HUNGARIAN REACTION TO LETTER TO ENCOURAGE V-10

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000175 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NCE AND EUR/SCE; PLEASE PASS TO NSC FOR ADAM STERLING E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2012 TAGS: PREL PGOV SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN REACTION TO LETTER TO ENCOURAGE V-10 SUPPORT ON KOSOVO REF: SECSTATE 15235 Classified By: POL/C ERIC V. GAUDIOSI; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Post delivered reftel letter at the MFA on the margins of Ambassador Foley's meeting with Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz February 8. ¶2. (C) FM Goncz seconded Ambassador Foley's strong endorsement of the Ahtisaari plan, describing it as a "good basis for engagement." She emphasized the importance of a Security Council Resolution "to Serbia and to the entire region" to finalize a settlement. She took our point re the need to move forward now, commenting that "some Serbian input" is important. She agreed that efforts to form a new Serbian government would likely stretch out "too long," but suggested that the IC consider waiting for Serbian parliamentarians to take their seats before moving forward. She predicted that this would happen in a matter of days. ¶3. (C) MFA statements in response to the Ahtisaari plan have been extremely cautious, emphasizing the importance of the entire region's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. We expect this reflects a careful balancing of concerns over stability in Serbia - particularly of the ethnic Hungarian minority - with the recognition of Contact Group consensus. We do not expect more robust public statements from the GoH, but they remain very eager to tailor their private messages to Belgrade with our policy following more detailed consultations on the Balkans. FOLEY