POLAND SUPPORTS AHTISAARI'S PLAN, BUT EXPRESSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000748 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNMIK UN YI EU PL SUBJECT: POLAND SUPPORTS AHTISAARI'S PLAN, BUT EXPRESSES CONCERN FOR SERBIA REF: SECSTATE 37835 Classified By: DCM Kenneth M. Hillas for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) DCM met March 27 with Krzysztof Szczerski, Under Secretary of State for Europe at Polish MFA, to deliver SIPDIS reftel Demarche on Kosovo. (Note: Neither Minister nor Deputy Minister were available.) Szczerski stated "Poland is for the Ahtisaari plan," but then went on to outline "a few critical questions," including possible Chinese/Russian opposition. He opined that the status quo, a solution in limbo, would strain the EU's "fragile" consensus on Kosovo, referring to the "different perspective" of Romania and Slovakia, which fear a "domino effect." He cautioned against building separate minority and majority institutions in Kosovo and agreed on the need to strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties to Serbia's democratic government, which he clearly feared could be undermined. Szczerski seemed concerned that Russia would enlist China's support to block Ahtisaari's plan. ¶2. (C) In his reply, DCM noted that we strove to address the issue of "precedence" with regard to Ahtisaari's plan. He emphasized that, because of Kosovo's unique on-the-ground reality, there were no real alternatives to Ahtisaari's plan. He agreed China's position could influence Russia and that interested states need to ensure that China heard a clear message. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Szczerski's declared support for Ahtisaari's "plan" is a little more committal than the support his chief deputy, Jerzy Chmielewski, MFA director for Europe, offered explicitly for Ahtisaari's "activities," just one week ago. However, Szczerski's concerns for Serbia reflect an underlying concern over potential fallout that might strengthen public opposition in Poland to supervised independence for Kosovo. END COMMENT. ASHE