PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON KOSOVO AND ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 001727

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KV SR
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON KOSOVO AND ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN

REF: SECSTATE 169481

SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) President Tadic is working to maintain calm in Kosovo and
to prevent any misunderstanding with the international community
regarding any potential redlines, President Tadic's foreign policy
advisor, Jovan Ratkovic, told the Ambassador on December 26.
Ratkovic said that the draft Kosovo resolution currently with
parliament was the best deal that the Democratic Party could get
from the Democratic Party of Serbia and would not hamper Serbia's EU
aspirations or possible membership in NATO. Ratkovic said President
Tadic was energized by the ongoing presidential campaign, but
realized it would be a difficult fight for reelection. End
Summary.

Serbia is Engaging Positively in Kosovo
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2. (SBU) Ambassador delivered reftel points December 26 to
President Tadic's foreign policy advisor, Jovan Ratkovic. Ratkovic
responded by emphasizing that President Tadic was encouraging Serbs
to remain in Kosovo and would work with the international community
to address "practical issues". Ratkovic said the GOS was not
encouraging ethnic Serbs to leave Kosovo, and to do so would be
against Serbia's interest in Kosovo. He said the GOS was actually
placing a heavy emphasis on assisting Serb enclaves, such as with
infrastructure projects, because it wanted to encourage Serbs to
stay in Kosovo for the long term. Ratkovic said Tadic would not
instigate separatism in Bosnia, but said remarks from U.S. officials
advocating the creation of "a one Bosnia idea" (e.g. wthout a
separate Republika Srpska entity) would ot be helpful. Ratkovic
said he would deliver reftel points to President Tadic, who has been
on the campaign trail and attended the parliament session on Kosovo
today, and left open the possibility that Serbia would reciprocate
with revised points in the future.

Parliament to Consider Kosovo Resolution Today
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3. (SBU) Ratkovic said President Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and
Prime Minister Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) had
intensely negotiated the wording of the draft Kosovo resolution
currently with parliament. He emphasized that the DS believed that
the negotiated DS-DSS draft language would not tie Serbia's hands
with regard to signing a Stabilization and Accession Agreement (SAA)
with the EU nor would it limit any eventual decision on NATO
membership. Ratkovic said the draft was "the best the DS could
get" out of the DSS, and that it was a major improvement from the
"completely unacceptable" draft that the DSS had initially submitted
to the DS. He said the initial DSS version would have "prevented
for good" Serbia's ability to join NATO and would have effectively
halted Serbia's move towards EU integration. Ratkovic said the DSS
may have been trying to "stain" Tadic's foreign policy record by
submitting the initial draft and threatening not to adopt a softer
version, but ultimately, the prospect of Serbia's eventual
membership in the EU was still popular among Serbian citizens so the
DSS compromised. Ratkovic said he expected the Assembly to vote on
the Kosovo resolution late on December 26.

Tadic is in Full Campaign Mode
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4. (SBU) Ratkovic said the presidential election campaign, which
started on December 22, was going better than expected, but he
thought it would ultimately be a tight race against the Radicals.
Ratkovic said Tadic began the campaign very tired, but the president
was a natural campaigner who was quickly becoming energized. He
said Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dodik's recent public support
for Tadic was a good boost to the campaign. In contrast, French
President Sarkozy's and U.K. Prime Minister Brown's comments
regarding Kosovo and Serbia after the recent EU Summit had been
untimely and unhelpful to President Tadic, he said. Ratkovic said
that throughout the campaign Tadic would emphasize Kosovo, as well
as, Serbia's future within Europe.

Comment
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5. (SBU) On behalf of President Tadic, who is already hitting the
campaign trail, Ratkovic accepted the list of potential redlines
regarding Kosovo but said the items should be further discussed in
the future. In the near term, Ratkovic appeared confident that
parliament would pass the draft compromise language for the Kosovo
resolution and that Serbia's long term interests in Euro-Atlantic
integration would not suffer. Post will follow up on the resolution
upon its passage to see if Ratkovic's optimism holds true and what

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effect, if any, it will have on the ongoing presidential campaign.
End comment.

MUNTER