZATION 
 
3.(C) The current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) 
was the main topic of conversation during the CODEL's 
meetings with the GOS.  BiH is one of Slovenia's main foreign 
policy priorities.  Minister of Defense Jelusic stressed the 
importance of having the international community acknowledge 
reforms undertaken by the BiH government and its armed 
forces.  Jelusic explained that it was important for BiH to 
know that the United States was on its side, as the Bosnians 
trusted the United States more than the EU. 
 
4.(C) Foreign Minister Zbogar warned that frustration was 
growing as the Bosniaks were increasingly feeling that the 
international community (IC) was leaving them behind.  As a 
result, he explained the EU needs to maintain momentum on 
visa liberalization for the region.  FM Zbogar noted that the 
EU took a very positive step by offering visa liberalization 
to Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro.  BiH lost out in this 
process, and so Zbogar highlighted the urgent need for the EU 
to offer visa liberalization to the Bosnians prior to the 
July Srebrenica anniversary.  Defense Minister Jelusic also 
explained the importance of offering MAP to BiH as soon as 
possible; not only would MAP offer a sign of support from the 
IC for what BiH has done on defense reforms, but it would 
also send a signal that Serbia needs to undertake similar 
reforms.  Jelusic cautioned that if momentum was lost in BiH, 
Serbia could lose its Western orientation. 
 
SERBIA: NEED TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM 
 
5.(C) The Slovenes would like to see the EU move quickly on 
Serbia's EU membership application.  Pahor put it most 
bluntly:  "If Croatia joins and Serbia is left behind, all 
hell will break lose."  According to FM Zbogar, the GOS is 
 
LJUBLJANA 00000041  002 OF 003 
 
 
concerned that momentum might be lost for Serbia's further 
integration into Euro-Atlantic structures if a new government 
was to come to power in Belgrade.  Zbogar called the current 
government "forward looking," but noted that it was 
questionable how much longer they could hold on to power. 
Serbia's EU membership could offer his government a real 
deliverable that would help maintain the country's Western 
orientation.  Defense Minister Jelusic told the CODEL that 
Slovenia has good cooperation with Serbia in many areas 
including on defense. 
 
CROATIA: A NEW POSITIVE MOOD 
 
6.(C) From the President on down, the Slovene leadership 
assessed that bilateral relations with Croatia have greatly 
improved since both governments agreed to send the 
long-standing border dispute to arbitration.  Turk praised 
President Josipovic and especially Prime Minister Kosor for 
her leadership.  Foreign Minister Zbogar told the Senators 
that he was confident Slovenia,s Parliament would ratify the 
Arbitration Agreement and that a referendum on the issue 
would pass.  Zbogar explained that recent polls indicated 
that more than 60% of the public supports the arbitration 
agreement and that this number was growing.  Most Slovenes 
are simply happy that the two countries "are moving on" with 
their bilateral relationship, according to the FM.  Zbogar 
noted that there was no immediate rush for Slovenia's 
Parliament to ratify the accord, as the arbitration tribunal 
would not start its work until after Croatia signed its EU 
accession agreement.  Slovenia's Constitutional Court is 
expected to complete its review by mid March, Zbogar said, 
adding that there was little doubt the Court would find the 
agreement constitutional.  Zbogar told the CODEL that he 
expects Croatia to conclude its accession negotiations by the 
end of the year.  PM Pahor thanked the U.S. "for helping us 
reach agreement with Croatia." Voinovich had a 10-minute 
telephone conversation with former PM Jansa, an "old friend" 
of the Senator and the leading opponent of the arbitration 
agreement.  Despite the friendly tone of the conversation, 
Voinovich left no doubt that the U.S. saw this agreement as 
being in the best interests of Slovenia, Croatia and the 
larger region. 
 
KOSOVO: SLOVENIA COMMITTED TO SECURITY 
 
7.(C) Senator Voinovich asked about troop reductions in 
Kosovo.  Defense Minister Jelusic said that it was very 
important for the international community to coordinate troop 
reductions in Kosovo with what was happening on the political 
scene, warning that there are sources of conflict that 
remain.  Slovenia currently has 370 troops in KFOR; these 
soldiers will be replaced by a fresh contingent of 350 that 
will become more flexible and take responsibility for a 
broader region of the country.  Jelusic noted that Slovenian 
troops could provide security for monasteries and Serbian 
enclaves in the north.  In response to a question from 
Senator Voinovich, Jelusic said that the international 
community must have contingency plans for dealing with the 
upcoming ICJ decision on Kosovo's independence.  In the 
meantime, the defense minister stressed the importance of 
having Kosovars take local ownership of the justice system, 
police forces and Kosovo Security Force (KSF) .  Kosovo needs 
to recruit troops from all nationalities, as well as improve 
the professionalism of its forces.  Jelusic suggested that 
the Slovene Armed Forces (SAF) could provide a good model to 
the Kosovars, particularly in the area of its expertise in 
natural disaster response. 
 
MACEDONIA 
 
8.(C) FM Zbogar lamented that progress has been at a 
standstill for Macedonia due to its name dispute with Greece. 
 In December 2009, the EU Council of Ministers postponed 
granting Macedonia a start date for its accession 
negotiations until mid-2010.  As a result, according to 
Zbogar, Slovenia believes it is important to find a solution 
to the name issue before June.  Zbogar warned that if a 
solution was not found within this timeframe, Macedonia's 
situation would become more complicated especially with 
regard to its Albanian population.  PM Pahor recently 
traveled to Skopje to encourage the Macedonians to find a 
compromise solution.  While the IC needs to be cognizant of 
Macedonian sensitivities, Zbogar told the CODEL that it was 
important that the Macedonians also avoid additional actions 
that could further provoke the Greeks. 
 
BRDO SUMMIT 
 
LJUBLJANA 00000041  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶9. (C) Pahor sketched an ambitious agenda for the March 20 
"Brdo Summit" co-sponsored by Slovenia and Croatia, to 
include progress on three issues:  reform in Bosnia, 
reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo and the Macedonian 
name issue.  Pahor expects leaders of all the former Yugoslav 
republics and Albania to attend, as well as Spanish President 
Zapatero and EU High Rep Catherine Ashton, among others.  The 
U.S. has been invited as an observer.  Voinovich bluntly 
warned Pahor that his government "will have to do a lot of 
homework to make sure it doesn't blow up."  Pahor grimaced 
and backpedaled slightly, noting that the purpose of the 
summit was really "to keep European attention on the Balkans" 
and develop initiatives within the region to deal with 
practical matters such as trade and energy security. 
 
NATO AND DEFENSE ISSUES 
 
10.(C)  Defense Minister Jelusic conveyed to the Senators her 
appreciation for the United States' support of Slovenia's 
NATO membership, its military reforms and deployments in the 
Western Balkans and Afghanistan.  Regarding Slovenia's 
contributions to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, Jelusic 
told the CODEL that the GOS needs to further develop its 
public relations strategy as the public and press debate 
Slovenia's mission there.  The Defense Minister noted that 
there was a large perception gap between what Slovenia was 
doing in Herat and what the public read about Afghanistan in 
the newspapers.  Jelusic conveyed her appreciation for 
Embassy Ljubljana's assistance in this area, calling the 
support "incredibly important."  She noted that PD support 
from the Embassy and training support from the Colorado 
National Guard (CONG) were key to the successful October 2010 
deployment of Slovenia's Operational Mentoring and Liaison 
Team (OMLT) in Herat Province.  Voinovich also used a 
pull-aside with Zbogar to ask for Slovenian assistance in 
closing Guantanamo, to which Zbogar replied that the 
government was actively seeking a way under Slovenian law to 
accept one or more detainees. 
 
MANAGEMENT ISSUES 
 
¶11. (SBU) At an informal Country Team dinner, Embassy staff 
thanked Senator Voinovich for his personal engagement in 
support of overseas comparability pay and both Senators for 
their support of the State Department generally.  Voinovich 
asked Country Team members for their views on human resources 
policy, specifically regarding the coming surge of new hires. 
 CDA mentioned the presentation by Deputy Secretary Lew at 
the EUR Chief of Missions Conference in January, in which the 
Deputy Secretary outlined how the QDDR would address 
recruitment and training.  Voinovich also asked about Civil 
Service excursion tours in light of the difficulty filling 
some overseas positions, making it clear that he felt the 
process for excursion tours should be streamlined. 
 
COMMENT 
 
12.(C) Senator Voinovich acknowledged that he was grooming 
Senator Shaheen, the chair of the European subcommittee of 
the SFRC, to take the mantle of the Senate's "Balkan expert" 
when he retires next year.  Both Senators were engaged and in 
good spirits.  They seemed generally pleased with U.S. policy 
and Slovenia's role in the region.  Planning for the ICJ 
ruling was a recurring theme for Voinovich, as was the need 
to support Tadic.  Voinovich departed Slovenia with some 
apparent doubts about the Administration's policy on MAP for 
Bosnia, though these concerns may have been assuaged when he 
got to Sarajevo.  They -- and we -- felt that Pahor's 
ambitions for the Brdo Summit may exceed his/Slovenia's 
capacity, but the mere fact that Slovenia and Croatia were 
co-sponsoring the event was a good sign and should be 
supported.  Voinovich said he would speak with "Jones" upon 
his return to Washington, but did not indicate whether he was 
referring to General or Stu.  End comment. 
 
13.(U) CODEL Voinovich did not have the opportunity to review 
this message. 
FREDEN