RUCKER WANTS LEGAL SCRIPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000868 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2017 TAGS: KV PGOV PREL UNSC YI SR SUBJECT: RUCKER WANTS LEGAL SCRIPT Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro Wolff, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In a meeting with Ambassador Wolff on October 11, UNMIK SRSG Rucker said he had been holding meetings with the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) to discuss concerns regarding Kosovo future status. He said that in these meetings he had emphasized that UNMIK and the UN are stakeholders in Kosovo and need to be prepared for the period after December 10 and the possibility that the Troika talks will fail. Rucker stressed to Ambassador Wolff that he believes a "legal script" is needed to lay out how a managed unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) can be in conformity with UNSCR 1244. He believes the Quint would best compose this script. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Wolff responded that Russia was ratcheting up its rhetoric about the negative consequences of a UDI and trying to scare European countries. He said it would be important for the US and EU stay together on the question of recognizing Kosovo. Wolff stressed to Rucker that a political environment where all or nearly all 27 EU members recognize Kosovo would make it easier for the OLA to follow the kind of legal script that Rucker was proposing. ¶3. (C) Rucker said he thought the EU ought to create a common foreign and security policy position in favor of recognizing Kosovo -- saying, it might not have 27 votes in favor, but would probably not have any votes against -- and noted that the International Crisis Group had recently proposed a similar idea. Rucker said a key argument that he had been making to OLA was that UN staff must protect the UN's own legacy as well as the office of the Secretary-General. SIPDIS KHALILZAD