ITALIANS WANT TO CONTACT GROUP DISCUSSION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 002871

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE AND DAS DI CARLO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ICTY SR YI IT
SUBJECT: ITALIANS WANT TO CONTACT GROUP DISCUSSION ON
SERBIAN SAA TALKS

ROME 00002871 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Classified by Gabriel Escobar, Political Officer, for re
asons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Serbian president Boris Tadic visited Rome
on October 10 and 11 to meet with Italian President
Napolitano, PM Prodi, FM D'Alema, and MOD Parisi. Tadic
expressed his hope that Serbia could become part of PfP, the
EU and eventually NATO but noted that Serbia had experienced
significant problems that had weakened the pro-Western
democratic government. On Kosovo, he noted that his
institutional role requies him to do everything
democratically possible to keep Kosovo within the territorial
boundaries of Serbia, privately, he acknowledged that Kosovo
may soon become independent. Tadic noted that although ICTY
conditionality is preventing the reopening of SAA talks, he
urged Italian support for reopening the discussions prior to
the December elections in Serbia. For their part, the
Italians expressed support for Serbian membership in the key
Euro-Atlantic institutions but stressed that Serbian
compliance with the ICTY and constructive engagement on
solving the Kosovo status issue would be an important factor
in determining international support for Serbian integration.



2. (C) Summary, con't. After the visit, Italian MFA officials
expressed a strong desire to discuss with other Contact Group
nations the possibility of reopening SAA talks in order to
strengthen the position of the DS and Tadic before the
elections with the understanding that SAA talks would include
a clause prohibiting further integration without clear
indications of moves to arrest Mladic after the elections.
The GOI believes that while the current Serbian government
has proven to be weak, vulnerable to attacks from the right,
and divided, the situation could get even worse. The GOI
intends to raise this issue at the next Contact Group meeting
and will lobby other CG nations, particularly the US, to find
a way to support Tadic and the DS going into the next
elections. End summary.

KOSOVO: TADIC WILL NOT BE AN OBSTACLE
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3. (C) Serbian president Tadic's visit to Rome on October 10
and 11 focused on gaining support for Serbian integration
into the EU, PfP and eventually NATO and support. The GOI
told Tadic that Italy supports Serbian integration but ICTY
compliance and positive engagement on Kosovo would be
important in determining the pace of integration. Tadic told
FM D'Alema that his institutional role requires him to do
everything democratically possible to keep Kosovo as a part
of Serbia. Privately, he understood the reality of the
political situation. He hinted that he would not be an
obstacle to the international community's efforts to bring
stability to the region - even if it included some form of
independence for Kosovo. In fact, in his private and public
statements, Tadic did not argue against Kosovar independence,
but rather argued that the timing could affect the stability
of the government.

GETTING PAST ICTY: KEY TO SERBIA'S FUTURE
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4. (C) Tadic told D'Alema and Prodi that only positive
movement in the direction of European integration could help
the democratic forces of Serbia win with enough parliamentary
seats to make the necessary reforms and take real steps
toward ICTY compliance. In fact in his meeting with D'Alema,
Tadic hinted that SAA talks would strengthen the DS more than
any other party. A strong DS presence in the next government
would be crucial in taking the difficult and necessary steps
toward finding, arresting and transferring Ratko Mladic to
the ICTY. Tadic argued that economic integration and
political recognition of Serbia's path to Europe were
important to his supporters and to the majority of the
Serbian public. In a telling exchange during an otherwise

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positive address to a Serbian-Italian crowd at the Serbian
Embassy on October 10, Tadic was confronted by members of the
Serbian expatriate community over the difficulty Serbian
citizens experience in obtaining visas to EU countries.


5. (C) Comment: The Italians purposely gave Tadic a
high-level, public reception and publicly indicated support
for Serbian integration into the EU and PfP. They were
careful, however, not to send any messages to indicate any
cracks in Contact Group solidarity. After the visit,
however, newly appointed MFA DG for European Affairs (and
former Italian candidate for the position of High
Representative in Bosnia) Laura Mirachian and MFA Balkans
office director Raimondo De Cardona expressed a desire to
raise the issue of restarting SAA talks with Serbia before
the elections in order to strengthen those forces which are
more likely to make the right choices for Serbia. De Cardona
went even further, noting that the GOI not only wanted to
help support the DS/DSS coalition in its campaign against the
SRS, but it actually wanted to help the DS in its
relationship with the DSS.


6. (C) Comment, con't. The GOI believes that helping support
the democratic parties in Serbia can only be done through
restarting SAA talks. No other incentive can be implemented
quickly enough. The GOI acknowledges that Serbia has made
very little progress on its ICTY Action Plan, but believes
that the key to ICTY compliance depends on a strong,
democratic government - and not one that continues to be
weak, divided and dependent on support from the SPS.
Additionally, the GOI believes that basing decisions on
Euro-Atlantic integration entirely on the determinations of
ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte effectively ties the
hands of the Contact Group during a crucial period for the
development of the region. Instead, the Italians argue that
Del Ponte's report should be one of the most important
criteria in determining integration, just not necessarily the
first.
SPOGLI