FEITH TO PSC: MAINTAIN EULEX DEPLOYMENT TO ALL OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000381

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2018
TAGS: PREL NATO EUN KV
SUBJECT: FEITH TO PSC: MAINTAIN EULEX DEPLOYMENT TO ALL OF
KOSOVO ... FOR NOW


Classified By: PolMinCouns L. Wohlers for reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
- - - - - -


1. (C) ICR/EUSR Pieter Feith briefed Political and Security
Committee (PSC) ambassadors March 11 on Kosovo. Feith
stressed that UNMIK must do its job, particularly in northern
Kosovo, in order to maintain conditions for deployment of
EULEX. Feith asked for full PSC support for deploying EULEX
throughout Kosovo, maintaining current EU plans, and for
urging the UN to take appropriate responses to provocations,
including those expected with the likely May 11 Serbian
elections. Feith said he expects the situation on the ground
to get worse and that Belgrade's long-term strategy is to
maintain visible parallel institutions in northern Kosovo.
One Council Secretariat contact told us that there is no
consensus within the PSC regarding whether to adjust the
EULEX deployment timetable; rather, PSC will wait for the
Council Secretariat's draft OP PLAN Annex on the North,
expected in late March. End summary.

Feith to PSC: There is No Plan B -- For Now
- - - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (C) ICR/EUSR Pieter Feith briefed PSC ambassadors March

11. Sabina Stadler, Council Secretariat Slovene Presidency
Coordinator (strictly protect) attended the session and
provided us March 11 a readout. Feith began by noting that
the situation in northern Kosovo could have been worse;
still, he expects more trouble, particularly as there is "no
acceptance" of the EU in the north at all. Cooperation
between UNMIK and Belgrade is worse than what had been
expected a few months ago. Serbia's elections, likely May
11, will present Belgrade opportunities to try to establish
visible parallel institutions throughout the north. Feith
surmised that this is part of a longer-term strategy by
Belgrade. (Note: Stadler inferred that Feith sees Belgrade
as eventually seeking partition.) On a positive note, Feith
reported that customs collections are the border have
resumed. If there is more violence at the gates, however,
the gates will be closed.

Stick to Deployment ... Conditions Permitting
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


3. (C) Feith said there is a "sense that the international
community (IC) is losing the southern enclaves," but did not
explain how. He said Kosovo Serbs are waiting for the IC's
next move; the Kosovo Serbs' response could be violent.
Feith noted that his aim is to reach out to Kosovo Serbs on
both sides of the Ibar with political messages of support and
economic assistance. According to Stadler, Feith emphasized
the need for the EU to deploy throughout all of Kosovo "when
the situation permits." Separately, we asked both Stefan
Lehne, Council Secretariat Director the W. Balkans, and his
deputy, Michael Giffoni, for latest thinking on deployment of
EULEX. Lehne said deployment "starts soon," but said
deployment to the North is not envisioned in the first
several weeks. Giffoni told us that it is "clear" that the
EU plans to stick to its deployment timetable. That said,
"we need the conditions to deploy," which is why the EU is
pressing the UN to do its job, including in northern Kosovo.
(Note: We understand that EULEX has, indeed, begun
deployment, with 20 personnel joining the EUPT in Kosovo, and
a second wave will deploy at the end of April.)

Kosovo Government Doing Well
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


4. (C) Turning to the Kosovo Government, Feith said Pristina
is focused on consolidation. It wants to promulgate its new
constitution and finish the package of Ahtisaari-related
legislation. Feith said the appointment of a foreign
minister will be crucial in Kosovo's efforts to attract more
recognition. Feith said he had asked the SRSG to proceed
with the establishment of the new municipality of Northern
Mitrovica. He noted a likely delay in the KPC's transition.
Feith said the Kosovo Albanians have remained restrained in
light of Kosovo Serb provocations but added that he could not
predict how long this would remain the case.


5. (C) Given the likelihood of further trouble from Kosovo
Serbs in the run-up to and aftermath of Serbia's elections,
Feith asked the PSC to wait to debate the OPLAN's Annex on
the North (which one contact told us would be issued March
27) until after the Serb elections. Given the fluid
situation in the North, he said he could give an accurate
assessment of where the situation there is headed only after
the elections.

ICO Assuming Some "OSCE Functions"

BRUSSELS 00000381 002 OF 002


- - - - - - - - - - - - -


6. (C) Feith also noted that he had discussed the situation
in Kosovo with OSCE officials and concluded that the EU will
have to help further with monitoring the implementation of a
"comprehensive settlement" (EU code for "Ahtisaari package").
Mobile teams working under the ICO will help monitor
compliance with decentralization and cultural heritage
commitments.

Feith Seeks Full PSC Support
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


7. (C) Following his report, Feith reportedly asked the
PSC's full support on four issues: (1) ensuring that EULEX
will be deployed throughout Kosovo; (2) understanding that he
cannot accurately assess the situation in the north until
after the Serb elections are held in May; (3) committing to
current EU plans -- "There can be no Plan B until Plan A is
tried;" and (4) urging UNMIK to take appropriate responses to
the May 11 elections. (Note: Feith apparently did not,
however, outline what scenarios and "appropriate responses"
he had in mind.)

UN and NATO must play Active Roles
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


8. (C) According to another Council Secretariat contact,
Feith also noted that the EU should discuss "restructuring"
rather than "transition" from UNMIK, given that UNMIK may
retain some structure in Kosovo after June. Our contact
noted that there was general concern expressed by PSC
ambassadors that UNMIK is not playing the role it should in
Kosovo and that KFOR, as well, was shying away from some
activities under cover of being "status neutral." Nor was
there consensus regarding deploying EULEX as scheduled or
somehow delaying at least part of the deployment. In an
aside, two of our contacts noted that the Spanish
representative insisted that Feith make it clear that he was
briefing as the EUSR, not as the ICR.

Comment
- - - - - - -


9. (C) While Feith is the EUSR in Kosovo, he does not head
the EULEX Mission. That chief -- retired French General de
Kermabon -- is currently in New York seeking to strengthen
the UN's resolve to at least maintain the IC's redlines.
That said, if more than a few member states see a high risk
of violence in the northern Kosovo without appropriate
responses from UNMIK and/or KFOR, we can expect contentious
debates here about the EULEX deployment schedule. While most
member states see the Kosovo mission as a litmus test of EU
credibility, we expect that a small yet vocal minority of
member states to question the wisdom of standing up to Kosovo
Serb provocations. Strong determination and leadership from
key member states, such as France, Germany, and the UK, as
well as visible KFOR and UNMIK responses to provocations, are
needed to derail any potential calls for delaying deployment
to the north.
MURRAY
.