Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BELGRADE218
2007-02-16 10:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Belgrade
Cable title:  

SERBIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS AHTISAARI PLAN

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM KO SR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9985
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0218/01 0471053
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161053Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0261
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 3645
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BELGRADE 000218 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KO SR
SUBJECT: SERBIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS AHTISAARI PLAN

REF: Belgrade 210

SUMMARY
-------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BELGRADE 000218

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KO SR
SUBJECT: SERBIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS AHTISAARI PLAN

REF: Belgrade 210

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (SBU) As expected, Belgrade's new parliament
overwhelmingly rejected the Ahtisaari plan as ?illegal?
during its first session on 2/14. The reappointed Kosovo
negotiating team is now equipped with a largely
rejectionist platform -- mostly reflective of the last
government's position on Kosovo -- to take to Vienna next
week for the next round of discussions.


2. (SBU) While unable to sway the overwhelming consensus
among so-called Democrats, Milosevic Socialists and
Radicals, the voice of a real opposition in parliament,
from the Liberal Democrat Coalition to the single seat of
Southern Serbia Albanians, lends a new and slightly hopeful
note to the unreconstructed rhetoric of Serbia's majority
political class. Most of the latter will continue for
some time to insist on fighting to hang on to elements of a
past that destroyed Yugoslavia and has relegated Serbia to
the end of the pack in the race for success and prosperity
in a new Europe. End Summary.

PARTY LEADERS PEPPERED THROUGHOUT DEPUTY LINEUP
-------------- --

3. (SBU) The new parliament opened its session with the
appointment of acting Speaker Borka Vucic -- a Socialist
Party of Serbia (SPS) deputy who served as personal banker
for the late Slobodan Milosevic -- who will serve as
Speaker until a government is formed and a permanent
Speaker appointed. The parliament verified the mandates of
all newly-elected deputies, including such government
ministry hopefuls as Democratic Party's (DS) Bozidar
Djelic, Dragan Sutanovac, and Dusan Petrovic; Democratic
Party of Serbia's (DSS) Vladeta Jankovic; and G17 Plus
chairman Mladjan Dinkic. Parliamentary deputies cannot
both hold a parliamentary post and chair a government
ministry, but their positions in parliament guarantee they
will serve in Serbian leadership somewhere. (Note: For a
parliamentary deputy to take on a government position, he
or she must resign from parliament, and the party must
designate a new deputy from its originally submitted list.
The ranks of all major parties are large enough that a
change in deputies could be easily accomplished. End
note.)


4. (SBU) Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chairman Ceda

Jovanovic and the chairs of all parties in the party's pre-
election coalition will all serve in parliament, which
appears to reinforce the coalition's resolve to stay in
opposition given its disparaging view toward serving
alongside PM Kostunica's DSS. SPS chairman Ivica Dacic
also leads his party's deputy list -- accompanied by a
group who generally supports his views within the party --
indicating that he also does not foresee holding a place in
the new Serbian government.

KOSOVO NEGOTIATING TEAM REAPPOINTED
--------------

5. (SBU) The newly established parliament's sole tasks were
to confirm a negotiating team for the next round of Kosovo
talks in Vienna on 21 February and to arm that team with a
platform. The platform -- which DS and DSS representatives
drafted together -- calls for parliament to confirm the
pre-existing negotiating team, rather than appointing a new
one (reftel). As such, parliament reappointed the existing
team, including those members who will no longer be in
government, such as lame-duck Foreign Minister Vuk
Draskovic.

PLATFORM PASSED WITH LITTLE RESISTANCE
--------------

6. (SBU) President Tadic and PM Kostunica addressed the
parliament first regarding the platform, followed by each
party chair. Tadic emphasized that UN Special Envoy
Ahtisaari's proposal on Kosovo is unconstitutional and that
therefore he as President cannot accept it, but that the
Serbs must continue to negotiate until a more politically
sound resolution is reached. Kostunica reiterated his view
that the Ahtisaari document proposes dismembering Serbia
and that the battle for Kosovo is an issue of "right versus
might," the Serbs being in the right. He added that
"might" (alluding to the 1999 bombing) got the Kosovars the
status they currently have under UN Resolution 1244.


7. (SBU) The party chair speeches underscored a near-
unanimous rejection of the Ahtisaari document, spiced with
vitriol toward those parties in dissent. Dacic singled out
Riza Halimi, who represents the Presevo Valley Albanians,

BELGRADE 00000218 002 OF 004


asserting that the Albanians had no reason to push for
Kosovo independence because Albanians in Serbia enjoy the
same rights as they do in Kosovo, and that the Albanians
would surely push for territorial claims on southern Serbia
if Kosovo gained independence. DSS spokesman Milos
Aligrudic -- whose position was largely echoed by SRS
acting chairman Tomislav Nikolic -- expressed his antipathy
more broadly, claiming that parties like LDP and the
minorities could eke their way into parliament on a
platform of giving away Kosovo but that statesmen would
never emerge from the ranks of these parties. In response,
Ceda Jovanovic stressed that Belgrade remains locked in the
policies of the 1990s and cannot move ahead; he urged
parliament to focus on the needs of the Kosovo Serbs,
rather than holding onto Serbian territory.


8. (SBU) As expected, parliament made no changes to the
draft resolution published this morning in Serbian press.
As reported in reftel, the draft contains few changes to
the previous government's platform but does contain some
language specific to the proposal on Kosovo put forth by UN
Special Envoy Ahtisaari. Of 243 deputies present, 225
voted in favor of the draft. The LDP coalition?s 15
representatives voted against, three Hungarian deputies
abstained, and Halimi had to leave the session prior to the
vote.


9. (SBU) The final resolution reads as follows:

A) Draft Resolution following UN Special Envoy Martti
Ahtisaari?s "Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status
Settlement" and continuation of negotiations on the future
status of Kosovo-Metohija:

B) Reaffirming the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia,
that in its Preamble states that "the Province of Kosovo-
Metohija is an integral part of the territory of Serbia,
that it has the status of a substantial autonomy within the
sovereign state of Serbia and that from such status of the
Province of Kosovo and Metohija follow constitutional
obligations of all state bodies to uphold and protect the
state interests of Serbia in Kosovo-Metohija in all
internal and foreign political relations",

C) Bearing in mind Article 8 of the Constitution of the
Republic of Serbia stating that "the territory of the
Republic of Serbia is inseparable and indivisible" and that
"the border of the Republic of Serbia is inviolable", as
well as Article 182 which states that "substantial autonomy
of the Autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija shall be
regulated by a special law which shall be adopted in
accordance with the proceedings envisaged for amending the
Constitution",

D) Considering the main principles and norms of
international law, and particularly the Charter of the
United Nations, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) as
well as other documents of international organizations in
which state sovereignty and territorial integrity are set
as foundations of modern international order,

E) Recalling that the UN Security Council?s Resolution No.
1244 (1999),with guarantees to sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY),
established the position of Kosovo-Metohija as substantial
autonomy within the FRY, whose international successor is
the Republic of Serbia,

F) Assured that the issue of the future status of Kosovo-
Metohija must be based on main principles and norms of
international law, and vying for a peaceful, all-
encompassing and durable solution through negotiations,

G) Bearing in mind that UN Secretary General?s Special
Envoy for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija Martti
Ahtisaari delivered his "Comprehensive Proposal for the
Kosovo Status Settlement" to the Serbian state authorities
which disrespects sovereignty and territorial integrity of
the Republic of Serbia in relation to Kosovo-Metohija, and
at the same time proposes that Kosovo-Metohija be given a
series of rights and prerogatives that belong only to
sovereign states,

H) Reconfirming the Resolution of the National Assembly of
the Republic of Serbia adopted on November 25, 2005 on the
mandate for political talks on the future status of Kosovo-
Metohija, and particularly the paragraph stating that "the
National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia would proclaim
any imposed solution of the Kosovo-Metohija future status

BELGRADE 00000218 003 OF 004


illegitimate, illegal and void,"

I) Having confirmed the platform of the state negotiating
team for talks on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija from
January 5, 2006, basic stances stated in the speeches of
the President of Serbia Boris Tadic and Prime Minister of
Serbia Vojislav Kostunica delivered at Vienna talks on July
24, 2006, as well as the contents of the documents
presented by the state negotiating team in the course of
2006 at the talks in Vienna (regarding decentralization in
the province and establishing new municipalities with
Serbian majority, protection of the Serbian Orthodox
Church, its churches and monasteries, its property and the
Serbian cultural heritage in the province, economic and
other issues),

J) The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia hereby
adopts the following:

K) The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
concludes that the Proposal of UN Secretary-General's
Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari breaches the fundamental
principles of international law since it does not take into
consideration the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
the Republic of Serbia in relation to Kosovo-Metohija. In
this Proposal, Kosovo-Metohija is beyond any doubt and
against international law given the attributes of a
sovereign state, thus illegally laying the foundations for
the creation of an independent state on the territory of
Serbia.

L) The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
therefore rejects all articles in the UN Secretary-
General's Special Envoy's Proposal which breach the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of
Serbia as an internationally recognized state. The National
Assembly of the Republic of Serbia warns that this
questions the possibility of coming to a compromise
solution reached through agreement which would represent
the basic goal of talks on Kosovo-Metohija's future status.

M) The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia once
more emphasizes that only through negotiations held under
the auspices of the United Nations, without pressure and
artificially imposed deadlines can a mutually acceptable
and long-term solution be reached which will be in line
with international law and democratic values built into the
foundations of contemporary states and their mutual
relations.

N) Considering this essential commitment, the National
Assembly of the Republic of Serbia hereby renews the
mandate of the state negotiating team and places it under
obligation so that at the upcoming talks in Vienna on the
future status of Kosovo-Metohija it will represent The
National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia's policy,
adopted in parliament's previous Resolution and hereby
confirmed anew, which includes the defense of Serbia's
sovereignty and territorial integrity, protection of the
rights and interests of the Serbian people and the Serbian
Orthodox Church in the province, preservation of the entire
Serbian religious and cultural heritage in Kosovo-Metohija,
as well as the interests of non-ethnic Albanian
communities.

O) The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
particularly demands that in the course of the upcoming
talks the Serbian state negotiating team presents Serbia's
position regarding the whole of UN Secretary-General's
Special Envoy's Proposal by formulating, in line with this
Resolution, its concrete proposals and resolutions, as well
as to submit a report to Serbia parliament immediately upon
their return from the talks. The National Assembly of the
Republic of Serbia will then decide on the further course
of negotiations.

P) Advocating a compromise, consensual solution to the
future status of Kosovo-Metohija, the National Assembly of
the Republic of Serbia emphasizes that imposed independence
of the province will have unforeseeable negative
consequences. Such an outcome will have farreaching
consequences on the stability of the region, impede the
European perspective of the entire Western Balkans and
present an extremely dangerous precedent for resolving
minority issues and territorial disputes throughout Europe
and the world. The National Assembly of the Republic of
Serbia therefore calls upon all states, international
organizations and other international elements to oppose
the imperilment of Serbia's sovereignty and territorial
integrity and reject any imposed solution to the future

BELGRADE 00000218 004 OF 004


status of Kosovo-Metohija."

COMMENT
--------------

10. (SBU) While unable to sway the overwhelming consensus
among so-called Democrats, Milosevic Socialists and
Radicals, the voice of a real opposition in parliament,
from the Liberal Democrat Coalition to the single seat of
Southern Serbia Albanians, lends a new and slightly hopeful
note to the unreconstructed rhetoric of Serbia's majority
political class. Most of the latter will continue for
some time to insist on fighting to hang on to elements of a
past that destroyed Yugoslavia and has relegated Serbia to
the end of the pack in the race for success and prosperity
in a new Europe.


11. (SBU) This initial session of parliament brought little
surprise, as most politicians seized the opportunity to
publicly lambaste those with views in opposition rather
than engage in constructive dialogue. Former Vojvodina
Assembly Speaker Nenad Canak aptly noted in the press that
Belgrade has moved from a single-party system to a multi-
party system with a single position (on Kosovo, at least).
Belgrade does have a Kosovo negotiating team and platform,
though, and government leaders can no longer hide behind
claims that no governing body has the mandate to engage in
talks.


12. (SBU) As reported in reftel, we do not anticipate any
further action in the new parliament until after a
government is formed and a Speaker appointed. At that
point, the election of a Speaker, Deputy Speaker, working
bodies, and secretaries, as well as reviewing bills on
ministries and the cabinet's election, will be on the
parliament's agenda. With parliament in place, the parties
have 90 days to form a government, but the lags in
coalition negotiations suggest there may be no progress on
items unrelated to Kosovo for quite some time.

POLT