VZCZCXRO3578
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHLJ #0122 0730708
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130708Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6533
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/IR, DRL/NESCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IR KDEM PGOV PHUM PREL SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA CONSIDERING EU PRESIDENCY STATEMENT 
CONDEMNING IRREGULARITES IN IRANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. STATE 25587 
 
     ¶B. STATE 13345 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  On March 12, Emboff met with Polonca Smole, desk 
officer for Iran at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA), to urge Slovenia, in its role as president of the 
Council of the European Union, to issue a statement after 
Iran's parliamentary elections condemning the elections for 
lacking transparency and failing to meet international 
standards.  Smole responded that Slovenia is discussing with 
its European partners the possibility of issuing a presidency 
statement that would condemn any irregularities in the 
Iranian electoral process but would wait until at least after 
the first round of elections scheduled for March 14 before 
drafting the actual text.  Smole noted that Slovenia is 
waiting for more information and expects to receive a report 
on the election process from its embassy in Tehran shortly 
after the first round of elections.  Smole said that Slovenia 
would rely heavily on the content of this report when forming 
its position, but she noted that the MFA has already observed 
some "irregularities" in the electoral process.  As for the 
timing of the EU presidency statement, Smole explained that 
Slovenia is deliberating whether to issue it after the first 
round of elections or to wait until after the second round 
scheduled for March 28.  Smole acknowledged our message that 
Slovenia display strong leadership on the issue in its 
capacity as EU president and said that she would relay the 
message to the appropriate officials at the MFA. 
COLEMAN