KOSOVO FINAL STATUS -- ENGAGING INDONESIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 003407 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EUR, EUR/SCE, IO, IO/UNP NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC YI ID SUBJECT: KOSOVO FINAL STATUS -- ENGAGING INDONESIA REF: A. STATE 167211 ¶B. STATE 166909 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Pol/C reviewed Kosovo Final Status points with GOI contacts on December 14, reiterating the points on December 17. GOI interlocutors did not have any substantive response, commenting that they would review the points with Indonesia's mission in New York ahead of the December 19 UNSC meeting. Pol/C underscored USG support for the Ahtisaari Plan and urged that Indonesia endorse it on December 19. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) UNDERSCORING POINTS: On December 14, Pol/C delivered ref points to contacts in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Social and Legal Affairs. Pol/C stressed the urgent need to resolve the matter of Kosovo's final status as soon as possible. UN SYG Ban and all members of the Contact Group agreed that the status quo was not sustainable. Kosovo's political and economic development will be held back so long as there is uncertainty about its final status. ¶3. (C) Continuing, Pol/C noted that the proposal for supervised independence--negotiated by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari--represented the best way forward. Pol/C urged Indonesia, as a member of the UNSC, to support the resolution of Kosovo's status as quickly as possible per the Ahtisaari Plan and voice that support at the December 19 UN Security Council meeting. Pol/C underlined that Kosovo is a special case for many complex reasons and there is no grounds to believe that it will set a precedent for separatism elsewhere. ¶4. (C) GOI RESPONSE: Andy Rachmianto, Deputy Director for International Security and Disarmament Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),responded that he would review the USG position with other DEPLU officials and with the Indonesian Mission to the UN in New York. He did not have a substantive reaction to the USG points. ¶5. (C) INDONESIAN CONCERNS: Indonesia is divided on this matter. It clearly empathizes with the plight of fellow Muslims in Kosovo. That said--as a large country with integration problems--it worries about separatism and precedents based on that. We believe that the USG should continue to underscore the urgent need for a Kosovo settlement, while underlining that that settlement is sui generis and can in no way be seen as a precedent re separatism internationally. HUME