DENMARK FIRM IN SUPPORT OF KOSOVO STATUS TIMELINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L COPENHAGEN 000068 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2017 TAGS: PREL UNMIK UN PGOV YI EU DA SUBJECT: DENMARK FIRM IN SUPPORT OF KOSOVO STATUS TIMELINE REF: STATE 5652 Classified By: Ambassador James Cain, reasons 1.4b,d ¶1. (C) Danish MFA Permanent Secretary (deputy FM) Ulrik Federspiel assured the Ambassador January 18 that Denmark stands together with the United States in backing UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari's plans and timeline for Kosovo status. Federspiel. It is essential, Federspiel agreed, to resist Russian efforts to delay the process or otherwise undermine Ahtisaari's plan as a "starting point." Rather, Federspiel argued, we need to "do it quickly and tell the Russians, 'this is it.'" ¶2. (C) Federspiel reported that EU political directors had been briefed by Ahtisaari the previous week, which only reinforced his confidence in the UN envoy, whom Federspiel praised as a former MFA counterpart. Federspiel added that Denmark remains committed to its KFOR deployment and has no intention of reducing its numbers there. CAIN