TAJIKISTAN - NO KOSOVO ICJ POSITION YET

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUSHANBE 001127 NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN AND EUR E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2018 TAGS: PREL UN UNGA KV TI SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN - NO KOSOVO ICJ POSITION YET REF: STATE 91908 Classified By: A/DCM Matt Purl, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On September 5 Acting DCM spoke with Muzafar Khuseynov, Chief of the Department of International Organizations, concerning reftel. Khuseynov said that Tajikistan had not yet formulated a position on whether to support referral of Kosovo's declaration of independence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A/DCM conveyed U.S. concerns that referral to the ICJ could have adverse consequences in the Balkans and beyond. ¶2. (C) Khuseynov declined to predict what Tajikistan's position would be, saying the government needed to consult internally and with its mission to the UN before deciding. He assured A/DCM that he would push to accelerate the decision making process on this matter, and to contact the embassy if there were any developments. ¶3. (C) On September 2 Charge d'Affaires called on the French Charge d'Affaires regarding reftel. The French Charge said that he did not have instructions to raise the Kosovo/ICJ matter in Dushanbe. The German Embassy also reported having no instructions on this issue. ¶4. (C) Comment: Tajikistan has not recognized Kosovo, and wishes to keep away from any Kosovo-related matters. We do not know of any pressure on Tajikistan to support referral of Kosovo to the ICJ. However, the Government of Tajikistan clearly has only begun to consider this matter, does not easily absorb subtle messages, and works best with formal written demarches. It would be helpful if post received cleared points on this matter which could be left with the Government for them to use in their consultations. End Comment. QUAST