Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BRATISLAVA162
2007-03-19 17:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bratislava
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: FICO REASSURES DIPLOMATS; MPS WORK ON A

Tags:  PREL PGOV YI KOC RU LO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSL #0162/01 0781707
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191707Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0779
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0080
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0631
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA PRIORITY 0050
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0100
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000162 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV YI KOC RU LO
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: FICO REASSURES DIPLOMATS; MPS WORK ON A
NON-BINDING RESOLUTION; RUSSIANS SCARE MFA

REF: MOSCOW 1143

Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reasons 1.4 b and d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000162

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV YI KOC RU LO
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: FICO REASSURES DIPLOMATS; MPS WORK ON A
NON-BINDING RESOLUTION; RUSSIANS SCARE MFA

REF: MOSCOW 1143

Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: PM Fico reassured EU ambassadors March 16
that Slovakia would support the consensus EU position on
Kosovo, including in the UNSC. Nonetheless, political
parties continue discussions on a parliamentary resolution
expressing objections to the Ahtisaari plan and Kosovo
independence, although all now agree that such a resolution
would be "non-binding." The MFA is now just as worried about
the message from Moscow as the message from Slovak
politicians. Russian interlocutors told the Slovak PolDir
that they do not want the UNSC to take up the issue as
presented by Ahtisaari. Kosovo will likely be on the agenda
of the March 30-31 GYMNICH, prompted by the March 28 Contact
Group meeting. End summary.

Fico Tells EU Ambassadors Slovakia Will Support EU Position
-------------- --------------

2. (SBU) At a March 16 lunch with EU Ambassadors, Prime
Minister Robert Fico (Smer) firmly stated that Slovakia would
stay with its EU partners, support the EU position, and not
be isolated on Kosovo. He said he expected a fierce debate
in parliament on the issue, and he was not certain how it
would end. However, FM Kubis takes instructions from the
government office, not from the parliament. When asked how
Slovakia would vote on a UNSCR, Fico replied that Slovakia
would expressly support Ahtisaari, consistent with the EU
position. Fico also said that he did not expect to have any
serious discussion on Kosovo when he visits Moscow, since
Slovakia was clearly adhering to the EU position. Fico
reconfirmed that Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paska (Smer) was
preparing his own draft resolution on Kosovo, which would
meet the needs of the GOS. Fico complained vociferously
about opposition leader and former PM Mikulas Dzurinda (SDKU)
for being irresponsible in taking a political position on
Kosovo final status without considering hte foreign policy
consequences.

How Many "Single" Resolutions Are There?

--------------

3. (C) Political parties continue work on a parliamentary
resolution on Kosovo. The Foreign Affairs Committee's
members agreed in principle March 14 to co-draft a resolution
to which all could agree, but this now seems unlikely. The
Slovak National Party caucus leader Rafael Rafaj told poloffs
March 19 that SNS was sticking to its original, non-binding
draft. He said that although SNS MP Jozef Rydlo had
suggested a common draft, Dzurinda jumped on the suggestion
only because "he is a more clever politician." Rafaj
rejected the SDKU version because it is full of the word
"must." Rafaj said that parliament cannot instruct the
government in foreign policy. SDKU interlocutors have told
us that they have removed "binding" language from their
draft. Paska confirmed to the Ambassador and other diplomats
that he is working on a draft resolution, though we have not
yet seen it. He said he prefers to avoid a parliamentary
debate on the issue, although it may be procedurally
impossible. Vice-Chairs of Meciar's HZDS party Milan Urbani
and Zdenka Kramplova told the Ambassador March 19 that Rydlo
had sought their support. They also said that Christian
Democrat MP Jan Carnogursky was also lobbying for his own
draft resolution. (Comment: Carnogursky is a poisonous actor
on Kosovo: he published an op-ed in Russian media urging
Moscow to veto any UNSCR based on the Ahtisaari plan.) They
gave the impression that HZDS would vote for something, but
they did not know exactly what. They reiterated support for
Minister Kubis and recognized the need not to bind the
government's hands. Smer MP Moimir Mamojka told us March 19
that he did not know how the members of his club would be
instructed to vote; he had only seen the "innocuous" SNS
resolution.


4. (SBU) Rafaj said there is a joint drafting session
scheduled for March 20, though he did not expect the parties
to be able to agree. The foreign affairs committee will then
discuss the draft(s) on March 22. The soonest the issue will
be discussed in plenary is March 27.

Lajcak on the Russians on Kosovo
--------------

5. (C) MFA PolDir Miroslav Lajcak told the Ambassador March
19 that his Russian interlocutors on Kosovo (Lajcak was in
Moscow March 15-16) signaled a firm line in working to
prevent the Ahtisaari plan from being considered by the UNSC
anytime soon. Lajcak knows that the Russians may be
practicing brinkmanship and he did not want to sound unduly

pessimistic, but he found the GOR dug in on forcing further
negotiations between Serbs and Kosovars and confident in
their resistance to the rest of the Contact Group.


6. (C) Dep. Foreign Minister Titov and Kosovo envoy
Botsan-Kharchenko told Lajcak that while the Vienna
discussions provided a good basis for negotiation, the
Ahtisaari plan needs amendment, and Ahtisaari is not the
person to conduct further talks between the parties. A new
envoy should be named. Implementation of non-status aspects
of the plan could go forward; discussion of status issues
could not. Titov and Botsan-Kharchenko claimed that there
was no daylight between Tadic and Kostunica, and that Russia
could accept only what the Serbs accept in the key areas of
border, no UN membership, and no Kosovo army. When Lajcak
spoke of Russia,s responsibilities in the UNSC, the Russians
said they understood these, but they would not accept blame
for promises others made to the Kosovars. (Comment: Lajcak
believes that Moscow and Belgrade are now coordinating very
closely on strategy and tactics.)


7. (C) The Russians said they would press to keep the Kosovo
issue off the G-8 Summit agenda, if it came to that. As
Titov told Amb. Burns (reftel),they stressed to Lajcak that
Russia did not seek any tradeoffs with other conflict areas.
The Russians tried to buttress their position that movement
to the UNSC was premature by citing a lack of consensus even
among the other five members of the Contact Group. They
cited a Russian MFA statement following the visit of an
Italian MFA official that Russian and Italian views were
"identical" in several aspects and clearly more cautious than
those of the U.S. and others. The Russians see space for
communication between Moscow and the EU. And while the
Chinese would not take the lead in New York, the Russians
claimed Beijing would follow Moscow,s lead.


8. (C) Lajcak will see Ahtisaari in Vienna March 21 and his
German counterpart in Berlin March 23. Given the hard
Russian line he received in Moscow, Lajcak said he saw no
real need or value in reporting the results of his visit to
the rest of the EU, as he has in the past. Although the EU
was not eager for a discussion of Kosovo, he said, he assumed
the March 30-31 Gymnich would take up the subject, prompted
by the March 28 Contact Group meeting.
VALLEE