US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA1107

C O N F I D E N T I A L  LJUBLJANA 001107 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RPM AND EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, SI, OSCE, RU 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: FOMIN RUPEL AND USOSCE AMB MINIKES 
DISCUSS OSCE PRIORITIES 
 
 
Classified By: Chief of Mission Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4(b) 
and (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In a 10 December meeting with COM and 
USOSCE Ambassador Stephan Minikes, FoMin Rupel set out 
Slovenian priorities for its OSCE CiO year, indicating a 
special interest in dealing with issues in Southeastern 
Europe.  Discussion focused on Ukraine and on the need to 
engage the Russians in order to avoid a train wreck within 
the OSCE on its core values and activities.  Minikes urged 
Rupel to play a strong leadership role as CiO.  He suggested 
active early engagement on the Eminent Persons initiative and 
later told MFA OSCE Task Force Head Aleksander Gerzina that 
the U.S. would inform the Slovenes soon of possible U.S. 
candidates.  Minikes told Rupel the U.S. would not support 
the candidacy of either the Swiss or Albanian SecGen 
candidates if the French could not get consensus on their 
candidate, whom the U.S. supports.  Gerzina later replied 
that Slovenia would begin a new search for a SecGen in 
January if no resolution was found in the next few weeks. 
Rupel made a plug for an early visit by PM Janez Jansa to 
Washington, in addition to a visit Rupel would like to make 
by February to see the Secretary.  On scales of contribution, 
Minikes told Rupel the Russian proposal was unacceptable, 
telling Gerzina later that the U.S. could live with Canadian 
or Bulgarian proposals.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) On 10 December, COM and USOSCE Ambassador Stephan 
Minikes met with Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel to discuss 
the OSCE Ministerial in Sofia and Slovenia's priorities for 
its OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office (CiO) in 2005.  Rupel was 
accompanied by MFA OSCE Task Force Director Aleksander 
Gerzina, Task Force Members Simona Leskovar and Rok Srakar, 
Rupel's Chef de Cabinet Matej Marn and staffer Masa Siftar. 
COM and Minikes were accompanied by EUR/RPM OSCE Coordinator 
Greta Holtz and Pol-Miloff.  Originally scheduled as a 20 
minute courtesy call, the meeting lasted approximately 75 
minutes as Rupel and Minikes engaged in a lively exchange of 
views.  Minikes later met for a two-hour-plus working lunch 
with Gerzina and eight members of the MFA OSCE Task Force. 
Holtz, Pol/Econ Chief and Pol-Miloff accompanied Minikes to 
the working lunch. 
 
RUPEL: "PREPARED TO LEAD WITH UTMOST SERIOUSNESS" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3.  (C) Stressing the "utmost seriousness" with which 
Slovenia intends to lead the OSCE, Rupel described "four 
clusters of problems" the Slovenes saw as priorities: 
Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Southeastern 
Europe (SEE).  Rupel said Slovenia was "most interested in 
dealing with problems in the vicinity," i.e. SEE, in 
particular Kosovo.  Nonetheless, he noted that other 
high-profile issues such as Ukraine would present challenges 
as well. 
 
4.  (C) Rupel contrasted the relative success at NATO on 
issues including communique language on Ukraine with the 
"unfortunate confrontation" with the Russians at the OSCE 
Ministerial on many issues, especially Ukraine.  Quoting 
Russian FoMin Lavrov as saying, "at NATO we can reach 
compromise and consensus, but at OSCE we cannot," Rupel 
pledged to try to correct the problem.  He said Russian 
Deputy FoMin Chizhov would visit Ljubljana in early January, 
and Rupel will travel to Moscow in February.  Clearly stating 
that the problems in Sofia were "Russia's fault," Rupel 
characterized relations with the Russians as "good compared 
to the past."  He said he intended to "work with them as much 
as possible without sacrificing the principles of the OSCE, 
NATO and the EU."  Rupel concluded that he wished to improve 
the way decisions were reached within the OSCE and break a 
"bad tradition" of starting negotiations too late for the 
next OSCE ministerial declaration. 
 
MINIKES: ENGAGING THE RUSSIANS 
------------------------------ 
 
5.  (C) Minikes agreed with Rupel's approach and told Rupel 
that the NATO declaration was a "piece of cake" compared to 
what the OSCE had tried to accomplish in Sofia.  Minikes 
offered Rupel the full support of the U.S., saying "almost 
everyone would like you to succeed, but their (the Russians') 
definition of success may be different than ours."  Rupel 
replied, "they've come a long way," prompting Minikes to 
remind him to "look at what they do and not at what they 
say."  Minikes told Rupel he was pleased with Rupel's 
 
 
emphasis on "starting early" and keeping the end goal in 
sight. 
 
ASSESSING THE RUSSIANS 
---------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Rupel characterized his interactions with the Russian 
delegation at Sofia.  Despite a history of earlier 
interactions with former FoMin Ivanov, whom he called "more 
accessible and less dogmatic," Rupel said that "with Lavrov 
(in Sofia) it was all formulae."  Rupel had "some 
reservations" about Lavrov.  He expressed frustration with 
Chizhov, who had shown "a lot of bonhomie" when working for 
Ivanov but who had become more like Lavrov, "just a little 
worse" in Sofia.  Minikes said that identifying an 
interlocutor among the Russians was problematic, given that 
Borodavkin was "on a short leash" and Azimov had "little 
imagination."  Nonetheless, he praised Alexander Grushko as 
being very capable, to which Rupel agreed. 
 
THE TOLERANCE AGENDA/EMINENT PERSONS 
------------------------------------ 
 
7.  (C) Minikes complimented Rupel's remarks at the Sofia 
ministerial, in particular on the need for OSCE to engage not 
just "east of Vienna."  Rupel replied that this remark was a 
concession to the CIS and a reaction to the Astana statement. 
 Minikes also urged Rupel to focus on the Eminent Persons 
initiative.  At the working lunch, Minikes told Gerzina the 
U.S. would explore U.S. candidates for the panel and forward 
names to Rupel.  He urged Slovenia to be aggressive in its 
pursuit of a qualified panel, stressing that simply sending 
out a letter to OSCE Ambassadors would not suffice.  The 
panel should focus not on how the OSCE should do its job, 
Minikes further stressed, but where and what the OSCE's job 
should be.  OSCE needed to find its "copetitive advantage," 
and the panel could help dothis. 
 
OSCE: THE "HALFWAY HOUSE" ON THE ROAD TO DMOCRACY 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
8.  (C) Ruminating on the role of theOSCE in contrast o 
NATO and the EU, Rupel descrbed the OSCE as the "halfway 
house" for countrie making the transition to western-style 
democracis.  The OSCE must try to "seduce these countries" 
without shared NATO and EU values into democracy,he said. 
Rupel invoked his background as a socioogist as he described 
the importance of promoting universal or European standards 
over local standards on human rights and democratization.  He 
stressed that local standards cannot be allowed to prevail 
"when human rights and human lives are in question."  Minikes 
urged Rupel to engage in such a conversation with Lavrov; 
however, Rupel replied, "he's tougher than that."  Minikes 
then drove home the importance of engaging the Russians early 
and often. 
 
DEEPENING THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP: JANSA TO WASHINGTON? 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
9.  (C) In response to Minikes's suggestion that Rupel visit 
the Secretary no later than February, Rupel said he would be 
very eager to pay such a visit, but his priority was to 
arrange for PM Jansa to visit Washington.  Rupel said the GoS 
wants to "re-establish the good relations... the deeply 
friendly relations" that it had with Washington in the past. 
Rupel said relations with the U.S. had "not been spoiled, but 
dented" in the last couple years. 
 
SECRETARY GENERAL: STARTING THE SEARCH ANEW? 
 
SIPDIS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
10.  (C) Minikes told Rupel that the U.S. would not support 
the nomination of Stoudemann for OSCE SecGen, saying "we are 
solidly behind de Brichambaud."  Rupel asked if the U.S. 
position was negotiable, and Minikes answered, "No."  Minikes 
said that, at this point, Chirac would need to call Putin if 
the nomination was to be pushed forward.  Rupel noted that 
Lavrov had said Russia would not support an EU candidate for 
SecGen.  Minikes countered that a Chirac-Putin phone call 
could "go a long way."  Later at the working lunch, Gerzina 
told Minikes that Slovenia would be prepared to start a new 
search for a SecGen soon after 01 January if there was no 
compromise in the next few weeks.  Gerzina said that support 
for the Albanian candidate was growing within SEE but that 
Chizhov had told him the Russians considered Stoudemann to be 
the best choice.  Minikes urged the Slovenes to stay in close 
 
 
touch with the French Ambassador to the OSCE, saying "give 
this (the French candidate) a chance." 
 
SCALES OF CONTRIBUTION 
---------------------- 
 
11.  (C) Rupel straightforwardly asked Minikes, "what should 
we do about (scales of contribution)?"  Minikes called the 
Russian solution "patently ridiculous" and said it would skew 
the political dynamics of the OSCE to have the U.S. or any 
one country contributing such a high percentage of the 
budget.  Later at the working lunch, Minikes told 
participants that the U.S. could live with either a recent 
Canadian proposal or either of the two Bulgarian proposals, 
provided there was no "linkage" by the Russians on other 
issues.  When Gerzina said linkage seemed to be on the 
Russian agenda, Minikes urged the GoS to prevail upon its 
colleagues within the EU to help "surround Russia" by upping 
their contributions slightly. 
 
MINIKES: THE NEED FOR SLOVENIAN LEADERSHIP 
------------------------------------------ 
 
12.  (C) Minikes concluded the meeting by urging Rupel to 
exercise strong leadership in his role as OSCE Chairman.  He 
suggested arranging for an early visit to Moldova and 
Georgia, along with the assignment of a special 
representative to handle the frozen conflicts in the 
Caucasus.  Suggesting the importance to Rupel of doing 
"important things," Minikes said the OSCE role in Afghanistan 
was important, the OSCE's current role in Ukraine is 
important and that a role for the OSCE in Iraq and Palestine 
will be important, as well.  Rupel said that Iraq was "not in 
the center" of Slovenia's agenda for the OSCE, but that 
Palestine was a necessary part of OSCE's engagement.  When 
Minikes pointed out that the Iraqi Central Election 
Commission had invited the OSCE to contribute by sending 
election monitors, Rupel said he had received conflicting 
information about the OSCE in Iraq from the UN.  Minikes 
handed over a copy of the invitation letter from the Iraqi 
Election Commission and urged engagement. 
 
WORKING LUNCH: CONTINUED EMPHASIS ON ENGAGING RUSSIA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
13.  (C) Engagement with Russia remained the central theme at 
the working lunch with nine of the MFA's twelve OSCE Task 
Force members.  Gerzina stressed that Slovenia is "talking to 
Russia all the time in a permanent dialogue."  He agreed with 
Minikes that Russia should not be allowed to go "forum 
shopping" among the OSCE, NATO and the EU.  Following his 
earlier meeting, Minikes said Rupel is "clearly an 
intelligent man with ideas" and underscored the USG's pledge 
to "work hard to make sure (Slovenia) is never surprised" 
during its OSCE Chairmanship.  Minikes concluded the meeting 
by touching in brief detail on the range of USG positions on 
virtually all open OSCE issues.  The OSCE Task Force members 
were very appreciative of his time and clearly welcomed his 
input. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
14.  (C) Rupel was very engaged and well briefed in his 
meeting with Minikes, which lasted nearly an hour longer than 
the scheduled 20 minutes.  During the meeting Rupel clearly 
demonstrated his willingness to seek out and listen to U.S. 
advice on matters of importance within the OSCE.  This stance 
is yet another example of the new Jansa-led GoS desire to 
"deepen" relations with the U.S., a phrase that is quickly 
becoming the standard opening line as COM calls on the newly 
confirmed cabinet ministers.  While Rupel and Gerzina 
professed to agree with Minikes's views on engaging the 
Russians, we think that hearing the message directly from 
Amb. Minikes in the lead up to the Slovenian Chairmanship 
will help buttress the Slovenes' resolve.  Rupel will try to 
deal with the Russians diplomatically.  His comments to COM 
and Minikes show that he knows what kind of leadership will 
be required, though, for the Slovenes to make the most of 
what may be a contentious year within the OSCE.  He and his 
team also made it clear that the support of the U.S. within 
the OSCE will be extremely important to the GoS as CiO.  END 
COMMENT 
 
15.  (U) EUR/RPM OSCE Coordinator Greta Holtz cleared this 
cable.  Amb. Minikes did not have an opportunity to clear 
 
 
this cable before his departure from Ljubljana. 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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