SERBIA'S PFP PRESENTATION DOCUMENT BETTER, BUT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 000160

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2017
TAGS: MARR NATO PREL PGOV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA'S PFP PRESENTATION DOCUMENT BETTER, BUT ON
HOLD

REF: A. BELGRADE 156


B. BELGRADE 153

Classified By: POLCHIEF Gustavo Delgado, reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (c) Emboffs met February 2 with Milan Milanovic, chief
of the MFA NATO Directorate, to discuss the latest draft of
the PfP Presentation Document. Milanovic handed over a copy
of the latest Serbian language draft, and said the English
language version will be ready by February 6. The document
now contains ICTY language consistent with President Tadic's
pre-Riga letter to the President, including specific
reference to a commitment to arrest at-large indictees. The
new document is still liberally peppered with direct and
oblique references to Kosovo, but the more confrontational
phrases we highlighted in previous discussions appear to have
been stricken or softened.


2. (c) Milanovic said the document is now 90 percent
complete, and should be ready for review in the government's
defense committee on February 6. He expressed reservations,
though, as to whether or not the government would consider
itself competent to clear the draft, citing PM Kostunica's
recent rationalization for refusing to meet with UN Special
Rep Ahtisaari. Milanovic also expressed reservations that,
should the government agree to consider the draft, the text
would survive in its current state. He said advisors from
President Tadic's office had approached him and advised
against moving the document forward, saying the current
government would likely soften the ICTY language and harden
the Kosovo references. Better, they said, to wait for the
formation of a new government, when they expected a new
defense ministry to be more amenable to a stronger defense
reform and engagement agenda. Milanovic said it is thus
unlikely that the PD will be presented to the government
until after a government is formed.
POLT