CROATIAN PM TELLS AMBASSADOR CROATIA SUPPORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000225

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR, EUR/SCE, INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN HR YI REGIONAL ISSUES
SUBJECT: CROATIAN PM TELLS AMBASSADOR CROATIA SUPPORTS
AHTISAARI PLAN FOR KOSOVO

REF: ZAGREB 149

Classified By: Ambassador Robert A. Bradtke for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) During a meeting on other subjects (septel) March 2,
Croatian PM Ivo Sanader told the Ambassador that Croatia
completely supported the Ahtisaari plan on Kosovo's final
status. Belgrade was upset with the GOC over their public
support for Ahtisaari, which Sanader said he regretted, but
Sanader felt the GOC had no choice but to support the envoy's
plan.


2. (C) Sanader also said that Kosovar Albanian PM Ceku was
very happy that he had been invited to the Southeast Europe
Cooperative Process (SEECP) Foreign Ministers meeting in
Zagreb that week. Serbian FM Draskovic, was, of course,
unhappy about this, he added. Nevertheless, Sanader thought
inviting Ceku was a "good signal" to Belgrade of what the
future would be like.


3. (C) Sanader said there would be two meetings of the
European Peoples' Party Prime Ministers in the next few
months, which he had encouraged Serbian PM Kostunica to
attend. Kostunica did not attend the last two, he said,
which had been a mistake (although somewhat understandable,
as they took place during the run-up to Serbian elections),
since he lost an opportunity to try to convince 10 European
PMs of his policy views on Kosovo's final status. The next
EPP meeting would be the next week in Brussels; after that,
in Berlin on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.
BRADTKE