US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA324

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000324 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, SOCI, SI, OSCE 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: FOMIN TO ATTEND BERLIN ANTI-SEMITISM 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 78071 
 
     B. SECSTATE 81476 

1.  (U) POL/ECON CHIEF AND POL-MILOFF DELIVERED REFTEL 
TALKING POINTS AND DELEGATION LIST ON 15 APRIL TO MFA OSCE 
TASK FORCE MEMBERS URSKA AJDISEK AND KATARINA GRADIC, BOTH OF 
WHOM WORK ON HUMAN DIMENSION ISSUES.  AJDISEK SAID THAT FOMIN 
DMITRIJ RUPEL AND AT LEAST TWO OF HIS KEY STAFFERS, INCLUDING 
HIS CHIEF OF STAFF SANJA STIGLIC, WOULD ATTEND THE 
CONFERENCE.  SHE ADDED THAT, WHILE NOT YET CONFIRMED, RUPEL 
PLANS TO DELIVER A SPEECH DURING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE 
CONFERENCE.  DR. HANNAH STARMAN, ONE OF SLOVENIA'S FOREMOST 
EXPERTS ON ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE 
INSTITUTE FOR HEBREW AND JEWISH STUDIES AT A PRIVATELY-FUNDED 
GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR THE HUMANITIES IN LJUBLJANA, WILL BE 
INCLUDED AS A PUBLIC MEMBER OF THE SLOVENIAN DELEGATION.  IN 
ADDITION TO RUPEL, HIS STAFF, AND STARMAN, THE SLOVENIAN 
DELEGATION WILL INCLUDE THE SLOVENIAN AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY, 
SIMONA DRENIK FROM THE SLOVENIAN MISSION TO THE OSCE, AND 
GRADIC. 
 
2.  (U) AJDISEK SAID THAT THE MFA HAD BEEN INFORMED THAT 
FOMINS FROM IRELAND, LUXEMBOURG, CZECH REPUBLIC AND GERMANY 
WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE CONFERENCE.  WHILE NOT NECESSARILY 
FROM THE RESPECTIVE FOREIGN MINISTRIES, SHE SAID THAT 
MINISTER-LEVEL REPRESENTATION FROM SWEDEN, LATVIA, FINLAND 
AND THE UK IS FORESEEN, AND THAT DENMARK AND POLAND WILL SEND 
REPRESENTATIVES AT THE STATE SECRETARY LEVEL. 
 
3.  (SBU) COMMENT:  BY INCLUDING STARMAN, IT APPEARS THAT THE 
GOS IS FINALLY RESPONDING TO THE POSITIVE EXAMPLE SET BY THE 
U.S. OF INCLUDING NON-GOVERNMENTAL EXPERTS IN DELEGATIONS TO 
SUCH CONFERENCES.  THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE ARE AWARE 
    OF A WILLINGNESS BY THE GOS TO REACH BEYOND THE CONFINES OF 
THEIR MINISTRIES TO PUT TOGETHER THE MOST EFFECTIVE 
DELEGATION POSSIBLE.  WE HOPE IT MARKS THE BEGINNING OF A 
TREND THAT WILL CONTINUE AS THEY INTENSIFY OSCE-RELATED 
ACTIVITIES IN PREPARATION FOR THEIR CHAIRMANSHIP-IN-OFFICE IN 
2005 AND BEYOND.  END COMMENT 
YOUNG 
 
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