DZURINDA HAS BOXED HIMSELF IN ON KOSOVO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000169 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV YI KOC LO SUBJECT: DZURINDA HAS BOXED HIMSELF IN ON KOSOVO Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reason 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Former PM Dzurinda's advisor told the Ambassador that Dzurinda would not change his mind on Kosovo. However, the advisor also assured the Ambassador that any resolution SDKU proposed would not be binding and would not comment on how Slovakia should vote in the security council. End summary. ¶2. (C) Milan Jezovica (strictly protect),foreign policy advisor to former prime minister and current opposition leader Mikulas Dzurinda (SDKU),told the Ambassador March 20 that Dzurinda will not change his mind on Kosovo. Through Jezovica, Dzurinda sent the message that no one in Slovakia has done more to strengthen the TransAtlantic relationship than Dzurinda and his SDKU party (comment: this is true). Nonetheless, on the issue of Kosovo, Dzurinda cannot be moved. Jezovica said any meeting between Dzurinda and the Ambassador on Kosovo therefore would not be productive. He opined that Dzurinda had boxed himself in, and that pushing harder on this issue now would be counterproductive. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador said that SDKU would share the blame if the Slovak government veered outside the EU consensus on Kosovo or did anything other than vote in favor of a UNSCR. He inquired about the drafting process for a common parliamentary resolution, stressing that any resolution should not be binding, should not condition independence for Kosovo on Serb approval, and should not call for abstention or a "no" vote at the UNSC on a resolution based on the Ahtisaari plan. Although Jezovica is not personally involved in the drafting process, he assured the Ambassador that the resolution would not be binding on the government, and that it would not comment on how the GOS should vote in the UNSC. However, he said that the "no independence without Serb approval" clause was the central argument of the SDKU position. ¶4. (C) Based both on Jezovica's characterization of Dzurinda's firm position and the recent positive statements by PM Fico, Post does not recommend that NSA Hadley call Dzurinda at this time. Update from Parliament -------------- ¶5. (U) Members of parliament voted March 20 to discuss four draft resolutions on Kosovo at the March 27 session. Speaker Pavol Paska presented his draft, and proposed that it be discussed first. However, the opposition objected, and the majority of MPs voted to discuss the resolutions in the order they were presented (SDKU, SNS, SMK, then Smer). Although the MPs will discuss the various resolutions at the March 22 Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, it is highly unlikely that they could agree on a single draft resolution before March ¶27. VALLEE