PERU: ASSESSMENT OF GOP KOSOVO POSITION

UNCLAS LIMA 001303 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC UNMIK PGOV YI EU SUBJECT: PERU: ASSESSMENT OF GOP KOSOVO POSITION REF: A. STATE 45355 ¶B. LIMA 1052 (AND PREVIOUS) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (BU) In numerous recent discussions regarding Kosovo, MFA officials have told us Peru remains uncomfortable with UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari's proposal for Kosovo's future because it is opposed by UNSC permanent members Russia and China and also by a majority of the UNSC's non-permanent members. Moreover, in the GOP's view Serbia's continued opposition to the Ahtisaari proposal means that any UNSC action now would lack essential buy-in from both parties, be seen as "imposed from above," and therefore in the long run cause more problems than it would solve. MFA Director General for Multilateral Affairs Ana Rosa Valdivieso told polcouns April 10 that Peru believed the Kosovo problem was not yet fully ripe for formal UNSC action. She noted that Russia had demarched the GOP at the Vice-Foreign Minister level. Serbia had formally registered its opposition at her level, Valdivieso said, and a Serbian delegation led by the Foreign Minister was planning to include Peru in its tour of UNSC non-permanent member capitals. She characterized the current position of Peru and Panama as somewhere in between that of the U.S. and EU on one side, and that of Russia and Serbia on the other. ¶2. (SBU) Several significant opportunities exist in the short term to nudge Peru into the U.S./EU corner. By happy coincidence, President Alan Garcia is scheduled to meet with President Bush in Washington on April 23. Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde will accompany Garcia. The Ambassador will engage the Foreign Minister on the issue after the FM returns to Peru. Neither President Garcia nor Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde has yet fully engaged on the Kosovo question, and Peru's final position will be determined by them. Ensuring that President Bush raises Kosovo in his meeting with President Garcia is important to signal the emphasis the USG gives the matter. The tentatively scheduled early May visit to Peru by Deputy Secretary Negroponte would provide an additional face-to-face opportunity to reiterate our position and to solicit Peru's support for it. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: If Peru is uncomfortable in the absence of UNSC consensus, particularly among the P-5, neither does it wish to be out-of-snych with the United States and European Union on matters affecting international peace and security. In that sense, Peru's position on Kosovo is not hard and fast but rather susceptible to our influence and that of our European partners. STRUBLE