CREATING THE REGIONAL COOPERATION COUNCIL: FIRST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000373

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2017
TAGS: PREL ECON EAID SR HR EUN MI RO BU GR BK MW
YI, TU, UNMIK
SUBJECT: CREATING THE REGIONAL COOPERATION COUNCIL: FIRST
STEPS

REF: BRUSSELS 00194

Classified By: POLMINCOUNS LAURENCE WOHLERS FOR REASONS 1.5(B) AND (E)

Summary


1. (SBU) Representatives of key donor governments and of
SEECP countries met in Brussels on January 23 and 24 to begin
the process of establishing a Regional Cooperation Council
and secretariat as a regional cooperation vehicle to replace
the Stability Pact by early 2008. Discussions were
productive -- donor commitments approached those already made
by the SEECP and the EU -- and the complex task of
establishing the RCC mandate and structure was launched.
Strong statements of support for the process and the
objective were universal; key issues to be resolved by the
March 2 meeting of SEECP Foreign Ministers include a precise
definition of the relationship between the RCC and the SEECP,
agreement on a location for the RCC, and selection of a
Secretary General (SYG) to head it.

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2. (C) Of the two candidates for the seat of the RCC,
Sarajevo and Belgrade, the former appears to be the
front-runner, despite the logistical challenges it would
offer. As for the SYG, there is a split on whether a
political figure or a senior diplomat should fill the
position. Former Serbian foreign minister (and Stability
Pact Working Table I Chair) Goran Svilanovic is lobbying
openly for the position and is widely seen as the best
qualified person for it, but Croatia appears unreceptive to
his candidacy. In addition, Belgrade (where talks on forming
a new government are underway following January 21 elections)
has not yet officially put Svilanovic's name forward. End
Summary.

Donor Meeting: Overall target within Reach


3. (U) Citing firm commitments by Austria, Switzerland, and
Germany, and notional commitments by the U.S. and Norway,
Stability Pact Special Coordinator Erhard Busek pressed other
attendees to come forth with concrete offers of funding
support for the operating expenses of the RCC, which may
reach as much as three million euros a year. Dr. Busek
called on donors to match the one million euros annually over
three years already committed by both SEECP governments and
the European Commission.


4. (U) Donor governments stressed the need for a firm
presentation on the structure of the RCC and the proposed
staffing of the RCC secretariat before commitments could be
made final. Funding commitments presented included: Austria
- 150,000 euros; Germany - up to 200,000 euros; Switzerland -
120,000 euros; US - up to USD 200,000; Sweden - considering
150,000 euros; and Finland - considering 50,000 euros. In
addition, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the Czech
Republic are considering minimal participation. For their
part, the U.K. and France, given that that their legislation
limits funding to program activities only, argued that their
overall assistance to the region should justify their
participation in the RCC.


5. (U) The Regional Cooperation Council, intended to be the
coordinating body supporting regional cooperation under SEECP
leadership, is likely to have an inner circle comprised of
SEECP governments and key donors, possibly those offering
funding above a threshold of 50,000 euros and possibly to
include others (U.K. in the first instance) with substantial
assistance programs in the region. As presently envisioned,
this executive circle of the RCC would likely meet quarterly
and the overall council once annually.

Institutional Working Group: Founding the RCC


6. (U) With Croatia Stability Pact National Coordinator
Ambassador Boris Grigic and Stability Pact Deputy Special
Coordinator Mozur as co-chairs, the IWG met on January 24 in
Brussels on the basis of five point agenda conveyed in Ref
tel. Discussion of the various elements of the RCC structure
and the terms of the mandate for the proposed Secretary
General of the RCC was active and clarified concerns. Key
points raised by SEECP participants included:

Macedonia queried as to whether the Secretary General (SYG)
or the RCC seat should by decision come from a non-EU member
of the SEECP. (Comment: the issue is whether new EU members

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Bulgaria and Romania should stay out of the running when the
first SYG is chosen. Several states in the region appear to
prefer that the first SYG come from an EU aspirant, although
there is a recognition that the distinction would lose
importance over time. End Comment.)

Serbia referred to its paper on the structure and mandate of
the RCC, proposing that the RCC SYG be "a strong political
figure from the region" serving for a three year term with
the possibility of a second term. Serbia also proposed that
RCC membership include SEECP members, UNMIK/Kosovo, the EU
Troika, and "interested key Stability Pact partner countries,
and that a committee of national coordinators be established.
(Ambassador Grigic responded to the Serbian proposals on
the SYG, commenting that there is "no Balkan clone of Busek"
and that the term should be shorter, perhaps two years.)

Romania: Pressed for attention to the SECI Regional Center
for Combating Transborder Crime in Bucharest as a potential
model for the RCC Seat agreement.

Montenegro suggested that the RCC mandate place the RCC in
the lead on the EU accession process's link to regional
cooperation.


7. (U) From the donor side, there was clear interest in
seeing more details on the RCC structure and mandate:

Norway underscored the need for the RCC mandate to allow
sufficient flexibility to include all donors and to establish
clearly defined political linkages between the SEECP and the
RCC; further, there was a need to ensure that key initiatives
and task forces (citing the initiative on disaster
preparedness (DPPI),and refugee returns (MARRI),and on
defense issues (RACVIAC) have clear links to the RCC.

The U.K., citing domestic statutory limitations on its
ability to support the RCC secretariat directly, asserted the
need for the RCC mandate to allow participation by those
countries with substantial assistance programs in the region

Germany pushed for greater clarity on the members and
partners of the RCC.


8. (U) The European Commission spoke forcefully in support
of making the RCC Secretary General a strong regional
interlocutor for the EU on strategic issues related to
regional cooperation. The EU rep proposed that the SG be
required to prepare an annual report on the state of regional
cooperation, while reporting operationally to the SEECP and
the RCC.

Politics of location and SecGen; Differing views on role of
SYG



9. (SBU) On prospective candidates for the position of RCC
Secretary General, SP Special Coordinator Busek, during his

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January 20 visit to Belgrade, received some encouraging
signals from an advisor to PM Kostunica that Serbia was
beginning to view favorably a possible candidacy by former
Serbian FM Svilanovic, and might even take the step to
propose him when nominations are opened.


10. (C) In a January 25 meeting in Belgrade with the US
National Coordinator for the Stability Pact, Svilanovic said
that he had been offered support for his (unofficial)
candidacy to become RCC SYG by Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia
and Greece. Reviewing likely candidates for foreign minister
in the Serbian government to be formed over the coming weeks,
Svilanovic said that all - both those close to President
Tadic and those close to Prime Minister Kostunica -- would
support him. Svilanovic acknowledged that Croatian officials
had said they could not support his candidacy ("they don't
want a Serb"). He said Zagreb was trying to play down the
role of the SYG and would seek to have the post filled by a
career diplomat. Concerning the selection of the seat of the
RCC, Svilanovic said with Macedonia supporting Bosnia's offer
of Sarajevo and Albania expressing willingness to join a
consensus, it was likely that Sarajevo would be chosen.


11. (C) Serbian Assistant Minister of International Economic
Relations Dusko Lopandic told the US National Coordinator on
January 26 that Serbia "has ideas" on both the location of
the RCC and who should head it. (The Serbian government has

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officially offered to host the RCC in Belgrade.) Lopandic
noted that there were few candidates for the SYG position and
that "Serbia would benefit from the connection" if its
candidate were chosen. However, he said that proposing a
candidate was a political decision and that without a (new,
post-election) government, Serbia could not take an official
position on who should be SYG. Lopandic added that in any
case, the SYG needs to be a political-level official, and
that the Croatian proposal to select a senior diplomat is
"not enough."

Comment: Working toward late February deadline


12. (SBU) The January 23-24 meetings gave the Stability Pact
transition process additional energy, and the IWG sub-working
groups are now tackling the specifics issues involved in
creating the RCC structure. In the meantime, the SEECP
leadership troika (CiO Croatia, Greece, and incoming SEECP
CiO Bulgaria) are working on the fundamental rewrite of the
SEECP's own charter, which may include provision for a
liaison office in Brussels under SEECP -- rather than RCC --
auspices. This issue and others will form the agenda at the
IWG's next meeting in Zagreb on February 14-15 and the goal
remains to conclude this preparatory process by February 26.


GRAY
.