US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA511

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 000511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EB 
TRANSPORTATION FOR FLAHERTY, BHATIA 
USDOC FOR 4232/MAC/EUR/EERIS/CEEBIC/BURGESS/ROGERS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EWWT, EAIR, ELTN, ECON, PREL, PINR, SI 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: SECRETARY MINETA'S BILATERAL MEETING 
WITH TRANSPORT MINISTER PAVLIHA 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: On 25 May, U.S. Secretary of 
Transportation Norman Mineta and his visiting 
delegation called on his Slovenian counterpart, Marko 
Pavliha, to discuss the bilateral transportation agenda 
prior to the start of the European Conference of 
Ministers of Transport (ECMT) meeting held in Ljubljana 
on 26-27 May.  Secretary Mineta congratulated Pavliha 
on Slovenia's recent EU accession; provided the 
Minister with an assessment of the current U.S.-EU 
civil aviation talks; and offered technical assistance 
on projects related to the construction or upgrade of 
the two EU transportation corridors crisscrossing the 
country (Fifth and Tenth Corridors).  Pavliha expressed 
an interest in developing the right legal and business 
framework to increase freight rail usage.  A self- 
described "friend of North America" (he has family 
members residing in New Jersey, and is a graduate of 
McGill University in Montreal), Pavliha shared the 
Secretary's views on transportation security and the 
 
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need to raise road safety awareness.  He was also 
hopeful that a fair and satisfactory U.S.-EU CivAir 
agreement could be reached soon.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) On 25 May, Secretary Mineta accompanied by 
Ambassador Young, DOT staff members John Flaherty, 
Karan Bhatia, and Emil Frankel, Econoff, and Econ 
Specialist called on Minister of Transport Pavliha. 
Bojan Babic, State Secretary for Aviation, Boris Zivec, 
State Secretary for Transport Policy and International 
Relations, Matjaz Vrcko, Chief of Staff, also 
participated in the meeting. 
 
BILATERAL RELATIONS 
------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) Secretary Mineta congratulated Pavliha on 
Slovenia's recent EU accession and observed that its 
hosting of the European Ministers of Transportation 
Conference was a "tribute and recognition" of 
Slovenia's role in international affairs.  Although the 
U.S. and Slovenia do not have an Open Skies Agreement, 
Secretary Mineta expressed hope that a general civil 
 
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aviation agreement between the U.S. and the EU would be 
reached soon (see paragraph 4).  Aware of Slovenia's 
transportation projects along the Fifth and Tenth 
Corridors, Mineta informed Pavliha of DOT's willingness 
and ability to provide civil aviation, road 
construction, and overall infrastructure technical 
assistance, should it be requested.  Mineta noted that 
the bilateral relationship remains strong and has been 
enhanced by Slovenia's entry into the EU. 
 
U.S.-EU CIVIL AVIATION NEGOTIATIONS 
----------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Mineta informed Pavliha about his recent 
talks on the general air services agreement with 
Commissioner Loyola de Palacio.  Hopeful that an 
agreement between the two sides may be reached by the 
end of June, Mineta told Pavliha that "we are close to 
an agreement; just working on some of the specifics." 
Having served in his new position for one month, 
Pavliha's civil aviation knowledge is limited.  He 
indicated that Slovenia has adopted all of the EU 
transportation directives and has subscribed to its 
agreements.  He also explained, unequivocally, that 
Slovenia would like to play an active role in preparing 
new civil aviation agreements.  "We are interested in 
cooperating, and in finding a common ground to enhance 
and to improve civil aviation services throughout 
Europe," Pavliha commented.   Bojan Babic, State 
Secretary for Civil Aviation and a 2003 civil aviation 
 
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conference participant, observed that a national civil 
aviation program will be adopted in June as part of the 
new National Transportation Policy. 
 
MARITIME, RAIL TRANSPORT 
------------------------ 
 
5.  (SBU) Secretary Mineta expressed admiration for 
Europe's comprehensive short-sea shipping networks and 
outlined his efforts to encourage the same in the U.S. 
to ease road congestion.  In response, Pavliha noted 
 
 
that Slovenia faces land congestion problems because of 
the overwhelming use of highways for cargo.  Pavliha 
praised the success of U.S. policy encouraging the use 
of rail for cargo -- an area where Europe has much work 
to do as 70 percent of cargo is transported via roads. 
As such, he was interested in learning of incentives or 
mechanisms designed to encourage rail usage instead of 
highways for cargo transport.  The delegation responded 
that the U.S. has worked diligently on developing 
comprehensive logistics hubs (port-rail-truck).  This 
is an area, however, where the private sector has been 
the catalyst in developing sustainable and effective 
strategies, and as such an area where the GoS could 
provide incentives for private industry to do the same. 
 
ROAD SAFETY 
----------- 
 
6.  (U) Pavliha agreed with Mineta's statement that the 
international community must coordinate and increase 
its efforts to reduce the number of road traffic 
fatalities.  Pavliha explained that several years ago 
Slovenia instituted a road safety program similar to 
the American National Highway Traffic program.  Since 
then, annual road fatalities in Slovenia have been 
reduced from 300 to 150 victims per one million people. 
The use of alcohol, excessive speed, and inexperienced 
drivers were identified as the primary causes for 
traffic road fatalities in Slovenia.  Convinced that 
education is the best weapon to decrease road related 
accidents and deaths, Pavliha was interested in 
developing a program similar to the four E's Program 
described by Secretary Mineta (education of the driver, 
engineering of the roads, effective automobiles, and 
enforcement of the laws) "I am a strong believer in 
education; reactive enforcement is less effective," 
indicated Pavliha. 
 
PRIVATIZATION 
------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Addressing Mineta's inquiry on possible 
privatization schemes with respect to the seaport (Port 
of Koper) as well as the Ljubljana International 
Airport (Brnik) and the regional airport at Maribor, 
Pavliha stated the GoS has not yet made a decision on 
privatization.  He added, however, that outright 
privatization was unlikely as the GoS will remain the 
ports' majority owner.  There is an interest in 
exploring possibilities for public-private partnerships 
through concessions.  "I think we could explore the 
possibility of concessions in the future," Pavliha 
commented. 
 
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) The ECMT was held in Ljubljana on 26 and 27 of 
May.  Thirty-one ministers, along with senior 
representatives from all ECMT members, associate and 
observer countries attended the event.  The conference 
focused on transport infrastructure planning; fee 
collecting systems; transportation safety; elimination 
of obstacles at border crossings; and distribution of 
transport permits or "multilateral quotas."  The 
ministers revised the 2002 Bucharest Declaration, 
approving a number of recommendations on container 
safety regulations. 
 
9.  (U) Secretary Mineta held bilateral meetings with 
Mexican Secretary of Communications Pedro Cerisola; 
Dutch Minister of Transport, Public Works, and Water 
Management Karla Peijs; Irish Minister of Transport 
Seamus Brennan; and Hungarian Minister of Transport 
Istvan Csillag. 
 
10. (U) Secretary Mineta's party did not have an 
opportunity to clear this cable before departure. 
 
YOUNG 
 
 
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