OPERATION BALKAN VICE III: THE NETHERLANDS

S E C R E T THE HAGUE 000382 SIPDIS EUR (STEPHENS),EUR/SCE (GREGORIAN/KOUMANS),S/WCI (PROSPER),TREASURY OFAC (NEWCOMB) E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2014 TAGS: PREL MOPS EFIN ETTC KAWC BK MK HR GM CY HU SL SZ YI NL ICTY NK SUBJECT: OPERATION BALKAN VICE III: THE NETHERLANDS REF: STATE 27291 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARY DALY FOR REASONS 1.5 (B AND D). ¶1. (S) EmbOffs delivered reftel demarche to Dutch Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs respectively on February 9 and ¶10. Dutch MFA Western Balkans Chief Klaas van der Tempel expressed support for the action, noting the GONL had been active last year in arguing for EU visa restrictions on similar individuals. He said enacting visa restrictions on the individuals identified reftel would be relatively straight-forward and that they would encourage such action in this case. ¶2. (S) Freezing of assets, he said, was a more complex matter. For the Dutch, this would require evidence that would stand up if challenged in a Dutch court. EmbOffs pushed back, arguing that PIFWCs or their supporters would be unlikely to challenge an asset freeze, fearing that such action would smoke them out of hiding. Van der Tempel also made clear that, in the Dutch view, any action they took would have to be undertaken pursuant to EU regulation which does not now exist, adding that a Security Council Resolution directing such action would be optimal. He noted that this issue was on the agenda of the EU COWEB, which he termed a good start. He also suggested that proof of links between these individuals and Karadzic, Mladic and Gotovina will be needed in order to get EU partners to agree to an asset freeze. Concerning asset freeze against the three principal PIFWCs, van der Tempel saw less difficulty given their indicted status, and EmbOffs noted that this would presumably apply to all indictees. In general he said that the GONL supports taking such action and saw no political arguments against an asset freeze. He took note of the Secretary's communication on this issue with the Irish Presidency and said it would be helpful if the Irish put this issue on the table in EU Councils. ¶3. (S) Emboff also delivered demarche to Erik Ligthart in the Ministry of Finance's Integrity Division. Ligthart said that he would convey information to the AIVD (Dutch Intelligence Service) so they would be positioned to screen for possible accounts of these individuals in the Netherlands. Since the Dutch have no freeze regime in place directed at the individuals named reftel, they cannot direct their banks to freeze accounts at this point. In terms of the political decision to enact a freeze, the Finance Ministry defers to MFA. SOBEL