US embassy cable - 05LJUBLJANA80

C O N F I D E N T I A L  LJUBLJANA 000080 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SI 
SUBJECT: COM MEETS WITH FORMER SLOVENE PM ANTON ROP 
 
Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C)  Summary.  In his first meeting with COM, former PM 
Anton Rop was forthcoming on his views for the future of his 
party, the challenges faced by the current government and 
Slovenia's close ties to Europe.  He views his new role as 
leader of the main opposition party as an opportunity to 
regroup and revitalize the party.  He plans to be a vocal 
opposition to the new center-right government, as he as 
already demonstrated on the issue of Iraq.  Rop defended his 
party's handling of privatization during its decade-plus in 
power and he envisions a Slovenian economy more closely 
modeled after Austria or Germany than the transition 
economies of Eastern Europe. Rop also indicated he would like 
to visit the U.S. this summer to talk politics and strategy 
with his counterparts in Washington.  End Summary. 
 
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CONSUMMATE POLITICIAN 
-------------------- 
 
2. (C) Ambassador hosted former PM Anton Rop, currently a 
member of parliament and President of the Liberal Democracy 
Party (LDS) for lunch February 3.  DCM and Pol/Econ Chief 
attended, however, Rop came alone.  Nearly 4 months after a 
surprisingly big loss, Rop seemed to have identified and 
acknowledged some weaknesses of his campaign. Nevertheless he 
exuded confidence (some would say arrogance), and he has 
begun the process of regrouping his party in preparation for 
upcoming key elections including those for Mayor of Ljubljana 
and President of Slovenia (2006).  Rop is cleaning house in 
the LDS, attempting to put his loyalists in positions of 
importance within the party and moving out dissenters and 
dead wood.  He said that after 12 years of continuous power, 
there were a lot of hangers on who were not really committed 
to the party, and that they needed to go. With the goal of 
reasserting LDS primacy on the national political scene, Rop 
said the party was focusing on its grass roots supporters 
across the country, and he suggested that LDS, perhaps, would 
run former Foreign Minister Vajgl as a candidate for Mayor of 
Ljubljana and even as President of the Republic in 2006, 
when, according to Rop, current President Janez Drnovsek is 
likely to decline to seek a second term. 
 
3.  (SBU)  When asked about his view on the accuracy of 
polling in Slovenia, Rop said that it was essentially 
worthless, his private polling included.  He had met with 
U.S. consultants to California Governor Schwarzenegger who 
told him the methodologies used in Slovenia were severely 
flawed, based on their investigations. As a result, Rop hired 
a French consultant to do private polling.  This information 
turned out to be equally flawed.  Rop's great regret was that 
he did not take up the offer of election planning software 
extended by Senator Tom Harkin during Rop's 2004 visit to 
Washington.  He asked if we could help him to get in touch 
with the National Democratic Institute since he would like to 
visit the U.S. mid year to talk politics and campaign 
strategy, and he would also like to provide some of his party 
members with campaign training. 
 
 
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A VOCAL OPPOSITION 
------------------ 
 
4.  (C) Saying that he saw benefits to being in opposition, 
Rop was very clear that LDS would be a vocal opposition, on 
foreign affairs as well as domestic affairs.  The Ambassador 
asked him about his recent reaction to the Jansa statement in 
Brussels which suggested Slovenia would reconsider it's 
contribution to international efforts in Iraq.  Rop's 
position was that absent French and/or German participation, 
he could see no reason for Slovenia to chart an independent 
path to putting soldiers in Iraq.  He did allow that he could 
lose the battle and Jansa, with NATO cover, could win over 
public opinion.  Jansa would have to pay a political price, 
but that is to be expected.  Rop added that he would probably 
call for an "advisory" referendum, i.e. non-binding, should 
Jansa try to take Slovenia into Iraq as part of the coalition 
with the U.S.  Should Slovene soldiers be part of a NATO 
mission in Iraq, Rop did not anticipate raising the stakes to 
the point of calling a national vote. 
 
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FURTHER PRIVATIZATION NOT NECESSARY 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  Reflecting on domestic issues, Rop presented a 
vigorous defense of the LDS' handling of privatization over 
the last decade.  Somewhat disingenuously, he told the 
 
Ambassador that privatization had been largely completed. 
(Note.  He failed to acknowledge the various indirect ways in 
which the state exerted influence on major industries, such 
as through government pension funds. End Note.)  He also made 
excuses that the picture is worse than originally planned 
because some companies that were privatized early on had 
received substantial loans from the Government, which were 
then repaid with shares of the same company.  The GOS could 
not refuse this method of repayment because allowing the 
companies to shrink or go bankrupt would only exacerbate an 
already critical unemployment situation in some parts of 
Slovenia - a result LDS (and others) found politically 
unpalatable.  Rop suggested privatization of some banks and 
other primary targets such as telecom did not occur because 
the GOS did not trust that new ownership would run the 
companies to Slovenia's advantage.  For example, Rop sees 
Slovene banks as an important inroad into the southeast 
European economies that he would not want Slovenia to lose. 
Again, he drew a comparison with France and Germany to 
justify significant state ownership of enterprises, 
suggesting if it works for them, why shouldn't it work for 
Slovenia. 
 
 
6. (SBU)  DCM asked Rop to reflect on his time on the 
international stage and which of his counterparts he most 
identified with.  Rop said he preferred the serious 
politician, such as Schuessel of Austria, Rasmussen of 
Denmark and Persson of Sweden to the "performer."  It was the 
rare politician who had both charm and brains.  Rop was very 
complimentary to both President Bush and former President 
Clinton, both of whom he had met.  Rop had very warm memories 
of his visit to the White House, with new NATO heads of 
government, with President Bush. The President's personal 
touch and private tour of the West Wing made quite a positive 
impression. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C)  Despite his defeat in national elections in Fall 
2004, Rop appears to have lost none of his political 
self-assurance.  He grew more confident as the lunch wore on, 
particularly when he discussed economic themes.  He was 
clearly proud of his accomplishments as prime minister and 
earlier as finance minister, and prior to that as 
privatization czar.  He acknowledged that, as a former PM, he 
deeply appreciates some of the challenges facing Jansa, which 
he says, makes it more difficult for him to criticize Jansa 
publicly.  Rop left no doubt that he will be vocal against 
Slovenian involvement in Iraq. He made it clear that this was 
as much because he was in oppositin now, and the Government 
would have to "pay a price" politically to implement a new 
policy on Iraq. The entire conversation drove home that 
despite defeat, Rop, at least, if not the entire LDS, 
maintains a Eurocentric view of Slovenia's place in the 
world.  The overall tone of the lunch was friendly and open. 
Rop should continue to be a good touchstone of center-left 
views in Slovenia.  He certainly seems to believe he'll be 
leading LDS for some time to come. 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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 2005LJUBLJ00080 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL 


 
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