DEMARCHE ON U.S. VIEWS TO RESOLVE KOSOVO STATUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002247 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/SCE - JBLACK E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV YI SP SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON U.S. VIEWS TO RESOLVE KOSOVO STATUS REF: STATE 165486 Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION HUGO LLORENS, REASONS 1.4B AND D . ¶1. (C) Deputy Chief of Mission delivered reftel demarche to MFA Political Director Rafael Dezcallar November 13, stressing the urgency of bringing closure to the issue of Kosovo. Dezcallar said Spain has never been enthusiastic about a declaration of independence and hoped the entire affair would be managed in the least negative way possible. He emphasized the need to protect the rights of minorities within Kosovo as well as to maintain contact with democratic forces in Serbia. He noted the timing was bad early next year, with both Spain and Russia headed for elections. He repeated Spain's concerns about the international legal basis for what was happening in Kosovo. He said Spain supported NATO's stance regarding continuation of the KFOR mission because the legal basis was clear, but the same could not be said about the ESPD mission. He urged more work on the legal aspects and encouraged the U.S. to involve as much as possible the UN Secretary General in support of EU-U.S. approaches on Kosovo. He also noted the Serbs would require careful handling (he mentioned in passing the insistence of countries such as the Netherlands on full Serbian compliance on ICTY as a preconditon to Serbia's potential EU bid, suggesting the U.S. should try to change the Netherland's stance on this). ¶2. (C) Comment: The Spanish clearly wish events had taken a different and slower turn and remain concerned about the international legal aspects of this issue. Spanish government officials will remain concerned over potential domestic spillover effects on the Basque and Catalan autonomy questions, particularly as the country gears up for the upcoming national election campaign. Nevertheless, we expect Spain to stand with the EU consensus on independence. AGUIRRE