Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KYIV612
2008-03-25 03:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: KOSOVO - GOVERNMENT HOLDS ITS GROUND,

Tags:  PREL MARR KDEM NATO UNMIK KV UP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 250318Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5277
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 000612 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/UMB, EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR KDEM NATO UNMIK KV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: KOSOVO - GOVERNMENT HOLDS ITS GROUND,
OPPOSITION SEEKS ADVANTAGE

REF: KYIV 600

Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 000612

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/UMB, EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR KDEM NATO UNMIK KV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: KOSOVO - GOVERNMENT HOLDS ITS GROUND,
OPPOSITION SEEKS ADVANTAGE

REF: KYIV 600

Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Summary: At a March 21 meeting, the National Security
and Defense Council (NSDC) determined that Ukraine should not
change the nature of its participation in Kosovo peacekeeping
activities in the wake of a March 17 incident in Mitrovica,
Kosovo, during which a Ukrainian policeman was killed.
Earlier in the day, the opposition Party of Regions attempted
to make political hay from the controversy by submitting a
bill calling for the immediate withdrawal of Ukrainian
peacekeepers from Kosovo. Parliamentary Speaker Yatsenyuk
adjourned the session after promising to present the position
of Parliamentary factions to the NSDC meeting. (Parliament
will reconvene April 1.) In a March 20 meeting with CODEL
Price, Foreign Minister Ohryzko argued that Ukraine's best
course should be to remain deliberately vague regarding
whether or not to recognize Kosovo's independence. End
summary.

The Mitrovica Incident
--------------


2. (U) After a March 21 NSDC meeting, Foreign Minister
Volodymyr Ohryzko reasserted the Ukrainian government's
intention not to change the nature of its involvement in
Kosovo peacekeeping activities (reftel) but also sought to
tamp down the political controversy following an opposition
Party of Regions resolution in parliament demanding the
immediate withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers from Kosovo.
During a press conference, he said that "a withdrawal of the
peacekeeping contingent from Kosovo is not under
consideration." At the same time, he noted that he respected
parliamentarians' right to debate the issue of Ukraine's
involvement in Kosovo and said Ukraine would seek higher
salaries for its servicemen participating in KFOR to reach
parity with other states. Ohryzko said Ukraine was awaiting
the results of a UN inquiry and might ask to participate in a
follow-up review of UN's handling of the March 17 incident in

Mitrovica, Kosovo, in which a Ukrainian UNMIK peacekeeper
died and 20 others were wounded (two seriously).


3. (U) NSDC Secretary Raisa Bohatyryova also issued a
statement after the NSDC meeting, saying the NSDC had decided
to continue honoring Ukraine's UN commitments. The statement
said, "Peacekeeping and consolidation of efforts with the
European Union, the United States, Russia and other members
of the United Nations to maintain peace on the sites of
current conflicts form the universal and sovereign basis for
the policy of Ukraine, which is a cofounder of the United
Nations." Also on March 21, commander of the Interior
Ministry's special peacekeeping unit in Kosovo Bohdan Salyuk,
commander of the special dog unit in Kosovo Svitlana
Abdrazakova, and commander of the Ukrainian contingent of the
UN civil police in Kosovo Viktor Drobotenko signed a letter
urging that decisions regarding deployment of peacekeeping
units not be taken "under the influence of emotions, much
less political populism."


4. (U) Earlier on March 21, Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy
Yatsenyuk forestalled a possible Party of Regions disruption
of the parliamentary (Verkhovna Rada) session by proposing
that he would present the Rada political factions' positions
at the NSDC session and adjourned the session until March 25,
after Regions deputies grudgingly agreed to this approach and
allowed other political factions to speak. Party of Regions
leader Viktor Yanukovych had announced live on television
that his party had registered a resolution calling for the
withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers from Kosovo. He claimed
the Ukrainian police contingent had been used as a shield and
continued that the conflict in Kosovo "was not ours." He
said Ukraine would no longer "dance to the tune of those
global political forces which fan military conflicts across
the globe." (Note: The government coalition should be able
to defeat the resolution, should it come to a vote.)
European Integration Committee Chairman, and former Foreign
Minister, Borys Tarasyuk and Rada Speaker Yatsenyuk refuted
Regions' claim that NATO was responsible for the operation
conducted by UN policemen.

Kosovo Independence
--------------


5. (U) During the press conference after the NSDC meeting, FM
Ohryzko also responded to questions regarding Ukraine's
stance on Kosovo independence. He said Ukraine was
continuing "very serious" consultations with many countries
and international organizations to decide whether to
recognize Kosovo's independence. Ohryzko was more candid,
however, during a March 20 meeting with CODEL Price.
Representative David Price mentioned that the status of
Kosovo had been a topic during an earlier meeting with
chairmen of Rada committees in the national security sphere.
He had been surprised by a reluctance to recognize Kosovo
independence that was expressed with surprising unanimity
across political party lines.


6. (C) Ohryzko responded that Kosovo's status was an
important issue, regarding which Ukraine had to be cautious
due to a combination of external and internal factors.
Internationally, Ukraine exercised a leading position in the
regional GUAM grouping. Of the four member states (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova),only Ukraine was free of a
territorial issue resembling Kosovo. Moldova had
Transnistria, Georgia had South Ossetia, and Azerbaijan had
Nagorno-Karabakh. Since the other three GUAM members had
clearly stated that they would not recognize Kosovo's
independence, Ukraine was put in an awkward position.
Domestically, if it recognized Kosovo's independence,
Ukraine's political leadership would be the target of strong
criticism from some political elements; if it did not,
however, other elements would be equally critical. Ohryzko
concluded that the best approach for the moment would be for
Ukraine not to take a clear position.


7. (C) Ohryzko said the Foreign Ministry had reviewed the
historical record after Ukraine's declaration of
independence. Only 15-16 countries had recognized Ukraine in
the first month and broad recognition of Ukraine's status had
taken three to four months, even though there had been no
legal issues regarding Ukraine's right to declare
independence under the Soviet constitution. Ohryzko urged
the CODEL to be patient, asserting that Ukraine was heading
in the right direction but that now was not the right time to
clearly articulate a position.


8. (C) Price responded that, while he understood Ukraine's
difficulties, he wanted to emphasize that Kosovo's situation
was unique and had no relation to the numerous conflicts
regarding regional status that existed elsewhere. Ohryzko
noted that Russia was using the Kosovo precedent as an excuse
to step up its activity in Abkhazia, which Russia recognized
de facto, if not de jure.


9. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor