KOSOVO ICJ RESOLUTION: GUATEMALAN RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 001420 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2018 TAGS: PREL UNGA KV GT SUBJECT: KOSOVO ICJ RESOLUTION: GUATEMALAN RESPONSE REF: STATE 105796 Classified By: Pol/Econ Couns Drew Blakeney for reasons 1.4 (b&d). (C) Visiting WHA/CEN Director Christopher Webster raised the Kosovo ICJ resolution October 23 with Guatemalan Vice Foreign Minister Lars Pira. Pira said that many Latin American countries had voted in favor of referring the case to the ICJ, and that the GOG "did not want to participate in the atomization of Europe, nor of the former Soviet Union." The GOG would not take sides between Kosovo and Serbia. The matter of Kosovo's independence should be resolved between the two parties or decided in the UN General Assembly, Pira said. Webster reiterated the points on Kosovo contained reftel, asserting that an ICJ role was inappropriate because there was no legal question to be decided, and that the USG disagreed with the Guatemalan position. Pira said he hoped the issue would not become an irritant to Guatemala's strong bilateral relationships with the USG and UK. McFarland