VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLJ #0252/01 1152141
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 252141Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4764
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000252 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/NCE, DRL/CRA, CA/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: INTERIOR MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL 
LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION, BILATERAL ASSISTANCE, AND 
RATIONALE FOR ASYLUM REFORMS. 
 
REF: A. A) LJUBLJANA 109 
     ¶B. B) LJUBLJANA 192 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: At an April 13 lunch hosted by COM Minister 
of Interior Dragutin Mate  discussed Slovenia's regional 
anti-crime efforts and bilateral assistance to Macedonia; 
recent changes in the asylum law; latest thinking on dealing 
with the "erased," and the Hoehn-Saric case, a 
denationalization case involving an American citizen.  On the 
asylum law, Mate said that Slovenia has simplified and 
brought its procedures in line with EU norms and in the 
process, shut down an easy route for alien smugglers and 
illegal employers of cheap labor. On the "erased" Mate said 
the GOS prefers a constitutional solution to avoid 
never-ending court appeals and is concerned about budgetary 
impacts should the opposition have citizenship/residency 
status for all made retroactive to 1992. Mate also addressed 
denationalization cases, and the Hoehn-Saric case in 
particular.  The Ambassador explained to Minister Mate the 
confusion in Washington over his letter to DHS Secretary 
Chertoff and assured him a response was forthcoming. End 
Summary. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Regional Cooperation on anti-Crime Efforts 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Minister Mate described for COM the "Brdo Process," 
which Slovenia conducts in partnership with Austria, as an 
expert-level series of meetings throughout the year that 
encompasses the countries of south east Europe region. 
Members include Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania as well as 
the former Yugoslav states and Albania.  The GOS is currently 
planning with Austria an October meeting which will focus on 
cross-border issues including terrorism and trafficking in 
persons.  Mate responded positively to COM suggestion that 
they invite US experts to attend/address the meeting. He 
cautioned that to avoid ruffling the feathers of some members 
who might resent American involvement in their regional 
process, he would likely want to invite the U.K. and Spain as 
well. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Assisting Macedonia to Meet EU Criteria 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Mate, Macedonia is open to receiving 
assistance and guidance from Slovenia on meeting EU 
standards.  Mate explained that Slovenia still has strong 
credibility in Macedonia and the Macedonians are eager to 
enhance this partnership.  Mate said he would also like to 
work through the local OSCE mission, but would want to know 
precisely what the OSCE wants from his ministry.  Mate says 
he has a good relationship with the local Deputy Head of 
Mission and thinks they'll work something out. 
Alternatively, the GOS is willing to work on a strictly 
bilateral basis.  Interestingly, Slovenia is applying lessons 
learned in Jordan to its work in Macedonia.  Mate said that 
while they did a good job training Iraqi police in all the 
latest methods and procedures, when they would send them back 
to their home bases, their supervisors, who had had no 
training, would often resist the introduction of new ideas 
and approaches to police work.  As a consequence, in 
Macedonia the Slovene trainers were making a concerted 
efforts to train management and supervisors along with rank 
and file to avoid this kind of conflict. 
 
----------------- 
Asylum Procedures 
----------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Recent changes to the asylum law have gotten 
negative press (Ref A), and Mate was eager to provide some 
insight into GOS motivation for the changes.  Mate 
acknowledged that Slovenia had had one of the most liberal 
asylum laws in Europe, but when it joined the EU, this open 
policy became subject to massive abuse as alien smugglers saw 
an easy way in to the European Union.  To illustrate this 
abuse, Mate offered a few statistics.  In 2005, 5600 illegal 
immigrants arrived at Slovene borders, and of these 1700 
claimed asylum.  Of those 1700, only 26 received asylum.  The 
majority of the remaining 1674 left the asylum center after 
receiving a shower, food and clothes, but before officially 
registering their claim of asylum.  According to Mate, 
illegal alien smugglers had found a "niche" in Slovenian law, 
 
 
by which legal authorities would transport their clients 
(whom they coached to claim asylum) the 200 miles from the 
border to the asylum facilities in Ljbuljana.  After a 
shower, hot meal and good night's rest, the alien smugglers 
would pick them up the next day and continue the journey.  In 
another example, Mate said that over the course of one 
seven-day period in 2005, 1300 people had asked for asylum, 
been brought to the center and disappeared before beginning 
the formal procedures.  This was a clear signal the asylum 
procedure in Slovenia was broken. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The asylum law was not only being abused by foreign 
alien smugglers, but also by Slovenian employers.  Because of 
the liberal employment rules which allowed asylum seekers to 
begin working the day after arrival, Slovene employers who 
needed seasonal workers saw a cheap and efficient method for 
bringing those workers into the country legally.  As 
described by Mate, busloads of people would arrive at the 
border and request asylum.  Automatically, they would be told 
to proceed to the asylum center in Ljubljana.  The same bus 
that brought them to the border would take them to Ljubljana. 
 Upon arrival, the "asylum seekers" would register, receive 
their work permits, be given a bed and three meals a day. 
They would never actively pursue their asylum cases.  The 
next morning and every workday for the next three to four 
months, a bus would pick up all the "asylum seekers" and 
bring them to a factory or field to work.  Then, at the end 
of the busy period or harvest season, they would all just 
disappear one day.  The GOS needed to close this loop-hole 
and the way it did this was to restrict the right to work for 
the first year.  It was not a popular move in the human 
rights community, but it further helps the GOS to determine 
if someone is a bona fide asylum seeker.  Mate said there 
were ways for asylees to earn pocket money at the center if 
they wanted. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In all of this, Mate said the border authorities had 
been and were continuing to receive training on how to 
identify legitimate asylum seekers.  There are still 
safeguards.  If someone claiming asylum is instead sent to 
the illegal alien center because the questioning officer was 
not convinced of their claims, they have the right, once 
there, to request an interview with someone from the asylum 
center to make their case again.  Mate said that the Ministry 
of Interior has also produced a brochure in 25 languages 
explaining the legal rights of asylum seekers in Slovenia. 
The intention of the recent revisions to the law were as much 
to ensure that legitimate asylum seekers received the 
attention and care they needed as to shut down an easy route 
for illegal smuggling and trafficking. 
 
------------------------------------ 
They are not "Erased," just Inactive 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) When asked about the latest legislative proposals on 
the "erased," Mate explained a bit of the history which had 
brought Slovenia to the current situation.  Mate said that, 
in fact, noone had ever been removed or "erased" from any 
list, rather for various reasons (as explained in Ref B) some 
people never made it on to one of the "active" lists of 
either citizens or legal residents.  The GOS is very 
interested in finally resolving a problem the previous 
government never successfully addressed over the 12 years it 
was in charge.  Mate said the GOS wanted a constitutional 
solution to what had been a constitutional failure in the 
first place, and going this route would also ensure that the 
ruling would not get hung up in the interminable appeals 
process of the regular courts.  A key sticking point between 
the GOS and the opposition was how far back legal status 
should be applied retroactively.  The opposition claims that 
for all 18 thousand who missed the original deadline, status 
should be applied retroactively to 1992. The GOS wants it to 
be applied retroactively to the date on which an individual 
first applied for citizenship.  The difference in financial 
impact on the GOS would be significant. 
 
¶10. (U) An interesting side note is that Mate, himself, was 
born by chance in Croatia.  His parents, Slovenes, were on 
their way to visiting relatives in Croatia when Mate's mother 
unexpectedly went into labor.  In 1992, when Mate was working 
at the Ministry of Defense, one of his colleagues pointed out 
to him that he needed to secure his citizenship, which he 
did. 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
Hoehn-Saric Denationalization Case 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) COM had sent a letter to Minister Mate on February 
6 requesting expeditious resolution of a denationalization 
case involving elderly Amcit Rudolf Hoehn-Saric.  The case 
has been pending since 1991 and hinges on whether Hoehn-Saric 
is considered to have been a Slovene citizen at the time the 
property was expropriated by the state in 1948, and if so, 
whether he was considered to be a minor.  This case is 
particularly sensitive because it involves extensive property 
which contains the source of Slovenia's best known mineral 
drinking water which the Hoehn-Saric family had bottled, and 
there is now also a popular and profitable thermal spa.  Mate 
apologized that he had not gotten back to the Ambassador, and 
that, in fact an answer was on his desk and had been for two 
weeks.  He was delaying that response because he was drafting 
new instructions for those within the ministry to use when 
considering this case.  He hoped these new instructions would 
solve the case once and for all.  Mate was not forthcoming 
with details of those instructions, and the Ambassador still 
has not received a reply to his February letter. Mate also 
noted that of the 215 denationalization cases involving 
questions of citizenship/nationality, only 12 remain 
unresolved. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Mate was, as usual, relaxed and open about the 
numerous issues for which he and his ministry have 
responsibility.  We should continue to encourage Mate and the 
GOS to continue with the positive work they are doing in the 
region through the Brdo Process and, bilaterally with 
Macedonia.  This is the type of positive influence Slovenia 
should be spreading as a new member of the EU and NATO and a 
former member of SFR Yugoslavia.  Mate and the GOS are 
struggling with some negative press generated, in part, by 
opposition political parties who themselves failed to resolve 
the tricky issue of the "erased." Mate's review of this 
problem and his candor about financial implications seem to 
show that the GOS is sincere in its efforts to come to a 
final resolution.  Slovenia prides itself on its human rights 
record and, in fact, is running for a seat on the UN Human 
Rights Council.  Mate's elaboration of the reasoning behind 
the recent changes in the asylum law are intended to reassure 
us that while it is now somewhat more difficult to claim 
asylum status in Slovenia, once an asylee's bona fides are 
established, he is given all the legal and social support 
available necessary to pursue his claim in Slovene courts. 
Finally, we hope that Mate is seriously considering COMs 
request for a fair, swift and final outcome on the 
Hoehn-Saric case.  However, as it involves some choice real 
estate, and now very successful businesses, there will be 
intense pressure to protect the interests of the Slovenian 
stakeholders. 
ROBERTSON