BOSNIA - RS PLANS TO KEEP SURPLUS ARMS, AMMUNITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 002632 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH, SILBERSTEIN, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),EUR/RPM; DEFENSE FOR FATA, BEIN; NSC FOR BRAUN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR MARR BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - RS PLANS TO KEEP SURPLUS ARMS, AMMUNITION RAISES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONCERN REF: A. SARAJEVO 2586 ¶B. SARAJEVO 2395 ¶C. SARAJEVO 1563 Classified By: Ambassador Charles English. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Following up Assistant Secretary Fried's December 5 exchange with Republika Srpska (RS) PM Milorad Dodik, we met with RS "Military Advisor" Dusko Cetkovic on December 6 to discuss defense property issues. We expressed our concern about statements by RS negotiators that the RS wanted to maintain ownership of surplus arms and ammunition. Cetkovic confirmed that this was indeed the RS position and presented us with a copy of the RS Government's proposed draft defense property transfer agreement, which included such a provision. Cetkovic told us that the RS never supported transferring all arms and ammunition to the state and that there was no point in continuing defense property talks at a technical-level if NATO HQ interpreted the July 2007 political agreement on defense property differently. Cetkovic said that the RS's position was based on a broad opposition to transferring additional "competencies" to the state. On December 6, the Ambassador raised U.S. concerns about the RS position on defense property with the HighRep, Quint Ambassadors, and NATO General Wightman. All agreed that the international community needed to work together to resolve the issue and secure Dodik's support for a transfer agreement that provides for state control of all weapons, ammunition and explosives. We will be following up with General Wightman, the NATO POLAD and OHR leadership in a December 11 strategy session. END SUMMARY NO TIME TO BLOCK DEFENSE REFORM -------------- ¶2. (C) Following-up A/S Fried's exchange with RS PM Milorad Dodik December 5 (reported septel),we met with RS "Military" Advisor Dusko Cetkovic in Banja Luka on December 6 to discuss the continued impasse over resolving defense property issues. Dodik had told Fried that he was unaware of the outcome of the November 29 NATO-RS bilateral exchange (Ref A). Cetkovic, a former Army of Republika Srpska General, styles himself as "Military Advisor" to the RS Government, including PM Dodik, and the RS President, though his business card lists his title only as "Advisor." He is close to Dodik and was selected by him to represent the RS on the defense property working group, which was established after the July 2007 "Agreement on Basic Principles" on defense property was concluded by the RS, Federation and state-level governments (Ref C). ¶3. (C) We underscored A/S Fried's message to Dodik that the recent agreement on the October 29 measures and the initialing of the SAA created an opportunity to move forward on issues important to Bosnia's Euro-Atlantic future. In that context, we were concerned that the RS had walked back its July 2007 commitment that "the state shall have the right of ownership of moveable defense property" (Ref A). We underscored that it was the position of NATO, EUFOR, the U.S. and other members of the international community that all weapons, ammunition and explosives must be transferred to the state. There could be no compromise on this point as it related directly to the maintenance of a safe and secure environment in Bosnia. We stressed that the draft Transfer Agreement tabled by NATO HQ was consistent with the July 2007 political agreement signed by Dodik. The RS's opposition to the NATO-proposed Transfer Agreement put at risk Bosnia's ambitious agenda for NATO's Bucharest Summit in April 2008. CETKOVIC: SURPLUS ARMS AND AMMUNITION ARE OURS -------------- - ¶4. (C) Cetkovic replied that the RS government's position was, and has always had been, that entity governments would retain ownership and control over all defense property that did not meet the current needs of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces. Cetkovic noted that there apparently existed differing interpretations of the July political agreement. Cetkovic said that the political agreement clearly supported the RS's position that all surplus arms and ammunition should remain under entity control and that this had been Dodik's intent in signing the July agreement. Cetkovic presented us SARAJEVO 00002632 002 OF 003 with the RS Government's new proposed transfer agreement, which he said fully reflected Dodik's position on the matter. Cetkovic stressed that he was a senior advisor to Dodik, and his points were in complete harmony with the Prime Minister's. NEW RS DRAFT PLAN -------------- ¶5. (C) The RS draft explicitly states that "the whole mobile property which will not serve for needs of defense of BiH will remain as property of the Republika Srpska and the Federation (dependent on entity source)." Under the RS plan, the MoD and Armed Forces would submit a list of items required for current use that would be then transferred to the state, and all other items, which would include tanks, artillery pieces, helicopters, other heavy weaponry, small arms, and ammunition, would remain under RS ownership. Cetkovic said that under the RS plan, all surplus military equipment would be kept at its current location, though separate from items transferred to the state, and guarded by joint Armed Forces-RS security personnel. The RS would have sole right to determine the means of sale, donation or destruction of the items retained under their ownership. The RS would provide the MoD with 20 percent of the proceeds from the sale of such items. Cetkovic said that the RS would use its share of the proceeds to pay off 170 million KM (approximately 130 million USD) in war debts. TRANSFERRING "COMPETENCIES" -------------- ¶6. (C) Cetkovic explained that the RS's insistence on maintaining ownership of surplus defense property was based on three principles: 1) the state taking over the ownership of the items would in effect be a "transfer of entity competency," which the RS leadership opposed "in principle"; 2) the RS wanted to ensure that the sale of items would be used to cover RS debts; and, 3) the RS would be more efficient and transparent in selling the items than the state. To illustrate the last point, Cetkovic said the recent case of the proposed sale of MLRS to Georgia (Ref B) proved that some parties sought to ignore RS interests in the disposition of surplus items. Cetkovic also said that NATO HQ Sarajevo should develop a clearer definition of "weapons, arms, and ammunition" that the MoD required, suggesting for example, that a howitzer, which would be turned into scrap before being sold, was technically not a weapon. ¶7. (C) In response to Cetkovic's points, we told him that we fully supported NATO HQ's interpretation of the July 2007 political agreement, arguing that it clearly provided for the transfer of all arms and ammunition to the state. We said that while some aspects of a transfer agreement were open to negotiation, no flexibility existed on this particular point. Regarding the question of "competencies," we reminded Cetkovic that the RS had transferred competency for defense the state in 2005. At the close of a direct but even-tempered exchange, Cetkovic said it was apparent that, considering the opposing interpretations of the political agreement, continued technical discussions of the transfer agreement were pointless. Cetkovic said that the matter must be re-submitted to the "political level" (i.e., Dodik and senior representatives of NATO and other interested parties). HIGH REP RAISES ISSUES WITH QUINT -------------- ¶8. (C) At a December 6 meeting with the HighRep and Quint Ambassadors, the Ambassador raised U.S. concern about apparent RS turnabout on defense property. The HighRep noted that NATO had made OHR aware of the RS's November 29 negotiating position and expressed his concern about the issue as well. He told the Quint that he planned to raise the issue with PM Spiric (still in a technical mandate) on Monday, December 10. Separately, the Ambassador spoke with NATO General Wightman about developing a joint strategy with OHR and other key NATO Ambassadors for putting pressure on Dodik to accept NATO's draft Transfer Agreement. The Ambassador, General Wightman, NATO POLAD and OHR's Principal Deputy High Representative will meet December 11 to advance this strategy. SARAJEVO 00002632 003 OF 003 COMMENT: A NEW CHALLENGE TO STATE AUTHORITY -------------- ¶9. (C) Cetkovic is close to Dodik, and we doubt that he is misrepresenting the RS PM's views to NATO. Dodik may be unfamiliar with details of defense property negotiations, as he claimed on December 5, but we suspect he is aware of the core principle embodied in the RS draft transfer agreement that calls for RS retention of surplus weapons, ammunition and explosives. There could be several factors driving this policy, including a purely financial interest in ensuring RS control over any profits from the sale of defense articles. Cetkovic's assertion that relinquishing control of excess defense articles implied a "competency transfer" by the RS to the state was disconcerting. We will continue to remain engaged on this issue and are working with NATO, OHR and others to address the matter at the appropriate political level. ENGLISH