NATO'S MIXED MESSAGE TO CROATIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 001833

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2015
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO HR
SUBJECT: NATO'S MIXED MESSAGE TO CROATIA

Classified By: Poloff Justin Friedman, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (U) This is an Action Request - see para 3.


2. (C) SUMMARY and COMMENT: NATO DSYG Minuto Rizzo made a
brief stop in Zagreb on November 11 on a whirlwind tour of
MAP countries Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia. Minuto Rizzo
carried a useful message about NATO being a community of
values. It was incumbent on aspirant countries to
demonstrate that they shared these values and assume the
responsibility to become security providers. However, Minuto
Rizzo's message that defense reform was less urgent than the
political dimension to Croatia's NATO aspirations directly
undermined post's efforts to light a fire under senior GoC
officials to start moving on reforms and make faster progress
in achieving MAP goals. END SUMMARY and COMMENT.


3. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Under- or de-emphasizing defense
reform runs counter to our efforts in Croatia. Post believes
Department should consider asking the NATO International
Staff to reaffirm with the Croatian authorities the
importance of defense reform.


4. (C) NATO DSYG Alessandro Minuto Rizzo briefed NATO member
state Ambassadors and DATTs on November 11 on his meetings
that day with Croatian President Mesic and Prime Minister
Sanader. Minuto Rizzo said he has been telling his
interlocutors (in Zagreb as well as in Tirana and Skopje)
that he was coming with a message of encouragement for NATO
candidate countries. He emphasized that NATO was not just a
military organization but a political organization and a
community of values. NATO was very different from the EU as
it was the only place where European and North American
countries come together to work on foreign policy, security,
defense, and civil emergency response issues. NATO had
considerable expertise in these issues and could be of
assistance to aspirant countries.


5. (C) Minuto Rizzo reported that PM Sanader said that he
wanted to intensify Croatia's activities with NATO and become
a member as soon as possible. Sanader said that the Croatian
public was not against membership, just not enthusiastic.
The opening of EU membership negotiations had given public
support for the EU a big boost, and Sanader wants and expects
the same to occur with NATO. Minuto Rizzo concluded that he
and NATO international staff needed to return and do more
public diplomacy work, urging the assembled ambassadors to do
more to raise public awareness of NATO.


6. (C) Sanader asked about Croatia's weak points in the path
toward membership. Minuto Rizzo said that he responded that
the key areas remain dealing with refugee return, reform of
the judiciary, corruption, and cooperation with the ICTY. On
defense reform, Minuto Rizzo said that Croatia had progressed
considerably. He said he told Sanader and Mesic that Croatia
should not aim for a big army, but a small, flexible,
sustainable, and deployable force ready to work on NATO
operations. Croatia needs to focus on usability, not high
technology equipment.


7. (C) In his meeting with President Mesic, Minuto Rizzo
briefed that Mesic was focused on defense reform, marking the
considerable progress Croatia has made in downsizing the
military. Mesic complained that the government was not
providing enough resources for defense reform/transformation.
Minuto Rizzo said that he responded that defense reform was
not as important as achieving a change in mentality to assume
the responsibilities of becoming a security provider.


8. (C) Privately, many of the assembled Ambassadors were
disappointed in Minuto Rizzo's report. The UK, Canadian,
Romanian, and Norwegian Ambassadors, as well as the Polish
Polcouns all told PolOff that Minuto Rizzo had not been
helpful with the message he delivered de-emphasizing the
importance of defense reform. Several noted that the key to
achieving the flexibility and deployability Minuto Rizzo had
called for is precisely in the defense reform process which
is moving slowly now in Croatia.
DELAWIE