US embassy cable - 05LJUBLJANA67

C O N F I D E N T I A L  LJUBLJANA 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, INL/C/CP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KCOR, PINR, SI 
SUBJECT: COM CALLS ON DIRECTOR OF SLOVENIA'S CORRUPTION 
PREVENTION OFFICE, DRAGO KOS 
 
REF: 04 LJUBLJANA 754 
 
Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  In a January 27 courtesy call, COM met with 
Drago Kos, the head of Slovenia's newly independent 
Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, (CPC).  Kos 
explained the CPC was established as an independent 
Commission to address the issue of preventingcorruption.  It 
has no investigative or prosecutrial powers. Despite some 
recent successes, Kos eared the CPC would be unable to 
fulfill its manate due to lack of resources.  Kos also 
suggestedthat the very survival of the Commission was at 
isk under the new government. Prime Minister JanezJansa has 
stated publicly that he wants a corrupion commission with 
"teeth" and the current CPC oes not fit his vision.  COM 
commended Kos for hi efforts saying that fighting corruption 
was no asy task and assured him that the USG supported th 
work of the Commission.  Kos asked whether COM ould publicly 
demonstrate his support for the CP by signing an MOU on 
behalf of the U.S. Office o Government Ethics (OGE) which 
has cooperated exensively with the CPC.  COM took on board 
the ida of concluding an MOU, but believes that the issu of 
the CPC's future must be settled first. End ummary. 
 
2.  (U) On January 27, COM, accompanied y Pol/Econ Chief and 
Public Diplomacy Officer, mt with CPC Director Drago Kos and 
CPC Commissionr Bojan Dobovsek.  Kos briefly explained the 
wor of the Commission and emphasized that its focus ws on 
prevention rather than prosecution.  (NOTE: See Reftel for 
background on Commission. END NOTE)  According to Kos, the 
CPC seeks to prevent corruption by establishing regulations 
to prevent conflicts of interest in the public 
administration; developing "integrity plans" (codes of 
conduct) for public institutions; drafting appropriate 
legislation to prevent corruption in the legislature, public 
administration, judiciary, media, civil society, and 
corporate sector; educating the public about corruption.  Kos 
also emphasized that the CPC does not/not have investigative 
or prosecutorial powers. 
 
3.  (U) As an example of the Commission's preventive mandate, 
Kos said the CPC had recently designed, and parliament had 
ratified, a new financial disclosure form for all 
parliamentarians, mayors, municipal council members, 
ministers, and state secretaries (deputy secretary 
equivalents).  The law on financial disclosure, which was 
confirmed by parliament on December 20, 2004, mandates that 
the forms be updated annually and that tax returns, including 
those of immediate family members, be appended.  Kos said the 
CPC had distributed around 5,000 disclosure forms. 
Individuals who are required to complete these forms must do 
so within 60 days or their salaries will be reduced by 10 
percent for each month of tardiness. 
 
----------------------- 
WILL CPC BE DISMANTLED? 
----------------------- 
 
4.   (C) Kos told us he was worried the Commission would be 
unable to fulfill its mandate because the new government was 
making statements indicating it would seek to "dismantle" the 
CPC.  Kos told us the coalition agreement signed by the 
members of the current government specifically mentioned that 
"public institutions without powers will be dismantled."  Kos 
said he feared the CPC would be considered a "powerless" 
institution because it lacked prosecutorial and investigative 
powers.  He also said that Jansa, Minister of Public 
Administration Gregor Virant, and numerous other members of 
the government coalition had supported the December 2003 Law 
on the Prevention of Corruption that established the 
Commission, but that now "times have changed."  Kos said he 
had met several times with Virant, and that he had confirmed 
the CPC was under serious scrutiny and might be abolished. 
Kos intimated that the government might do away with the CPC 
either by passing a new law that would establish a parallel 
structure, or by simply depriving the Commission of the 
resources it needs to fulfill its mandate. 
 
5.  (U) Asked by COM about the status of Slovenia's 
ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption, Kos 
responded that he believed there was support for it in the 
new government but that a lack of personnel at the Ministry 
of Justice had slowed the preparation of documents. 
Nevertheless, he thought it was still a high priority at the 
Ministry of Justice. 
 
6. (C)  COM expressed support for the work of the Commission 
and commended Kos for taking on the difficult task of 
 
 
fighting corruption in a small country where "everyone knows 
everyone." Kos asked COM whether he would be willing to 
publicly support the Commission by signing an MOU with the 
CPC on behalf of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.  Kos 
told us that the Commission had benefited greatly from its 
cooperation with OGE and that the public signing of an MOU 
would send a strong signal of support for the CPC.  COM 
replied that he would consider the request. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
7.  (C) Throughout the meeting, Kos was very careful to skirt 
an important fact associated with his current conflict with 
the government: namely, the deep personal enmity that exists 
between him and Prime Minister Janez Jansa (see reftel). 
This enmity harkens back to Kos's investigation of the 
Ministry of Defense and its involvement in illicit arms 
trafficking in the early 1990s when Jansa was Defense 
Minister.  The investigation 
ultimately forced Jansa to resign as Minister of Defense 
though he was not implicated personally in the wrong-doing. 
In turn, Jansa accused Kos of being unfit to serve in his 
current position and made public statements to that effect 
during Kos's parliamentary confirmation hearing in April of 
2004.  Although Kos has a solid reputation for seeking out 
corruption wherever it lies, he is clearly viewed by PM Jansa 
with great suspicion, not only for his past actions but also 
as a strong supporter of his political arch-rival, former 
President Milan Kucan. 
 
8.  (C)  Subsequent to the meeting with Kos, COM had an 
opportunity to raise this issue directly with the Prime 
Minister during an unrelated phone call.  Jansa admitted "we 
have some troubles with the Commission."  COM pushed back by 
underscoring the importance of corruption prevention as well 
as prosecution, emphasizing the progress Slovenia has made in 
this area and noting previous USG support for the work of the 
Commission.  Jansa replied, however, that  "Slovenia may have 
to go about handling it differently."  Because of deep seated 
animosity, we suspect, rooted in events over a decade old (as 
described above), Janez Jansa appears to be working to 
maneuver Kos out of a job.  Unfortunately, the only way for 
Jansa to legally remove Kos requires a change of law that 
would, in turn, involve dismantling the Commission 
altogether.  Given the deeply personal nature of this 
conflict, and the very good relations the Embassy has with 
both parties, Post will look for ways to support the work of 
the Commission and its mandate without inserting itself 
publicly into this dispute. Post believes that signing the 
MOU should be delayed in the immediate future until we have a 
better sennse of what the fate of the current Commission may 
be. 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
NNNN 

 2005LJUBLJ00067 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL 


 
v1.6.2