KOSOVO STATUS: BULGARIAN PM SEES NO REASON FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000093 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2017 TAGS: PREL SR BU SUBJECT: KOSOVO STATUS: BULGARIAN PM SEES NO REASON FOR DELAY, ENDORSES TADIC REF: A. STATE 5652 ¶B. 06 STATE 203026 Classified By: Ambassador John Beyrle, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Prime Minister Stanishev told the Ambassador January 12 that Bulgaria supports Ahtisaari and that the Kosovo final status process "cannot be dragged out." This echoes FM Kalfin's message to the Secretary on December 19 that Ahtisaari should present his report soon after the Serbian elections (ref B). Stanishev made a point of meeting Tadic in Belgrade January 18 and calling the Serb President's Democratic Party "the European choice for Serbia." Stanishev will travel to Tirana on January 29. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Lamenting the fact that a negotiated solution appeared out of reach, Stanishev acknowledged that supervised independence for Kosovo would likely have to be imposed on Belgrade by the international community. He emphasized the importance in this context of protecting minority rights and Serb cultural heritage in Kosovo, and of providing Serbia with "a European future." Citing positively the example of NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP),Stanishev said he hoped the European Union would quickly restart talks aimed at a Stabilization and Association Agreement. ¶3. (C) Stanishev speculated that Russia might try to use Kosovo as a precedent for resolving frozen conflicts in its neighborhood because Kosovo's independence "is difficult to explain under international law." The Ambassador pushed back, noting the many factors that make Kosovo's case sui generis. In a conversation with the DCM on January 16, Stanishev's foreign policy advisor Valentin Radomirski said he thought Russia would try to extract a price from the international community for not using its veto in the Security Council. Radomirski placed an emphasis on the "supervised" part of supervised independence, and noted the importance of a "significant and durable" KFOR presence. ¶4. (U) As previewed with the Ambassador on January 12, Stanishev traveled to Belgrade in his capacity as leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and official of the Socialist International to participate in the final pre-election rally of Tadic's Democratic Party. Stanishev told Tadic supporters, "You are not alone, you have friends, you have a European future." Following is a longer excerpt from Stanishev's endorsement, as quoted today by the Bulgarian-language Mediapool news agency: "...I am convinced the Serbian people will chose a European and prosperous future. All of us, your friends from Bulgaria and the neighboring Balkan states and the whole EU want to see Serbia as it deserves to be, Serbia which is an equal member of the European nations. I believe this choice is represented by President Tadic and the Democratic Party. I know that you can achieve this future for your country. . . . I hope you will win a convincing victory on January 21, and you know why -- because "life cannot wait." (DP's campaign slogan.) BEYRLE