Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BELGRADE231
2006-02-16 13:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Belgrade
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: SERBIAN POLS DISTANCE SELVES FROM RADICALS

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM SR YI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000231 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SR YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: SERBIAN POLS DISTANCE SELVES FROM RADICALS


SUMMARY
-------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000231

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SR YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: SERBIAN POLS DISTANCE SELVES FROM RADICALS


SUMMARY
--------------
1.(SBU) A range of Serbian political leaders reacted
sharply to a suggestion by Serbian Radical Party (SRS)
deputy leader, Tomislav Nikolic, that he and PM Kostunica
had agreed to proclaim an "occupation of Kosovo" in the
event that Kosovo is declared independent and to use "all
available means" to defend Kosovo.. PM Kostunica has
characteristically maintained silence in response to
Nikolic's suggestion, although one of his close advisors
made some inflammatory references to Serbia's right "to
take back what is taken from it." The other major
political parties have distanced themselves from the
Radical party position. END SUMMARY.

NIKOLIC CALLS FOR "OCCUPATION" DESIGNATION
--------------
2.(U) After a meeting between Radical party deputy leader
Tomislav Nikolic and PM Kostunica on Friday 2/10, Nikolic
announced that he and Kostunica had agreed that any
declaration of independence would be treated by the Serbian
parliament as an occupation of part of the territory of
Serbia, and "that the National Assembly would have to
support all those who are obliged to take care of the
territory of the Republic, and use all possible force and
all available means so that the state of occupation should
end." Nikolic also announced that the two leaders had
agreed to call an extraordinary session of parliament after
the Serbian negotiation team returns from February 20 talks
in Vienna. Nikolic said that both President Tadic and PM
Kostunica should attend the parliament session in order to
report on the progress of the negotiations.

DSS REACTION
--------------
3.(U) The Nikolic announcement was widely criticized in
public statements by most major parties. The GOS initially
refused comment on the Kostunica/Nikolic meeting, but DSS
parliamentary whip, Milos Aligrudic, called Nikolic's
statements "bombastic" and accused the Radicals of
"political marketing." Amidst criticism that Kostunica
himself had not responded, the GOS released a statement on
Feb 12, clarifying the long-standing GOS position that
Kosovo is a part of Serbia under international law. The
press release also referred to "unhelpful" statements about
independence which "create an atmosphere of defeatism." A
DSS spokesperson further clarified the party's position on

Feb 13, saying the DSS is focused on how to keep the
province part of Serbia, not on how to "name" its seizure.

4.(U) Other government parties weighed in more strongly
against the Radicals. G17 Plus VP Cedomir Antic said
emphatically that his party would not support a
parliamentary declaration of occupation, but said it would
respect the will of the majority if one were adopted. DS
party whip Dusan Petrovic said it was not a good idea to
discuss state plans in advance of negotiations, remarking
that the current state of affairs in Kosovo was due to the
actions of the Radical and Socialist parties. SPO Vice
President Vlajko Senic said that Nikolic was expressing his
personal view and that of the Radical party, and that it
was "exclusively directed towards domestic politics."

5.(U) Responding to the intense criticism, SRS General
Secretary Aleksandar Vucic attempted to clarify on 2/12

SIPDIS
that a declaration of an independent Kosovo as an occupied
territory would be only a "proclamation of Serbia's
disagreement with such a solution." "The proclamation
would be a deterrent -- to make everyone think well before
they go ahead with it, because they will know that Kosovo's
independence will not be a lasting solution," Vucic said,
adding that Serbia would "wait until the current power
structure in the world has changed to reclaim our
territory." Nikolic also denied that he wanted to go to
war, asking, "why should a war be fought over your own
territory?"

ARTEMIJE SUPPORTS "LIBERATION", SIMIC CALLS FOR REFERENDUM
-------------- --------------
6.(U) The only direct support for Nikolic's position came
from the hard-line Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren.
Artemije told the BBC during a visit to the U.S., "Every
state has the right to fight against the occupier to
liberate an occupied part of its territory." PM
Kostunica's Legal Advisor, Aleksandar Simic, was somewhat
more veiled, telling RTV MIR in Leposavic, that Serbia
retains the right to "get back everything that is illegally
taken from us." Simic suggested that the question would
eventually be put to the Serbian people in a referendum
with one question-- "Are the citizens of Serbia prepared
peacefully or by coercion, legally or illegally, to cede a
part of their territory to the Kosovo Albanians?" Sanda
Raskovic-Ivic of the Kosovo Coordination Center also
suggested a referendum, "if things start to go badly for
Serbia."

7.(SBU) Officials from ruling parties have told us
privately they would try not to comment further on the
Radical's statements. One official predicted that if the
Radical party pressed a parliamentary resolution, none of
the other parties would agree. Kostunica's DSS confirmed
it would try to let the idea of a parliamentary session
drop. One parliamentarian from an opposition party pointed
out to us that, with 80 members of parliament, the Radicals
were only four votes short of the required 84 members
necessary to call for an extraordinary session, but that
the Radicals had not yet sought signatures from any of the
other parties to call for such a session. (Under the
constitution, either one-third of MPs or the government can
call for an extraordinary session.)

COMMENT
--------------
8.(SBU) We have seen this political posturing by Nikolic
and the Radicals before, together with the half-hearted
response from Kostunica and condemnations by the other
democratic parties. The Radicals and the Socialists seek
political gain from the Kosovo issue and will continue to
seek opportunities to paint democratic parties as weak on a
patriotic issue. END COMMENT.

MOORE