SPAIN/KOSOVO: UN RESOLUTION KEY TO SPANISH TROOP

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000598 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/SCE FOR JOSHUA BLACK EUR/WE FOR GARY CLEMENTS AND ANGELA CERVETTI E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNMIK UN YI EU SP SUBJECT: SPAIN/KOSOVO: UN RESOLUTION KEY TO SPANISH TROOP PRESENCE REF: STATE 37835 Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) The DCM met with Spanish MFA Director General for Europe and North America Jose Maria PONS Irazazabal on March 29 to discuss Spain's support for the Ahtisaari Plan's proposals for Kosovo. Pons told DCM that Spain is committed to supporting the EU common position and strongly supports the elaboration of a UN resolution on Kosovo's final status. He said that Spain,s position is not completely in line with the USG position, but that the general impressions on the way forward are very similar, reiterating that Spain would not buck the EU position. The DCM asked Pons about Spanish policy regarding the presence of Spanish forces in Kosovo. (NOTE: Embassy learned on 28 March from a non-GOS source that the MGA would recommend the withdrawal of Spanish forces if there were no UN resolution authorizing their presence and the Kosovars declared independence. END NOTE.) Pons said that if there was no UN resolution and Kosovo declared independence, it was extremely likely that Spain would withdraw its forces. The DCM said that he hoped this was not the final Spanish position and asked whether this had ever been briefed to the U.S. Pons acknowledged that this position had not been previously briefed to the U.S. He added hypothetically that if a crisis emerged without an authorizing UNSC resolution, Spain would likely assist. DCM pressed Pons on this issue, saying that the abrupt withdrawal of foreign forces could itself trigger such a crisis. ¶2. (U) In Bremen on March 30, Secretary of State for the European Union Alberto Navarro told Gymnich press that Spain was not satisfied with the Ahtisaari Plan but would not break with the European consensus. "It worries us that we are talking about the disintegration of European states, that the map of Europe changes every year, that in schools one sees new states appear," he said. "Spain will not break the unity of the EU and the international community, and for this reason we support the Ahtisaari plan. Nevertheless, we ask that the Security Council adopt a clear resolution which establishes a legal basis for Kosovo." //COMMENT// ¶3. (C) The Spanish will not be, nor have they been, particularly helpful with respect to Kosovo, but they will not pose a problem if the Ahtisaari Plan moves ahead successfully. Nevertheless, their public and excessive insistance on a UNSC resolution could prove self-defeating and embolden Russia to be that much more recalcitrant in the Security Council. -------------- Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/ -------------- Aguirre