US embassy cable - 05LJUBLJANA187

C O N F I D E N T I A L  LJUBLJANA 000187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SI 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT DRNOVSEK LUNCHES WITH COM, 
EMPHASIZES GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH PM JANSA 
 
REF: 04 LJUBLJANA 420 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C)  SUMMARY. At lunch 21 March with President Drnovsek, 
COM discussed Embassy security, got Drnvosek's positive 
assessment of the first 100 days of the Jansa government, and 
heard that PM Jansa and Drnovsek are meeting weekly. 
Drnovsek encouraged more U.S. work on global environmental 
protection, said he felt Jansa would pay a political price if 
he chooses to send Slovenes into Iraq, reflected on the deep 
post-WWII divisions that still plague older generations of 
Slovenes, and joined in expressing disappointment in the 
quality of the Slovene media.  Drnovsek made several negative 
remarks about former PM and protege Rop and former President 
Kucan.  Drnovsek expects to meet Croatian President Mesic "at 
the border" on 24 March.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) COM and DCM lunched at Brdo Castle 21 March with 
Slovene President Janez Drnovsek and the Secretary General of 
his Cabinet, Matjaz Nahtigal.  This was the Ambassador's 
first extended private meeting with Drnovsek since his 
credentials presentation in September 2004.  Drnovsek looked 
healthy, and engaged in a very wide ranging discussion that 
touched a number of global foreign policy issues as well as 
our bilateral relationship with Slovenia, the Slovene media, 
post-WWII reconciliation, and the new Jansa government. 
Drnovsek sprinkled his comments with negative references to 
former President Milan Kucan and former Prime Minister Tone 
Rop. 
 
Embassy Security and the Portals 
-------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Right off the top, responding to Drnovsek's question 
about his impressions from his first six months in Slovenia, 
COM made mention, among the many positive impressions he has, 
of the difficulty in this small capital to get closure on 
some bilateral issues.  Specifically he mentioned to Drnovsek 
the ongoing issue of the security of our chancery and our 
long-standing request to close the small side street next to 
it.  Drnovsek acknowledged the dangers of terrorism, 
especially in places like Slovenia which are soft targets and 
said he recognized the difficulties in getting Slovenians to 
take the threat seriously.  COM also mentioned our current 
frustrations in trying to work out an implementing agreement 
between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Slovene 
Ministry of Finance in order to install radiation detection 
portals on Slovene borders.  The latest "catch" in this 
effort is resistance on the part of the EC to accept language 
agreed to by Slovenia and the U.S. While we didn't expect 
Drnovsek to have specific answers to these issues, Nahtigal 
wrote down the concerns and -- we assume -- will relay the 
fact that they were mentioned to the Prime Minister's office 
and the MFA. 
 
The Jansa Government 
-------------------- 
 
4.  (C)  Drnovsek believes PM Janez Jansa is doing a "good" 
job and that the first 100 days of the new administration 
went well.  He seems pleased with the level of cooperation he 
and Jansa enjoy.  Drnovsek said he and Jansa meet once a week 
and that it is a "paradox" that they have closer cooperation 
than Drnovsek enjoyed with his (hand-picked) successor and 
now LDS opposition leader, Tone Rop.  Drnovsek still bears 
scars from his difficult handover to Rop, calling him "not a 
patient man."  (The taciturn Drnovsek is a model of 
patience.)  He criticized Rop for being too weak so far in 
opposition saying that Jansa was much tougher in the role 
(note: when Drnovsek was PM!) than LDS has been to this 
point.  (In fairness to the opposition, a 100-day "honeymoon 
period" traditionally given for a new Government to get 
itself together with limited media and political criticism 
has just ended.)  When asked by the COM about a possible 
future SDS/LDS "grand" coalition, Drnovsek did not discount 
this scenario but also stressed that such a option would have 
been much more likely if he had not given up the PM's job and 
stepped down from the LDS leadership.  "A grand coalition 
would be impossible with Rop."  Drnovsek, who is an economist 
by training, expressed some reservations about the way the 
new center-right government is handling the economy.  On the 
subject of privatization, one of the Jansa's government big 
objectives, Drnovsek said it was a "big challenge," but he 
hoped for "gradual" changes that "make sense in the market." 
 
 
Societal Divisions from WWII 
---------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  COM asked Drnovsek about his thoughts on the 
sensitive subject of the societal divisions he still senses 
between the survivors of the old partisans and "domobranci" 
(home guard) of WWII.  Drnovsek agreed that these divisions 
remain and suggested they are actually even deeper than they 
might appear.  For the older generation, they are, in 
Drnovsek's view, too sensitive to touch or resolve.  He sees 
no leaders in that generation willing to take the lead on the 
discussion, admit excesses, seek forgiveness, or reach 
reconciliation.  "(Former President Milan) Kucan could have 
done something, but he didn't."  Drnovsek cited a specific 
case of a prominent family in which brothers still don't 
speak due to WWII differences.  It is hard to expect societal 
reconciliation if families still can't reconcile, Drnovsek 
said. 
 
Media 
----- 
 
6. (C)  Every decent lunch in Slovenia includes two things: 
good domestic wine and conversation about the shortcomings of 
the Slovene media.   After the Ambassador described his 
concern that the Slovene media (all major dailies are 
center-left) were "unbalanced,"  Drnovsek agreed and 
confirmed his own problems with media in the country.  He 
noted the irony that in the 1980s Slovenia's journalists 
wrote against the non-aligned policies of the former 
Yugoslavia and were largely pro-West and pro-NATO.  Now, many 
of these same personalities have swung 180 degrees back to a 
"Yugo-nostalgia."  On a more positive note, Drnovsek thinks 
that the departure of Kucan from the political scene has 
probably helped the media situation since Kucan was often 
thought to be meddling and exerting pressure on the media. 
Drnovsek wryly smiled and noted that he doesn't do that.  He 
added that the Russians also complain a lot about the 
Slovenia's press "tough" stance on Russian policies. 
 
Iraq 
---- 
 
7.  (C)  COM asked Drnovsek his views on Jansa's slight 
movements forward in Iraq policy over the past few months, 
noting also the strong backlash in the media.  Drnovsek 
indicated that public opinion and the media remain very 
opposed to sending Slovenes into Iraq.  But he said frankly 
that if he had been PM two years ago at the time of the war, 
Slovenia would have been part of the coalition.  Ex-PM Rop 
was unwilling to take this risk.  Now, Slovenia is probably 
less inclined to go, since it sees the Italians and others 
looking for ways to withdraw.  Jansa could send troops if he 
wanted, but the opposition and media would make him pay a big 
political price.  Drnovsek said it would be easier if troops 
could go and help train outside of Iraq, or if they were part 
of a larger NATO operation.  Besides, in terms of U.S. policy 
towards Iraq, "our input doesn't matter" to the U.S., he 
concluded. 
 
Environment 
----------- 
 
8.  (C)  Climate change and the environment were clearly on 
Drnovsek's mind as well.  He made strong points on the 
subject and related a story about riding with President Bush 
from the airport to Brdo for the Bush/Putin summit in June 
2001.  During the ride, Drnovsek says he told the President 
that the U.S. needed to position itself better on Kyoto and 
climate change, in general.  According to Drnovsek, the 
President listened and agreed.  The environment is a very 
important issue in Slovenia and the U.S. must do a better job 
selling its positions.  Drnovsek said if he had more 
information about our efforts, he could use it in his public 
presentations as well.  (NOTE:  Nahtigal now has from us our 
latest climate change points and we intend to make them a key 
part of a speech COM will give 6 April on U.S. foreign 
policy. END NOTE.) 
 
Commission on Corruption 
------------------------ 
 
9.  (C)  COM attended a dip corps briefing earlier on 21 
March given by Drago Kos, Chairman of the independent 
Commission on the Prevention of Corruption (and who is said 
to have differences with PM Jansa).  Since Kos has worked 
 
 
closely with the Embassy and the U.S. Office of Government 
Ethics, Ambassador pointed out the value of the Commission to 
Slovenia's reputation and wondered what would replace it if 
it were legislated out of existence (as has been suggested 
could happen given the bad blood between Kos and Jansa). 
Drnovsek said that anti-corruption was a pillar of Jansa's 
successful election campaign and it would be hard for him, as 
PM, to undo the Commission's mandate.  (COMMENT:  We concur 
that Jansa remains strongly anti-corruption and we think the 
brouhaha over legislating the Commission out of existence has 
passed over for now.  Still, we doubt that the Kos/Jansa 
feud, which goes back to the days of independence and 
reportedly involves Jansa's strong feelings that Kos is too 
closely allied to Kucan, has not been put to rest completely. 
 END COMMENT) 
 
 
Tour d'horizon 
------------- 
 
10.  (C)  Over the course of the lunch, Drnovsek demonstrated 
his interest and mastery of foreign policy when discussing 
several current issues: 
 
--  Croatia:  Drnovsek said his team is working to set up a 
meeting "at the border" with Croatian President Mesic for 
this Thursday, March 24.  No other details were offered. 
 
--  China:  Drnovsek thinks China is actually quite helpful 
to the West on most issues, save for Taiwan and Tibet, and 
noted that the West continues to race into China with 
investment.  COM stressed U.S. opposition to the lifting of 
the EU arms embargo. 
 
--  Middle East:  Recalling his meetings with Arafat and the 
irony that Arafat was a Nobel Peace Prize winner who didn't 
sign up for peace and that Sharon is a "hawk" who is working 
hard to make peace, Drnovsek senses positive developments in 
the region.  Going back to the failed Barak/Arafat Camp David 
negotiations in 2000, the politician in Drnovsek came through 
and said that Barak sacrificed his own government and 
political future by giving in too much and then not having 
anything to sell back home after making the concessions. 
Drnovsek has worked with a French political consultant who 
also had Barak as a client.  The consultant told Drnovsek 
that he had declined Barak's request to lead his second 
campaign and advised him not to even run because it was so 
hopeless.  (Note:  the current situation in Lebanon and Syria 
was not discussed.) 
 
--  India/Pakistan:  Drnovsek met Musharraf last year at 
UNGA, but has never traveled to India or Pakistan.  He sees 
this as a "critical area of the world," however, and said he 
has a standing invitation to visit India after having 
welcomed Indian leaders to Slovenia some time ago. 
 
 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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 2005LJUBLJ00187 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL 


 
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