US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA884

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 000884 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/NCE TRIM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PBTS, HR, SI 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: ELECTIONEERING TACTICS CREATE 
INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT 
 
REF: LJUBLJANA 758 
 
1. (U)  Summary:  Slovenia's newswires have been alight since 
the arrest and detention of Janez Podobnik, president of the 
right-leaning Slovene Peoples Party (SLS), and 11 other 
members of the party, by Croatian authorities in a disputed 
border region, 22 September.  With elections in just over two 
weeks, no member of ruling left-of-center Liberal Democracy 
Party (LDS) or any other serious parliamentary contender 
could remain silent and allow cooler heads to prevail. Late 
Thursday, the GoS cabinet decided it would withdraw any 
further support for Croatia's EU accession.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U)  As Embassy has been able to piece together from news 
and other sources, SLS president Janez Podobnik and  eleven 
of his party members were taken into custody by Croatian 
authorities on Wednesday evening.  According to press 
reports, they had been departing the residence of Josko 
Joras, generally the center of attention on this particular 
border dispute, where they had planted a linden tree.  Joras' 
property is in an area that is part of the border and 
maritime boundary dispute between Croatia and Slovenia.  He 
has constructed a gravel road from his home to undisputed 
Slovene territory in order to avoid using the Croatian border 
crossing.  It is on this road that Podobnik and others were 
asked for their documents by Croatian authorities. 
Apparently they refused to show ID, claiming they were on 
Slovene territory.  Interestingly, Joras, who is running for 
parliament on the SLS ticket, and who has been arrested 
several times on grounds of similar border violations, was 
not taken into custody this time. 
 
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ALL SPUN UP 
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3. (U) In order to maintain patriotic credibility among the 
voters, members of all political parties have been compelled 
to make vociferous statements of outrage and dismay over the 
incident, even if better judgment would dictate otherwise. 
Prime Minister Anton Rop has called the incident 
"unacceptable," and "un-European," and he has publicly 
questioned Slovenia's ability to support Croatian accession 
to the EU. Rop recalled his Ambassador to Zagreb for 
consultations.  Croatia's ambassador, Mario Nobilo, was also 
invited in for a meeting.  Slovenian authorities have been 
ordered to prepare criminal complaints against the Croatian 
police and Rop is also threatening a complaint against the 
government of Croatia.  In addition, opposition parties have 
demanded a special session of parliament to discuss this and 
other border incidents. 
 
4. (U) The Government of Slovenia has also moved to involve 
European authorities in the incident.  Foreign Minister Ivo 
Vajgl, who termed the incident as "inadmissible," returned 
early from UNGA to attend aspecial cabinet session on 
Thursday.  Before departing New York, he raised the issue 
with Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for the 
common foreign and security policy, who, according to Vajgl, 
assured that he would talk with Croatian authorities. 
Slovenia's Ambassador to the EU, Ciril Stokelj, has informed 
the European Commission of the incident and plans to raise it 
in the EU Council as well. 
 
5.  (U) Late Thursday, the GoS cabinet adopted the position 
that the actions of the Croatian police make it impossible 
for Slovenia to further support Croatia's entry into the EU. 
 
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STOP, AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH 
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6. (U)  Can cooler heads prevail in this situation?  Some are 
trying.  The EU Ambassador to Slovenia, Erwan Fouere has said 
the "first plea would be one of taking a step back and trying 
to avoid any escalation of the matter."  Fouere says the 
European Commission is awaiting a full report on the incident 
and that "as with all these situations, there seem to be two 
versions."  In response to PM Rop's threat to withdraw 
Slovenia's support for Croatia's EU membership, Fouere said 
that all acknowledge the long-term goal of bringing Croatia 
and other Southeastern European countries into the EU fold - 
"the quicker we can do that, the quicker we can avoid such 
potential situations." 
 
 
7. (U)  Several Slovene voices have also piped up to try to 
turn down the heat on this incident.  In Brussels, Borut 
Pahor, president of the junior ruling coalition member United 
List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) and member of European 
Parliament has said that "we must act prudently so as not to 
lose credibility and give the appearance in the EU that we 
are using tense bilateral relations as an excuse to block 
Croatia's bid to join the EU."  He continued that while 
Slovenia had a legitimate right to highlight "un-European" 
actions of Croatia, it is also of the "opinion that bilateral 
issues should not figure in decisions on whether to accept 
new EU candidates." 
 
8. (U)  Bojko Bucar, a foreign relations lecturer at the 
University of Ljubljana commented that temporary withdrawal 
for Croatia's EU accession "was not the right thing to do." 
Bucar also pointed out that Wednesday's event was neither 
unique nor unprecedented in cross-border relations, simply, 
it is the one that has created the greatest stir.  The head 
of the Slovene Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business 
organization that all Slovene companies are compelled to 
join, said he was "troubled" by the incident on the border, 
and he warned politicians not to undermine the good business 
relations enjoyed by the two sides. 
 
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COMMENT 
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9. (SBU)  Post has characterized past border incidents as 
minor irritants in an otherwise good, if not warm, bilateral 
relationship.  What is different this time is that it has 
happened just before what promise to be very close elections, 
and a high-profile member of Parliament was involved.  This 
was a blatant political stunt by the SLS.  They certainly 
knew what the outcome would be and cannot deny their role as 
provocateur.  However, as planned, it is likely to gain them 
votes in two weeks.  There was no other realistic response 
that any other party could have offered but outrage without 
certain disaster at the polls.  Despite the position taken by 
the government today, the LDS ruling party may still suffer a 
little as a result of this incident.  In the past, the GoS 
has not gotten involved when Joras has been arrested - at 
least several times a year.  There are also reports that the 
GoS did not respond to requests for assistance until the 
incident made radio and television news that evening.  Now 
everyone is making hay. 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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